Hi. I really need someone to explain how things work when it comes to getting control over details over textures etc. My current workflow is this: model in Fusion 360 -> export to .STL -> import in Keyshot 8 for texturing/lightning/render. This all works fine for the most of the times, but what if I want to achieve a worn/rusted look on say; the corners of a metal surface? Enter UV-mapping. Or, at least that's what I *think* I need to do. I do not want to make my models low res game-ready or anything like that, but just be able to add grit/dust/scratches on say… edges, creases etc.
So, after scrubbing through hundreds of various YouTube-clips, reading on forums etc I have narrowed my knowledge down to the following:
Since I use a solid modeller (spitting out wireframes that consists of a bazillion triangles), the wireframe can't be used to create a mesh good enough to get a UV-map (that I later can paint my own texture on to. So, there's this thing called retopology which includes a lot of manual labour, pushing quads around and that later can be relaxed in a flat wireframe suitable for adding texture(s) on.
The thing that no-one really has managed to explain to me is the progress/work flow afterwards. If I do manage to retopologize my F360 model in a nice mesh, and also manage to create a UV-map (?), how should I think about a.) the original, hi-res model and b.) the low-res retopologized mesh and c.) the UV-map (bitmap)? I've heard some term called "baking". Is that something you do in order to create a texture-package to bring in to Keyshot?
So, what I want to know is the following: What's the recommended workflow and what tools to I need to learn in order to be able to get full control on this texturing business? I did have a look at 3DCoat which seems to be able to bring in a .STL, add textures etc and save out some sort of texture-package for further rendering in KS. The UI of 3DCoat was *very* confusing though. I have also looked at dedicated retopo-tools such as TopoGun, as well as reading about retopo:ing in Maya, Blender etc. And then someone recommended Substance Painter for dealing with texturing/painting.
As a total newbie in this area, I really could need some help on how to get things going. Or should I just forget about the hassle to learn all these new tools and just stick to what KS has to offer? I'm attaching a few screenshots of models I've done the past year so that you can see what I'm talking about. And yeah, it's all "hard surface-stuff", i.e. no monsters, ogres and things like that
