Blurry Bust - Ligtwave q- Robin?

This is sorta a question for Robin, with hope that others can benefit or contribute.
I've been learning Lightwave, and inspired by several old posts and the work of Robin Sojourner, I realized it is possible to remap the avie based on a specific garment, and bake back to the standard UV. That said, I've also long been frustrated with trying to do patterns on garments and the distortion around the bust and sides. So... I set out experimenting...

I wanted polka dots, so I start with a binkini. I remapped the body part in pieces that caused minimum distortion, like this:
http://www.littlepix.net/images/map.jpg

and it came out on the model like so:
http://www.littlepix.net/images/model.jpg

and I baked it to the standard uv and came up like this:
http://www.littlepix.net/images/straplessbaked.jpg

Believe it or not, it all made sense to me... until I uploaded and wore my garment!!! There's a dreaded side blur and smudging anyway!!! Why can't my avie in sl, look as good as my lightwave model?? and yes I decreased my avies bust to be average
http://www.littlepix.net/images/Snapshot_002.jpg

There's a good deal of difference between a static image in a 3D graphics program and the dynamic image on an av in SL. The avatar body stretches, which means that some regions around joints between body segments get distorted simply because they change dimensions as you move. Worse, the av body was not designed very well, so there are some regions of the body that have much lower resolution than they ought to. It's hard to get textures in those areas NOT to blur. Unfortunately, some of them (the crotch in particular) are also dynamic areas, so they are doubly cursed. Unfortunately, the best designs in the world can only do so much to overcome these limitations.

You've done a nice job so far.

Incidentally, you can maybe get sharper definition by making your texture at a higher resolution (like 1024 x 1024) in Photoshop and then shrinking it to 512 x 512 before you upload. That can help with the burriness around the margins of the garment and may help some with the side blur you are concerned about.

Hi Jenette!

Good job on the remap!

The problem is that a lot of those polygons are only one or two pixels wide at 512x512, on the Linden maps. Same thing with the crotch. Many of the polys there have been mapped to be only a pixel wide on the texture.

Since they've been made that way, it's not "hard" to get textures there not to blur; it's impossible.

The only way around it is to use solid colors, or horizontal stripes, and what fun is that?

On the other hand, since everyone is wearing blurry textures on the sides of their chests, people don't actually notice it, unless they are the ones making the clothing!

So yeah, in LightWave, you can give that area more room on the map, and the texture will look sharp and clear. But the Lindens didn't do that, so, until (and unless) they give us new Avatars, we're going to have what you see.

Hope this helps!

Robin

Thanks guys! happy dance!
Happy that it's not me, lol. and Happy that I figured out the mapping, i guess even if it is just for the exercise It does help some and allows control over which way the patterns go... I'm off to try seamless leggings now... and have a seamless bodice too. I know, there are other ways to do this, and other designers have, just in photoshop- but this is something I've been wanting to learn.

Oh, and regarding the baking, most of what is said on the forums here about baking is right- it looks hazy when in world, and not right with SL lighting. So i just baked for the map and then went back to doing the shading in PS.

Thanks to all for generous tips and Robins tutorials.

Glad you're happy with it, Jenette. You should be!

The two places where you're going to be really happy you've figured out remapping are on the sleeves, and where the upper and lower body meet.

Both of those are hideous to work with, on the Linden maps, and simple once the AV has been remapped to eliminate those seams.

(You'll find that you need to have a seam somewhere on the arm, to avoid pattern distortion in the fabric. But putting it on the bottom of the arm, where seams go in RL shirts, is very simple to do, and works quite well.)

Have fun with it!