Texture Layout, one map or multiple maps?

[leigh]

It totally depends on the final output... a background character for a film can have a much lower resolution texture than a hero character, in which case sometimes it can be done in a single layout.

Most film characters I have worked on have had multiple layouts.

[A.Baroody]

I should have stated Hero characters, and not background chars. What res was each map used in the multiple map layout?

[leigh]

That depends on how close up they are in the shots... usually I paint the each section (eg a head) at about 4-8k, depending on how they're going to be seen, and also depending on how much detail I need, in a master PSD file, and then save out scaled-down versions according to shots.

[KingMob]

That depends on how close up they are in the shots... usually I paint the each section (eg a head) at about 4-8k, depending on how they're going to be seen, and also depending on how much detail I need, in a master PSD file, and then save out scaled-down versions according to shots.

Yeah we do the same here, we NEVER have one uv layout per character, and usually hit about 4k MAX, but we do mostly game cinematics stuff so we don't need to go higher.. In fact most the time the 4k is scaled down to 2048 or 1024 and thats that. But its always better to have a file be to big and make scaled down versions than go the other way...oy.

[matlars]

Have to agree with previous post, multiple maps for hero character for film.

The trexes in Kong had 300 patches each on their body, with different size from 256-4k maps, Mostly 1- 2k though.
I think its easier to work with maps that are not too big. 2K is alright but 4K is just getting too big in my taste.

Kong himself I thing had about 50 patches on his face..

and the there is more then just the color map on each patch...
The trex ended up beeing about 15-20 layers in the end. lots of maps...
:)

Mathias

[A.Baroody]

Now does something like Zbrush work into this workflow. Zbrush isnt exactly friendly to multiple mapped characters.

[matlars]

Now does something like Zbrush work into this workflow. Zbrush isnt exactly friendly to multiple mapped characters.

well, I dont think it work, just like that, of the shelf.
I never acctually used zbrush myself. We used another program called mudbox that is in beta testing now.

[mikemagruder]

Now does something like Zbrush work into this workflow. Zbrush isnt exactly friendly to multiple mapped characters.


I'm wondering the same thing. I have a heroine that I'm modeling in ZBrush, and I'm debating whether to break up the geometry into smaller chunks (upper body, costume, legs/boots) and create single uv layouts for each piece (I think this will make the generation of Normal Maps from ZBrush more user-friendly), or keeping my original single mesh and apply multiple uv layouts to different sections, a la Sean Mills Gnomon dvd. I'm just curious about other people's thoughts on this, and what other's have done in the past when faced with this question.

Mike

[leigh]

Now does something like Zbrush work into this workflow. Zbrush isnt exactly friendly to multiple mapped characters.

Well that depends on what software you're using before and after ZBrush. Usually what I just do is use a different UV set for ZBrush, especially since I am generally only using ZBrush to generate normal or displacement maps (although sometimes I use it for texture painting to). But then once I am done with it, I just bring that obj back into Maya or XSI (depending on which I am using, these are my two main 3d packages), and then I simply transfer that UV map to the model.

[softdistortion]

hmmm...so for displacment maps you make up a new single island UV to avoid the seams that show up on maps made on mesh with seperated UV sections?

Also curious how you get round the seams on a UV with seperate UV islands when you can't sew...normal clone/painting doesn't work well. Been thinking of doing the seperate UV method maybe with a pelting tool to do the whole mesh in one UV island for Displacments and normal maps. and keep the hand unwrap for the color, bump etc maps. Does that make sense?

...while I'm at it, I'd like to ask Leigh, since you've experienced both sides. Do you know of a decent relax UV plugin for LW, something intelligent like Maya's?...been looking, but not happy yet. :shrug:

[leigh]

hmmm...so for displacment maps you make up a new single island UV to avoid the seams that show up on maps made on mesh with seperated UV sections?

No, not necessarily. I just sometimes end up using a different UV set (like auto UVs) for displacement mapping. But only sometimes. As far as I know, the bug with UV seams causing problems with displacement has been fixed... I've certainly not encountered it lately.

Also curious how you get round the seams on a UV with seperate UV islands when you can't sew...normal clone/painting doesn't work well. Been thinking of doing the seperate UV method maybe with a pelting tool to do the whole mesh in one UV island for Displacments and normal maps. and keep the hand unwrap for the color, bump etc maps. Does that make sense?

I use BodyPaint to fix all my seams these days ;) So frankly I'm really not bothered at all by seams anymore. BodyPaint's projection painting for seams is awesome. Of course I still work hard to get clean UV layouts, and do create them in such a way as to minimize seams, but covering seams up is not a problem at all.

...while I'm at it, I'd like to ask Leigh, since you've experienced both sides. Do you know of a decent relax UV plugin for LW, something intelligent like Maya's?...been looking, but not happy yet. :shrug:

Unfortunately no. There may be one out there, but I wouldn't know for sure since I stopped using LW ages ago. My own personal preference for UV mapping these days is definitely Maya since it's cut>relax>sew workflow rocks, and doesn't work quite as well in other programs like XSI. For me, using Maya for UVs is a no brainer :)

[Serum]

My own personal preference for UV mapping these days is definitely Maya since it's cut>relax>sew workflow rocks,

Leigh, is there a tutorial or book out there that explains this workflow?

[leigh]

Heh well you don't need a tutorial or a book, because it really is just those three steps. Cut. Relax. Sew. The trick lies simply in cutting in the right places, to create good islands for relaxing (since cutting essentially allows you to focus the relax function). This can take some practise but it really differs from model to model, so it isn't something that can really be written about as such. It's very much an intuitive process that is really simple in execution. Just try it out and you'll see what I am talking about :)

[softdistortion]

Not meaning to sound like a counter to Leigh's comments but sometimes seeing is helpful for beginners and even advanced artists who are a bit slow..heheh. :)

I'd highly recommend the Gnomon advanced character UV disc with Sean Mills. He does a complete unwrap and prep on a character in Maya.
I picked up a few helpful things on the disc, surprisingly, not all things he explains, but mostly things I noticed him doing that clarified part of the workflow I had been lackin on in my UVs.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 2 thumbs up

The down side is now I know how much my current apps UV tools really suck:banghead:

[Baker17]

very cool thread by the way..

i have a question about the ZB workflow.
im currently doing a full body character, and i want it to be really high res, using displacements from ZB... so if i use multiple UVs how is this possible?

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