[April]

Here is the original morrowind thread.
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=792864

I thought because Oblivion uses different types of textures that this thread may prove useful.
Please feel free to post both questions and helpful hints in this thread.

Here a helpful Spec, bump and Occlusion Tutorials
http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=91

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Textures, reference, photographs and materials for rendering


Large public libraries of textures. Mostly high res until e able photographs

http://www.freegraphics.org/ (not much variety)

http://www.pawas.com/ (Some variety of close-up photo references, none is ready to use)

http://free3dstextures.com/ (Textures and photographs licensed under creative commons)

http://www.mega-tex.nl/ (Accepts submissions)

http://www.accustudio.com/exchange/textures.php?dir= (Accepts submissions)

http://www.gamingtextures.com/ (Free low res textures. Paid users get high res textures)

http://textures.pedramk.com/index-html.php

http://www.turtletextures.com

http://www.3dimplant.com/images.php

http://textures.pedramk.com/index-html.php (Most of the photos need heavy post processing)

http://www.afflict.net/option_1/option_1.htm

http://www.3d-resources.com/3d_textures.php (Despite the name there are no normal or displacement maps here), just photo textures)

http://www.zbrush3.com/textures/index.html

http://www.archivetextures.net/ (most are rather small, but there is a huge variety)

http://www.change-books.com/free-art-textures/free-art-textures-metal.html

http://www.davegh.com/blade/davegh.htm

http://www.texturevault.com/cpg1410/index.php (Very good photos with no obvious shadows, overbright or angles)

http://www.lynnart.net/textures/wood/

http://texturez.com/ (Plethora of high res photo sources, but many were taken at angle)

http://www.lapicesdecolores.com/neuras3d/texturas.html

http://www.texturearchive.com/ (What the name says)

http://www.boogaholler.com/bjudy/fineart/textures/textures.html (Just 24 small images)

http://www.photoshoptextures.com/ (Don't be fooled by its name, all textures are photo sources)

http://www.cr-market.com/en/index.php

http://www.thegrimypolygon.com/

http://www.txpgone3d.com/portal.php (must register)

http://www.newtek.com/freestuff/ (must register)

http://www.3dmd.net/gallery/ (some tileable)

http://www.texturewarehouse.com/gallery/index.php (another source with a great variety of textures)

http://www.sharecg.com/b/6/Textures

http://www.amazingtextures.com/textures/index.php (As the name says, amazing! Proper, not angled, photos. Most are clean with no light flashes, shadows or overbrightness)

http://www.bencloward.com/resources_textures.shtml

http://www.textureking.com/index.php/category/all-textures (Not really THE KING, nonetheless it's very good)

http://www.ktn3d.com/textures.htm (some tileable)

http://www.textureworks.com/freestuff.html (many modern world facade photos)

http://www.allin3d.com/texures.html

http://www.noir.org/Textures.html (photos of bricks, stones, asphalt, etc)

http://megapoxy.net/free#anchor

http://www.in-texture.com/index.htm (was unreachable when I first saw it, don't know why)

http://www.animax.it/animax/Textures.htm (Highly recommended)

http://www.mayang.com/textures/ (Highly recommended)

http://www.imageafter.com/ (Highly recommended)

http://www.grsites.com/archive/textures/ (Mostly small tiles)

http://www.cgtextures.com/ (Highly recommended)

http://www.grungetextures.com/ (Metal, rust, oxidized, dirty, mud, dust, old, etc)

http://www.texturespy.com (Seems that they were a paid site sometime ago, but now everything is free to download)

http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/free_stock_photos/showgallery.php/cat/506

http://tellim.com/texture_cd/html/menu1.html (blender texture CD)

http://textures.vertx.ca/ (Some high quality photographed textures)

http://www.archibase.net/textures

http://www.escrappers.com/textures.html

http://www.texturesbytuesday.com/downpage.html





Tileable / seamless

http://www.pixelpoke.com/FREE%20PIXELS_textures.html

http://www.3dvalley.com/textures.shtml

http://www.planit3d.com/source/texture_files/textures.html (low res)

http://www.ender-design.com/rg/backidx.html (as above)

http://www.freetexturemaps.com/ (14 1024 x 1024 base textures. Have links to other sites)

http://www.openfootage.net/ (High resolution photographic textures)

http://www.yourdailytexture.com/ (as above)

http://www.texarch.eu/

http://www.oneodddude.net/index.php

http://www.spectralogue.com/textures/index.php?path=41 (both seamless and photo reference)

http://tirad.com/textures.htm (a few photoedited seamless)

http://www.fatstrawberry.com/ (many wallpapers and ornamental patterns)

http://repeatxy.com (Very good source of tileable background patterns)

http://www.squidfingers.com/patterns/ (Same as above)

http://www.feedfinder.net/webground/main.shtml (tileable patterns in a wide range of colors)

http://www.citilink.com/~rmc/art/textures/textures.htm (Has some low res textures)

http://local.wasp.uwa.edu.au/~pbourke/texture_colour/ (all tiles are low res)





Texture maps

http://www.zarria.net/nrmphoto/nrmphoto.html (how to "take pictures" of normal maps)

http://www.crazybump.com/ (this tool is capable of generating normal maps out of photographs)

http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=46

http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=589

http://cgexpanse.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=e99ae618a71ba83279349a980961f4ed

http://www.mapcore.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5318 (Some tutorials about texturing for games)





Procedural / Synthetic

http://www.filterforge.com/ (Photoshop plugin)

http://www.mapzoneeditor.com/ (procedural texture generator)

http://www.texturesynthesis.com/index.htm (as above, but it's GPL)

http://www.angelcode.com/texgen/ (Similar to the above)

http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/genetica.htm (Need to buy to have access to all features)

http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=46368 (one click seamless texture generator)

http://www.imagelys.com/

http://www.fxgen.org/ (GPL library)





Planets, stars and galaxies

http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/mars.php

http://www.galaxyphoto.com/galaxies.htm

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/

http://www.gemini.edu/index.php?option=com_gallery





Materials for 3D modelling softwares

http://www.blender-materials.org/

http://www.vray-materials.de/

http://mxmgallery.maxwellrender.com/

http://www.tresd1.com.br/texturas.php?t=12921

http://www.lwg3d.com/v3/presets.php



Misc & Reference

http://www.e-interiors.net/ (Architecture and interior design reference)

http://www.linedstudio.com/ (as above)

http://jeenybeen.typepad.com/gingko_leaves/textures/index.html

http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/index.html (amazing collection of reference pictures of skies in different weather conditions)

http://www.morguefile.com/

http://urbandirty.com/

http://www.2textured.com/main.php

http://www.diwiesign.com/index.php?page=stockphotos (Ever watched Saw horror movies? This is a lot like Saw I)

http://www.abandoned-places.com/

http://www.greatbuildings.com/

http://www.oboylephoto.com/ruins/index.htm (Modern Ruins)

http://www.ohiotrespassers.com/ (abandoned, decayed buildings)

http://www.filipstadsbergslag.com/ (Dedicated to mines and miners)

http://bunkersite.com/ (Bunkers around the world)

http://www.dubtown.de/ (German. Pictures of decayed buildings and structures)

http://www.new-eden.com/ (Has a database of panoramic images)

http://www.abandoned.ru/index.php (Russian. Another source of abandoned structures)

http://www.urbanized.net/index.php?r=30 (Pictures of decayed structures)

http://www.uer.ca/ (More decayed...)

http://www.panoramio.com/ (Pictures of geological formations around the world. Integrated with google Earth)

http://vyonyx.com/ (Both textures and professional quality pictures of various places, and concept art)

www.freemediagoo.com (As above)

http://jeenybeen.typepad.com/gingko_leaves/textures/index.html

http://www.locationworks.com/library/index.html (Excellent reference for interiors and exteriors, all categorized in sections such as bathrooms, living rooms, castles, rivers, etc.)

http://virtualworlds.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page (A wiki dedicated to archive game content that the author's has released under GPL)

http://gplr.bcsims.com/ (Similar to the above)

http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/freebies/index.html





Photos

http://www.sxc.hu/

http://cgusite.ning.com/photo

http://www.webshots.com/

http://www.pbase.com/ (super reference, highly recommended)

http://www.stockvault.net/index.php

http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/index.php

http://www.freefoto.com/

http://www.bigfoto.com/

http://aarinfreephoto.com/

http://www.farmphoto.com/

http://openphoto.net/

http://tofz.org/

http://www.photocase.de/en/

http://visipix.dynalias.com/index_hidden.htm

http://www.flickr.com/ (Must register)

http://www.photosharingforum.com/ (Some very high res textures and many photographs)

http://www.recsa.com/webroot/photogallery/photo10854/real.htm (many real marble references)

http://www.boralbricks.com/ (as above, but for bricks)

http://www.freephotosweb.com/

http://www.freephotosbank.com/

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

http://www.dreamstime.com/freephotos

http://www.photoforum.ru/

http://www.fontplay.com/freephotos/

http://www.freephotostation.com/

http://www.freephotop.com/

http://www.freepixels.com/

http://www.everystockphoto.com/

http://www.allfreephoto.com/

http://yotophoto.com/

http://www.barrysfreephotos.com/

http://www.free-photographs.net/

http://www.freerangestock.com/

http://www.freephotos.se/

http://geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/photos.htm

http://www.netfreephotos.com/

http://www.free-stockphotos.com/

http://www.free-pictures-photos.com/index.htm





Non english resources

http://www.gallerie1.de/html/texturen.shtml

http://alice-grafixx.de/textures

http://www.texturenwelt.de/

http://www.pur3d.de/index.php?id=29

http://www.texturenland.de/texturen

http://www.3dxtra.cygad.net/de/page/46.htm

http://www.joes3dfantasyworlds.com/down/downpreview.htm

http://stilgar.st.funpic.de/

http://www.c4d-jack.de/php/textures/index.php

http://www.kollermedia.at/index.php/pattern4u

http://www.3d-ressource.de/

http://colorfilter.net/largetextures

http://www.mediacastle.de/texturen/rosttexturen/rosttexturen7180/index.html

http://lemog.fr/lemog_v6/index.php

http://www.ulf-theis.de/tutorials/texturen/industriell/

http://www.texturator.de/texturator_d.htm

http://www.on-design.de/goodies/texture/index.htm

http://www.ffranceschi.com/midima/ffita008.html

http://www.france-textures.fr.st/

http://www.bryceart.de/




All in one tutorial index sites (most tutorials are found in all of those)

http://www.good-tutorials.com/

http://www.pixel2life.com/

http://www.tutorialized.com/

http://pslover.com/

http://www.gurusnetwork.com

http://www.webdesign.org/

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com

http://www.wikihow.com

http://totaltutorials.com/

http://www.wikivid.com/index.php/Main_page (Free video tutorials of pretty much any subject)

http://www.techtutorials.info/

http://www.tutorialforums.com/

http://www.tutorialquest.com/

http://www.astahost.com/graphics-animation-f73.html (Plethora of good tutorials hosted on a forum scheme)

http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials.php

http://www.sclipo.com/ (It's like a youtube specialized in showing off" how to's")





Gimp & Others

http://www.inkscape.org/ (Free vector drawing software)

http://www.zoggles.co.uk/asp/news.asp (pixel art)

http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials.php

http://www.ratemydrawings.com/tutorials (Drawing art)

http://pwrinfo.com/cartoon-drawing-course/cartoon-drawing-tutorials.htm (what the URL says)

http://www.drawingnow.com/ (more drawings)

http://www.psplinks.com/content/Digital_Paint (Paint Shop Pro)

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060622/ahearn_01.shtml (Texture theory)

http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/forum/GIMP-Tutorials-and-Tips-8-1.html

http://www.gimpdome.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=7642a62048818ee0e42f7adbc670100b&board=53.0

http://gug.sunsite.dk/?page=tutorials&PHPSESSID=900b5424809823ff3d3285931cdd5b6e





Photoshop

http://www.pixeldigest.com/tutorials.html (Mostly dedicated to photograph editing)

http://photoshop-indepth.com/lessons/ (Index page is offline or forbidden,uh??)

http://www.graphicreporter.com/tutorials/elements_tutorials.html

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/tutorial/index.php?browse§ion_id=6 (Mostly dedicated to digital artists in general)

http://www.photoshopcstutorial.com/ (Does not cover painting or drawing techniques. It covers some effecst from burning texts to emboss, from photo retouching to some filter effects)

http://www.spoono.com/photoshop/

http://www.teamphotoshop.com/The%20Techniques-5,8,3.html

http://www.photoshop101.com/tutorials/textures-and-patterns/

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop?result_page=1

http://psworkshop.net/psworkshop/Category.asp?CatID=6&Name=Textures&

http://www.biorust.com/tutorials/browse/4/added/desc/1/

http://www.toxiclab.org/default.asp?ID=3

http://www.fstutorials.com/photoshop/texture/

http://www.radiantvista.com/tutorials?page=1 (Some video tutorials)

http://www.espressographics.com/

http://www.candeekis.com/alltutorials.html

http://www.cbtcafe.com/photoshop/

http://www.photoshopmosaic.com/Photoshop-tutorials/1

http://www.photoshopgurus.com/tutorials/tutorials.html

http://www.lunacore.com/photoshop/tutorials/tutorials.shtml

http://www.photoshopdersleri.net/ (Swendish)

http://www.shanzcan.com/photoshopahol.html

http://www.celoxdesign.net/free-photoshop-tutorials

http://www.macmerc.com/articles/list/7

http://www.trainstation.cc/Tutorials/tutorialIndex.html

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/designcenter/search.cfm?term=&product=Photoshop&loc=en_us&=%23target&topic=&submit=Search (The official adobe resource site)

http://vr6dubeast.com/node/11 (Highly recommended, very well written, step by step)

http://www.freetimefoto.com/photoshop_cs3_toolbox/ (quick reference to all tools)





The path tool

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Drawing_Shapes/

http://www.good-tutorials.com/search/tutorials/path+tool

http://www.tutorialquest.com/tutorials/search/all/categories/path%20tool/tqpage_1/

http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/brush7/yj/yj.htm

http://shapeshed.com/journal/photoshop_101_path_and_direct_selection_tools/

http://www.tutorialstraining.com/cstutorials/tut43pathediting.htm

http://www.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=139900&c=1





The history brush tool

http://www.pbase.com/ctfchallenge/tutorial__history_brush

http://shapeshed.com/journal/photoshop_101_the_history_brush_tool/

http://www.espressographics.com/text/historybrush.html





Selection and masks

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/l/blrbps_1jet.htm





Drawing & Painting

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp

http://www.allcrafts.net/drawpaint.htm (Real painting, not digital art)

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/ (mostly dedicated to Design & Creativity process)

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/index.htm (dedicated to manga, anime drawing)





Adjustment layers (extremely powerful feature)

http://www.good-tutorials.com/search/tutorials/adjustment+layers

http://www.pixel2life.com/search/all/adjustment%20layers/1/

http://www.phong.com/tutorials/adjust/

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/adjustment-layers-101.html

http://www.nyfalls.com/article-photoshop-adjustment-layers.html

http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/adjlay/adjlay.htm

http://www.tutorialstraining.com/cstutorials/tut53adjustmentlayers.htm

http://www.bairarteditions.com/pages/tutorials/photoshop/layadjust.html

http://photoshoptips.net/2005/09/16/adjustment-layers/





Histograms and channels (extremely useful for fine tuning)

