I started playing around with a small prop that comes with some nice diffuse/specular/displacement maps, and i noticed that the template was also included. I thought this would be a good time to start learning some texturing. Two things i'm going to try out is:

1. Modifying an existing texture

2. Creating a completely new texture from scratch

I have a decent understanding of the material room, and how different kinds of maps work. I also know that the template is used to make your own textures, and you have to paint a 3d picture in 2d space. Right now i'm only concerned with the outside diffuse texture map.

I'll start with modifying an existing texture. The first problem is i'm not sure how i'd get it working. Most models you go to the pose or material section of your library, click a button, and apply the textures/shaders that way. So if i wanted to change just the diffuse texture, what's the best way to go about doing it? I was thinking that i need to make a copy of the existing texture, make changes to it in photoshop, then create a separate folder to store all my changed textures. Then when i need to use it, i load up all the original textures for the prop (so i can get the specular and all the other maps), then change the diffuse image map in the material room to the modified one. Is that how i would modify an existing texture and use it?

Next is creating a texture from scratch. How do i use the template? Do i just load it up in photoshop and paint my texture within the lines? What do i need to do to create a texture from scratch?

The manual has an entire chapter on the Material Room.

Wouldn't hurt to give it a once over to find out about basic functions

Yes , you seem to have a fair grasp of it. Just name your textures  so you know what they apply to. I tend to put midified textures in the same folder as the originals, so all textures for that product are in the same place.

read the manual os also good advice. Its available off the help menu and was a pdf file in the program folder.

Quote - Yes , you seem to have a fair grasp of it. Just name your textures  so you know what they apply to. I tend to put midified textures in the same folder as the originals, so all textures for that product are in the same place.

Yep, I do the same and keep the new/modified texture in the same folder with the name changed to reflect the difference from the original.  If I have created the new texture using layers I even keep a copy of this in the same folder along with the file I use in Poser.  That way if you want to make any changes you can use the layered file and save without degrading the image.

I have some basic texturing tutorials in Acrobat PDF format on my site (starting at "Texturing for Beginners" - just scroll down a little). Heidi wrote them some time ago, so you won't find anything about the material room, but the basics of using a template to produce a map haven't changed.

piccolo_909,

Try stitch-witch, it is not out of reach for the beginner and will give you an edge.

http://www.daz3d.com/stitch-witch-1

http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=97238&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll check out the poser manual and those links.

Sveva's Texturing for Beginners is a great place to start.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/sv-texturing-for-beginners/95737