@melviso When I think about it for a moment, you can probably do that with image textures, if you just keep yourself to 2D surfaces and are not trying to create something cohesive across a whole 3D object like single blocks of wood. I mean manipulating UV coordinate vectors is pretty much the core of what happens in the video I linked and probably also what the Scattr node group does. You can then use that to feed either noise generators or just image textures. Here is another video that also does this:
@f1r3w4rr10r Thanks for the vid. That UberMapping node is dope but it still creates seams which is not ideal. The unreal engine method is what I am looking for as its real time for eevee.Bercon tiles to dope as well. What we need is a node that can randomly assign a group of textures or parts of a texture to uv tiles. I will keep on looking into it.
Anyone know what causes this, or a quick remedy (other than re scaling and eyeballing it)? At first I was only having the floor mesh constantly scale in like this over and over for some reason. Today, after I exported .fbx files of the scene for Unreal, I saved the scene. It looked fine. I open it later, and everything is squeezed in. The scale x=1 for everything.
The X scale is set to 1 but the Y and Z scales are set to 5.264 so the objects don't have a uniform scale. Try changing the X scale to 5.264 or the Y and Z scales to 1.00 and that should resolve the scaling issues. (The transform tab works with copy paste if you have to make a lot of changes and there are ways to make bulk changes to object scale.)
The objects change scale on opening because it looks like all of the mesh objects in your scene have transform animation data. Any changes to this object transform animation that isn't manually saved will be reverted when the frame changes or when the file is re-loaded. To clear the transform animations, select all of the mesh objects, open the command search menu and type "Remove Animation" and run the command.
Depending on how the transform animations were setup and what changes were made to the mesh objects you might have to adjust the scale on a few objects or on all of them. If the correct object scale is 1 then you could use a command like Clear Scale to reset all of the objects. If the scale is something other than 1 you'll have to find out what the correct scale is for each object. Once everything is correctly scaled you can use Apply Object Transform to keep the changes and set the scale to 1 again.
If I had to take a guess at what caused this: something was probably scaled in object mode and then the scene was modeled and at some point the Loc Scale command was used and it added the transform animation data to all of the mesh objects that were selected. After scaling in object mode it's a good idea to apply the scale transformation before editing in mesh mode.
I am looking for how to do this in Blender (...)
Creating the textures are easy but how to randomly put them per uv tile is the issue.
@melviso You need a few things: - To "stepify" the soft UV coordinates into sharp UV coordinates (aka cells on a grid). - To map these steps with random values*. - To add these stepped random values as UV offsets into the soft UVs (the original coordinates).
* This is the most difficult part. You can use the Noise Texture node, but it's not really a [0.0, 1.0] range noise, it mostly generates some dull colors. So you can use a Bright Contrast node to bring up the colors it generates.
The node tree (drag to a new browser tab to see it larger):
@RN Thanks so much, mate. Really appreciate the help. Thank u !!! Any chance u could pls pls share the blend file if u can so ppl can append the node tree to their projects. If u can't that is okay. I am wondering if there is a way to just expose the uv map, CELLS and RANDOM nodes as parameters in one node. All u need to do then is just plug that one node to the texture. Again, thank u, mate !!
@FrankPolygon Thanks! That's twice this thread has really helped me out since moving to Blender recently. You were correct, I somehow accidentally added a key frame transformation on frame 3. Once I applied all transformations, it finally stayed in place after reopening the file.
@melviso you said you're not that familiar with the node editor, so it would be a great way to learn if you tried to recreate that node tree by following the images. This is a 7 min tutorial on some basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zrd37k2tJM
Additional things you need to know: - Shift + A to get the menu with all the node types to add. - Shift + Right-click + drag on a noodle (the gray lines connecting nodes) to create a Reroute Node, a little dot node that lets you organize the lines so they don't look like spaghetti. - Select one or more nodes and press Ctrl + G to create a Group Node with them inside. Press Tab to go in and out of editing that group, and connect sockets to the start and end nodes to create group inputs / outputs.
