:::EDIT:::
Found'em! I added links to the Double-Bladed Versions within the post!

Greets Everyone!

As of late, it seems there's a big interest in creating sabers. Be it modeling a new one, or just skinning the standard in-game hilts to look better.

I'm not sure why I haven't done this before, nor do I know if it's already been done...but here goes anyway. The more the better right? :D

To help out with skinning standard in-game hilts (not new models) I long ago created myself a template to help me know "what was what".

Looking at a standard hilt skin can be very confusing, especially since 1) the tga for it is 'tiny', and 2) because of the color of the empty space on the skin matches everything else (which is a good thing, until trying to skin one for yourself). :headbump:

Here's an example of what I use:
Standard Short Saber Hilt Skin Map (http://www.jumpstationz.com/kotor%20screens/Standard_Saber_Hilt_Map.jpg)
Short Saber Skin Map Views (http://www.jumpstationz.com/kotor%20screens/SkinMap-Views.jpg)

Standard Dbl-Saber Hilt Skin Map (http://www.jumpstationz.com/kotor%20screens/Standard-DblSaber-Hilt-Map.jpg)
Dbl-Saber Skin Map Views (http://www.jumpstationz.com/kotor%20screens/SkinMap-DblSaber-Views.jpg)
If you're not too keen with making your own, I've packed zip files including the following:

- layered Photoshop Map (.psd)*
- layered Tiff Map (.tif)*
- non-layered Jpeg Map (.jpg)
- Skin Map Views (reference)

*- Layers consist of Black Background, WireFrame, Color Blocks Map & Text. Labeled and color coded so you can hide/unhide what you don't need. Just build your skin on top of this map, save your file as W_Lghtsbr_001.tga, W_ShortSbr_001.tga or W_Dblsbr_001.tga drop in your override and voila! (don't forget your .txi files!) also, be sure to turn the 'guide' layers off before making your final .tga ;)

The skins are built with 512x512 pixels to make it much easier to skin and/or add some detail to the little tubes Bioware decided would be best to give us :rolleyes:

Download Short Sabre Hilt Skin Maps (615kb .zip file) (http://www.jumpstationz.com/games/mods/download/Standard_Hilt_Skin_Map.zip)

Download Double-Blade Hilt Skin Maps (475kb .zip file) (http://www.jumpstationz.com/games/mods/download/Standard_DblHilt_Skin_Map.zip)

----------------------------

PLEASE NOTE: though I use the word "map", these are not UVmaps. Please don't confuse this as something you can import into custom saber models. This is just a visual aid to help skin in-game "tube" sabers :)

Hope this helps someone out whose been wanting to skin their own in-game hilts! ENJOY!

ChAiNz.2da

p.s. - To Moderators, if you think this will help in any way with the new Tutorials Forums, please feel free to host and/or post a link to said file(s). They're not going off my site anytime soon (ever), so if hosting space is limited, feel free to point the link to my site. I've more than enough bandwidth...

Great Job Chainz. This is great for people who do not have the time or patience to model new hilts but still want to make them and it is also good for TSL since *SIGH* they are using the same standard hilt.

Originally posted by BoL_Stryke
Great Job Chainz. This is great for people who do not have the time or patience to model new hilts but still want to make them and it is also good for TSL since *SIGH* they are using the same standard hilt.
Thanks BoL_Stryke,

though that sucks about the hilts in TSL. Well, hopefully this aid will be of use then ;)

OH! and I've updated my post to include the double-sabers versions as well.

ENJOY ALL!

ChAiNz.2da

Nice work and great idea, ChAiNz

Thanks ChAiNz.2da, I added it to Skinning and Modeling. :)

Originally posted by T7nowhere
Thanks ChAiNz.2da, I added it to Skinning and Modeling. :)
Thanks T7! Though...I must admit I've made an error (not with what is posted). In my haste, I've realized I didn't add the maps for the regular sized lightsaber :headbump:

Though the normal & short sabers use the same skin, I believe the UVmaps are laid out different. If you attempt to skin a regular saber using the short saber map...well it's going to look downright goofy.

I've got some more digging around to do, but I'll re-edit my post and PM you when it's available. Probably tomorrow...

Sorry everyone for being such a dunce :fist:

but, just to show you that even a short saber can look better than a tube, here ya' go! (an upcoming mod I'm working on with JediKnight72482's input). Maybe if we ask nice, he'll let me release it publicly. With proper credit of course :)

http://www.jumpstationz.com/kotor%20screens/Xia-test.jpg)

Hmm, I was working on a skin using that map too. Hehe, oh well, I will just get back to work on my model and do my reskin later. (I am reskinng different saber colors to look slightly different until I get models I like to replace them all and eventually my goal is for each character (including the Dark Jedi and Jedi you encounter on the planets and Starforge to have as much saber variety as possible.

:eek: the uv map for the Standard Saber is horrendous, I don't know how that ever passed QA. :rolleyes: I guess they just didn't care since they made it all shader.

