Converting a texture to another body.

[trolo123]

How can I convert, for example, a CBBE texture to a TBD body? Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

I am trying a way to do this that include the utilization of GIMP 2.7 development version.)

1) Open the original CBBE body texture file (femalebody1.dds)

2) Open the TBD body texure (should have the same name)

3) Remove all mipmaps if any (they are layers in GIMP)

4) Be sure they have the same size, if not resize one of the two.

5) Copy one of the texture as new layer on the second texture.

6) Let's say TBD is your fine "shape", and CBBE is the actual "color" you want to use: make transparent everything outside the body of the CBBE texture.

7) Have CBBE layer on top of the TDB one, make the CBBE layer half opacity (so you can see the TDB as reference below)

8) Use the "Cage transformation tool", place as many vertices around the body, set the deform border mode; make the changes on vertices to deform the CBBE to be as much as possible overlapping the underlying TDB.

9) Use again the "Cage transformation too;", but use now the option to deform the inner contents. Be sure to overlay as much as possible the inner parts of the body.

10) Trim your final CBBE layer (not mandatory)

11) Remove the TDB layer

12) Export as DDS file the CBBE layer and overwrite the TDB one.

 

The Cage transformation tool will be standard on GIMP 2.8.

A similar tool should be available in Photoshop, but I am not familiar with this tool.

 

[trolo123]

I see... Is there a more efficient way to do this? From what I tried, it's very time consuming and inaccurate, I can't get it to stretch properly, it ends up asymmetric and horrible in general, I just quit out of frustration. The more verticles the more difficult it is to get accurate for me, actually.

[trolo123]

I got to stretching the texture to an OK level, but now I'm mising _msn and _s files. No way I'm going to go all over this again with the cage tool. There surely has to be a way to generate those files. So, is there a way to generate _msn and _s files for the texture I've made?

[Guest]

the _msn is a normal map.

You can use a GIMP plugin to generate it for you from the normal color map.

 

About the _s file I have no idea.

 

[trolo123]

the _msn is a normal map.

You can use a GIMP plugin to generate it for you from the normal color map.

 

About the _s file I have no idea.

What kind of gimp plugin? I can't find anything in google.

[Guest]

Here is the plugin link: GIMP Normalmap

Follow the instructions to install it.

 

Then just open the color image, remove all mipmap layers if any, and use Filters->Map->NormalMap.

Default options are ok for a quick result. You may tweak the parameters if you need.

 

For example if I need something with heavy height on a more flat colored surface, I select the items I want to be raised, copy them, create a new layer, then do the normalmap of the full image, then the normal map of the new layer with increase strength and by keeping the alpha, and then paste the new normal map layer over the other.

 

[blabba]

A way that I do it is:

 

1. Have a body mesh UV'd to CBBE UV's

2. Have a copy of that same exact body mesh UV'd to TBD/UNP UV's

3. Plug both meshes into Autodesk mudbox and use it's Map Transfer tool (Use subdivision mode to get a perfect copy onto the new UV)

 

The above method gives out perfect outputs that account for differences in texel density.

 

However, mudbox also has another mode for the map transfer tool based on raycasting, so that you can project textures from 1 body mesh to another that only have the mesh shape but different vertex counts/UV's etc...

 

This method is far less accurate and will require manual touch-ups later in photoshop/gimp. But it gives you a good base start since it also does account for texel density.

[trolo123]

Here is the plugin link: GIMP Normalmap

Follow the instructions to install it.

 

Then just open the color image, remove all mipmap layers if any, and use Filters->Map->NormalMap.

Default options are ok for a quick result. You may tweak the parameters if you need.

 

For example if I need something with heavy height on a more flat colored surface, I select the items I want to be raised, copy them, create a new layer, then do the normalmap of the full image, then the normal map of the new layer with increase strength and by keeping the alpha, and then paste the new normal map layer over the other.

 

I'm unsure if I'm doing this properly. I'm only getting a whole light-blue screen that looks NOTHING like the other _msn file maps.

[Guest]

This depends on the settings of the normalmap filter.

If you see just a flat light blue, then the settings are not really good, and the normal map will be flat (not heights.)

 

There is a preview tool, in the normalmap filter, try it and tweak the parameters until you will get something good.

 

 

Please note that this plugin will do basic normal maps. The advanced ones cannot be generated from a flat image.

 

[Vioxsis]

You can't make a world space normal map (skyrim bodies) with gimp/PS or any other 2D editor, you can only make tangent space that way.

 

To make a new world space you need to bake from a high poly (ideally) There was a way of using a tangent space along with its low poly mesh to make a world space normal map.

Can't remember what the program was called though.. might have been handplane...

 

 

*edit*

It was handplane i was thinking of but it works the other way round, world space normal + low poly mesh to tangent space normal.