Node types used on that tree, left to right, repeats not mentioned:
@RN Thanks. It works: Any chance the white border lines between the cells can be removed? It would break the seamless look of the textures when randomised. I included a second box to show the texture when mapped normally. Also, how do I exposed the nodes ''CELLS'' and ''RANDOM'' as parameters u can tweak in a new node group? I can't plug them to the Group node input as they are using the Vaule node which has no input socket. Also someone from Blenderartists method: link
@melviso The first issue is probably caused because of rounding errors. Check the math that separates the UV into squares.
As for the inputs, you would disconnect the noodles from the value nodes and instead put them into the node group input. You can then set default values for them.
I just realized that the "Vector Math" node in 2.8 changed and the "Average" mode has been removed. That function can be useful to blending normal maps for example, like described in a previous post. Fortunately it's very simple to be replaced by adding and normalizing the vectors.
@MrNinjutsu this is a game changer, the brush not only creates the folds but has material presets and it pulls the geometry like if the cloth simulation was running but with much better performances and it is easier to use without the gravity, It doesn't require pinning points like Marvelous Designer.
Also it can be combined with the auto edge masking revealed earlier to simulate pinning by keeping the borders.
I want to share a node setup to break up tiling textures by rotating them, driven by a noise texture. This will not work well for textures with a regular pattern like bricks or textures too close to the camera, but works fine for stuff like landscapes.
This setup manipulates only the vector input for the tiling textures instead of blending textures together, therefor you can use one group for textures that share the same coordinates (e.g. base color, roughness, normal...)
The setup itself is not very complicated, if you have any question, let me know.
Can someone pls shed more light on why there is still no bake displacement map option in Blender for Cycles? I know there are some sort of workarounds and how long will it take before its added.
Smoothing can be controlled with the mark sharp / clear sharp commands in the edge menus. If the mesh has UV seams then the quickest way to add sharp edges over them is to go into edge select mode, select one of the seam edges and use the select similar > seam command to select all edge seams and apply mark sharp.
If the mesh is already unwrapped but the seam data has been cleared then you'll have to go into the UV editor and use the seams from islands command and use the same process from above to mark sharp.
You should consider buying Hardops. It's really convenient for marking your edges. That way, it will be closer to the way you work in maya and even better. You can check the doc here:
I haven't delved too deep into Blender's UV tools yet. What's their current state? afaik, UVing in Blender is kinda f*ed when compared to Maya or Max' native tools, unless you have plugins that get you almost up to the same level. Is this correct? Is there anything concrete in the roadmap for its growth?
After giving the UV tools a try and spending an afternoon or two really going over them, I really enjoy using them now. They're definitely not as in depth as Max or Maya can be, but they're certainly useable.
I found this video particularly useful in understanding how it works in Blender:
Unwrap functionality seems fine enough in the UV editor. But having to toggle sync mode all the time to access functionality or make it behave like in other apps (aka common sense) and having no UV layout visible in object mode just kills it for me. Plenty of other apps to edit UVs in that I'm far more compatible with.
Had a go at texture painting inside Blender and without addons it appears there's no layer functionality out of the box? The Photoshop bridge functionality was also a bit of a letdown. Still paint feeling as such was nice enough, I could definitely get used to that. Looks like an area that could become useful with a few fixes and a custom layout for the brush settings/presets.
I ran into a few basic issues regarding projection and paint bleeding on simple models that made me back off for now though.
The only UV tools I've used outside Blender was "Roadkill UV Tool" at school years back, but that was just based on Blender's unwrap algorithm anyway, but with a clunky UI and tools.
I still don't get the dislike of Blender's UV tools. I find them great as they are. I started using TexTools and Magic UV addons once they got released, and I didn't find them lifesaving or groundbreaking. Nice little extra additions on top of the vanilla tools, but I could survive Blender's native UV tools anyday without addons though.
Coming from Maya, I find the UV editing in Blender quite effective but a lot is still missing:
For example, in version 2.81, there is no grid. In version 2.82, the grid is available to be able to view the different UDIMs, but the number of subdivisions cannot be changed. There is also no way to snap uvs on the grid.
There's no simple uv shading. To have shading you must activate the visualization of stretching. No dimming of the background textures either. No possibility to see the border edges unless you mark the seams from the islands.
The unfold is very good but why does it have to be used on the whole displayed uvs and not on the selection only ( fortunatly, uvToolKit can do it).
