MATERIAL MAPPING

In order to best determine the material breakdown and mapping for the cockpit, there are three elements taken into account.

  • Material Type: for example glass cannot share UVs with opaque objects and must be a different ID.
  • Texel Density: it may not be possible to have all dials and panels on one sheet and maintain the required texture resolution (more information here: Texel Density)
  • Sharing Assets: as you create more aircraft, you'll find that it's easier to share elments (like gauges, glass cockpit displays, seats, etc...) so these will be split into their own IDs.

 

To give a better idea of how materials should be mapped, there are a couple of examples presented below. Note that the following material texture pages are not in those examples:

  • Gauges: All the gauges should be placed on their own material page, and these can include the needles as they will all use an emissive texture.
  • Emissives: Any object that is not a decal but requires an emissive should be on this page.  This will include inner lights, misted light glass (this does not need to be on the glass page as it doesn't have alpha) and any dials that glow entirely.
     

 

Example 1:

Bombardier CRJ 1000 Material Mapping Example

In this example the materials are broken down and mapped as follows:

Material Area Used Texture Size And Notes
1 Dials and switches (page 1) 2K
2 Main body page 2K
3 Yoke and carpet

2K

These will require a high resolution to attain the detail necessary (high res micro scratches on yoke handle, and normal map on carpet). The other elements can be moved to another ID if necessary.  

4 Seats

2K

Left and right can be mirrored instances.

5 Dials and switches (page 2)

2K

As page 1 but includes pedals to fill out the texture sheet to the same texel density.

6 The centre console 2K
7 Glass shader

2K

This will likely be less when rendered in the simulation. 

8 Screens No texture required, but they need to be mapped correctly with the correct aspect ratio of the actual screen.
9 Ceiling

2K

This will likely be less when rendered in the simulation. 

10
(Not shown)
Decals

2K

Make good use of the texture sheet reusing labels and words where possible. See here for more information: Decals And Detail Maps


 

Example 2:

Pitts Special S1 Material Mapping Example

In this example the materials are broken down and mapped as follows:

Material Area Used Texture Size And Notes
1 Main interior 2K
2 Inputs 2K
Includes yoke and pedals.
3 Seats

2K

4 Interior Glass

2K

5 Secondary Interior

2K

6 Alpha Rivets 2K
7 Decal Text

2K

 

 

Sub-Object Breakdown

Specific components should be broken up as sub-objects from the rest of the cockpit in order to reduce the total size of the texture atlas and also to allow for dynamic lodding. When doing this you must ensure that you map them efficiently in order to get the best resolution where you need it most. The following images show a steering yoke as an example of how this can best be achieved, as it is entirely seperate from the rest of the cockpit, both in mesh and also in texture ID. Also note that in this example the parts that can be mirrored are mirrored and the parts that can be reduced in resolution have been.

Example Of The Texture And Material Mapping For A Yoke