Maya® Studio Projects Texturing and Lighting

Project: Creating a Custom Skin Bitmap

Although you can use Photoshop's various brush tools to paint a skin bitmap from scratch, it's easier to sample photos of a real person. Whereas an animation studio might convert laser scans or high-resolution digital photographs into texture maps and polygon geometry, an individual animator can create texture maps from more mundane photos. For example, a front photo and profile photo can be utilized (see Figure 3.34). Ideally, the lighting should be very even and diffuse to avoid any distinct or heavy shadows from appearing. In addition, the digital resolution should be as large as possible. If you are unable to take your own photos, www.3d.sk offers a wide range of photos designed for use by animation ...