How to place a back Tattoo on torso map with Photoshop.

jimmyzpop

Hello all, I have a png file of a large back tatto that I would like to place on a charactors back. I can blend and layer the tatto in photoshop and make it look natural to the skin. The only problem I am running into is centering and lining the tatto to display properly on the back due to the Torso Mat seams. In photoshop the Mat JPG has the seam cruving down on both the right and left side. I was hoping to be able to do a test torso and line up the both seam locations for the back. Then place the tatto decal in the desired location, then map the seam lines that I joined and split the decal down the seam lines. Finaly placing the split decal on both right and left side of the torso jpg to make the tatto look seamless. However,since the jpg it is 2d and made to wrap around a 3d model, I am having much trubble lining up the seams in photoshop to do this. Is there a way to do this in photoshop?, better tecnique?, or a program that can help me achive my goal? I know there are PA's that make fully painted textures that go over multi seams Ie: twisted metal and Deva3D what technique / workflow do they use to do this? an example of what other PA's have done is attched. Thanks all for reading this and hope I can get a better understanding on tackling this challange.     

mwokee

Looks good to me as is. But if you're in Photoshop trying to adjust a top layer to fit a bottom layer, I use the WARP Tool. Sometimes it works better to break a single layer into multiple layers and work them together in sections rather than one big layer.

jimmyzpop

mwokee said:

Looks good to me as is. But if you're in Photoshop trying to adjust a top layer to fit a bottom layer, I use the WARP Tool. Sometimes it works better to break a single layer into multiple layers and work them together in sections rather than one big layer.

Thanks for the response Mwokee. The attched picture is a charactor from Deva3d. It is an example of what I am trying to do with a back tattoo that goes over multiple seam lines. I am efficent with working with layers in photoshop, my big big issues is lining images over the seams. I am not married to photoshop and will gladly consider any other program or technque that can give me the results I need. I have attached a seam guide for the torso to shows the areas that will have the tatto are highlighted in red. If the tattoo/ decal was just a symetrical design I could just cut it in half and line them by the seam guide, however its not and can not wrap my head around the best way to do it. Figuring this out will also help me when doing a side / thigh tattoo that will cross over torso and leg seams. Right now the thought  of locating a iamge to a specific area and lining it up well on two  diffrent maps crossing their seams hurts my brain.   

Oso3D

I don't know for sure, but I think most of us PAs use a different program to paint/place images on 3d objects. It's WAAAAY easier.

(Popular choices are Substance Painter and Blacksmith, and maybe Hexagon and a few others)

 

Matt_Castle

Yes - if I need something to line up specifically on a model, I'll project the textures in Blender.

I've done this to convert a few older standalone characters of mine onto the G8 meshes, such that the head textures are correctly baked onto the new model. It's much quicker and more accurate than trying to manually align the textures onto the new UV in Photoshop.

jimmyzpop

Oso3D said:

I don't know for sure, but I think most of us PAs use a different program to paint/place images on 3d objects. It's WAAAAY easier.

(Popular choices are Substance Painter and Blacksmith, and maybe Hexagon and a few others)

 

 

Matt_Castle said:

Yes - if I need something to line up specifically on a model, I'll project the textures in Blender.

I've done this to convert a few older standalone characters of mine onto the G8 meshes, such that the head textures are correctly baked onto the new model. It's much quicker and more accurate than trying to manually align the textures onto the new UV in Photoshop.

@Oso3d and @Matt_Castle, Thank you very much for your advice. I will look into those programs you listed. 

mr clam

Maybe creating a decal will serve your needs. I haven't tried it myself, but his thread tells you how to do it.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/151576/iray-decal-kit-make-your-own-decals-tutorial-commercial/p1

azcraigrr

jimmyzpop said:

mwokee said:

Looks good to me as is. But if you're in Photoshop trying to adjust a top layer to fit a bottom layer, I use the WARP Tool. Sometimes it works better to break a single layer into multiple layers and work them together in sections rather than one big layer.

