Texture Mapping
A technique for applying 2D images (textures) onto 3D model surfaces to add visual detail such as color, patterns, and material properties using UV coordinate systems.
Texture mapping is the foundational technique in 3D graphics for projecting 2D images onto polygon surfaces. Proposed by Edwin Catmull in 1974, it enables detailed surface appearance without increasing geometric complexity.
- UV coordinates: Texture positions expressed as (U, V) pairs normalized to 0.0-1.0. Assigning UV values to each vertex is called UV unwrapping
- Tiling modes: When UVs exceed 0-1, textures can repeat (
GL_REPEAT), mirror (GL_MIRRORED_REPEAT), or clamp (GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE) - Filtering: Nearest-neighbor preserves pixel edges; bilinear provides smooth blending. Combined with mipmaps for trilinear filtering
- Projection methods: Planar, cylindrical, spherical, and box projections provide automatic UV generation for different geometries
Production workflows use Blender's UV Editor and Substance Painter for unwrapping and painting. PBR workflows combine albedo, normal, roughness, and metallic maps for photorealistic materials. Texture resolutions are powers of two (512-4096) for optimal GPU memory alignment.