Cobra Snake part 2.

With the modelling finished I could now focus on texturing my Snake. I searched online for a suitable snake scale texture and was able to find this:



I felt this was a really nice pattern with a high level of detail that would be perfect for my snake. Cobras however, are usuallly a shade darker than the tone in the texture image so I needed to modify the brightness and contrast slightly in photoshop to get the desired effect.

I started off using the same method as my previous model and unwrapping the animal. I was alot more comfortable texturing this model due to its simplicity in terms of size and shapes which saved me a good deal of time when it came to creating the texture map. One important part of this texture was the scale, and getting it just right to suit the size of the shapes and being careful not to lose too much of the detail.



Feeling comfortable with the method in which I textured my swordfish I created a black and white shape layout alongside the texture map to ensure I could spot any error when the texture is wrapped around the model:



As the image clearly shows, areas in white have been textured whereas the remaining black sections need to be. I am unsure as to why the texture doesnt actually show in 3ds max until the model is rendered, however this benefitted me more as the texture map errors were much easier to spot! (black and white)

Once the texture mapping was complete I went around the shapes and carefully studied the rendering results to home in on the texture wrap errors. This was quite tricky and I did have to go back and redo some areas a few times after noticing small sections now and again while rendering. Fortunetly I managed to get a good result.

Next I created a very simple eye in photosop and wrapped this image around two spheres and carefully positioned them in the snake's head:



Last but not least was creating a scene for my cobra. I experimented making some pots that I felt the snake could lay in front off with a grassy effect around it:



To create the displaced terrain, I followed a short tutorial which can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoq6-JLcmds



I wasn't particulary impressed with the result and felt that a different approach may be needed for my stamp design.