No manipulators in the UV editor in 2.81 but it's coming in 2.82 or 2.83.
I also really miss the constraint unfold from maya that allows you to unfold on U or on V. The constraint unfold from magicUV doesn't give me good results.
But as I said earlier, despite all this, UV editing is surprisingly effective most of the time thanks to the very good unfold algorithm and the help of UVpackmaster.
I don't get the hate on blenders uv editing either. Although i learned unwrapping in blender so bare that in mind. What does maya's uving system have that blender does not for instance. I'm having to learn maya at the moment and I find the unwrapping quite clunky I just want to mark edges and unwrap that since that's how I learned it. A lot of maya ppl use those cylinder and cube projections etc. I find those really fucking annoying since I have to keep adjusting the tool parameters which is my biggest gripe with maya overall.
In blender I just mark edges with the edge angle detection algorithm and go from there, and it works great.
Qucik question, i am quite annoyed with how blender handles moving objects. When creating a cylinder for example, if i move it, transform it or scale it, i loose the ability to decrease or increase segments. any ways around it?
Do you mean to say "lose" instead of "use"? In that case you always lose the ability to make changes to the primitive operator.
A way to work around this is, that you set the 3D cursor to the origin of the moved object, delete the object and then add the object back in with the operator.
Qucik question, i am quite annoyed with how blender handles moving objects. When creating a cylinder for example, if i move it, transform it or scale it, i use the ability to decrease or increase segments. any ways around it?
Do you mean to say "loose" instead of "use"? In that case you always use the ability to make changes to the primitive operator.
A way to work around this is, that you set the 3D cursor to the origin of the moved object, delete the object and then add the object back in with the operator.
I am looking for how to do this in Blender (...)
Creating the textures are easy but how to randomly put them per uv tile is the issue.
@melviso You need a few things: - To "stepify" the soft UV coordinates into sharp UV coordinates (aka cells on a grid). - To map these steps with random values*. - To add these stepped random values as UV offsets into the soft UVs (the original coordinates).
* This is the most difficult part. You can use the Noise Texture node, but it's not really a [0.0, 1.0] range noise, it mostly generates some dull colors. So you can use a Bright Contrast node to bring up the colors it generates.
The node tree (drag to a new browser tab to see it larger):
The "Stepify" group is this:
@RN Is there a chance this method could work with rectangular cells rather than squares? Like a 4 x 2 atlas texture?
Yeah you are right. I corrected myself. I consider myself a fairly good English speaker, but I am not a native speaker. Sometimes small errors like that sneak through.
And have you seen the last page of this thread? Your post reads as if you did not.
It's all good, I pointed it out with the best of intentions. Not a native speaker myself either so we're all rowing in the same boat No, apparently I missed the last page completely because I landed on whatever page polycount saved as the last one visited and I had thought it to be the actual last page - apologies. Didn't know about QBlocker
I don't get the hate on blenders uv editing either. Although i learned unwrapping in blender so bare that in mind. What does maya's uving system have that blender does not for instance. I'm having to learn maya at the moment and I find the unwrapping quite clunky I just want to mark edges and unwrap that since that's how I learned it. A lot of maya ppl use those cylinder and cube projections etc. I find those really fucking annoying since I have to keep adjusting the tool parameters which is my biggest gripe with maya overall.
In blender I just mark edges with the edge angle detection algorithm and go from there, and it works great.
I don't know if this has been answered but you can use the same workflow in Maya. I have to use Maya at work and it's really not that bad at all. I find that the easiest way to do it is:
1) do a Planar mapping 2) a) use Cut & Sew tool in the 3d view OR b) select edges in 3d view + Cut selected edges in UV editor 3) Unfold 4) Orient Shells 5) Optimize a bunch of times 6) Set texel density 7) Layout (shift+click the Layout button for options)
Replies
I will keep on looking into it.
?
- To "stepify" the soft UV coordinates into sharp UV coordinates (aka cells on a grid).
- To map these steps with random values*.
- To add these stepped random values as UV offsets into the soft UVs (the original coordinates).
* This is the most difficult part. You can use the Noise Texture node, but it's not really a [0.0, 1.0] range noise, it mostly generates some dull colors. So you can use a Bright Contrast node to bring up the colors it generates.