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

http://www.pixel2life.com/search/all/histogram/1/

http://www.nyfalls.com/article-photoshop-levels.html

http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/paint4/city.htm (Covers levels)

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/histograms.htm (covers exposure and color)

http://ronbigelow.com/articles/histograms-1/histograms-1.htm

http://www.twistedtreephoto.com/Photoshop%20tutorial/Photoshop%20tutorial1.html

http://www.sphoto.com/techinfo/histograms/histograms.htm

http://www.marginalsoftware.com/HowtoScan/color_channels.htm





High pass & Low pass filter

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010523/hajba_pfv.htm (covers how to elimitate high frequency or low frequency "noises" from textures)

http://www.nyfalls.com/article-photoshop-high-pass-sharpening.html

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Sketch_Effect/ (covers one use of the high pass filter)

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/high-pass-sharpening-photoshop.html

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/sharpen-an-image/photo-sharpening.html

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/polevoy_george/texture_tiling.php

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/High-Pass-sharpening-in-Photoshop-7

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing/sharpen-high-pass/





Brush tools (learn those!)

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshop/articles/phs8kbdodgeburn/phs8kbdodgeburn.pdf (handy description of dodge, smudge, burn and sponge. All in one easy reading photo retouching guide)

http://www.eyeforphotos.com/guides/photoshop-dodge-burn?page=0%2C0 (Short description of dodge and burn tools)

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/95220/photoshop_tutorial_understanding_how.html (as above)

http://www.tutorialstreet.com/tuts/using-painting-tools/ (very short description of dodge, burn, gradient, fill, and paint brush)

http://www.arraich.com/ps6_tips_ddodgeburn1.htm (More dodge and burn)

http://s12.invisionfree.com/Revolution_Studios/index.php?showtopic=1523 (Smudge)

http://www.adidap.com/2006/11/07/photoshop-tutorial-from-image-to-painting/ (Smudge. From photo to paint)

http://oman3d.com/tutorials/photoshop/paiting_conceptoo/ (Simple guide that shows how to create a simple painting using the regular brushes tools)

http://shapeshed.com/journal/photoshop_101_burn_dodge_and_sponge_tools/

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Dodge-burn-and-sponge-tools

http://madartgraphics.com/tutorials/brushes.htm (create your own brushes! This offers much more control than simple blending two layers together)





Blending modes / Blend rages / Blend if (This + brushes = dreams come true. All descriptions from all sites are virtually the same)

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/blendingmode/index.htm

http://www.webdesign.org/web/photoshop/photoshop-basics/blending-modes.54.html

http://ronbigelow.com/articles/blend1/blend1.htm

http://photoshopcontest.com/tutorials/7/blending-layer-modes.html (A simple example of how to blend many images together to form unusual textures)

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/glossary/ig/Blending-Modes/index.htm?nl=1

http://www.teamphotoshop.com/articles-The-Techniques-Layer-Blend-Modes-Explained!-5,8,65a.html

http://ronbigelow.com/articles/bend-if/blend-if.htm (Blend if gives you complete control of what blend and what does not)

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Blending_Exposures/ (This is a photographers technique of blending photos at different exposures)

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=111





Eraser tools

http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/weekly/aa110399x11.htm?terms=magic+wand+tool (Magic eraser and bacground eraser)

http://www.tutorialstraining.com/cstutorials/tut46magiceraser.htm

http://designorati.com/articles/t1/photoshop/275/removing-backgrounds-part-2-the-magic-eraser-tool.php

http://wiki.biorust.com/index.php?title=Magic_Eraser&curid=133&diff=484&oldid=482

http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/photoshop/tool/eraser.html





Art history brush and history brush

http://www.adobe.com/uk/print/tips/history/index.html

http://www.retouchpro.com/tutorials/arthistory/index.html

http://www.macworld.com/2007/08/secrets/sept07digitalphoto/index.php?pf=1

http://www.freetimefoto.com/photoshop/tool_box/painting_tool.html

http://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp?p=685045&ns=7919&rl=1

http://www.digitaldesigncottage.com/2007/03/photoshop-tutorial-usint-art-history.html





Colouring drawings (ranges from cartoon to manga)

http://www.idigitalemotion.com/tutorials/guest/coloring/coloring.html

http://www.geocities.com/sea_dragon_gemini_kanon/tutorial.html

http://gug.sunsite.dk/tutorials/koudys1/ (Extremely basic)

http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-lineart.html

http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Color-line-art/5573

http://home.earthlink.net/~nomuse/tute3/linetute.html

http://www.webdesign.org/web/photoshop/tutorials/digital-comics-coloring.5052.html

http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/digital_colorpart1.html

http://www.seanellery.com/tutorial/tutorial.html

http://www.mangatutorials.com/

http://www.mangapunk.com/tutorials/photoshop/colorlines

http://www.mangarevolution.com/tutorials.php

http://tutorials.epilogue.net/tutorials/a-practical-guide-to-color-for-artists (Color theory)





Digital painting (Most describe the techniques, not the tools itself)

http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/tutorialsdigipaint.asp

http://tutorials.epilogue.net/cat/tutorials/digital-art/

http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Digital-Painting/5014

http://www.partdigital.com/tutorials/portrait/

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshoptutorialsart/Digital_Artists_Techniques_for_Creating_and_Editing_Original_Art_Work.htm

http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/painting_steps.html

http://www.robertocampus.com/2007/05/17/photoshop-tutorial-howling-digital-painting/

Most CG / 3D modelling communities have sections dedicated to traditional art



Clouds
http://tutorials.epilogue.net/tutorials/perfect-clouds-in-5-easy-steps (Amazing)
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/cloud_tut.html
http://www.idigitalemotion.com/tutorials/guest/digital%20painting/digitalpainting.html (Very nice!)
http://9tutorials.com/2007/08/05/painting-clouds.html (Terrific!!!!)



