Texturing- Cat

Having experimented previously with fur, I know how heavy it can be to render. I want to keep my models as light as possible to allow for quick rendering and playback that is close to real time and improve my animation in regards to timing. The fur effect will have to be entirely texture based and simplified.

I started off by UV mapping my cat. I think I've become better at UV mapping as this project has gone on, in my last project the textures were simple so accurate UV mapping wasn't as important, but in this project it will be. I textured my cat with a checkered pattern to see and adjust parts of the texture that were stretched or squashed. When all the squares of the pattern are roughly the same size, I can be sure that any textures I create will display as they should.

Checkered cat, correctly UV mapped



As for colour, I wanted to keep to the simple colour palette of a black and white cat, not wanting to complicate things by trying to re-create an intricate tortoise shell pattern. The typical black and white cat has a white chest and underbelly, white paws and sometimes partly white faces.

I didn't want to recreate exactly my black and white cat, Sparky, but something similar would be ideal.



Something like Felix from the cat food adverts. I like the small amount of white on the lower part of his face and the middle of his forehead.



I like how the fur is on this cat. Where the black meets the white there is some overlap with a few strands of hair, represented by a few brush strokes. I also like his pink nose and feet.



I tried to re-create that effect in the texture I created. I like the effect, its simple but still hints at the presence of fur.



Final textured cat