I will admit that despite how ugly the individual parts look, when it is all put together, the standard saber looks decent as a plain-style hilt. However, that would be fine if it was just one person's saber. There is no excuse for this being everyone's saber though. I mean Jedi Outcast Jedi Academy, both action games, I could understand having the same sabers over and over and yet they have different sabers for all of the main characters and for most of the supporting cast as well. Only the generic Dark Jedi bad guys have the same saber. What gets me more is that in TSL, it is the SAME WAY with the SAME HILT from KOTOR! :mad: However, that is cool since I will have that changed within a few days of me getting TSL assuming the format and structure is similar enough to at least let me do reskins quickly. :D

the mapping of a standard saber is bad, very bad, about 3% of the tga is actually used for the model, with lots of over-lapping, its a big job to make a saber tex for the default hilt that actually looks good, in fact it'd be easier to make a new model :D but anyways let me get to my point, would anyone "use" a saber hilt model that was identical to the default, but had a much better uv map? if so i can make one it'd be quite easy, that way all those wanting to make a custom hilt who cant model, would have alot easier time

Well, now that you mention it, that would be awesome. I plan am working on a few saber models, but it would also be cool to see what more I could do with the old model. :D

Originally posted by Seprithro
the mapping of a standard saber is bad, very bad, about 3% of the tga is actually used for the model, with lots of over-lapping, its a big job to make a saber tex for the default hilt that actually looks good, in fact it'd be easier to make a new model :D but anyways let me get to my point, would anyone "use" a saber hilt model that was identical to the default, but had a much better uv map? if so i can make one it'd be quite easy, that way all those wanting to make a custom hilt who cant model, would have alot easier time

Thats a Good Idea Sep, I was going to do that when I first learned that we could, But then I wanted to make my own sabers :)

Originally posted by Seprithro
the mapping of a standard saber is bad, very bad, about 3% of the tga is actually used for the model, with lots of over-lapping, its a big job to make a saber tex for the default hilt that actually looks good, in fact it'd be easier to make a new model :D but anyways let me get to my point, would anyone "use" a saber hilt model that was identical to the default, but had a much better uv map? if so i can make one it'd be quite easy, that way all those wanting to make a custom hilt who cant model, would have alot easier time
Well, Thanks for re-assuring that I wasn't losing my mind. ;)
When I went back to snag the UV for the standard saber... oh my...that was plain horrible :eek:
If you could do a better UVmap Sep, I'd greatly appreciate it. There's no way for me to make a skin map with the in-game's version..well..not and it being very useful :rolleyes:
I'm not sure of the 'trick' that you & T7 are talking about, so I'll "sit back & watch" then pick your brains later... hehe

Oh well, at least there's hope everyone. Though the maps I posted will at least work for double-sabers and short-sabers. Hopefully they'll come in handy for someone :D

Still, as a new "initiate" into modeling, I have to say it's worth learning GMAX. There's no comparison to a good UVmap versus a new model & a custom UV to go with it.

Originally posted by Seprithro
the mapping of a standard saber is bad, very bad, about 3% of the tga is actually used for the model, with lots of over-lapping, its a big job to make a saber tex for the default hilt that actually looks good, in fact it'd be easier to make a new model :D but anyways let me get to my point, would anyone "use" a saber hilt model that was identical to the default, but had a much better uv map? if so i can make one it'd be quite easy, that way all those wanting to make a custom hilt who cant model, would have alot easier time

Yes please Sep. I have found that I'm getting better at texturing and this might really be great.

Small question what program should i use to re-skin/create lightsabers or other things? I think i know all the text things i have to do its just the visual im stuck on help would be awesome thanks

Wamp-a Wampa

I use gimp for my images it handles alot and is in the downloads stickies. I would say it is as good if not better than photoshop and it's free.

Well i have paintshop 8...will that work?

Originally posted by Darkkender
I use gimp for my images it handles alot and is in the downloads stickies. I would say it is as good if not better than photoshop and it's free.
Hehe, my vote is Photoshop, it is better than Gimp, BUT Gimp's price is right... Not alot of people have a spare $650+ to throw away on a prog, and Gimp is no slacker when it comes to features :)
Originally posted by RebelScum1
Well i have paintshop 8...will that work?
Paintshop 8 should work fine, it's more of an equivalent prog to Photoshop. One concern would be if it can read a layered tiff. I believe it will. When I worked with Paint Shop Pro, it was able to recognize layers.

I am with Chainz, there are other GREAT programs out there but none really top photoshop for features. I mean come on, John Knoll (VFX Supervisor for the prequel trilogy) co-created photoshop and they use it for some things in the actual SW films, so that is more than enough for me as far as reccomendations go. I also will say that my copy of Photoshop was not purchased by me, but for me so it is easier when it is given to you =o)

Originally posted by RebelScum1
Small question what program should i use to re-skin/create lightsabers or other things? For the most part, it really comes down to personal preference. Most graphics programs outside of MS Paint have a decent array of features. I'd just say use whatever you are most comfortable with. I tend to use Paint Shop Pro the most, but I also use Photoshop a bit. In my personal experience the ability to skin comes from the techniques and tricks you learn, not the program you use.

Originally posted by Seprithro
would anyone "use" a saber hilt model that was identical to the default, but had a much better uv map?I probably would Sep. To me the major issue with the default model is the way the texture is applied, not the shape itself. Having a texture used in its entirety would allow a lot more flexibility.

This is a great idea! I always found those saber textures annoying, this will be usefull indeed. Nice job!:)