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How to Texture in Softimage Mod tool 7.5
Okay this tutorial will basically tell you how to apply a texture in XSI (much like Bandu’s Tutorial, however a few tricks and new things have been added). This Tutorial will also cover a tiny bit about UV mapping.
NOTE: I personally prefer the default view in the tools, like XSI Foundations ECT. So I am using it for this tutorial.
1. Firstly, Change your viewport display mode to Textured Decal.


2. Secondly, Select your object and on the left hand side panel click on Property then Texture Projection

3. Next, you select Unique UVs and then when the pop-up box comes up you change this:

Then exit the window.

4. Now, you (with the model selected still) on the left hand side panel click Material then Phong, this comes up:


5. Select the plug icon (the one below the first tick) as shown in the picture above, then select Image, a new window will appear.

6. Where it’s got noicon_pic, Select New next to it then New From File and select your texture.

7. Then exit the pop up window.

8. Now select your object and press Alt+7 to open the texture editor:

You will see a lot of 2d shapes inside this window and highly likely they are messy, but you should have a texture on your model at this point.


Now I will tell you a little about new projections and a few things to do with UVing.

Firstly, I can never really get along with Unique UVs, I find them too messy so I usually change the projection,

The five buttons allow different sub-projections, you can play around with them, however I personally like to use Cubic. Click on whichever one you want, for this example i'm using Cubic and select Best Fit. (Make sure your points in the texture editor are selected [Red]).


Now you can see it looks a lot neater.


Now play around with the points to see what you think looks best to you.
Once done exit the texture editor window and then select the object with Object Selection mode active.
You will see a green box around your model representing an active projection on that object, as seen in this picture (below). When the model is selected press Freeze or Freeze M and it will bake the UVs.


Now we have a nicely UVed model. And we have used a sub-projection.

Now let’s add a second texture to this model.
With raycast poly selection (press hotkey U) select your polygon(s) you wish to add a new texture to.


Then like at the beginning select your poly and on the left hand side panel click on Property then Texture Projection, then select cubic this time

Now you can add the texture by doing the same as before, select Material then Phong then the plug icon then Image and select your image.

So now we have a new texture on your selected polygons like this


Now we have to remap it. Select the poly with the texture and then press alt+7
Go to, the Cubic sub-projection again and then Best Fit. Now you can resize it to fit your new texture.
When you’re done click on Freeze or Freeze M again like we did earlier.
Check this picture:


Play around as I said and you'll get the most awesome textures and maps!

Notes:
1. Whilst in the texture editor you can press hotkeys: X for Scaling, C for Rotating and V for Translating
2. When using either scaling or translating pressing the left mouse button will do it all to the same scale factor or can move anywhere. But if you press the middle mouse button you only scale up or move up and with the right mouse button you can only scale and move, side to side.

Hope this helps...

Any problems, just ask on the XSI-->SWBF Forum on Gametoast...

Thanks alot Waz!

Wow, finally somthing to help me with my texturing . Thank's .

I never knew how to add another texture to another face on the model!

Thank you.

Great Waz! Still, i don't understand the phong thing and stuff, but that's because I've got ModTools 6.

The thing in 6 is the same in Wazzie's tut (with uv's etc), but in 6 you can easy set up a texture. Just in the 'ModTools' mode (not in XSI Default, but in the modtools, that's why it's only for 6) select the object you want the texture on.

Select Texture>UV>Unique (is this correct? I'm not with xsi atm)
A pop up appears, close this. Then, click Texture>Image and a pop-up appears. Select 'new from file', and select the texture. Then, under, in the bar which can go down (english word?) select 'Unique Projection'.

Now, follow Wazzie's tut from the UV editing.


Great tut Waz, i know many people needed this, and i hope now some good models can be finished easier since they only missed a texture, and that broke the courage of the creator down.. Well done mate

Yeah theres a few ways of applying textures to a model, like bandus tutorial and your small explanation, but i just thought i would show another way of doing it, its really what people feel comfortable with, and that way suits me, though it quite new to me aswell, i used to use bandus way all the time...

I know dude, this is better anyway, since you can apply textures to polys!

I'm just adding something to here, if newbies in ModTools 6 are interested

Nice tut, really.. Pics show it all

I have decided to make this the final, tutorial, so its done now...

i suppose when GT has been fixed that this can be added to the XSIs FAQ....

Thanks

I hope this bump isn't against the rules, because it's pretty important. Every time I try to do either Unique UVs or Material > Phong, NOTHING pops up, unlike how it says in the tut. Am I missing something? I seem to be following everything...

Answer:
XSI FAQ/Tutorials > Property pages in XSI not popping up: How to fix

[TFA]Padawan_Fighter wrote:I hope this bump isn't against the rules, because it's pretty important. Every time I try to do either Unique UVs or Material > Phong, NOTHING pops up, unlike how it says in the tut. Am I missing something? I seem to be following everything...

I have a problem too. I keep trying to get the naboo roof texture spread radially across a dome I made and it keeps applying itself laterally. It's a real pain in the Diet Dr. Pepper.

didnt the solution in the answer work for you?

DarthD.U.C.K. wrote:didnt the solution in the answer work for you?

Well, this covers texturing rectangular objects. I know the steps are the same, but I'm having a hard time with a dome model.

then use another subprojection..

I used a spherical subprojection, even a unique UV's subprojection.

then you have to edit the UV manually to fit them like you want