Did I UV this properly?

Elarionus

I'm trying to get better at UV Unwrapping objects. I've been thinking about purchasing Rizom, but I've been using 3DS Max's default UV unwrapping tools for the most part. This is a low poly of a REALLY simple turret that I made for something. I was curious if there were things I could do to UV unwrap this more properly.

Thanks in advance for your feedback and critique!

musashidan

Direct link your image. Your link is looking for a sign in.

Elarionus

musashidan said:

Direct link your image. Your link is looking for a sign in.

Oh, I was trying to share the FBX file. Is there a good way to do that on here? 

Alex_J

No need for that, just post an image of your UV's. Take a little time to read the stickied new member info threads and click the buttons there above the text to see what they do. It's gonna go a long way to helping you post questions properly so you get the best answers.

Also, take some time to search the same question you are asking. Chances are many people have asked similar question and you'll be able to review lots of answers that way. Maybe learn something you didn't even expect.

Elarionus

Alex Javor said:

No need for that, just post an image of your UV's. Take a little time to read the stickied new member info threads and click the buttons there above the text to see what they do. It's gonna go a long way to helping you post questions properly so you get the best answers.

Also, take some time to search the same question you are asking. Chances are many people have asked similar question and you'll be able to review lots of answers that way. Maybe learn something you didn't even expect.

Alright, I updated the opening thread with the images now.

I've posted and researched before, I just like to get specific feedback on my models, as mine don't always look like a lot of other people's.

poopipe

I've seen much, much worse

But. 

The basic steps to make the layout better are to straighten the angled shells  so they run either horizontally or vertically and overlap any shells that don't need unique information
It's possible that texel density is a little uneven - can't really tell on my phone. 
Also, it looks like you have a nasty kink in the bottom one where it says B1. it could be due to not being triangulated

musashidan

When you trade off distortion for straightened shells, just watch that you don't overdo it. In the first image/top mesh part it looks like you may have pushed the distortion too far. A lot of times distortion won't be noticed when fully shaded/lit/textured, but it's something to experiment with and be mindful off.

In the second image the fan meshes are wasting a lot of UV space. These can be either stacked or duplicated after baking and simply rotated a bit to offset the identical texture.

This can also be done with any islands that won't ever be seen at the same time(unless they will have decals or text that will be backwards when mirrored) You can even clone and stitch or mirror pieces of geometry after baking.

cloning/stacking/mirroring geo is the best way to optimise UV space.