Multi-part Tattoos

Hi everyone ^_^

I appreciate all the help this forum gives, and have learnt quite a lot just from reading - but now it's time for me to ask a question. ~_~

I am working on a tattoo. It's a personal one which I am designing for my character. But, my problem is that I cannot get the parts of it to line up. It has parts in Upper Front, Upper Back, Lower Front AND Lower Back. I just can't seem to figure out how to make it line up correctly to look like a single, smooth tattoo.

Any help? Tips?

I am using the CMFF templates, and SLCP to preview it.

I might be able to help some.

Is it a full body tattoo youre trying to make connect?

Not sure I fully understand, could you post a photo?

Try AvPainter. If you have your tattoo pieces with proper alpha channels you should be able to use the decal feature to just slide them around until they are in place. You can not span seams (front-to-back, shoulder-to-arm, etc) with any one decal, but if you have them split into separate pieces for front, back, shoulder, etc, AvPainter makes it a snap to, erm..., snap them into place. Oddly, it doesn't understand TGA files for decals, so you'll have to convert the tattoos to PNGs.

There's a free version that you can use as a clothing viewer, and I think you can try out the decal feature, but you can't save your work. The full version is under US$10.

http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=158462

AVPainter has a decal option? This is the second time I've had it recommended. Maybe I need to take a look at it (starts saving L$)

Is it useable offline? Because I do most of my design while at work.. I have a lot of free time in the office, but the work connection is too slow to run SL.

Here's a pic to show the problem. I've included the mesh as used in photoshop, the SLCP preview to see the problem, as well as the original image that I am trying to use.

Katryna, one of the issues you will encounter with placement of the tattoo in that area is the severe stretching of the texture as it wraps around the side seams of the upper body. You will experience quite a bit of drop off in detail compared to placing it some place more centered on the avatar mesh (front or back). If you absolutely need the placement where it is I would suggest a seam spanning 3D paint program like ZBrush or Deep Paint 3D to tackle the image projection. I have not tried PSCS3's 3D tools yet, but they may also be a good route.

You're going to have trouble making that out of one image spanning four seams, no matter which tool you use. The scale is not consistent across seams. That is, if you put the same image on the border between, say, the top and bottom of the torso, the image will be larger on (if I recall) the bottom. You're going to have to figure out what that scaling is, break your image into four pieces with overlapping bleed edges, and scale each independently. That'll be hard, and you may have to live with "good enough".

To get an idea what I'm talking about, open your top and bottom templates and move them so they are aligned top-to-bottom. Notice the top and bottom aren't the same width at the seam.

To answer your question, though, AvPainter is a stand-alone program that does not connect to SL.

It looks like she has CS2.

I need to learn how to do 3D texture projections, too.

I dont recommend av painter, someone bought it for me and I dont like it.

As for the tattoo- youre doing it right, but looking at your photoshop file youre going to need to break that dragon up so you can have the image follow the guide lines.

I find if youre using an image like you are other than hand drawing from scratch, youre going to have to hand draw some pieces in order to get it to line up perfectly. Just bits and pieces.

Its a very long process and something I never used to really bother with though with my more recent tattoos I try to spend a bit more time on the seams, its not fun.

After you cut the image into four pieces you're also going to have to warp the shape of each to fit the shape of the templates.

The 3D projection may be your best option if you have the tools or the money. I'll eventually buy Zbrush, but not today.

You could try to use the mesh warp tool (Edit > Transform > Warp) in PS try and compensate for distortions, but this would definitely be very time consuming.

Hi!

If you have CS2 or CS3, the solution is actually fairly simple, though it might be a tad tedious to set it up. (Not impossible, by any matter of means, just a little exacting and time consuming.)

The good news, though, is that once you've set it up, you can do anything else of a similar size, that spans the same four seams, very easily.

The answer is Smart Objects.

It's very late (well, very early in the morning,) so I'm not going to be able to do a full explanation, but, very briefly, what you need to do is make a texture with a grid, so you can keep your place easily. Make the grid approximately the same size as the tattoo you want to use. (You might even place a 50% opaque copy of the tattoo on the grid, so you be sure to get the right part in the right places.)

Turn the grid into a Smart Object, and place it on the UV Map (template.)

Use Free Transform > Warp, and make the first quarter of the grid conform to the first section of the map. (Template.) Line up the center lines of the grid with the map seams on the two sides where they have to match. In other words, if you're doing the top back first, line it up on the right and bottom (if I'm seeing this correctly; it is very late.)

Make a copy of the Smart Object, and drag it to the other half of the map (top front, in this example.) Free Transform (command/ctrl T) and choose Warp again. Go to the Warp menu, and pick None. That instance of the image will unwarp. Using the menu again, choose Custom, and you'll be able to warp it. Line it up with the other half of the map.

Drag that layer to the other map, (the Material Bottom in our example,) and repeat for the other two sections. Since you're using a grid, this should be somewhat easier than just trying to figure out which part of the dragon is where.

When you're done, you should be able to preview, and see the grid matching perfectly across the four sections.

Now, open one of the Instances, and Replace the image, using your tattoo instead of the Grid. It will automatically be placed in both instances on that map, and will be perfectly aligned.

Since the Smart Objects are actually in two different documents, because of the way the UVs were ordered on the AV, you'll need to Replace the Smart Object on the second map, too, but that's easy.

When you're done, you'll have your perfectly seamless tattoo.

And, of course, if you want a different tattoo, in the same place, all you need to do is replace the image in the smart object again. As often as you want.

On the other hand, if you happen to have MAXON BodyPaint, you can just project it where you want it, and it will be there. Seams won't matter, and neither, for this particular use, will the fact that your AV in world isn't going to match the dimensions of the one you downloaded from the Lindens. (Let me know if you need instructions for that.)

But it's perfectly doable in CS2 or CS3.

Hope this helps. Let me know if it's clear as mud, and I'll try to get some screen shots and stuff up later today. After I've had some sleep.

Robin, thanks for elaborating and explaining my (admittedly very hasty) suggestion. I definitely need to learn how to use smart objects in PS properly!

Thanks for the advice everyone ^_^ I had a feeling it was going to involve stretching and stuff...

I'm running PSCS1 not 2... Zbrush, DeepPaint3D and MAXXON Bodypaint... 3 programs I will have to check out... I hope that they have full function demos to try, as I can't fork out for any programs atm...

Robin, wouldn't you have to be able to anchor the center? Is there a way to do that with Warp? Is there a way to add more divisions to Warp (probably not necessary here, but I've always wondered)?

If you can't anchor the center you'd have to break the image into four pieces. You'd make each larger than a quarter, with bleed space on the template edges. You could draw lines on the center (both axis) and around the edge before breaking the image, so you'd have something to align to on the template edge, and when you're done, replace the image with lines with one without.

I was going to try this with Illustrator's Envelope Distortion (a more advanced Warp), but I think I'm going to try it with Warp...

brb

I did find Warp's nine divisions limiting. Anyway, attached are images showing what I mean by quartering the image with bleed space (the dashed line is the about-to-be-cropped mark) and what it looks like being warped.

You'd still have to line up the four quarters. I guess you'd do that using the template grid and use a grid on the image, as Robin suggested. Not automatic and seamless, unless I'm misunderstanding Robin's instructions.

/me gives Anya a big hug

Thanks!! As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words. That really explains a lot more, as I've never used the warp tool before.