Tutorial Texturing Capes/Cloth in Photoshop

[FireEffect]

Texturing Capes and Cloth in Photoshop​

INFO:

In this tutorial I will be showing you how to texture a cape onto a unit looking realistic but still keeping the Warcraft feel to it. For this tutorial I am using Photoshop CS2, any earlier versions might have some tools missing. This tutorial can be applied to many different things, not just a cape. It can be used to make cloth armor, with proper shading applied. I will be using Wc3Viewer to extract my blps and to convert the files.

DIFFICULTY: 4/10 (Requires some previous skill and Photoshop knowledge)



Step 1 -
You will first need to pick a model to texture, in this example I will be using Medivh.

Step 2 -
Select the area you want to create a new cape, I will be redoing his cloak thing. Fill the area in with your color of choice, i chose a dark blue.

Step 3 -
Use the burn tool (

) at 6px and about 15 exposure and make a few lines down the cape area. The lines should not be straight and they should have a few curves in them.

Step 4 -
Use a smaller 3px brush with a higher exposure (about 20) to add definition to the previous lines. Keeping in the middle of the lines is not necessary, and going off the line completely adds a more realistic look, just try not to over do it.

Step 5 -
Use the dodge tool (

) with a large sized brush, about as big as the space between the dark lines, with 0 hardness and about 8 exposure, and brush in between the dark lines. You may need to use a smaller brush if the dark lines are closer to each other in some parts.

Step 6 -
Still using the dodge tool, use a smaller brush size with a higher exposure (about 10-15) onto the highlights.

Step 7 -
Repeat Step 6, but with a even smaller brush and a even higher exposure (about 15-20)

Step 8 -
Duplicate the cape layer and go to Filter>Artistic>Plastic Wrap using the settings: Highlight Strength - 15; Detail - 11; Smoothness - 7. You may need to alter it a bit if it is too bright by raising the detail setting.

Step 9 -
Set the plastic wrap layer to overlay with about 50% to 75% opacity.

Step 10 -
Merge the 2 cape layers. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen and use the settings: Amount - 60%; Radius - 3px; Remove - Gaussian Blur. Press OK and the cape is complete!

Here is what the cape looks like on the model:

And another example of the technique using a 512x512 texture size:

 

[TriggerHappy]

Nice job, +rep.

 

[FireEffect]

Bump. What do I have to do for approval? Is this OK or is there any changes i need to make?

 

[TriggerHappy]

C'mon people he needs comments!

 

[sidove]

you should add how to do that on all the clothes like hood, legs etc then it will kick ass and yes it is now :thup::thup::thup:

 

[CaptDeath]

a litle bit more detail cause i have no idea what a burn tool is but i do have ps cs4

 

[TriggerHappy]

....You could google what the burn tool is, but i guess this is a tutorial so he should at least show the little icon of the burn tool. (

)

 

[FireEffect]

Ok ill explain the tools a bit more and such.

 

[CaptDeath]

why does no one have ps cs4?
--on topic--
and you dont mention what program you used
to extract out of wc3s mpq file and what you used to convert to .blp

 

[TriggerHappy]

This tutorial is for a skinning technique, not an entire skininng tutorial, a simple search could find that out.

 

[FireEffect]

why does no one have ps cs4?
--on topic--
and you dont mention what program you used
to extract out of wc3s mpq file and what you used to convert to .blp

Yes I do. Its at the top of the post in the info section.

 

[CaptDeath]

oh sorry must have missed it

 

[WolfieeifloW]

Photoshop CS3/4 lag a lot more then CS2 when doing certain things.
That's why nobody has it.
And besides, CS2 does everything I've ever needed.

OnTopic: Nice tutorial FireEffect !

 

[FireEffect]

Thanks, does everything look good. And is there a thread for what a tutorial needs? I saw the sticky for resources, but no tutorial.

 

[WolfieeifloW]

I haven't actually read through the tutorial yet, just scanned it.
I'll probably go through it tomorrow and tell you anything I notice !

 

[FireEffect]

So any kind of notice of this thing getting approved, or any ways to fix it so it can get approved.

 

[WolfieeifloW]

You just have to wait, get more reviews, and hope for the best.
A suggestion: make some kind of "headings" for each step, so their noticeable.

 

[Zedzy]

It's a pretty good tutorial, but the cape needs a little work. It would look better if you explained how to make a border for the cape, because it has a very sharp edge to it. You might also want to describe how to alpha out parts of the cape.

Great pictures!

+rep

Edit: ^ looks like -rep (but its not!)