Cartographer asks: 3d scan of imperfect globe to a 2d Equilateral Projection?

Vigilus

I'm using blender.  The hand painted globe I scanned using an Artec Space Spider.

I'm trying to find a way to reshape the UV map in such a way that the 3d globe becomes a standard equilateral projection or 2:1 aspect ratio that accurately depicts the world.  

This picture shows the rough layout of the UV map. As you can see, it's nowhere near an equilateral projection.



I'm working from this imperfect sphere (which was a 3d scan that's been touched up, no mesh work has been done).



Here is what the mesh looks like overlaying the UV map



This is the reverse of the process most people take when handling spheres, which is why there is little documentation on this precise process, at least that I've found.  Scanning from a globe allowed me to spend 4 years slowly designing the world and incorporating incredible depth to the world I'm crafting.  I'm looking for a way to put the UV map onto a perfect sphere.   

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!  

poopipe

Make a sphere with good UVs and bake the scanned one onto it.  

Obscura

Yep, I would do the same. Though, the new sphere mesh should have all quads, and the pole vertices should be scaled so the pole faces look like triangles.

Vigilus

Hmm more details as to the baking process?  I've done a lot of research on this and attempted to bake something yet I'm not quite sure how I use it.  I'm a moderate blender user, becoming advanced (I hope).

If there are any video's/useful links or you want to go onto discord and chat about it let me know in a PM.  Thanks!