Headus UV layout/Max Bridge

r_fletch_r

Hey Guys.
For those of you who use uvlayout with Max I've finally (after about 2 years) updated my plugin to bridge the two. Its still a test script as it hasnt been extensively tested but id love to get some feedback.

http://www.headus.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=402

Basically it provides a stack friendly bridge between UVLayout and max. You send the mesh using the plugin, uv and save it in Uvlayout and the UVs appear in max, stored in a modifier.

Personally I'm interested in generalizing the way the plugin works. As it stands it would take minimal work to get it working with any program which can operate with obj files. So Roadkill/Silo/Blender shouldn't be a problem (anyone interested)

Eric Chadwick

Wow, awesomeness.

I would be interested, as I'm sure would others as well, in a Maya version of this too.

r_fletch_r

you'll be the death of me I've never looked at MEL

renderhjs

I am about to try the same with the maxscript from the other thread with roadkill. My idea was to add a additional UVWunwrap modifier or pasteUVW modifier to store the imported UVW data.

Funny thing: I started TexTools because I couldn't afford having uvLayout everywhere I worked (different companies, uni, private, friends,...) - and after version 1.6 of TexTools I haven't touched UVlayout ever since. In a way I created my own reason to not use it anymore although I highly respect and recommend this software to anyone (its just awesome)- but for me on a legal way there is not much chance anytime soon that I will use it again - because its to expensive for the specific purpose it has.

I will have a look at the script to see how you did things, my script should be released soon as well.

Eric Chadwick

This might help.
http://www.scriptspot.com/bobo/mel2mxs/mel2mxs.htm

Flava-Fly

I've totally been looking for this, has taken me a good while to get my import/export settings sorted for UVLayout. One thing I found was is seems to forget smoothing groups even if you export them in your .OBJ I will try this later tonight and try and help your feedback

renderhjs

from your install script:

colorman.reInitIcons()
foo = getDir #scripts
makeDir (foo +"\uvpipe")

maybe change it to the userScripts folder which should be:

colorman.reInitIcons()
foo = pathConfig.GetDir #userScripts
makeDir (foo +"\uvpipe")

that way no one needs admin rights to install your MZP file. Same for within your main script as I noticed it has some getDir #Scripts commands. A simple find and replace should do the trick.

I like the idea of having functions that have a node and obj url as parameter - I might copy some of your indeas into my stuff.

r_fletch_r

renderhjs i had the same problem so i bought a dongle. It pretty much goes everywhere with me. thanks for the tip on paths. ill change it
I tried both the unwrap_uvw and paste uvs methods. I gave up on the unwrap_uvw though as it sometimes seemed to refuse to work. It wouldnt let me select and weld points even with the node selected. the subobject level set, 'max modify mode' set
and the edit() function enabled.

Flava-Fly: tell me about it. I'm hoping this release nails all the import related problems the last got ruined by. This script deals only with uvs. you model in max remains constant and the data transfer is done using the stack. so you should theoretically be able to uv a skinned character in max and so forth. I havent tested this yet though.

BeatKitano

EricChadwick wrote: »

Wow, awesomeness.

I would be interested, as I'm sure would others as well, in a Maya version of this too.

Count me in.

Flava-Fly

Firstly I wanna say its awesome! Fantastic job! I'm testing it in Max 2009 x64 and had some great early results. Only problem so far is editing the objects UV's but I might be doing it wrong.

- I create a box (box01) and run the script, check the new and poly buttons and click my box01.
- Headus opens and I unwrap the box01, pack it and click send
- Box01 returns to Max with new 'uvlayouts uv's' bit in the stack
- I apply unwrap UVW to see if the process has carried over - it did
- Then I wanna change my UVs so I run the script again this time checking the 'edit' button and select my box01
- Headus opens with a new box (box02) with no UVs and has duplicated a new box in max (i.e box02)

Is that an issue or have I done something wrong?

r_fletch_r

yup same here. will get it sorted.

CheeseOnToast

There already is a maya version, which has been around for ages.

http://www.headus.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=394

And yes, it rocks.

r_fletch_r

CheeseOnToast: I think the request was for a script that was program agnostic. I had mentioned in my previous post that i was interested in making my script work with any program that operated on OBJ files.

Flava-Fly:
New Version available on the plugin page. The bug you mentioned should be fixed now and Material support has been added.

Flava-Fly

I just had a quick go and it worked! It did duplicate the geometry in Max one of the times but I'm not sure what the reproduction would be on that, will try again when I get home. It seems to make a new 'uvlayouts uv's' in the stack on every edit do these retain the information of the old imports?

r_fletch_r

yes. the modifiers hold the previous unwraps and can be safely removed if you want. Its my plan to allow the user to delete these automatically or keep them.

I'm also planning on adding multiple uv channel support and copy/paste/swapping between them. so these are a nice visual cue of what uvs you have.

The geometry duplication thing isnt a problem to fix. the duplicate is used for extracting the uvs and re inserting them. if you break the cycle of the script it never gets to delete the object. What i can do is make it delete the object as soon as its exported the uvs and then make a new copy when your importing. I had avoided this so far incase the user was working on a large mesh.

kevin_internet

this post is a few years old just wanted to provide a link to the latest working version I found at http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/uvpipe-mod-by-norman3d

UVPipe - Mod by Norman3D

Version: 

1.2

Date Updated: 

03/15/2014

it works

Mant1k0re

Yeah it still works for me, I'm using Max 2016 and the latest UV Layout build.