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helljumper51

Modding PSA-Skinning vs UV-Mapping

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Ok Guys, here is something that I have noticed alot and alot of new modders get mixed up. There is a difference between Skinning and UV-mapping.

When I say skinning I am actually referring to the art of Re-skinning, or changing a texture. I see alot of new mods coming out with the leaders having no skills but Skinning, which they mean is "I can take an already done skin and make it look different". Thats great an all if you are doing a submod, but if you are doing new models, then you need to Skin them, or more technically, UV Map them. UV Mapping is the process of taking a polygon and assigning it a location on a 2d template or "Skin". This involves going into a program like 3ds max and zmodeler, and clicking on each polygon and assigning it to the texture in a specific spot. It is actually a long and tedious process.

So keep this in mind if you volunteer to work on a mod or try and create one and say that you can skin. To me, a modeler, I think "Awesome! I dont have to spend days working on a model and then spend another few days skinning it! He/She can do it!" When in reality the person means, "Give me an already skinned model and I can change the color!" That is no bueno.

I do not intend to lessen those of you who have learned to Re-Skin units, but it get tiring when I get requests for models and people tell me they can skin it, and then come to find out they just want me to UV Map it blank so they can skin it. To me I would rather spend the extra half hour adding the details since I have to do it anyway.

So next time you tell someone that you can skin, remember the difference between Skinning and UV Mapping and clarify for them. Or even better, look at hoppah's tutorial on UV Mapping and do it on your own! Its very easy to do and you dont even need a full version of zmodeler to do it!

UV Map Tutorial: http://forum.emergency-planet.com/index.php?/tutorials/article/3-zmodeler-2-uv-mapping-texturing/

As a Side note, I might be doing more of these PSAs. Just to clarify things for some people and to give more info on modding.

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