Quick tip for people who happen to hit the same problems I did with UV unwrapping.
This is what I used to do:
When you have a cylindrical object with a continuous perfectly vertical side, select the top and bottom edge loops of the perfectly vertical side (this is important) and make a seam. Make sure you make your seams are on polygons that are facing the same way. e.g. If you have a bevelled edge, select the edge loop at the end of the bevel when the next polygon is exactly (or as close as it gets to) vertical.
Next make a vertical seam, but only between those two seams you created earlier and not between other seams where the geometry is not perfectly vertical or you will end up with bent strips of UVs (see above). This ensures the middle strip is opened and flattened out evenly and remains straight while the top and bottom parts are flattened into circles/rings (see below).
I found this produced a much cleaner looking UV map with little extra clean up work.
One disadvantage I can see is that you end up with thin rings of UVs which may end up wasting texture space. However this can be easily countered by nesting other parts within the rings.
Sorry if this seems trivial. I'm sure most of you already know this but while modelling a prop it suddenly hit me and I realised I maybe someone else might have been in the same situation. I hope someone found it helpful.
Anyway, 'till next time.
This is what I used to do:
When you have a cylindrical object with a continuous perfectly vertical side, select the top and bottom edge loops of the perfectly vertical side (this is important) and make a seam. Make sure you make your seams are on polygons that are facing the same way. e.g. If you have a bevelled edge, select the edge loop at the end of the bevel when the next polygon is exactly (or as close as it gets to) vertical.
Next make a vertical seam, but only between those two seams you created earlier and not between other seams where the geometry is not perfectly vertical or you will end up with bent strips of UVs (see above). This ensures the middle strip is opened and flattened out evenly and remains straight while the top and bottom parts are flattened into circles/rings (see below).
I found this produced a much cleaner looking UV map with little extra clean up work.
One disadvantage I can see is that you end up with thin rings of UVs which may end up wasting texture space. However this can be easily countered by nesting other parts within the rings.
Sorry if this seems trivial. I'm sure most of you already know this but while modelling a prop it suddenly hit me and I realised I maybe someone else might have been in the same situation. I hope someone found it helpful.
Anyway, 'till next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment