How To Make Super Clean UV Texture Maps?
polycounter lvl 2
I've been searching for months now to help me answer this question, which leads me to believe I'm probably overthinking it, but since it still bugs me, I wanted to ask here.
How do you guys make such super clean UV Texture Maps? You guys post these awesome texture files where everything is laid out nicely next to each other, while when I texture (lets say for a brick house in this example), I have big blocks of bricks, roof tiles, shingles, wood, etc, all over the place.
Here's an example (albeit kind of bad textures, but organized): https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpU3XqQbc3MGABdO_KYmOpThFYfDFmdSYESFRAIEpdP6mkAoKeCw
Am I supposed to unwrap my object, export the UV layout to Photoshop, then make all my textures fit nicely there, or is there a better way? There has to be a better way. DDO? Substance? I'm sure there a dozens of ways, but I can't figure it out.
Any help would be appreciated more than you know.
How do you guys make such super clean UV Texture Maps? You guys post these awesome texture files where everything is laid out nicely next to each other, while when I texture (lets say for a brick house in this example), I have big blocks of bricks, roof tiles, shingles, wood, etc, all over the place.
Here's an example (albeit kind of bad textures, but organized): https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpU3XqQbc3MGABdO_KYmOpThFYfDFmdSYESFRAIEpdP6mkAoKeCw
Am I supposed to unwrap my object, export the UV layout to Photoshop, then make all my textures fit nicely there, or is there a better way? There has to be a better way. DDO? Substance? I'm sure there a dozens of ways, but I can't figure it out.
Any help would be appreciated more than you know.
Replies
There's are tips and tricks around the internet for UV mapping different kinds of models. But good unique maps are painstakingly laid out and organized to ensure the highest quality texture. You need to remember that people who do 3D modeling/texturing for a living spend 8+ hours a day working on their models. I've spent days unwrapping one model. That gives me a lot more time to unwrap, evaluate, re-unwrap, re-evaluate, and tweak it until I'm satisfied. For school or personal projects, you rarely have that sort of time.
As far as the tools I use, I do all my unwrapping in Maya. I love the UV Nightshade script for orienting, relaxing, and adjusting my shells. But that's pretty much it. No fancy software or secrets.
Are there particular models that you're having trouble with?