The flat picture - A texture
Model with and without textures
Skinning is editing flat images(textures) that will be displayed on the model. Imagine it as having a wooden 3D cube(that is the model), and you cover it with flat pieces of colored papers(the textures).
Despiting the textures there is also 1 more type of 'surface' you can put on model: Shader (click to read more). The use of these, however, is advised only for skinners with more knowledge.
It is important to distinguish Skinning (texturing and shadering the model) from Modeling (creating a whole new model).
What is needed to start skinning[]
First off there are a few programs needed to be downloaded if you want to start skinning:
- ModView
This one allows you to look at your textured models in 3D, take screenshot of them, and also you can play their animation sequences (emotes, moves).
- Pakscape
This program is very similar to winrar/winzip. It browses .pk3 which contain skinning data for the game
- Notepad/Wordpad
These are basic text editors found in Windows operation systems by default
- Photoshop/GIMP/Paintshop pro etc.
These are image editor programs, you need one of these to edit texture and shader images
=== Download for Pakscape and Modview ===
Tutorials[]
- Creating the texture
- model.mvs file
- model.ideal file
- model.skin file
Here is a tutorial that explains best the basics of skinning: