/3/ - 3DCG

>>633422
I use the following workflow;

1: Create mesh

2: Super basic UVW planar unwrap

3: Create super temporary texture. Usually I'll make a basic planar map using an orthographic photograph texture that I've used for reference/creation of the mesh. I'll also shrink it and simplify or stylize the phototexture using smart-blurs, sharpen etc where necessary. Allows me to see how the final thing could look.

4: Proper UVW-unwrap, hand paint texture using as I go. Usually I'll start with a reasonable sized texture (512px)

5: Once the texture is complete, I'll shrink it down. Again, will use a combination of areas being sharpened/smart-blurred to create detail where needed, also downsizing using both a nearest-lookup version and a bilinear sampled version so I can take the best preserved details from both. Soft outlines from the bilinear, and sharp stuff from the nearest.

Technically, you could argue 'why not just create the texture at 256x256/128x128 to begin with'. I tried making some of these originally, but I feel it's more period-authentic to downsize larger versions, as if they were being optimized to run in some 2002 era game engine. Stuff like text etc on the side is never 100% crisp and clear, but often still somewhat readable.