How to line up details on modular objects (see image)?

allengingrich

I'm making a modular road system and it's going great, minus my crevice normals not lining up. I can get them close by trial and error, but there has to be a better way to precisely place these so they line up. Any tips would be great. Thanks!

Steppenwolf

Seems to be an issue with your uv's. Make sure to rectify or straighten your edges and lines when unwrapping. Don't waste your time trying to work around this in Substance.

allengingrich

Steppenwolf said:

Seems to be an issue with your uv's. Make sure to rectify or straighten your edges and lines when unwrapping. Don't waste your time trying to work around this in Substance.

Thanks for replying. These are actually two different meshes completely. I'm having a hard time texturing them independently and getting things like his to line up.

Mant1k0re

If both your sidewalk meshes have the same width in your 3D package, which seems to be the case, I'd say you unwrapped them separately and you got texel density discrepancy. Start by making it consistent and then use the grid in your UV editor to snap your edges and make sure everything lines perfectly as Wolf says.

allengingrich

Mant1k0re said:

If both your sidewalk meshes have the same width in your 3D package, which seems to be the case, I'd say you unwrapped them separately and you got texel density discrepancy. Start by making it consistent and then use the grid in your UV editor to snap your edges and make sure everything lines perfectly as Wolf says.

Thanks for commenting. I absolutely have no texel density problems -- the line I'm showing in red is a normal line that I painted in Substance Painter. My point is, how can I be precise on how I line these details up, when I can't import both models at once into painter?

Mant1k0re

If those are modular pieces why do you need to make two different textures for it...? Logically you paint that detail once and apply the texture to both pieces, done. Sorry if if I missing something here I'm just confused by what the issue might be... 

Now if you really have to paint this line twice, it's sort of a hack but just make a copy of your mesh where you actually cut an edge where you want your detail to be and import it into SP, then use the UV view to paint that line right on the edge?

allengingrich

Mant1k0re said:

If those are modular pieces why do you need to make two different textures for it...? Logically you paint that detail once and apply the texture to both pieces, done. Sorry if if I missing something here I'm just confused by what the issue might be... 

Now if you really have to paint this line twice, it's sort of a hack but just make a copy of your mesh where you actually cut an edge where you want your detail to be and import it into SP, then use the UV view to paint that line right on the edge?

Well, they're two different meshes. One is a straight road section, while the other is a crossroad intersection. Perhaps zooming out will help -- see below. All I'm wondering is how to line up details across modular pieces -- I think your "add an edge" might be the solution on this one (because I can edge paint in SP), but I still wonder if there is a better way when I can't use an edge.



Thanks again!

Mant1k0re

Can you show your UVs for both mesh, side by side if possible?

allengingrich

Mant1k0re said:

Can you show your UVs for both mesh, side by side if possible?

I can when I get home -- but for what reason? I think we're getting away from the main point -- how do I "measure" in Substance Painter? I want the curb line to be 15 centimeters from the edge -- how can I ensure this size on both meshes?

Mant1k0re

Because, the *width* of both your meshes being equal, if your UVs are positioned correctly, you don't need to paint the detail twice, as I said  

I'll do a test on my end later today and post about it, maybe doing it myself will show something I missed.

musashidan

Apart from @Mant1k0re 's solid advice, one way to do it is to have an edgeloop of the 2 pieces in the exact same place and just turn on wireframe in SP when you're painting. That way you can paint the normal detail along that exact edgeloop ensuring consistency. Also, earlier you said you can't bring both meshes to SP. Why not? I often bring proxy versions of multi-part assets in alongside what i'm texturing if I need to line things up. Just apply a different material in your 3d package and it'll be imported to SP as a different texture set.

AaronWinnenberg

I understand Allen's problem. I've been dealing with it with a house kit I've been working on. Export your modular pieces connected as they would be in engine with two different materials assigned to them and texture them side by side. If you need one of the pieces turned off to texture around the other you can hide the material you're not using and it will hide the geometry.