This just got sent around at work...seems pretty cool. I've never used anything other than max's defaults for unwrapping meshes so I'm keen to give this a crack.
Cool!! For me the most tedious part of UV crafting always is the careful selection of UV edges for pelt, hence I love the idea of suggestive painting!
Rest is the usual Z bluff (try handing me out such unorganized UVs to paint on, and enjoy my stylus in your eyesocket!) but yeah the pelt looks really really good.
Is there a way to edit/orient UV chunks in Z ? If not well they kinda need it hehe.
its really not very amazing. it is at best a slight time saver for the few who dont give a shit about how optimized their uvs are and aren't trying to create game art
Thank god we don't have to pay for them or i'd be outraged
Yeah, it's free in that you get it without extra money. But they have invested considerable dev time into a tool that's once again only good for the enthusiasts 95% of the time.
What would you say if 3ds max or Maya got a UV tool that can only take you half the way?
What would you say if 3ds max or Maya got a UV tool that can only take you half the way?
Have you used either of those programs? You do realize it's a pain in the ass to unwrap/relax anything that's remotely highpoly or even medium poly. Max seriously chokes. I haven't used the full release of this plugin but it was fas as shit at relaxing a mesh for me. Even though i added seams in max and used goMax to send to Zbrush and relax then back to back it was STILL faster than doing it in max.
Looks cool though the result would need tweaking in a external app (using Goz maybe), some chunks may need adaptative relax and a more work.
A good improvement for those who does not care about perfect and optimized uv. Anyways, that's what i get with modo since years with a couple of clicks.
I wish they better fix the problems with the other plug-ins such as Zapplink and make the sculpting process less dotted (as in 3.1 version or better, with pardon.. actual version is a shit full of bugs).
doesnt seem like the be all end all of uving, but it could speed up workflow
Max or zspheres= basemesh
zbrush= sculpt+retopo+ unwrap
Max= uv layout
bake
I guess it depends on how fast the pelting works. I always get the Uv squiggle dance of death when I pelt in Max..heard a couple solutions on how to avoid it, but it always comes back. Cant wait to try this.
I did relax a lot of models in Max, yes, and I know it's not the fastest. But then I'm able to move the UVs around manually, with soft selections. Mirror them, align them, cut and redo smaller parts as needed. I can easily make selections on edges and polygons that are inside a mouth or between fingers and so on. It's not missing crucial functions for everyday work.
Using Max or Maya or any other app on top of Zbrush is obviously a valid approach too and maybe the unfolding itself is better and faster. But it still doesn't make sense to add this entire feature in such an incomplete way. Pixologic just still can't make its mind up about whether they want to aim for the enthusiast users or the professionals.
Have you used either of those programs? You do realize it's a pain in the ass to unwrap/relax anything that's remotely highpoly or even medium poly. Max seriously chokes. I haven't used the full release of this plugin but it was fas as shit at relaxing a mesh for me. Even though i added seams in max and used goMax to send to Zbrush and relax then back to back it was STILL faster than doing it in max.
that's a good point I hadn't thought of, max does choke like a bitch with high poly unwrapping
this is interesting. Using a paint feature to define cuts is nice. But when i tried it i realized, from personal experience using maya, max, and zbrush, that XSI is faster.
I know this detracts from the topic a little but what i really want from zbrush is to be able to transfer high rez geo info to a game model using the subtool layers. It's a shame they keep missing little things like that.
i am glad everyone is an expert on using it without even trying it...
yes you can move things around, with your transpose tools, and use any sculpting tools on your uvs, just press the flatten button to work on the flattened model.
i am liking it so far, need to do some more tests, but the initial ones are pretty nice. i like using the masking for the transpose tools for small areas like fingers and bending them out straight..
i will mess around with it a little more later, actually have some work to do now..
I have a boatload of assets from ILM, and I can tell you that's nearly the extent they unwrap their a lot of their stuff too (hooray for 16384x16384 textures).
I would imagine that speed and iteration are more important to film guys than video game guys. But this seems like it could significantly increase our unwrap times.
Yeah, it's free in that you get it without extra money. But they have invested considerable dev time into a tool that's once again only good for the enthusiasts 95% of the time.
Try to look at it from my point of view... I just question their philosophy of trying to sit on two (or more) horses at the same time with one a**, but never really riding any of them.
Pixologic has a limited amount of programmer time for the development of Zbrush. Yet I see them again and again spending it on various features that are 1. present in other applications (and you can't use Zbrush only in any CG animation production anyway) 2. their implementation usually isn't fully completed - while there are lots of sometimes small but very basic and annoying issues that have not been fixed for as long as five years by now.
So yeah, now it can do UV unwraps. But I also have to keep pressing the SmoothUV button for every single (sub)tool - before dividing the model - again and again, too. Could maybe someone spend that few hours on fixing just this one, instead of coming up with yet another new feature?
bit of hijacking on that second quote. from another board. but i strongly feel the need to support this argument here. as there
I honestly haven't used it yet, but I really wasn't having a problem with my workflow before. Using Roadkill which automatically relaxes the UV's whenever you make a cut or weld and is insanely fast and by the sounds of it lets you be much more accurate since it is a Pelting tool.
