UV Map Preparation Comprehension
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Searched for 'UV Map Tips' and didn't see the question phrased in a way that I was looking for, so I figured I'd stick my head out and see if I could help with my understanding by raising the noob flag for the world to see. So my quandary goes something like this.
So I have a character model I've been working on in Maya for the last few days as a personal project/practice and refinement of lessons learned in a local campus class I've been taking. Basically, this is my first personal project with the sole purpose of taking myself through the whole process of design, modelling, UV mapping, texturing, rigging and posing. As it stands, the whole outer skin and inner mouth is all one object, teeth and gums are their own groups.
UV Shells are basically divided among 4 'groups' on the UV editor, being:
=Main Body (arms, legs, torso, tail, hands & feet)
=Head (Neck, face, skull, and mouth cavity)
=Mouth Details (gums and tongue)
=a probably completely unneeded group for the teeth since they can just be covered with an Arnold shader and look fine.
Each of these "groups" have their own shader assigned, while the UV map for the whole thing has the four groups assigned to one quadrant of the UV map's quad square for the sake of my visual sanity. Thing is the map is actually contained in that top right square (or so I've been told).
So my question basically comes down to where to put all the UV 'groups' to ensure good pixel density. Now, aside from the gums and teeth, the whole thing is one contiguous mesh. Is it safe to just stack all the groups on top of each other in the top right and hope the different shaders/textures will sort it out, or will I actually have to physically separate the sections of the mesh?
Addendum: I plan on taking the model into Substance Painter 5, so I'm also a bit concerned if having different shaders on different parts of the model will complicate the painting process, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
So I have a character model I've been working on in Maya for the last few days as a personal project/practice and refinement of lessons learned in a local campus class I've been taking. Basically, this is my first personal project with the sole purpose of taking myself through the whole process of design, modelling, UV mapping, texturing, rigging and posing. As it stands, the whole outer skin and inner mouth is all one object, teeth and gums are their own groups.
UV Shells are basically divided among 4 'groups' on the UV editor, being:
=Main Body (arms, legs, torso, tail, hands & feet)
=Head (Neck, face, skull, and mouth cavity)
=Mouth Details (gums and tongue)
=a probably completely unneeded group for the teeth since they can just be covered with an Arnold shader and look fine.
Each of these "groups" have their own shader assigned, while the UV map for the whole thing has the four groups assigned to one quadrant of the UV map's quad square for the sake of my visual sanity. Thing is the map is actually contained in that top right square (or so I've been told).
So my question basically comes down to where to put all the UV 'groups' to ensure good pixel density. Now, aside from the gums and teeth, the whole thing is one contiguous mesh. Is it safe to just stack all the groups on top of each other in the top right and hope the different shaders/textures will sort it out, or will I actually have to physically separate the sections of the mesh?
Addendum: I plan on taking the model into Substance Painter 5, so I'm also a bit concerned if having different shaders on different parts of the model will complicate the painting process, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Replies
But... I don't think you should do this with the body parts that has the same shader (skin). I'd keep those as one "group" and just pack them so they fill up the uv space. Then I'd make other groups for things that requires different shader, like eye or hair. Splitting it based on body parts would result inconsistent pixel density. Like the head would get higher resolution. Maybe this is what you want, but this should be considered based on some factors, like how it would be shown at the end. If you'd show the face from close, maybe it worth to give it a bit more resolution. But if its would be shown from further so the whole figure is visible the most of times, you probably want consistent pixel density.