Door texture question

[Nio Skytower]

How are door textures Made? I see the image repeated in a texture, but can't they also just be a single image also? I'm trying to build my own, but my image doesn't have that wrap around that the multiple image textures do. Mine is a single image and it looks funny on the edges.

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Nio Skytower wrote:

How are door textures Made? I see the image repeated in a texture, but can't they also just be a single image also? I'm trying to build my own, but my image doesn't have that wrap around that the multiple image textures do. Mine is a single image and it looks funny on the edges.

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Hi Nio,

Doors are typically made from a box which is cut in half (Path Cut B=0.375, E=0.875) so that it when it rotates about its center (all prims rotate about their center), you'll only see half of it turning about the cut edge. This half box has seven faces (top, bottom, front, back, two faces on the hinge side, one face on the opposite side), each of which must be textured. If you drag a door texture to a box face directly, it will texture only that face. The rest will still have the original plywood texture. If you apply the texture from the texture dialog box, it will (unless you have "Select Face" checked) texture all the faces. When that happens, you'll see your door texture on the front and back properly (though the doorknobs will not be on the same edge of the door, you'll have to flip face texture horizontally), but you'll also see that texture, all squished, along the top, bottom and edges. This might be what you think "looks funny".

Rather than applying your door texture to those thin edges of the door, you might just apply the blank texture and color it to match the color of the front and back. Or you could play with the "Repeats Per Face" and "Texture Offset" settings in the texture tab of the edit window. You'll want a repeat of much less than one, to stretch out some suitable portion of your door texture, like a rail or stile, so it completely fills the edge, top or bottom. You can scroll along the expanded texture by fiddling with the "Texture Offset" setting.

The hinge side of the door will be a bit trickier, as that is composed of two faces, each of which you'll have to texture to make the look you want. To get a perfect match to the opposite side of the door, you'd use half the "Repeats Per Face" to stretch the texture out to accommodate the fact that each hinge side face is half the thickness of the door, then play with "Texture Offset" on both faces to get a good look.

Yes, this all sounds complicated, and that's because it is.  But once you get the hang of texturing, you won't be able to stop!

Good luck,

Maddy

[Nio Skytower]

Thank You very much Maddy, for the great advice! I will try it again. My texture is a single door on a transparency. How come when you buy a door texture, it seems to be repeated, so you can move it from side to side or up and down, but I cannot do that with mine?

[Madelaine McMasters]

Here's my guess, Nio...

Your door texture should fill the entire image space. If there's a transparent border around it, that's why you don't think it's repeating. It actually is, but you have to scroll past the transparent part before you see another repeat of the door. Crop off that transparent border.

If your door has glass in it, you'll want to retain the alpha (transparency) channel. If there is no glass, you should save the door image as JPEG so that the alpha channel will be discarded. SL works harder when it must handle a texture with transparency.

[Nio Skytower]

So, it should automatically repeat, even though I only made a single image? Then what you are saying, I should crop it further before uploading it and then I wont see the transparent edges? I don't see a menu for 'face' also, so maybe its my viewer.

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Nio Skytower wrote:

So, it should automatically repeat, even though I only made a single image? Then what you are saying, I should crop it further before uploading it and then I wont see the transparent edges? I don't see a menu for 'face' also, so maybe its my viewer.

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Yep, SL will repeat any texture you upload if you tell it so via the "Repeats Per Face" numbers in the Texture Tab. Set it to two in both horizontal and vertical and you'll see four repeats of your door.

The "Select Face" button is on the left side of the top, common section of the edit window in both SLV3 and Firestorm. Those are the only viewers I use.

[Nio Skytower]

Ok, Thank You so much for your help. I wil try it again and see how it turns out!

[Nio Skytower]

It worked! I did an experiment with a free door and the texture mapped just right! Now, I wanna try and build my own door so I can understand this. I tried one and it has a bar on the top and bottom, unlike the freebie door, but I'll keep trying! Thanks Again.

[Nio Skytower]

I finally worked it out. Thanks Again for your wonderful help. The only problem left now is when you try and flip the texture to get the doorknob on the right side, it also flips the opposite side at the same time!?

[Rolig Loon]

Not if you click the little button to "Select Face" and then click on the face you want to work on.  Flip it and the rest of the faces should be unaffected.

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Nio Skytower wrote:

I finally worked it out. Thanks Again for your wonderful help. The only problem left now is when you try and flip the texture to get the doorknob on the right side, it also flips the opposite side at the same time!?

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You're welcome Nio. I'm glad you're making progress and that Rolig was able to answer your last question.

[Nio Skytower]

Thank you so much, I fixed it! It was a problem with my old viewer, I didn't have that option.

[Nio Skytower]

Thank you, I fixed it! :-)

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Nio Skytower wrote:

Thank you, I fixed it! :-)

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Fantastic, now don't go locking yourself out!

;-)