Maya OBJ. ----> Roadkill ----> Maya for adjustments = completley unwrapped and optimized UV's (stacking/mirroring included) in 10 minutes or less 99% of the time. If it is a complex character most likely 30 minutes or less and that's usually just time spent on me trying to figure out the best way to go about unwrapping it for maximum efficiency.
I honestly haven't used it yet, but I really wasn't having a problem with my workflow before. Using Roadkill which automatically relaxes the UV's whenever you make a cut or weld and is insanely fast and by the sounds of it lets you be much more accurate since it is a Pelting tool.
Maya OBJ. ----> Roadkill ----> Maya for adjustments = completely unwrapped and optimized UV's (stacking/mirroring included) in 10 minutes or less 99% of the time. If it is a complex character most likely 30 minutes or less and that's usually just time spent on me trying to figure out the best way to go about unwrapping it for maximum efficiency.
I prefer Headus UVlayout since it controls a fuck of a lot better than Roadkill, but yeah, generally I prefer any app that can quickly pelt, stack and optimize all while showing me how much stretching is going on with a red to green color scheme instead of the traditional "here's a checkerboard, spend your time combing the model for artifacting" method.
Does this plugin allow you to further edit the UVs after you've pressed the "make it done" button? Can you move shells closer together to optimize the UV space or anything?
Replies
Rest is the usual Z bluff (try handing me out such unorganized UVs to paint on, and enjoy my stylus in your eyesocket!) but yeah the pelt looks really really good.
Is there a way to edit/orient UV chunks in Z ? If not well they kinda need it hehe.
This tool is Badass!
congratulations pixologic I will give you my hard earned money forever if you keep this up.
Thank god we don't have to pay for them or i'd be outraged
Yeah, it's free in that you get it without extra money. But they have invested considerable dev time into a tool that's once again only good for the enthusiasts 95% of the time.
What would you say if 3ds max or Maya got a UV tool that can only take you half the way?
Have you used either of those programs? You do realize it's a pain in the ass to unwrap/relax anything that's remotely highpoly or even medium poly. Max seriously chokes. I haven't used the full release of this plugin but it was fas as shit at relaxing a mesh for me. Even though i added seams in max and used goMax to send to Zbrush and relax then back to back it was STILL faster than doing it in max.
A good improvement for those who does not care about perfect and optimized uv. Anyways, that's what i get with modo since years with a couple of clicks.
I wish they better fix the problems with the other plug-ins such as Zapplink and make the sculpting process less dotted (as in 3.1 version or better, with pardon.. actual version is a shit full of bugs).
then it all set to create most awesome stuff without painful Export import thingie ...
Max or zspheres= basemesh
zbrush= sculpt+retopo+ unwrap
Max= uv layout
bake
I guess it depends on how fast the pelting works. I always get the Uv squiggle dance of death when I pelt in Max..heard a couple solutions on how to avoid it, but it always comes back. Cant wait to try this.
Using Max or Maya or any other app on top of Zbrush is obviously a valid approach too and maybe the unfolding itself is better and faster. But it still doesn't make sense to add this entire feature in such an incomplete way. Pixologic just still can't make its mind up about whether they want to aim for the enthusiast users or the professionals.
that's a good point I hadn't thought of, max does choke like a bitch with high poly unwrapping
B
I know this detracts from the topic a little but what i really want from zbrush is to be able to transfer high rez geo info to a game model using the subtool layers. It's a shame they keep missing little things like that.
yes you can move things around, with your transpose tools, and use any sculpting tools on your uvs, just press the flatten button to work on the flattened model.
i am liking it so far, need to do some more tests, but the initial ones are pretty nice. i like using the masking for the transpose tools for small areas like fingers and bending them out straight..
i will mess around with it a little more later, actually have some work to do now..
I have a boatload of assets from ILM, and I can tell you that's nearly the extent they unwrap their a lot of their stuff too (hooray for 16384x16384 textures).
I would imagine that speed and iteration are more important to film guys than video game guys. But this seems like it could significantly increase our unwrap times.
lol try using Blender.
bit of hijacking on that second quote. from another board. but i strongly feel the need to support this argument here. as there
Well it's still tons better than working with Zbrush 2.5 hehe
Maya OBJ. ----> Roadkill ----> Maya for adjustments = completley unwrapped and optimized UV's (stacking/mirroring included) in 10 minutes or less 99% of the time. If it is a complex character most likely 30 minutes or less and that's usually just time spent on me trying to figure out the best way to go about unwrapping it for maximum efficiency.
I prefer Headus UVlayout since it controls a fuck of a lot better than Roadkill, but yeah, generally I prefer any app that can quickly pelt, stack and optimize all while showing me how much stretching is going on with a red to green color scheme instead of the traditional "here's a checkerboard, spend your time combing the model for artifacting" method.
Does this plugin allow you to further edit the UVs after you've pressed the "make it done" button? Can you move shells closer together to optimize the UV space or anything?