How to Apply / Create an Albedo or Diffuse Texture
I'm a bit new at this 3D model creation, but trying to learn it. I was recently introduced to ShaderMap 4. It looks promising, but I am somewhat confused. Is the main purpose of this program to create all maps ((Normal, etc.) except Albedo/Diffuse? Is it to create the other maps using an already existing Albedo/Diffuse texture? Or, is it to create/capable of taking an existing 3d model, and in turn use it to make ALL the above maps, or is the exception that it won't create a Albedo/Diffuse map? I'm trying to be clear here, hope you understand? Thanks in advance for any input/comments you may have.
Comments
The simple answer is yes.
Generally speaking, ShaderMap is used to generate maps from existing maps. Generating Albedo is only supported in the PBR mode where the project is started from an existing Color Map. The albedo map attempts to remove any existing lighting / shadows from the Color Texture.
From the Start Screen you can see the various Modes. Standard Mode can create 4 different kinds of projects using 4 different starting points (source assets). Color Texture, Normal Map or Displacement Map will generate related maps from the source assets.
I hope this helps your understanding.
I think I understand, appreciate the clarification. But, lets say I made a 3d model and I want to have it mapped. So, in this example I want to apply a seemless texture to it, can I start a project with just loading the 3d object first, and then where I get confused is when/where/how do I implement this texture to in turn create a color, normal, and metal maps for that object?
Thanks again for replying.
Gary
Ah.. I think I understand now.
3D Models are made of a list of of vertices and triangles (or quads) that connect these vertices. Each vertex should have a position, a normal vector (how light bounces off of it), and a pair of UV texture coordinates (where a point in the texture image is on that specific vertex).
ShaderMap is specifically for generating maps, nor for mapping textures to 3D models. ShaderMap doesn't assign texture coordinates to a 3D model, it is assumed that normals and UV coordinates are already created before importing a 3D model into ShaderMap.
UV texture coordinates should be mapped using a program specifically designed for wrapping / mapping textures on 3D models. This can also be done in a modeling program like Blender or 3DS Max, etc. You should look into "UV Mapping tutorials".
Hope this helps,
Neil