Automated UV Unwrapping (ie: Headus UVLayout, Roadkill )

[3dtutorial]

Dunno.... I've been using Headus for the past 2 years and it works fine for me.

Still, perhaps I might suggest you take a look at this...as it is more integrated with XSI.

However, that integration does come at a considerable price....see for yourself:

http://www.polygonal-design.fr/e_unfold/index.php

Cheers,

J

[Jettatore]

Headus is great, until you find yourself needing 100+ seperate objects unwrapped.... At that point, it's a nightmare just handling the files. Unless you know something I don't....

I may check out the UNFOLD demo you posted, I've seen it just before I posted this thread while doing research but the promo videos are pathetically awful and turned me right off the idea of using the program.

[Compote]

http://www.kim-aldis.co.uk/drupal-6.1/node/6 That script doesn't work in XSI 7? (worked in 6.X when I checked it out) I'm agreed about headus, good unfold but unhandy interface. Roadkill has the opposite. Yeah everyone wants good-working integrated solution but now in XSI you can't get it (Unfold3d has a plugin but how it works I dunno)

[Jettatore]

I can't even get that script to work in 6.5 let alone 7.....

If we can get that working I'll be thrilled....

All the instructions say it's automatic if you put it in your plug-ins folder... Well I have tried putting it in the root plug-ins folder as well as the user plug-ins folder and neither loads it automatically, and when I try to load it manually, XSI 7 claims that it is not a valid plug-in.... 6.5 just didn't say or do anything when I tried to load it manually through the plug-in manager.

Any ideas?

[Compote]

http://forums.cgsociety.org/search.php?searchid=887302
If it doesn't help, write your Windows version

[Jettatore]

Wow, thanks for the help so far, still no luck on my end....

The problem is that I can't get Python installed.

Using XP64

And the 64 Python files for XSI7 found below....

http://www.softimage.com/downloads/XSI_Advanced/default.aspx

I am pretty sure I followed those instructions properly but XSI is still not finding Python and I even ran the pyscript manually. Though I must admit I know little to nothing about python and getting it to install/work properly. I did notice that python.exe is not recognized as an command function atm with this new xsi7 version of python....

Also, I have already edited the roadkill.py file to point to my Program Files x86 dir of roadkill as opposed to the default win32 install dir....

I need expert help. Thanks man.

So far I have used Control Panel>System>Advanced>Env Variables to add both C:\Python26 and another for C:\Python26\python.exe to both the user and system variable panels (dunno if I need them in both or at all??) but neither seem to do anything.

[Jettatore]

OK I figured it out.... Typing up detailed instructions for the next person to find this thread now...

I. For XSI 7.0 w/Windows XP64 (and most likely Vista64)

1. Install the stand-alone Roadkill package

2. Download Kim-Aldis's XSI script

3. Modify Kim-Aldis's script in a text editor (find the line that references to the program files directory and just make sure it says "Program Files (x86)" instead of "Program Files" WITHOUT QUOTES -since thats where your roadkill installs on an X64 machine)

4. Download the Python2.6 for XSI/Win64 on the link in the post above this one directly from Softimages website. Follow the instructions in this package precisely and when you get to the line about adding an environment variable this is what you do...

5. Go to Control Panel>System>Advanced tab and press the Environment Variables button. In the Window that pops-up there are two panes, one for User and one for System. What you need to do is look in the System pane for a line that says "Path". You select that line and edit it by simply adding ";C:\Python26" WITHOUT QUOTES BUT WITH THE SEMI_COLON ; and your done, you continue on with the instructions and install the last installer package it tells you to and then XSI 7.0 plays nice with Python.

6. Put your modified Kim script into your C:\User\xxx\Softimage\XSI_7.0\Application\Plugins folder and bam, next time you start XSI the script will automatically be ready to go.

To use the script in XSI, grab some edges on your model and simply go to Property>Texture Projection>Roadkill and you will be presented with some options you can figure out on your own, but the default works fine, so just click ok and check out your insta-UV's.

GL and thanks a bunch guys!!

[Compote]

I need expert help. Thanks man.
lol you don't have to know anything about Python and do something else, install, that's all. Whatever... it's good you made it work

[Jettatore]

No thank you man. I had given up on it, as it had taken more than an hour to get going, at which point I calculate time and money lost. But you put it into my mind that it was actually possible to get the script to work on 7.0 so we made it happen, awesome...

I even got the ancient Headus Plug-In working with XSI, just drag the .addon into XSI, restart XSI, then edit preferences>custom and you'll see a headus\UV entry with some directory settings for you to adjust, then the plug-in is working. To use it, select your object, go to the newly installed headus menu at the top of XSI and send it to Headus, then when your done unwrapping, press the "send" button in Headus, go back to XSI and in the Headus menu tell it to import and now you have 2 objects, the original and a new one with UV's, at this point you can delete the original or just use GATOR to transfer the UV's if you have reason but this extra step is annoying. At any rate I think the 4+ hours I spent wracking my brain on this will pay off very soon.

TY all -Derek

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