What are Texture Projects? #
Texture Projects are Toolbag’s native system that lets you create and paint textures for 3D models in real-time. Texture Projects were introduced in version 4.0.
Texture Project offers a seamless and intuitive layers/mask workflow for texture creation and manipulation. You can set up a texture project from scratch, or take the Texture Project scene file in the Library for a test drive to dissect its setup.
To get started with a Texture Project, you will need:
- A 3D model with UV coordinates.
- Input Maps, which drive processors and generators. If your texture maps were baked in Toolbag, they can be linked from your Bake Project and transferred over into the Input Maps slots.
- A material from the Materials window linked to your Texture Project.
- Project Maps to help define the shading properties of your linked material.
Adding a Texture Project #
This section introduces how to add and set up texture projects in your Toolbag scene. There are four ways to add a Texture project to the Scene hierarchy, with the first being the most straightforward option.
1 – Scene Window > New Texture Project Icon
2 – Main Menu > Scene > Add Object > Texture Project
3 – Main menu > Texture > Add Texture Project
4 – Layers Window > Add Texture Project
Note: You can find the Layers window in the Texture Workspace UI or via the Main Menu > Window > Layers.
Project Settings #
You can establish your desired settings through the Project Settings window with a Texture Project selected in the Scene hierarchy. Below are some definitions for each setting to help you determine the best setup for your project.
Setting | Description |
---|---|
Project Resolution | This adjusts the pixel size of the texture project. If modified, Paint layers will resize to the new resolution. |
Viewport Resolution | Determines the resolution of the texture project displayed in the viewport. Using less than 1:1 can significantly improve interactive performance. Paint data and exported images export at full resolution. |
Preview Resolution | Determines the resolution when interacting with tools and layer settings. The resolution will automatically increase to the viewport resolution when the interaction pauses. Using less than 1:1 can significantly improve performance. |
Viewport Quality | Choose between Fast and Full render quality. Fast quality is most suitable when working with larger texture projects, but there will be a delay when switching layers or making changes, along with reduced quality. Exported textures will always be full quality. |
UV Padding | Sets the size of the UV padding effect in pixels. |
Tangent Orientation | Configures the project to use and output tangent space normal maps in either right (Y+) or left-handed (Y-) coordinate space. Right-handed tangents are often called Maya or OpenGL style, while left-handed tangents are referred to as 3DS Max or Direct3D style. |
Linking Materials #
To start texturing an asset, you must first link its material(s) to a Texture Project. You can link existing materials by dragging and dropping them to Linked Materials or create a new one by clicking the plus (+) button.
Setting | Description |
---|---|
Link Selected | Links the currently selected material in the material editor to the texture project chosen. |
Create New Material | Creates a new material and links it to the texture project. |
Remove | Removes the linked material from the texture project. |
Link Bake Project to Texture Project #
If you have a Bake Project set up, you can easily create and link a new texture project by:
- Selecting your Bake Project object
- Scrolling to Texture Sets
- Selecting New Project in Texture Project Link
This will create a new Texture Project in the Scene hierarchy set up with the baked maps and materials linked to Input Maps. With these projects linked, any future changes to your bakes will automatically update the inputs for your Texture Project.