Thanks for the response Mwokee. The attched picture is a charactor from Deva3d. It is an example of what I am trying to do with a back tattoo that goes over multiple seam lines. I am efficent with working with layers in photoshop, my big big issues is lining images over the seams. I am not married to photoshop and will gladly consider any other program or technque that can give me the results I need. I have attached a seam guide for the torso to shows the areas that will have the tatto are highlighted in red. If the tattoo/ decal was just a symetrical design I could just cut it in half and line them by the seam guide, however its not and can not wrap my head around the best way to do it. Figuring this out will also help me when doing a side / thigh tattoo that will cross over torso and leg seams. Right now the thought  of locating a iamge to a specific area and lining it up well on two  diffrent maps crossing their seams hurts my brain.   

Where did you find that torso map?  I'd like to find the G8F version, although it seems to me that the maps for G3F and G8F are very similar.  If it's included with a product, I'll buy it! I bought my first character from Deva3D recently and I really like it.

 

NylonGirl

mr clam said:

Maybe creating a decal will serve your needs. I haven't tried it myself, but his thread tells you how to do it.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/151576/iray-decal-kit-make-your-own-decals-tutorial-commercial/p1

The problem I had with Decals is if your character changes position, the decal doesn't move with it. And if you do a bunch of decals for each body part then they can't cross seams.

Does Blacksmith 3D let you put an image directly onto a DAZ figure and cross seams? Does Blender?

GlennF

Matt_Castle said:

Yes - if I need something to line up specifically on a model, I'll project the textures in Blender.

I've done this to convert a few older standalone characters of mine onto the G8 meshes, such that the head textures are correctly baked onto the new model. It's much quicker and more accurate than trying to manually align the textures onto the new UV in Photoshop.

Is their a tutorial on how to do this somewhere?

azcraigrr

azcraigrr said:

jimmyzpop said:

mwokee said:

Looks good to me as is. But if you're in Photoshop trying to adjust a top layer to fit a bottom layer, I use the WARP Tool. Sometimes it works better to break a single layer into multiple layers and work them together in sections rather than one big layer.

Thanks for the response Mwokee. The attched picture is a charactor from Deva3d. It is an example of what I am trying to do with a back tattoo that goes over multiple seam lines. I am efficent with working with layers in photoshop, my big big issues is lining images over the seams. I am not married to photoshop and will gladly consider any other program or technque that can give me the results I need. I have attached a seam guide for the torso to shows the areas that will have the tatto are highlighted in red. If the tattoo/ decal was just a symetrical design I could just cut it in half and line them by the seam guide, however its not and can not wrap my head around the best way to do it. Figuring this out will also help me when doing a side / thigh tattoo that will cross over torso and leg seams. Right now the thought  of locating a iamge to a specific area and lining it up well on two  diffrent maps crossing their seams hurts my brain.   

Where did you find that torso map?  I'd like to find the G8F version, although it seems to me that the maps for G3F and G8F are very similar.  If it's included with a product, I'll buy it! I bought my first character from Deva3D recently and I really like it.

 

I did find the maps; see https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/58769/genesis-3-female-and-male-seam-guides-now-available/p1

G8F and G8M are now available as they are the same as the G3 versions. Thanks @SnowSulton!

 

Optimus Shepard

Hey,

 I tried everything I thought it was possible to put a tattoo on the back like erasing one part from another and tried that warped thing but still doesn't look right at all. Here is the example of the Snake tattoo I'm trying to put on the back but I know there's a space between them. Could someone please help me how to put them correctly. Thank you.

MelissaGT

Optimus Shepard said:

Hey,

 I tried everything I thought it was possible to put a tattoo on the back like erasing one part from another and tried that warped thing but still doesn't look right at all. Here is the example of the Snake tattoo I'm trying to put on the back but I know there's a space between them. Could someone please help me how to put them correctly. Thank you.

When going across a seam, you will need to use more than Photoshop. You'll want to paint the tattoo directly onto the mesh (and texture) using a 3D modeling program that will allow you to paint via projection and/or stencil. Personally, I use Mudbox to paint tattoos, but you might be able to do it with Blender. Your other option is to load the tattoo onto a decal in Daz itself, though your results will likely not be able to look as natural. 

Chumly

Did you see this in the freebie section?  Don't know if it will help, but it looked interesting

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/540946/introduce-my-digipad-easier-than-lie#latest