Can anyone point me in the direction of some simple step by step instructions for generating a new skin texture for a poser figure. 

Let me explain. 

I'm not particularly looking to do this "for real", I'm not enough of an artist to actually do a good job with a real skin texture. What I want to do is understand the mechanics of the process.

I want to be able to take an .obj file (anything, not necesserily a humanoid), flatten the x,y,z 3D object to a two dimensional map, import it into a photo editing app, make a texture and apply it to the object in Poser. Ideally I would like to start with something simple - like a cube and work my way up to a humanoid.

I understand the UVMapper application, which i have, can create a 2D image and I have used it on a poser figure (V4) to create a 2D map. Great. Unfortunately the map (which looks wholly believable) looks nothing like the textures that are actually used to clothe her in her skin. To start with, UVMapper creates one map, whereas V4 has several JPG files which go to make her appearance.

Are there any simple (for i am a simple soul) tutorials around that anyone knows of.

Thanks in advance.

Attached Link: Snowsultan's Freestuff

The more complex humanoid figures such as V4 have several mapping groups, as you've discovered - V4 I believe has separate maps for her face, eyes, torso, legs and eyelashes. (Maybe more, I haven't made any textures for V4 yet.) Most modern figures have comparably complex mapping.

The good news is, most figures come with templates and the wonderful SnowSultan has made seam guides for all of the Daz figures. These are colour coded so you can work out which bit of the map has to match in order for the texture to be seamless.

OK now for more simply stuff that you want to map yourself...

When you create a new UV map in UVMapper, you have to save not only the map but also the remapped .obj file, as this holds the coordinates to apply your template. So for example, if you want to UV map the box from the Props>Primitives libary...

Import the original box.obj file into UV mapper (you'll find this under Poser 6(or7)/Runtime/Geometries/Props)
Create a new UV template (you'll want the "box" method, obviously, in this case, but you can try different mapping methods for different shapes)
Save the template as a .bmp file
Now save the model itself - give it a new name such as "mapped_box.obj"
When you have finished texturing your map, import your mapped_box.obj into Poser and apply the texture through the material room. You can now save it to the Props library if you want, too.

Hope this makes sense and helps :-)

http://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2660658

Try that thread. There are links to tutorials for character creation of all stages.

Thank you both for your replies. Arcadia, the forums are playing up a bit tonight so I havn't been able to follow your links properly yet but they look interesting and I am sure will help.

Karen,
Wooooooooooooooowwwww!!!!!!!!! So simple when you know how, isnt it??? :))) THANK YOU, so much for taking the time to spell out in simple language how this works. I am sure it has been asked a hundred times before but this was just so useful!

I have no idea if it was a fluke but I just created a box in Poser, exported the OBJ, opened it in UVMapper, created a UV map BMP file, scribbled numbers on the faces, wrote out a new OBJ file, imported them both into Poser, attached the bmp to the box in the material room and here is the result! I have been battling with these concepts for days and days now.

No idea quite how multiple textures are applied to complex shapes e.g. the Victoria figures.. I guess its something to do with named bits and exporting part by part??

Best Regards,
Adrian

p.s. Karen, Just looked up your blog. I see you live in Tinsley. MANY moons ago, when I was a student at Sheffield Poly (now Uni), my wife (to be) worked her teacher training at Tinsley Infants School just round the corner from you - well, over the motorway, but not far at all. Love the blog and your web site is cool too.

Oh really? Small world LOL. I don't actually live in Tinsley, I work down the road in Carbrook and I live over near Crystal Peaks. My ex brother-in-law was the caretaker at Tinsley Junior School about 4-5 years ago :-)

Anyway you're welcome for the info, I remember struggling for hours with the concept myself when I first started mapping stuff!

*Quote -   No idea quite how multiple textures are applied to complex shapes e.g. the Victoria figures.. I guess its something to do with named bits and exporting part by part??  *> Quote -

Nope. When you load an obj in UVMapper that contains several different groups, you edit your uv map as above with the proper method (i.e. planar, cylindrical...). Then, click on Edit/Tile/By group. You'll then have a uv image with all groups unwrapped on the same image.