Texturing:

The process of producing 2D imagery that is overlayed onto the 3D model to control the color, bumpiness, shineness, etc. of the surface.

Texture Maps:

The most common texture maps produced are Color, Specular, and Bump (or normal). You may see an explanation of them below.

Color Map:

The most obvious texture that is painted would be the color map (sometimes called diffuse map). You probably can tell what this is without any elaborate explanation.

Specular Map:

Specular refers to the shininess of the model. It is possible to paint areas of more shine and areas of less. White creates shine while black is dull.

Bump Map:

Like the name suggests this will fake bumpiness on the surface with black receding and white protruding. This is common in video games. I am sure you have played a game and seen texture on an object such as a brick wall but when you look at it from the side you can tell it does not actually have those details.

Others

There are many other texture maps that can be created to control the different attributes of the surface of the model. Some include transparency, translucency, incandescence, normal (like bump but with color), discplacement (again like bump but actually changes the model’s surface), etc.

Character Texturing Lab:

Now that the model is complete and UV’d we can apply textures to it’s surface. Textures will be created to represent the color, specular, and bump of the model.