Grass and rocks
http://tutorials.epilogue.net/tutorials/painting-rocks-and-grass-in-photoshop/1/ (Grass and rocks. Hard visible brush strokes style)
http://www.jeshannon.com/Grass.htm (almost photorealistic style)

Lanscapes
http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/photoshop/landscape/index.html (Learn custom brushes before trying this)
http://tutorials.epilogue.net/tutorials/digital-landscape-painting (Not photorealistic)
http://www.idigitalemotion.com/tutorials/guest/lastremainder/lastremainder.html (need some prior experience)





This resource has EVERYTHING about color adjustments, contrast, brightness and pretty much all things about photo / image adjusting and treatment

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

http://ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm

http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/tutorials/light01.htm (This is all about lighting in real world)

http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/general/lighting_in_lightwave/lighting_in_lightwave1.asp (This is more about rendering)

http://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp?p=472326&seqNum=10

___________________________________________________ more sites added to the list__________________

http://www.2textured.com/main.php Thanks Ghogiel

_____________________________________________________________________________________________-
different tutorials many programs

-------------------How to sites *** ----------------------------------------------------
***Many sites have forums.Look through the forum. If it seems there are professionals in them. Join so you can post your question and art and became known (it's free) make up a new email. Just for forums.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://gameart.jaquays.com/texture_resources.html texture resources

BEST SITE.... http://www.cgtextures.com/ tutorials in this site. Best textures and if you join the forum (it's free). You'll be talking with many profesionals.

http://www.digitaltutors.com/digital_tutors/tutorials.php under Browse free tutorials by category are many program tutorials

http://www.strarup.net/maya/imageplanesetup/ image editing (maya or others) to photo shop. Rendering

http://web.alfredstate.edu/ciat/tutorials/FakingGlobalIllumination.htm Rendering

BEST SITE.... http://www.cgtextures.com/ tutorials at this site,Great textures and if you join the forum (it's free). You'll be talking with many proffesionals.

http://web.alfredstate.edu/ciat/tutorials/LightLinking.htm rendering

http://web.alfredstate.edu/ciat/tutorials/TexturingPolygons.htm texturing

http://web.alfredstate.edu/ciat/tutorials/basicModeling.htm modeling

http://web.alfredstate.edu/ciat/tutorials/MuscleDeformations.htm animation

http://web.alfredstate.edu/ciat/tutorials/RotatingCarWheels.htm animation

http://www.geocities.com/tomerep/bullet.htm animation

http://hfx.planetquake.gamespy.com/tutorials.html Texturing

http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.11/gc/ Texturing.Buecheler Hates photo shop. But with deadlines He'll show the fastest ways to use it.

http://www.3dtotal.com/team/tutorials/minishading/minishading_1.asp Texturing

http://www.geocities.com/sweekimlai/ texturing

http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=46 how to site **

http://forums.3dtotal.com/forumdisplay.php?f=73 How to site ***

http://cgexpanse.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=e99ae618a71ba83279349a980961f4ed how to site ***

http://www.mapcore.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=36 how to site ***

Great photo site
http://ladyn.tamriel-rebuilt.org/Textures.html
Thanks Lady Nerevar

Psp and photoshop plug ins. Thanks trottlekitty
http://www.bmath.net/dc/ind.htm

Best tutorials
http://www.cgtextures.com/content.php?action=tutorials

[mike]

Slof's dremora texures are my favorite resource. They can be used for a lot of things if you are creative.

[Joey Bel]

I'll offer a tip of mine since I've dabbled in texturing.
Start with something easy, even recolouring an existing texture or making a new one by cutting and pasting textures together is a good start to familiarize yourself with the tools used.

[adame]

Thanks ! I had an idea of simple retexturing of the Arena poster and I was wondering where to begin,,, this is perfect.

[Adrian Powers]

I'll offer a tip of mine since I've dabbled in texturing.
Start with something easy, even recolouring an existing texture or making a new one by cutting and pasting textures together is a good start to familiarize yourself with the tools used.

Good advice. 100 small steps equal a great distance.

[Natasha Biss]

wow, thanks skyedye! is there a way to save all the links from these forum posts? There's a lot of delicious looking links, but I haven't time to check them all out at once

Perusing the high pass filter one right now... I love that filter ;D nice to pick up some new trick with it!

[OnlyDumazzapplyhere]

wow, thanks skyedye! is there a way to save all the links from these forum posts? There's a lot of delicious looking links, but I haven't time to check them all out at once

Perusing the high pass filter one right now... I love that filter ;D nice to pick up some new trick with it!

