RIZOMUV HELP

rememba_da_name

So i am making a drum mag for the AKM i made a little bit ago and need help. I have it UVed just the way i and know you need to straighten everything you can to prevent aliasing in the maps but when i do the distortion is horrific... i could use some help to decide which route to go or a link to a video or post that will answer my question.


This is one of the drum mag references i have used to make the model.
This is my current UV unwrap which looks perfect but will cause aliasing. When i straighten all those curves i get horrible distortion like you can see in the next image.
How can i get the best of both worlds? No aliasing and non distorted UVs or do i have to choose one and make the best of the choice. 
If i have to choose then which is best? 

I plan to put this in Substance Painter and use extremely detailed 2k textures that are multilayered. 

Any help would be great. Also let me know if you need more information.

Ghogiel

If i have to choose then which is best? 

You are correct in that there is a trade off. I would probably try both in your shoes just so you know what the result is on each way on that particular asset. Some times it's worth doing imo. Both because you can do more with less pixels if the edges are straight, and because you probably end up with more texel density because it packs better. At a certain resolution it gives diminishing returns.

rememba_da_name

Ghogiel said:

If i have to choose then which is best? 

You are correct in that there is a trade off. I would probably try both in your shoes just so you know what the result is on each way on that particular asset. Some times it's worth doing imo. Both because you can do more with less pixels if the edges are straight, and because you probably end up with more texel density because it packs better. At a certain resolution it gives diminishing returns.

I appreciate the quick response. Ill definitely try both. Im leaning more towards straightening so i can pack all 12 parts together in one pack. Do you think that level of distortion is a huge deal and that me texturing it will be able to mask it without triplannar mapping?

Kanni3d

That distortion is minimal, other than that bit of warping, its just squares being displayed in a cylindrical fashion. Try baking and seeing how it looks.

If you're really concerned about it, you can also just combine these two shells together (also making sure your smooth edges/smoothing groups gets updated accordingly) so you don't get that aforementioned distortion, and are also not left with a hollow circle UV.

Make sure to straighten the rest of those wobbly/curved stick uv's, and also break apart those other 'hollow' circle UV's in your screenshot to maximize your TD

rememba_da_name

Make sure to straighten the rest of those wobbly/curved stick uv's, and also break apart those other 'hollow' circle UV's in your screenshot to maximize your TD




Is there a good way of breaking up the hollow circle UVs? Ive been trying different ways for hours and they all look awful...

Kanni3d

@rememba_da_name
I use Rizom, but not to unwrap, only to pack. I use 3ds max, and i just snip an edge and straighten it (there's auto tools that do that for most cases, otherwise I manually straighten them with a few hotkeys, isn't a big deal) It's possible Rizom has similar tools, if not better. It's a really great package and I would bet they have it. I would also check their discord, they've got active and super helpful staff/people around.

rememba_da_name

I know how to unwrap at a basic level and know how to do it fluently with 3ds max but the issue im having is i dont know how to cut up those big hollow cirlces. Those 2 hollow circles is a flat area. I dont want a seam in the middle of a flat area that will be in front of the camera in a FPS game.

Kanni3d

Yeah those larger circles are not only more uniquely shaped, but also prominent large features that you wouldn't want to stretch into that strip shape. I think you can either:

• Leave it as is, as you'll possibly have other elements/UV shells from the rest of the project that can fill up the rest of the UV space.
• Bruteforce a better pack by further scaling things up and down.
• Explore trying to make that entire face one smoothing group. It shouldn't be too much of an issue, since many of those angles aren't steep, which won't give you some extreme gradients in your bake. This would allow you to combine that entire side of the magazine to be one uv shell, avoiding the problematic hollow circle shapes.

rememba_da_name

Kanni3d said:

Yeah those larger circles are not only more uniquely shaped, but also prominent large features that you wouldn't want to stretch into that strip shape. I think you can either:

• Leave it as is, as you'll possibly have other elements/UV shells from the rest of the project that can fill up the rest of the UV space.
• Bruteforce a better pack by further scaling things up and down.
• Explore trying to make that entire face one smoothing group. It shouldn't be too much of an issue, since many of those angles aren't steep, which won't give you some extreme gradients in your bake. This would allow you to combine that entire side of the magazine to be one uv shell, avoiding the problematic hollow circle shapes.

rememba_da_name

I believe those huge hollow circles are already a single smoothing group. I made the smoothing groups before i UVed. This model has an inside so i can make the textures for the inside have less detail.

Kanni3d

If you don't mind posting your low-res mesh here via google drive, I could try giving it a pack/unwrap myself to see if there's better possible results