Wings 3d, Strata 3.0.2 and texturing

First off, I know wings isn't really designed to handle textures at this point, but bear with me.

I've finally gone and more or less finished a model for a ship. But it's a tad to complex to texture in Strata, easily that is. Pics can be seen (url="http://"http://image.modenstudios.com/Ernimtir/CF2A.jpg")here(/url) and (url="http://"http://image.modenstudios.com/Ernimtir/CF2B.jpg")here(/url). I want to texture each main face individually(not each polygon, but each general side). This could be done in Strata with lots of textures, lots of rotating, and lots of grouping. Ignore that last sentence if it confuses you.

Now, wings has "experimental" UV mapping, and I've used this to divide up one object, the cargo pod(there are five stacked on the back of the main ship), into a number of areas that should in theory be easy to draw a texture on and apply back to the model. It looks like (url="http://"http://image.modenstudios.com/Ernimtir/UVmap.jpg")this(/url).

My problems/questions are these:
How do I export the UV map from wings so I can texture it?
How do I import it back into Wings and onto my object?
Will the texture transfer to Strata for rendering if I export the model as .3ds?
Can I instead apply the texture back to the object in strata? Or will some necessary data be lost in the process of exporting and then importing?

So, yeah, if you can answer my questions, great. If not, feel free to other alternate suggestions.

I'll post this on a Wings forum if no one here knows. I just wanted to ask people I know before asking people I don't know. Thanks in advance.

P.S. Is there a free, good alternative to Photoshop? Or any good, free texture making app? I don't need/want all the features but I do want more than Appleworks. OSX based is preferred.

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Warning: Caution is advised when attemping communication with an Ernimtir under the influence of himself.

(This message has been edited by Ernimtir (edited 07-17-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by Ernimtir:
**How do I export the UV map from wings so I can texture it?
How do I import it back into Wings and onto my object?
Will the texture transfer to Strata for rendering if I export the model as .3ds?
Can I instead apply the texture back to the object in strata? Or will some necessary data be lost in the process of exporting and then importing?

P.S. Is there a free, good alternative to Photoshop? Or any good, free texture making app? I don't need/want all the features but I do want more than Appleworks. OSX based is preferred.**

1. In the Window menu, make sure the Outliner is visible.
2. Select the item called "Diffuse" and then right-click.
3. Choose Make External and save the texture somewhere.
4. Edit the texture.
5. Back in Wings, select "Diffuse" again and right-click.
6. Choose Refresh.
Viola!

For a free alternative to Photoshop, get (url="http://"http://www.gimp.org/")GIMP(/url). I personally dislike it, but it's free and it works.

-Vaumnou

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(This message has been edited by Vaumnou (edited 07-18-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by Vaumnou:
** <various helpful stuff>
**

Thanks a lot. That makes me very happy. 😄

I looked at GIMP, but the official site didn't seem to mention a mac version. And a google search on "mac gimp" only turned up pages that eventual linked to a page to buy it at $25. Not as bad as photoshop, but still...

Anyway, it's probably just that I didn't look hard enough. I look again in the morning, it's late now.

(edited by Mazca - you borked your quote tags, I fixed them)

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Warning: Caution is advised when attemping communication with an Ernimtir under the influence of himself.

(This message has been edited by Mazca (edited 07-18-2003).)