Basicly I am a self taught when it comes to uvw mapping, and lets just say my uvws suck ass so I have to make up for bad uvws when texturing and makes the process longer. I recently completed the low for a project mesh I was playing with but when it came to UVW mapping it I found myself raging or spending way to much time in areas I shouldnt have. Can anyone think of a great DVD or tutorial site or would someone make a video explaining their tips and tricks for 3d studio max?
Here is the mesh
http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n292/ICRYWHENIPOO/M730A2/?action=view¤t=sidewires.jpg
The videos ive been watching lately on uvw mapping always have simple mesh's and never something to complex and the complex mesh setup is what cripples me I think. Thanks for reading this and hopefully this can come of some good and maybe help someone else in this sittuation as me.
Replies
It really depends what the mesh is going to be used for really - it can ask for very different UVs.
What about uploading a small part of the mesh? we could 'solve' the case!
There really is a dearth of good middle to semi advanced tutorials out there across many parts of our disciplines no?
but i always thougt cutting and relyxing until tehre are no dissortions anymore and then cutting again to fit the canvas would be enough
What I'd to on this mesh of yours is: Explode everything and stitch things around.
Absolutely. I'm self-taught, and sometimes the lack of more theoretical aspects of CG really frustrates me. The Guerrilla CG project was trying to remedy this, but they haven't updated their site in an age so I guess they hit a roadblock somewhere along the way.
Obviously beginner-level tutes are easy to find, but you're right - when it comes to real progression in teaching the more advanced aspects of stuff (especially UV mapping and texturing), sometimes it's like pulling teeth trying to find good learning resources. Not so much in terms of explaining which tools perform which functions, but why certain things are considered good practice.
It's out there!
I think this approach combined with pushing yourself to achieve results (or even techniques) you're not overly familiar with and learning from the experience of doing something solo rather than relying on tutorials is the best way to move forward.
Solid advice, pior!
:poly122:
(in modo)
1. Select seam edges
2. Hit unwrap(auto unwrap etc)
3. Adjust seam selection to account for any major distortion or missed selections, sometimes this means breaking some chunks up a little more
4. Relax, a few times depending on complexity of shapes
5. Clean up, straighten edges, weld+sew etc
6. Sometimes, rarely i will need to re-unwrap a selection if it has some complex (curves, snake like shapes) with interactive unwrap on and pin some points to straighten things out. Generally soft select move and relaxing a couple times is enough to fix most issues.
7. Auto pack or throw a checker texture on to get consistant density
8. final pack, offset any mirrored parts etc
I do this for mechanical, organic, it doesnt matter.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J70XVGZdww[/ame]
older video
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQXCFF8alBs[/ame]
My basic steps usually are (in 3dsmax or somewhat similar in headus UVlayout):