Fundamentals of Texturing in Blender

Texturing in Blender is a huge topic

We'll cover all of it in this series of Blender tutorials!

As always, we'll take it step-by-step, in bite-sized lessons that you can process and with plenty of hands-on exercise along the way.

Even if you're completely new to texturing...

...by the end of this course, you will be comfortable with texturing and know how to texture any Blender object.

You will prove it to me (and yourself) by texturing this awesome motorcycle at the end of the course.

What is a texture?  An image mapped to 3D surface

In older video games or games like Minecraft, the line between geometry and images is pretty obvious. 

In newer games or in visual effects shots though, it’s a bit less clear where to draw the line. 

With bigger production budgets and faster computers, geometry got waaaay more detailed. At the same time, there are now new types of complex textures.

So where does modeling end and texturing begin? That's going to be different for every project.

How do you Texture a Brick Wall?

If I asked you to create a brick wall in Blender, should you model bricks - or use a brick texture on a plane? 

You could decide either way depending on the circumstances. 

For this course, I’ll just assume that anything you haven't modeled is what you need to texture. 

Here is how you can create the textures:

a) use photos (found online, or your own)

b) use procedural textures

c) paint the textures

d) use a combination of all of the above.

In this course, you'll learn how to do just that!

6 chapters, 40+ lessons on texturing

Chapter 1: Introduction to Texturing in Blender

WTH are textures, anyway?

In the intro video, we will go over some Blender basics about what textures are - and that you probably know more about them than you think (hello, Minecraft!).

Chapter 2: Image Textures and Mapping

• how Blender saves and loads images
• what texture coordinates are (and how you can use them to manipulate textures)
• how to apply 2D image textures to 3D objects using UV unwrapping, and how to solve common UV mapping problems. 

Chapter 3: Digital Color 

• the basics of digital color - and why it's crucial to texturing
• color management
• blend modes and color material nodes
• how file formats affect color and the quality of your images

Chapter 4: PBR Texturing

• physically-based shading
• focusing on textures you'll need to create

Chapter 5: Procedural Texturing

• how to combine shader nodes together
• create procedural effects from the ground up

Challenge: Create a Lava Shader

At this point in the course, you will have enough skills to create the infamous lava shader.

Sizzle!

Chapter 6: Texture Painting

• how to prepare your model for painting
• how to use the brush system in Blender
• how to paint with layers

Challenge: Paint a Low Poly Axe by Hand

We'll switch it up with another small project.

This time,  I’ll walk you through painting a low poly ax by hand using nothing but the default Blender brush. 

Chapter 7: The Complete Texturing Workflow

Before we finish things off, you will learn:

• texturing workflow tips
• a look at intermediate topics, like trim sheets, decals, texture baking, and more.

Challenge: Texture a Motorcycle

The final challenge will be to take a motorcycle model and make it look amazing by texturing it.

This course builds off all the other fundamentals courses, so you can watch those first if you’d like or jump right in. 

Got questions? Let me know!

As always, I'll be here to help you along.

Ask a question below - this will notify me and I'll jump in to help out. 

The original concept for the sci-fi motorcycle is by Arthit  Boontanomchit.