How To: Create a textured face in 3ds Max 8

This is a three-part 3ds max video tutorial that takes a look at using reference photos for creating a head texture. If you have photographs that can work, there really isn't any reason not to use them since they can often provide plenty of subtle details that would be very time consuming to add otherwise.

The second part here is a pretty simple technique and could probably be summed up as: using a normal map from Max to find out where the mesh overlaps itself. If you know exactly what that means, you can probably skip this tutorial, but it's here for completeness.

Often, when stitching/cloning/copying a face texture from parts, you can get areas that are blurred and smeared. This third video to the previous tutorials goes over how to use the nagel brush series to reintroduce some of the lost detail. The tutorial also shows the benefits of multiple UV channels and using them to add detail procedurally in Max.

You'll also get a lot of in depth discussion on the use of Adobe Photoshop with 3ds Max.

Autodesk's 3D Studio Max is a customizable and scalable 3D modeling and rendering solution for games, film, and television.