This video shows how to set up UVs for hand painting in 3dCoat Textura. You will learn how to set up UVs and two ways of hand painting 3D objects in 3DCoat Textura. The final render was done in 3DCoat Textura.
UV Maps
I will be using Blender but the same idea can be done in any other 3D modeling program
I will be using a simple crate for this tutorial so my UV maps will be very simple
I have already made a tutorial about UV Mapping
I made a very simple crate using the default cube
For UV unwrapping, I will use a very simple technique
I will select each of the outer edges and mark the seams
I then unwrap the crate
I can easily straighten all of the UV islands
I select two horizontal vertices and scale them to zero along the Y-Axis – repeating this for the other edge
I select two vertical vertices and scale them to zero along the X-Axis – repeating this for the other edge
I select the entire island and then reselect the middle face
I can now right-click and select “follow active quads”
I turn on the UV sync selection so I can see what faces I’m selecting
I check to make sure the islands are rotated in the correct direction
I select all of the islands and under the UV menu, I choose “pack islands” – deactivating the rotate option and increasing the margin
I select the crate and export it as an FBX
Importing into Textura
I import the crate using the “paint UV mapped mesh” option
I make sure the “normal map software preset” is set to Blender
The only thing I will change is activating the Z-up coordinate system (this is specific for Blender)
Under the Texture Editor, I can see my UV map
Under the view menu, I turn off the grid
Under the textures menu, I choose “calculate occlusion”
For the light sources, I will choose “sphere + hemisphere”
In the header, I will turn off glossiness and depth [
Hand Painting (in Textura)
I can use the fill tool in order to quickly fill the entire crate with a base color [19.7 57 47 #794a33]
I left-click on the crate to apply the color
I rename the layer to “base”
I can now see the filled base color on the crate and in the texture editor
I can also make adjustments to the color by going to Textures > Adjust > Hue/Saturation/Lightness
I activate the “preview” so I can see the changes
I can also use the CMYK option to further adjust the color
I add a new layer and rename it boards
I change the black color to a dark brown and swap the color swatches [#4f3122]
I choose my hard brush and turn the depth opacity, roughness opacity, and metal opacity to zero-percent
Using the E-key, I change the border width to zero and choose the rectangle lasso
I hold down my LMB and click – while holding down the LMB, I use the SHIFT key to make a straight line
I then change the opacity to 50-percent
This is just the very basics of how to get started hand painting within 3DCoat Textura
Hand Painting (external editor)
You can also use an external editor for hand painting – but keep in mind, it must be able to open Photoshop files
The default external software used for 3DCoat Textura is Photoshop
However, if you want to use another piece of software that can open Photoshop files, you can change the default software
Under your Preferences, under the In/Out tab, you will see the External 2D Editor option – you can simply change this to point to your software (just remember, it must be able to open Photoshop files)
Take note as to what island corresponds to which face
To export the Photoshop file, go to Textures > Export > All Layers Color
In Photoshop, I can now use the standard brushes (or any brushes I have access to) to hand paint the UV map
I flatten all the new layers and save the file
Back in 3DCoat Textura, I go to Textures > Import > All Layers Color