Go to your file on the browser. Pick save page as. Name it and put it into a folder. :foodndrink:

[renee Duhamel]

That's a thread I might add something useful to

Skydye, in the QTP3 - Redimized thread you mentioned that the Gamebryo engine does not support texture size up to 4096 pixels and downscales them. But I am very sure that it doesn't do this. You could never archive the amount of detail of a 4096er in a 2048px or 1024px large texture. I did experiment with texture sizes myself and there is a difference. But I also encourage people to not exaggerate. For most purposes a 1024px texture is large enough, when you have some good UV-mapping on your mesh. In Oblivion that's the problem. Many of the UV-mapping is bad. You have smearing and misplaced textures in many places. The good thing about how textures are handled in Oblivion is that in most cases you only have two maps that include other ones: A color map can include a transparency map or a parallax map in the alpha channel. A normal map can include specularity information there. That helps with the load on your Ram/Vram, but you should always think twice which size you really need for your texture and wether you need any other maps included (not many textures really need a spec map).

Another thing is that it does not make a visible difference whether you save your texture in DXT1, 3 or 5. Only save in DXT3 or 5 when you need the additional information from the alpha channel (specularity, parallax)! Otherwise you'll waste RAM/VRAM and in case of normal maps may get some ugly chrome-like shining. There also is no difference in filesize between DXT3 and 5, but in the way how it looks ingame. DXT3 has an explicit alpha channel while in DXT5 it's interpolated. That does make a difference in visual quality. So for very wet or slimey looking surfaces I recommend using DXT3, for a more subtle effect (e.g.: metal) use DXT5. You can archive the almost same effect DXT3 has with DXT5, but you need to adjust your alpha channel.

[Alexander Lee]

awesome thread man.i was about to start retexturing items for fun and this will help me a lot.bookmarked

[Nikki Hype]

That's a thread I might add something useful to

Skydye, in the QTP3 - Redimized thread you mentioned that the Gamebryo engine does not support texture size up to 4096 pixels and downscales them. But I am very sure that it doesn't do this. You could never archive the amount of detail of a 4096er in a 2048px or 1024px large texture. I did experiment with texture sizes myself and there is a difference. But I also encourage people to not exaggerate. For most purposes a 1024px texture is large enough, when you have some good UV-mapping on your mesh. In Oblivion that's the problem. Many of the UV-mapping is bad. You have smearing and misplaced textures in many places. The good thing about how textures are handled in Oblivion is that in most cases you only have two maps that include other ones: A color map can include a transparency map or a parallax map in the alpha channel. A normal map can include specularity information there. That helps with the load on your Ram/Vram, but you should always think twice which size you really need for your texture and wether you need any other maps included (not many textures really need a spec map).

Another thing is that it does not make a visible difference whether you save your texture in DXT1, 3 or 5. Only save in DXT3 or 5 when you need the additional information from the alpha channel (specularity, parallax)! Otherwise you'll waste RAM/VRAM and in case of normal maps may get some ugly chrome-like shining. There also is no difference in filesize between DXT3 and 5, but in the way how it looks ingame. DXT3 has an explicit alpha channel while in DXT5 it's interpolated. That does make a difference in visual quality. So for very wet or slimey looking surfaces I recommend using DXT3, for a more subtle effect (e.g.: metal) use DXT5. You can archive the almost same effect DXT3 has with DXT5, but you need to adjust your alpha channel.

If you make a texture at 4096 it will be sharper as that's how it was made. So the game rendering it at the highest it can do will still show sharpness. But if the game lets say goes up to only 1024, and you made that texture clear and sharp at 1024, then you'll see the difference. I can not see any game going up to 4096. Only a few go up to 2048. I don't think oblivion is one of them.
You posted a lot of useful information here. Thanks for taking the time.
Parallax is being tested with flags APPLY_HILIGHT2 in the nif. I'm not sure where the displacement/height map will go. The best place is the normals alpha mask. But Thats being used by the spec. This means the color maps alpha mask as you say can be used if it flagged that way. Normals are great at DXT5_NM. If you put the parallax on the color map. I believe it's a dxt1 as dxt3 will make it a transparency.

Heres a link talking a little about what you already know. But it can help others.
http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108

[Roberta Obrien]

Oblivion supports 2048 for sure. Bethesda used 2048 textures themselves. Make that experiment yourself, it does use at least 2048 textures. Sorry, but you're mainly wrong about the second part of your reply. The parallax map goes into the alpha channel of the color map. Wether the information in the alpha channel is interpreted as transparancy or parallax is solely determined in the nif, as you said correctly (Highlight2 for parallax and modulate for transpareny). But it's not important wether it's DXT3 or 5. You have to deceide wether you use transparency or parallax, both at the same time is not possible. For parallax maps I strongly suggest using DXT5, because heavy color banding may appear in a DXT3 alpha channel which visibly reduces the quality of the parallax effect.
The normal maps alpha channel is solely used for storing specularity information. Oblivion cannot interpret DXT5_NM, unfortunately. That would be a great benefit.

