Flat textures

[papersak]

If there's one thing that bugs the living heck out of me it's flat textures.

By which I mean this...


compared to this...


Both:


Now, this isn't a great example as the lighting evened out the whole thing anyway, and the skirt/boots were dark to begin with. But let me note...

1. The good one has a messed-with shirt. This is where one puts clothing folds, shading, etc.
2. On a related note, the skirt is shaded. No, it doesn't line up right, but it looks pluffier. You can see pleats in it.
3. The small spots on her knees glow in the better version. The arm thing has a shiny spot on it.
4. Shading is also needed for the collar/tie to stick out. Now, the collar looks like crud in both of them, but it's a tad more... "there" in the shaded version.

IN SHORT.

I am tired of people stamping a solid color on a texture and calling it good. That comparison wasn't evne entirely accurate; it still retained some shading for Peach.
Shading is your friend.

No, not everyone is a pro shader. I am not either. Those funky pleats don't even line up right. xP But, see, that's why you look at the original texture for a reference. And test, test, test your characters. Nitpick at them.

Be~ the~ best~ you~ can~ be~

... but please work on not having flat textures. ^^;

I mean, there are some obvious exceptions to this rant that I am aware of. Kirby, old-school style, etc.


Thank you, g'night.

... though I am quite a hypocrite, cause I did make one pretty flat texture. One outta seven isn't bad. : P

[VILE]

I have been saying this forever, shading is a must (unless your doing a texture that requires it to not have shading, like my Madworld captain falcon or a paper mario texture). If it doesn't have shading, its an instant crap in my books, and people stop praising textures that don't have shading

[roymaster4]

Honestly, I can't shade. At all. Best I can do is recolors or solid colors. Trust me, I've tried. Always turns out much worse than a solid color.

[Register]

If I may...

Not all texture hackers have the skill and/or ability as you all may have. Some of them haven't even graduated from high school, let alone learned how to properly apply shading. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a flat texture over one with shading that makes your eyes bleed. (And trust me, I've seen it before... Perhaps not on textures, but I've seen it. )

Coming from a guy who has yet to properly learn the simple basics of shading, resulting in said "flat" textures.
Saying things are crap just because I don't have the same amount of skills as you insults me greatly. Perhaps I'm still a Photoshop nub. Perhaps I just can't grasp it. Perhaps I feel it'll ruin the texture I'm working on.

Textures are just like works of art... and normally, once you've made it, at times you really don't want to go in and add touch-ups that you feel may ruin it.

I won't deny that adding shading and various levels of lighting can really bring out the levels of awesome in textures (if I may, Dhragen's artistry is one I know I'd love to mimic), but the thing is not all of us are so artistically inclined as to know about shading or lighting or colorations like that. I live in a relatively 2-D world. It won't be until I properly learn how to apply such essentials as shading will I be able to escape that.

...Thanks.

[VILE]

May 17, 2009 22:49:24 GMT -5 Register said:

If I may...

Not all texture hackers have the skill and/or ability as you all may have. Some of them haven't even graduated from high school, let alone learned how to properly apply shading. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a flat texture over one with shading that makes your eyes bleed. (And trust me, I've seen it before... Perhaps not on textures, but I've seen it. )

Coming from a guy who has yet to properly learn the simple basics of shading, resulting in said "flat" textures.
Saying things are crap just because I don't have the same amount of skills as you insults me greatly. Perhaps I'm still a Photoshop nub. Perhaps I just can't grasp it. Perhaps I feel it'll ruin the texture I'm working on.

Textures are just like works of art... and normally, once you've made it, at times you really don't want to go in and add touch-ups that you feel may ruin it.

I won't deny that adding shading and various levels of lighting can really bring out the levels of awesome in textures (if I may, Dhragen's artistry is one I know I'd love to mimic), but the thing is not all of us are so artistically inclined as to know about shading or lighting or colorations like that. I live in a relatively 2-D world. It won't be until I properly learn how to apply such essentials as shading will I be able to escape that.

...Thanks.

But it takes probably 1 day for the most inartistic person ever to learn how to do the very most basic of shading. We aren't bagging people who aren't as skilled as the best, we are bagging the people who refuse to learn to shade. I also judge textures on effort, and usually even if i see very basic shading but know they put effort in, it gives the texture more soul and more appealing. I'm just saying to learn to do very basic shading, it really isn't that hard.

[catgowoof]

Lol, all I do too shade is put different colours in and just blur it

[mettra]

I believe there is a way in 3ds max to "bake" shades on textures.

[papersak]

May 17, 2009 22:49:24 GMT -5 Register said:

If I may...

Not all texture hackers have the skill and/or ability as you all may have. Some of them haven't even graduated from high school, let alone learned how to properly apply shading. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a flat texture over one with shading that makes your eyes bleed. (And trust me, I've seen it before... Perhaps not on textures, but I've seen it. )

Good time to learn, then. I experimented with digital shading and stuff back in 8th grade. Certainly wasn't good at it and got my art trashed once or twice, but 'twas a learning experience.

And it was the anatomy that got flames from critics. I fail to see how shading can make one's "eyes bleed." You put darks where shadows go and/or, if your texture is dark to begin with, you put lights where lights hit it. Art takes many forms, but in texture hacks, basic knowledge of shading/lighting is important.

The only thing that should look flat is skin, imo. Even that has a little shading, but those don't require a lotta editing unless you're trying to do scars or diseases or who-knows-what. In which case... you're on your own. good luck. ^^;

Tempted to rant on tips, but I'm a crud teacher.
Used this to learn folds, though: crysa.deviantart.com/art/Drawing-Clothes-And-Folds-21994317

[Teh Research Guy]

You know, I agree with this. It's not hard to add basic shading. Most of the time I just desaturate parts of the textures I work with and recolor them to keep the shading reasonably intact (also layers=<3). Sometimes though I might need to improvise a little, like with my Pommy TL. You'll notice that his boots were cut down to shoes. There, I used clone stamp, smudge and blur. I think it came out pretty well. BTW Papersak, if you think I can do better, I'd like to know. I'm not afraid of critique.

Flat coloring is mostly just laziness. It's too easy to see how a texture looks before submitting it, even if you don't have a way to preview it on the PC. The SD loader takes care of that. It's a shame not all texture hackers are as meticulous as I am though. Even with my impatience, I press on until I think my stuff looks good enough to show off.

[segab]

*looks back*
crap. I didn't shade White Mage's skirt. Too bad.
I shade most of my textures anyways.