How should I UV pack my environment pieces to not waste space?
polycounter lvl 2
Hi,
Im creating my first environment and I'm trying to do it in a modular way. .I just finished modelling this elvish styled window frame and the model is quite thin, when I packed it I noticed that it wastes a lot of UV space. Is it a big concern? Should I combine its uvs with a different object to fill out space or its fine if its packed like this?
Also one more question: Does everything in the scene has to be the same texel density? Or does it depend on how close it is to the camera/ player?
Sorry if the questions seem trivial, still trying to get a grasp of this.
Replies
Hi! You could unwrap UVs to strips (UV seams along hard edges). The benefit of this method would be that you don't get artifacts along the edges, since the UV strips are aligned with the pixel grid. If you map those strips to a trim sheet, you can use the same trim sheet for multiple frame variants, saving time and texture memory.
Since texel density is a common theme, I'm sure if you search the forums, lot's of threads will come up for you to dig through. While I think, it's a good guideline, one has to make conscious decisions depending on the specific situation (UVs have to be stretched to match trim sheet, material allows for detail textures, ...). In the end it count how it looks and performs in game. Could also check out the wiki if you didn't already, might find some useful articles.