CHAPTER 03:

c. Composite Maps

For the decals, there really was only one option for application that gave the most flexibility and clarity. "Composite" maps allow you to treat the decals as you would in real life, being able to shift them around on the bodywork, overlap, change order etc very easily. It is important to think about the order of the stickers before you start. The order in which they appear in the material editor, the top of the list is bottom in order… Confusing? Certainly!

3f: Here you can see the composite "stack" (top) in the material editor and the effect it has on the mesh (bottom), "Map 1" is the main blue colour. "Map 2" is the large "raybrig" word that goes onto the car next, then "Map 3" is the green "BP" decal, that goes on top of that and so on... The channel ID numbers corrospond to the "Map" number here too.

Each material is numbered in the list, it is a good idea to give every map within that slot the Channel ID of that number… ie: Forth material in the composite map slot, has the channel id of 4

Keeping your maps in good order from the start is vital, later it will be a nightmare not knowing what map channel is in which slot for which material…

For this project there was up to 30 materials, each with 2 or three maps within, they were all categorized, so I had little troubles with it.

Keep in mind too, that if it is a single sticker (which it will be most likely), to switch off “tiling”

3h: Make sure you turn off tiling, and Keep note of the "Map Channel", it is good to keep the Map Channel the same number as the slot it is in, in the Composite Map