What is texturing?

When discussing this issue, it is necessary to clarify an important point. Under the term texturing is usually covered by another term, namely material layering. The two are used interchangeably. When applying materials to 3D models, we often, but not always, use textures. So let’s first explain what textures are in general. Textures are images in the form of files in various formats such as JPG, TIFF, PNG or others.

3D balls

Thus, they can be photos of a wide variety of real objects taken with a camera or scanned with a scanner. Textures can also be created from scratch by drawing or painting, and both classically on paper and directly in a graphics program. What is a material then? Let’s perhaps start with the fact that every element of the world around us is made of some material. Each such material has certain visual characteristics with which we can describe it. Such qualities include color, luster, reflection, transparency, among others.

For example, let’s take the fruit of an orange. Obviously, its color is orange. Its surface is usually quite glossy but also porous and covered with small protuberances that scatter light.

oranges

Wanting to reproduce such an orange with the help of a 3D program, we need to assign to our model similar characteristics that function in the real world. So, we will create a material and give it such properties as color, glossiness or convexity of the surface. In this case, a texture in the form of a picture of an orange can be used as a color. Then we will apply the material with the appropriate tools to our 3D object.

In contrast, if we wanted to create a model of a perfectly clear glass we would have to focus on such features as transparency, reflection and refraction, i.e. refraction of light rays. Of course, there are more of these features and there are different ways to achieve them. Texture is also an interaction and some context of the lighting used, the type of scene or the color of the object. Sometimes well-understood simplicity gives the best results as in the example realized by the How How animation studio for Seysso:

In conclusion, it should be said that in the 3D world, texturing is one of the most important elements in the process of creating a single image or animation. It is at this stage with the help of materials and textures that we can make our modeled object take on real characteristics. Therefore, the more accurate and refined the texture, the more natural the effect.