Unwrap in 3ds max

snake85027

I have this model that I am unwrapping. I selected the top faces to do a planer map on it.
Is there a button that automatically matches the size of the unwrapped faces to match the size thats on the model?

Right now I am having to select a few faces then move and making sure my checkered map has unified boxes on the model....I just assume theres a automatic button that i can press that matches the shape thats on the model...hope this makes sense.

I tried the relax button but not really what im looking for.since this is all math right, shouldnt the unwrap know the distance of the verts to be able to match it perfectly in the unwrap.

http://www.polycount.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=29748&stc=1&d=1435348387

PolyBend

I would recommend... relax. The truth is, that UV tools are not as good as anyone would like. There are usually not simple options for complex shapes. You can look into pelt mapping/quick peel. Those are 3DS Max "version" of LSCM mapping. In the end though, it always ends up a lot of manual labor.

Think of it this way. If you cut up a cereal box, that is super easy to lay out perfectly flat. Now try to cut up a ball and lay it out flat... If you think of the geometry of a ball, at some point there has to be stretching. The UV shells can not be shapes with all of the verts that are mathematically spread out to match it's 3d counterpart... You would have to have nearly every face of the ball be cut into its own island and have so many seams. Hopefully that makes sense.

Also, check out some of the max script UV tools, they help with some of the repetitiveness. PolyUnwrapper: http://www.polytools3d.com/polyunwrapper/


FYI: Just get your UV shells to have as little stretching as possible. After that, there are tools that can automate a good pass at density (making all of the shells have the same size checker boxes).

snake85027

thanks polybend. Ill check out that link.

Popeye9

I usually un-check the "normalize map" button on the control panel at the bottom under configure section and unwrap the model. This will keep each part relative in size to each other without trying to re-size to the 0-1 space. After the unwrap you have to manually scale it back the 0-1 space but all the parts will have the same texel density. For the top faces you will have to relax but it should be pretty straight forward once you figure if its relax by edge angles or polygonal angles.

DEElekgolo

Not at all sure what PolyBend is talking about. Max has absolutely great native unwrapping tools. Especially with their unfold3d LSCM stuff.
Your mesh looks simple enough that some simple flattening and stitching could get it unwrapped fine.
From what I gather you're trying to do this

when you should be doing something like this
Here I flatten out the mesh by 45 degree angles and then use the "stitch" feature(I have it binded to my Y key) to weld edges together.

which should get you the unified flattened out shape you're asking for


Planar mapping it and relaxing would be a naive way to get there. But you would get there generally if you did it that way. For a mesh like yours though the flatten and stitch method should work just fine to get virtually no distortion on your uvs.
You can even view how much distortion your UVs have by going to Display>Show Edge Distortion



All you gotta do is group up your geometry and make your one large problem into a bunch of smaller ones that you just gotta stitch together later. Also there is a one-click solution that could get you a good LSCM start on unwrapping stuff more complex stuff and gives you a 1:1 result with your specific case.

Just separate a uv island of a surface you want to unwrap and click the "quick peel" button. Using the "Unwrap UVW" modifier by the way.



The simple planar mapping and box mapping tools and such are purely mathematical ways to unwrap your mesh. They simply project your mesh against the UV surface of a plane or cylinder or sphere and such. It can be useful at times but 90% of the time you'll probably be using the Unwrap UVW modifier(which also features these same projections for when you need them).

PolyBend

@DEElekgolo

Great post, wish there was a upvote system on polycount. I mentioned QuickPeel and LSCM... I figured he was talking about the fact that when you hit "Planar" map in 3ds max, it always is fitted to the 0-1 UV space and is distorted and you are required to make a few extra steps.

As far as I know, that is still required? I mean, granted I have been doing that forever and have hotkeys so it is really fast... But there is not way to make planar maps automatically do this is there? If so, I have been using planar map wrong all of these years...

DEElekgolo

PolyBend wrote: »

I figured he was talking about the fact that when you hit "Planar" map in 3ds max, it always is fitted to the 0-1 UV space and is distorted and you are required to make a few extra steps.

Disabling the "Normalize map" option should work fine then. Packing it should scale it down back into the [0,1] range automatically as well.



I figured the mention of having a unified checker boxes and correlating the vertex distances onto the UVs as well was just asking for a truly "unfolded" version of their geometry.

Ott

There is one. It's called "Unfold".

Grab the faces. Mapping > Unfold Mapping.

Done. No relaxing or normalizing needed. Make a hotkey for it if you're gangsta.