Create a base texture from a photo - PART1: Finding and preparing a picture

 Update: There's now a PDF download. Scroll down to the attachments

 BASICS

Step 1: Find a good source photo

• Find a photo database! Photos on google image search do not have the same image quality and resolution needed. Depending on what database you are looking you will also have a much bigger choice of photos and more accurate results than on google.

• Avoid pictures with too specific details! A picture which looks interesting may not be the most suitable for a texture. Mostly, uniform (maybe boring) pictures are the better choice.

Good example: Looks quite boring but is easily transformed into a texture.	Bad: The shapes of the shadows may look unique or interesting to you, but on a texture they will be very repetetive and annoying

• Look for pictures with uniform lightning and little shadows. Nothing is harder to fix than than a shadow or color/lightning variations in your texture

Bad: Too many shadows and different tones of green - you will never get a texture out of this.	Not that Bad: Still usable, but the top area is much darker than the bottom. It will be necessary to crop it. Also color variations int he bricks!

•    Don't scare away from prespectively distorted objects (as long as they are flat). You can fix it with Photoshop! How? I'll show you at the and of the tutorial....
•  Feel free to experiment and break some of the rules above (as i do often ;). Better try a texture that might not work than missing a great chance. And by doing it, you will develope an eye for which picture is suitable and which one is not.

Step 2: Prepare a picture for tiling

• Crop an area of you picture that...

  • ...(almost) has a square aspect ratio (in most cases textures also have one)

  • ...does not include disturbing details (like the missing cement between the bricks in the example)

  • ...already tiles a little (see the top and the bottom of the example: we cut allong the filling of cement so this area will already tile)

     

TIPP: Generally it is always better for your texture to include a larger area (e.g. many bricks instead of a few) , so it won't look so repetetive once it starts tiling. An aspect which was NOT considered in this example.

• Quick Tutorial: Perspective correction

  I'll use an rather extrem example to demonstrate how perspective correction works.

  • As a rule of thumb: The higher the resolution of the original picture is, the more distorted it can be, while you are still able to correct it.

1. Load up the picture.

    

2. Select Crop and select the area you want. Dont commit the operation yet!

    

3. Make sure „Perspective“ is ticked in the upper tool specific bar.

    

4. Remodel the lines along the distorted lines. Imagine you are putting a poster on the distorted wall in the image.

    

    

5. Here you go!

Next time we are going to make our texture tiling. So get your clone brush ready!!

Thanks for reading – mode7

Questions, feedback, suggestions -> mode7@gmx.net