Should we still be worrying about UV island grouping?

guats

So I really want to know from everyone out there who is a professional Artist of minimum 3+ years only...

Should UV island grouping be something that is still valid on a UV sheet considering we don't often use 2D software as much now to get results?

As a 5+ years professional myself I am constantly wondering why we still bother with this considering it is a big hassle when you aren't using software that supports UV groups when packing a UV sheet.

I use Maya to do my UV work and it has vastly improved since ye olde days before it brought the Unfold scripts under it's wing.
The amount of time it takes to manually group UV island based on 'object' or 'object cluster' seems to be unnecessary these days.

I am currently looking into buying RizomUV to bridge the gap Maya has with it's lack of UV grouping but wonder if I should spend the money?
How many of you still adhere to the logical grouping packing methods these days? Which software do you use to do so? Do you still do it completely manually?

I await your responses with baited breath!

oglu

On some projects its still used.
Arnt the Raven Tools able todo grouping for UVs?

https://www.polyraven.com/uv/

Eric Chadwick

Depends on the art style. Hand painted still relies on intelligible UV layouts.

If you can get all your painting done in 3d, then I suppose you could do away with it. 

But overlapping is still a thing in packing, and grouping helps there. 

guats

oglu said:

On some projects its still used.
Arnt the Raven Tools able todo grouping for UVs?

https://www.polyraven.com/uv/

Ah cool hadn't seen this one. Thanks

guats

Eric Chadwick said:

Depends on the art style. Hand painted still relies on intelligible UV layouts.

If you can get all your painting done in 3d, then I suppose you could do away with it. 

But overlapping is still a thing in packing, and grouping helps there. 

Yes I hand paint most things at my current job. I guess my questions is is this something that is done as a courtesy for other artists who may work on your mreshes say after you leave a job or is it something for your own personal benefit? As I work I create a lot fo UV islands (maybe more than some) and so I am constanty just selecting the island I need when doing any Photoshop work. I need to do this because even though I pack the UV's manually in a group there are so many that I don't have much idea where an island is unless it a very large one.

Eric Chadwick

Personal benefit, usually. Except if it's a larger dev team where the tasks are spread out more, and it's likely assets will be touched by multiple people.

You should look into 3d paint options. 3D Coat might float your boat. Just for roughing in values. Then it's easier to do the finishing in PS once everything is marked up.