Texturing Eyes

You can apply a fully opaque texture to the eyes to achieve a more non-human visual effect for your character. Before editing the eye textures, join the two eye objects to texture them both at the same time. Then texture paint the entire eye, starting with the outer eye, moving to the inner eye, and finishing with the pupil.

To texture your eye mesh objects:

  1. Increase the texture image resolution.

  2. In the Outliner, toggle the Hide in Viewport option for the Head_Geo, LowerTeeth_Geo, Tongue_Geo, and UpperTeeth_Geo. Leave the eye mesh objects visible.

  3. In Object Mode, hold Shift and click on both the LeftEye_Geo and the RightEye_Geo. Then right-click and select Join (CtrlJ; J) to join the objects. The two objects merge using the name of the last object selected.

  4. Switch to Texture Paint mode.

  5. With the Draw tool active, set the following brush settings for the outer eye shadow:

    1. In Brush Settings, set Radius to 50px and Strength to 1.0.

    2. In Color Picker, select black.

  6. In the Texture Paint 3D view window, completely paint the eye objects black. This serves as the basis for the outer-eye shadow.

  7. With the Draw tool active, set the following brush settings for the outer eye shadow:

    1. In Brush Settings, set Radius to 75px and Strength to 1.0.

    2. In Color Picker, select a deep yellow.

  8. In the Texture Paint 2D view window, line up your cursor to the center of the UV map that corresponds to the eye texture. Click 4-6 times on the center of each eye to create an outer eye color over the base shadow.

  9. For visibility, enable Head_Geo visibility and reorient the camera to a front-facing view.

  10. Paint the inner eye color using the following suggestions:

    1. Click the X Symmetry button to enable symmetry. Toggle this off if creating asymmetrical assets.

    2. In the Overlay view options, enable Wireframe geometry view. You can toggle this overlay off when spot checking your visual elements.

    3. Update your brush settings for the inner eye:

      1. In Brush Settings, set Radius to 5px. You can quickly change this radius as you paint by holding F.

      2. In Color Picker, select a strong red shade for the inner eye.

    4. Periodically make the head mesh visible to ensure your eye texture works with the rest of the model.

  11. Update your brush settings for the pupil:

    1. In Brush Settings, set Radius to 5px. You can quickly change this radius as you paint by holding F.

    2. In Color Picker, select a bright red shade for the pupils.

  12. Using the Brush tool, paint the pupils of your model.

  13. After completing your texture painting, switch back to Edit Mode.

  14. Shift click both of your eye objects, and press P and select By Loose Parts to separate the two meshes.

  15. Rename your remaining mesh to the original RightEye_Geo or LeftEye_Geo name.