[JLG]

Oblivion supports 2048 for sure. Bethesda used 2048 textures themselves. Make that experiment yourself, it does use at least 2048 textures. Sorry, but you're mainly wrong about the second part of your reply. The parallax map goes into the alpha channel of the color map. Wether the information in the alpha channel is interpreted as transparancy or parallax is solely determined in the nif, as you said correctly (Highlight2 for parallax and modulate for transpareny). But it's not important wether it's DXT3 or 5. You have to deceide wether you use transparency or parallax, both at the same time is not possible. For parallax maps I strongly suggest using DXT5, because heavy color banding may appear in a DXT3 alpha channel which visibly reduces the quality of the parallax effect.
The normal maps alpha channel is solely used for storing specularity information. Oblivion cannot interpret DXT5_NM, unfortunately. That would be a great benefit.

Thanks for the advice. Do you know what texture go up to 2048? I didn't know oblivion can't take Dxt5_NM. I'm just now trying to find out about parallax. Because oblivion uses spec you can't put the height map there. I thought I said that.
Here a link for finding details on parallax.
http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=142
heres a link on making a great normal.
http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30
In action with parallax
http://www.cgtextures.com/tutorials/normalmap/images/deep_normals_video.avi
http://www.cgtextures.com/tutorials/normalmap/images/deep_normals_lid_video.avi

[Chantel Hopkin]

Jeebus... I thought I knew a few things. :shakehead:

Its enough to make one give up... if one had not already done such a thing

Nice to see you active and informative sky mate :wave:

[Alex Vincent]

Jeebus... I thought I knew a few things. :shakehead:

Its enough to make one give up... if one had not already done such a thing

Nice to see you active and informative sky mate :wave:

V.A. Great to see you also. I've been away for a couple of years. No reason just being lazy.
I'm really enjoying Bomret's spirit. This is the whole point to learn from each other.

Throttlekitty seems to like this trick so I'll post it here

This is one of the most useful tips for photoshop I've ever used. Note setting the pixels to 1.5 seems to work best for me. Make a layer of the original texture. Then high pass the layer.
Go to filters/other/high pass. Set pixels 1 to 3. Click on the tab that says normal to see all your opinions of blends. Now pick vivid as your blend. Set your opacity so it looks good. Try not to set it to high as this will make it too sharp.

http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii277/skydye2/pop%20texture/?action=view¤t=vividblendmodewithhighpass.jpg

[joseluis perez]

Thanks for the advice. Do you know what texture go up to 2048? I didn't know oblivion can't take Dxt5_NM. I'm just now trying to find out about parallax. Because oblivion uses spec you can't put the height map there. I thought I said that.
Here a link for finding details on parallax.
http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=142
heres a link on making a great normal.
http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30
In action with parallax
http://www.cgtextures.com/tutorials/normalmap/images/deep_normals_video.avi
http://www.cgtextures.com/tutorials/normalmap/images/deep_normals_lid_video.avi

I don't know it's name at the moment but for example in Shivering Isles there is this large ugly head in Crucible with the door to Bliss in it's mouth. That texture is 2048x2048. There are more which have at least one side which is 2048px long, if I remember correctly. Sorry, if I got you wrong. Yeah, the alpha of the normal maps is no place for parallax maps. They have to go into the color maps alpha.

I already know the threads in cgtextures, they'll surely help some people. I will post some tutorials in this thread, if I may. Or do you think it's better to create an extra thread for them?

This is one of the most useful tips for photoshop I've ever used. Note setting the pixels to 1.5 seems to work best for me. Make a layer of the original texture. Then high pass the layer.
Go to filters/other/high pass. Set pixels 1 to 3. Click on the tab that says normal to see all your opinions of blends. Now pick vivid as your blend. Set your opacity so it looks good. Try not to set it to high as this will make it too sharp.

ViVid blend with high pass filter

Hmm, didn't know that one. Looks very promising But isn't it possible to archive the same thing when you use a relief filter (I don't know if the name of this filter is the same in the english version as in the german one) on the second layer and then blend it?

[A Dardzz]

I don't know it's name at the moment but for example in Shivering Isles there is this large ugly head in Crucible with the door to Bliss in it's mouth. That texture is 2048x2048. There are more which have at least one side which is 2048px long, if I remember correctly. Sorry, if I got you wrong. Yeah, the alpha of the normal maps is no place for parallax maps. They have to go into the color maps alpha.

I already know the threads in cgtextures, they'll surely help some people. I will post some tutorials in this thread, if I may. Or do you think it's better to create an extra thread for them?
Hmm, didn't know that one. Looks very promising But isn't it possible to archive the same thing when you use a relief filter (I don't know if the name of this filter is the same in the english version as in the german one) on the second layer and then blend it?

Whats the name of the relief filter we can try them out and post what we find.
This isn't my thread I just started it. It's for everyone to post in. If you can see if you can get Pekka to post here too.
Everyone join the cgtextures forum is free if you want to ask questions there. You don't need to join just to read the posts there.

[Leah]

I found it. It can be found under filter->stylize->emboss.

[Cheryl Rice]

I wanted to know: Is there an 'easy' way to make '_n' textures?

[Taylrea Teodor]

I wanted to know: Is there an 'easy' way to make '_n' textures?

Well it's not that hard to make a normal map. But that'll look like crap. Just load up your color map and run the normal map filter plugin (in Photoshop it's from Nvidia. Gimp has one too, just ask Google).
To get a better one either follow this http://www.cgtextures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30. Another method is to use http://www.crazybump.com/. The results are ok so far. I'll also post a tutorial of my technique soon.

