A pretty damn good book on creating textures

Hey guys,

I wrote about this on my blog but I wanted to share the find on the forums too.

I picked up a few books about creating textures in Photoshop for 3D programs, and the best out of the bunch by far was a book called 3D Game Textures: Creating Professional Game Art Using Photoshop.

There were a few really great things about this book, including

1. it teaches you how to make textures from scratch, so you aren't forced to rely on photosourcing, making your textures much more flexible
   
2. tips and tricks to give your textures depth and tactile texture
   
3. shows you how to create bases and then work from the base to create additional elements of a scene
   
4. great chapters on a Photoshop overview, taking your own photos for textures, and 4 chapters of walkthroughs of different scenes and how to create all the textures in the scene
   
5. doesn't emphasize particular game engines so most of what's in the book is applicable to SL
   

It doesn't cover things like baked lighting and shadows since most other game engines render that on the fly. You should be comfortable with knowing SL's limitations on things like texture size and file formats and how textures apply to a prim so you don't get confused with explainations in the book regarding these topics.

You should also have a passing aquaintence with Photoshop, I wouldn't recommend it for people just starting out in the program, although some might be able to jump start from the overview in the book.

I'm always on the lookout for other books that cover 3D texturing in specific for Photoshop, so if you've come across any finds you'd like to share please do so.

I have this book, and have to agree that it is every bit as good as the OP says. If only I had the time to actually work through the chapters in PS

Highly recommended.

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to have to buy this.

Is there anything out there similiar for those of us that use Paint shop Pro?