3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [359]
Tutorial: Creating a mapping for a fighter plane
As a final example of unwrapping, you add a Navy logo to a P-28 Trojan fighter plane. This plane was created by Viewpoint Datalabs. The logo was created and saved as a PNG file, which allowed the background to be saved as transparent. This allows the shiny metallic material to show through the applied logo.
For this tutorial, you add the logo to one of the wings. The tricky part of this tutorial, which you didn't have for the earlier rocket tutorial, is that the wing's ailerons are separated from the wing. This makes it possible to animate the ailerons.
Note
I realize that all you military aircraft enthusiasts out there know that the logo actually belongs on the fuselage and not on the wing, but the fuselage isn't divided into separate parts like the wing, so I'm taking creative license for the sake of the tutorial. •
To add a texture map to several pieces of an airplane, follow these steps:
1. Open the T-28 Trojan plane.max file from the Chap 33 directory on the CD.
2. In the Perspective view, select the wing and the aileron and flaps. Don't select the molding between the wing and the ailerons.
3. Select the Modifiers⇒UV Coordinates⇒Unwrap UVW menu to apply the modifier to all the selected pieces. Then click the Edit button in the Parameters rollout to open the Edit UVWs window.
4. From the drop-down list at the top right of the Edit UVWs interface, select the Pick Texture option. The Material/Map Browser opens. In the Search by Name field, type Bitmap and double-click the Bitmap option, and select the T-28 Trojan logo.png image from the Chap 33 directory on the CD. To focus the bitmap, disable the Tile Bitmap option in the Options panel of the Edit UVWs window.
The texture appears in the window.
5. Select Face subobject mode in the Modifier Stack and click in the viewport on the center of the right wing. Then click the Expand Selection button (the one with the plus sign) at the bottom of the Edit UVWs window to grow the selection. Keep clicking the Expand Selection button until the entire right half of the wing is selected. Then select the Tools⇒Break command. Then zoom out in the Edit UVWs window, and move the separated wing to the top of the window so it doesn't overlap any other sections.
The selected wing UVs are separated from the rest of the wing object, which includes both wings.
Tip
Another way to select the faces is to use the Planar Angle value, which selects all the polygons on one side of the wing. •
6. Select the center of one of the right ailerons, and click the Expand Selection button until the entire part is selected. Then click the Planar button in the Projection rollout in the Command Panel to orient the part to match the wing. Then move the aileron up to the top of the Edit UVWs window near the wing UVs. Repeat this step for the other right aileron.
7. Enable the Select Element option at the bottom of the Edit UVWs window so you can select the entire part by clicking it. Then use the Freeform mode button to move and scale the ailerons to fit next to the wing.
Tip
If you need to seamlessly fit two separate parts together, you can use the Welding feature in Vertex subobject mode to weld the vertices on each part. •
8. Select all the remaining UVs, and move them to the bottom of the window where they don't overlap the logo. Then select the positioned wing and ailerons, and click the Rot -90 button to rotate the wing to align with the logo. Then scale and position the UVs over the logo, as shown in Figure 33.17. Then close the Edit UVWs window.
9. Press the M key to open the Material Editor. Click the mapping button next to the Diffuse color, and double-click the Bitmap type in the Material/Map Browser. Then select the T-28 Trojan logo.png file from the Chap 33 directory on the CD. Apply this material to the selected wing and ailerons. Click the Show Map in Viewport button (the small checkerboard cube icon)