For best results you have to put some work into them. And it's best to do them by hand.

[Mrs Pooh]

I found it. It can be found under filter->stylize->emboss.

Yes a little difference as this is a shift to get the effect. But As long as you filter uses a most gray image. Then overlay to Hard mix will work well as these mix 50% grayness well.

Bomret Heres one made your way. I also made it tileable. http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii277/skydye2/?action=view¤t=test.jpg

Please no one use this as I'm under a license agreement and I can't give this one away. I will be doing textures for oblivion but oblivions texture will be free use.

[Dan Wright]

Nice list

I'll add a missing link to high res photo resources- 2textured.com

I'll agree so far with whats been said by Bomret. I slightly don't agree about rendering or painting specular maps.

They do make a difference in game. It may be a bit too much extra work for the pay off, but if you are rendering out normals and baking, might as well know how to pull one off while you are there.
On a texture with multiple materials, it is a nice polish to put in. Architectural and misc textures can usually achieve a correct specular finish by just adjusting the material properties, not always mind you. But weapons, armor,(I think these types of textures are the most abundant kind of modded textures) or anything that would contain multiple materials, wood. metal, cloth, leather, in one map, I recommend rendering or painting a specular map. I insist on using DXT5 for normal mapping. Almost always. If I make a specular map, I have no need to use DXT3, Unless I need to use DXT3 . In most cases I know what I am putting into my specular map and wish to keep it as I intended. Specular maps are NOT just a grey scale version of your diffuse map. They aren't as involved as a normal map, but there is more to them than just dumping any old rubbish in there.

Bomret- I'll be interested in seeing your method of bitmap to normal map.

I'll second that Oblivion can use 2048. I just recently did a very thorough cloth texture experiment. It involved a few 2048 diffuse maps. I can certainly see they do render in game.

[Tammie Flint]

A grunge looks good in a spec. Try using one only on a spec and see if you like it.

[Kirsty Collins]

Nice list

I'll add a missing link to high res photo resources- 2textured.com

I'll agree so far with whats been said by Bomret. I slightly don't agree about rendering or painting specular maps.

They do make a difference in game. It may be a bit too much extra work for the pay off, but if you are rendering out normals and baking, might as well know how to pull one off while you are there.
On a texture with multiple materials, it is a nice polish to put in. Architectural and misc textures can usually achieve a correct specular finish by just adjusting the material properties, not always mind you. But weapons, armor,(I think these types of textures are the most abundant kind of modded textures) or anything that would contain multiple materials, wood. metal, cloth, leather, in one map, I recommend rendering or painting a specular map. I insist on using DXT5 for normal mapping. Almost always. If I make a specular map, I have no need to use DXT3, Unless I need to use DXT3 . In most cases I know what I am putting into my specular map and wish to keep it as I intended. Specular maps are NOT just a grey scale version of your diffuse map. They aren't as involved as a normal map, but there is more to them than just dumping any old rubbish in there.

Bomret- I'll be interested in seeing your method of bitmap to normal map.

I'll second that Oblivion can use 2048. I just recently did a very thorough cloth texture experiment. It involved a few 2048 diffuse maps. I can certainly see they do render in game.

I don't disagree with you there. When you have materials that look better with a specular map (like metal, leather, wet surfaces etc. etc. etc.) then use it. But why should there be a specular map for a simple brick wall? I don't see any advantage. To make it look realistic you would have to use only very dark grey, almost black colors. Otherwise it would look wet. Sure, if this wall is inside the sewers or in a swampy area etc. it does make sense and can help to increase immersion. But let's take a simple brick wall on a house in Chorrol. A specular map would not help anything here, but eat up memory.
I also use DXT5 for most of my normal maps that have a specular map inside. But what I wanted to say is that there are situations where DXT3 might be the better choice.

Of course, do not just turn your color map into greyscale and use it. A specular map can extremely help improve the visual quality. But everyone should think twice which texture really needs a specular map. Most architecture does not, while many sorts of weapons and armor gain a boost in quality when a proper spec map is used.

Edit: A good specular map and a good normal map benefit from each other.

[Dona BlackHeart]

I don't disagree with you there. When you have materials that look better with a specular map (like metal, leather, wet surfaces etc. etc. etc.) then use it. But why should there be a specular map for a simple brick wall? I don't see any advantage. To make it look realistic you would have to use only very dark grey, almost black colors. Otherwise it would look wet. Sure, if this wall is inside the sewers or in a swampy area etc. it does make sense and can help to increase immersion. But let's take a simple brick wall on a house in Chorrol. A specular map would not help anything here, but eat up memory.
I also use DXT5 for most of my normal maps that have a specular map inside. But what I wanted to say is that there are situations where DXT3 might be the better choice.

Of course, do not just turn your color map into greyscale and use it. A specular map can extremely help improve the visual quality. But everyone should think twice which texture really needs a specular map. Most architecture does not, while many sorts of weapons and armor gain a boost in quality when a proper spec map is used.

Edit: A good specular map and a good normal map benefit from each other.

You both have strong points. These are more a matter of opinion and that's healthy in a thread like this. :foodndrink:

[Benji]

Great thread here. There's http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=727168&hl=union floating around somewhere here as well, which is also very informative.