This week we learned about how to properly uv unwrap a model for texturing. I initially thought this would be what I had already learned from my attempts at texturing last week but it ended up being quite different as smart unwrapping was not used and we had to learn to unwrap the model manually.
We learned that textures are typically in a 1024×1024 square as this takes up exactly 1mb of space. This is helpful in industries such as game development where sometimes textures need to be optimised to not take up too much space. We also learned about the importance of seams and how they should be placed in an area that the viewer will not see as they cause harsh breaks in the texture. We were given some basic models to try texturing and applying seams to to help us learn the basics of texturing in blender.
I was excited when it came time to model the sword as I was able to test out everything I had learned from the past 3 weeks in creating my own design. To begin with I drew out my own design for my sword which I could then import into blender to use as a reference for my model. I then began by modelling the blade as it would be the most important part of the sword. To do this I used a plane and then used the knife tool to cut out the shape of the blade. I then added a solidify modifier and bevelled the edges to achieve the appearance of sharp edges on the blade. I also marked the edges as sharp when shading the object smooth so it would preserve this appearance.
I then modelled the pommel using a cylinder and a uv sphere with a low segment count. To create the metal parts connecting the handle I simply extruded the top and bottom face loops of the cylinder and bevelled them. I created the leather wrap around the handle by adding edge loops to the cylinder and bevelling them, similar to how the label on the cup model was created, I then separated the faces by selection and added a solidify modifier. To model the hilt of the sword I started with a cube, deleted half of it, and applied a mirror modifier. I then extruded the face on the side to create the rest of the hilt and bevelled the edges slightly.
To create a hole for the eye to fit into I had to use the knife tool to create the general shape of an eye however as I had not added many edge loops to the middle of the hilt this didn’t interfere much with the surrounding topology. I then extruded the faces inward. Creating the eye was quite simple as I just used a uv sphere that was scaled horizontally.
When it came to uv unwrapping I decided to keep the eye separate from the rest of the sword as I wanted it to move in my final render so I wouldn’t be able to join it to the sword to make it all one material/texture. Following what we had done in class with the hammer model, I placed the seams along where I knew there would be different materials, and along the edges of the object, bearing in mind that it would create a harsh separation in the textures. The part I disliked the most about this process was having to rearrange the uv map so that all of the parts that were the same material were in one area while making sure everything fit into the square. In hindsight it wasn’t difficult to do but it was very boring and time consuming. To texture the sword I exported the uv map and imported it into Krita where I was able to apply my textures which I could then import back into blender.
After applying my textures I imported the rock model I had used in my zubat render to create a quick background, once again using uv smart unwrap as I feel it is useful for quick environments despite not being useful for more detailed texturing. After I had staged everything in my scene, I quickly animated the eye in the sword looking around.
I am very happy with how this turned out and I had so much fun modelling the sword from scratch instead of following a video like the previous assignments. However I do find this way of texturing models to be quite slow and tedious so I understand why it isn’t really used anymore.