The node tree (drag to a new browser tab to see it larger):
The "Stepify" group is this:
Thanks so much, mate. Really appreciate the help. Thank u !!!
Any chance u could pls pls share the blend file if u can so ppl can append the node tree to their projects. If u can't that is okay.
I am wondering if there is a way to just expose the uv map, CELLS and RANDOM nodes as parameters in one node. All u need to do then is just plug that one node to the texture.
Again, thank u, mate !!
Ok. Thanks.
This is a 7 min tutorial on some basics:
Additional things you need to know:
- Shift + A to get the menu with all the node types to add.
- Shift + Right-click + drag on a noodle (the gray lines connecting nodes) to create a Reroute Node, a little dot node that lets you organize the lines so they don't look like spaghetti.
- Select one or more nodes and press Ctrl + G to create a Group Node with them inside. Press Tab to go in and out of editing that group, and connect sockets to the start and end nodes to create group inputs / outputs.
Node types used on that tree, left to right, repeats not mentioned:
Any chance the white border lines between the cells can be removed? It would break the seamless look of the textures when randomised. I included a second box to show the texture when mapped normally.
Also, how do I exposed the nodes ''CELLS'' and ''RANDOM'' as parameters u can tweak in a new node group? I can't plug them to the Group node input as they are using the Vaule node which has no input socket.
Also someone from Blenderartists method:
link
To elimnate the white border lines, in the image texture node set it from linear to closest.
https://developer.blender.org/D6715
That function can be useful to blending normal maps for example, like described in a previous post.
Fortunately it's very simple to be replaced by adding and normalizing the vectors.
This will not work well for textures with a regular pattern like bricks or textures too close to the camera, but works fine for stuff like landscapes.
This setup manipulates only the vector input for the tiling textures instead of blending textures together, therefor you can use one group for textures that share the same coordinates (e.g. base color, roughness, normal...)
The setup itself is not very complicated, if you have any question, let me know.
You can download a sample here: http://pasteall.org/blend/index.php?id=52853
Can someone pls shed more light on why there is still no bake displacement map option in Blender for Cycles? I know there are some sort of workarounds and how long will it take before its added.
I'm new to blender. How can I set edges to be hard/soft like in maya ? How to do this on UV borders?
EDIT: I think I figured it out.
1. Viewport need to be shade smooth
2. Auto Smooth On
3. Select edges and set Mark Sharp
...and for uv borders, at UV editing panel UV> seams from island (with all edges/faces selected)
Is that right ?
How you speed up this workflow for baking in painter and importing to UE4 ?
Thanks for replying.
I just learned that i don't need the viewport on shade smooth.
I can leave it at flat shading then select my faces ALT+N and select merge or split to have smooth or hard edges. almost the same as Maya.
I haven't delved too deep into Blender's UV tools yet. What's their current state? afaik, UVing in Blender is kinda f*ed when compared to Maya or Max' native tools, unless you have plugins that get you almost up to the same level. Is this correct? Is there anything concrete in the roadmap for its growth?
I found this video particularly useful in understanding how it works in Blender:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3654VGZObg
In blender I just mark edges with the edge angle detection algorithm and go from there, and it works great.
yes, corrected.
https://blendermarket.com/products/wonder-mesh
https://nevilart.blogspot.com/2019/02/bsmax.html
I don't know how well / if they work with the latest versions of Blender though.
Nice addons !! Thank yo @ant@ant1fact
1) do a Planar mapping
2) a) use Cut & Sew tool in the 3d view OR b) select edges in 3d view + Cut selected edges in UV editor
3) Unfold
4) Orient Shells
5) Optimize a bunch of times
6) Set texel density
7) Layout (shift+click the Layout button for options)
Yea ik, bit strange that you have to do a texture projection first no? I guess it generates the uv data that the cut tools needs.
I usually do a camera projection on from the best angle first.
Thanks for the tips anyway, screenshotted for later
- Detach surface
- Enable proportional editing
- Move central vertex up
- Disable proportional editing
- Move surface back
- Merge vertices
Which is slow and surface doesn't stay in place making it harder to match a reference