Effectively uv mapping long rectangular faces?

Joseph Silverman

Hey, I'm uv mapping my steyr, and UVs have always been something I never learned quite enough about. I can do it competently, but I'd really love to have a stronger understanding of why to do what.

With the long forms, like the barrel and the frame directly below it, what would be the most effective way to uv map them? In the square UV space it's really hard to find a way to make them fit without really inconsistent texel density on everything else, or horrible horizontal stretching.

I know I could 'third' them, and repeat parts, but I'd really like a unique texture along those areas, since I intended it for fpwv.

Should I:
-Go with a 1:2 map size, which would theoretically give me more space to place faces like that?
-Scale them to best match other pieces and accept some stretching?
-Scale everything down much smaller so they fit comfortably in 1:1
-Or do something else I haven't thought of?

Any reply would be really appreciated, thanks.

MoP

1:2 map aspect ratio would be my suggestion.

Joseph Silverman

Thanks, MoP, I guess I'll go with that.

Jesse Moody

check out a tutorial i wrote up on how to set this up quickly without any scaling issues.

www.artbyjessemoody.com

Mark Dygert

If for some reason you must go square, I would plan a few breaks in the long polys so the pieces can be arranged easier. But really a 1:2 ratio might be best because you don't have to worry about seams. Even tho they aren't that hard to get rid of. You could always unwrap them once long ways, texture it however you want, then unwrap them short ways and bake the long into the short.

For this sword I put breaks in the blade so it would unwrap easier to a square texture.