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View Full Version : Warhead UVW Map issues. Please help!

utherdoul
09-13-2009, 04:05 PM
Hi there.

I'm having a lot of problems with this warhead model. No matter how I try to UVW unwrap it, it seems to make strange decisions for me, and defies everything I've learned in the ridiculous amount of tutorials I've read and watched about UVW mapping.

It consists of a cylinder (the warhead tail) bridged to a cone with slight extrusions and chamfering to make it curved and have a few features. This is then bridged to another extruded cone at the tip of the warhead. There are no open edges or isolated vertices or anything like that, but when I UVW unwrap (or even if I UVW map first), the UVW template is unusable.

The tail cylinder cap isn't even represented other than a single line, which makes the checker pattern really strange on the actual model, the seam is uneditable despite following pelt tutorials to the letter, and no matter how many times I use a face-selected cylindrical UVW map, it creates strange decisions. I've tried everything from welding to relaxing (the UVW mesh, not me) and nothing seems to work. Bear in mind that I am fairly new at 3DS, but this has me stumped. Any suggestions?
Piflik
09-13-2009, 05:00 PM
Applying a cylindrical map is the right first step, but not the finished Unwrap. A cylindrical map will only project the sides of the cylinder, so you'll need a separate planar map for the cap. Also the cylindrical map tends to create some wacky seams (like you can see in your object). You'll have to rotate the Gizmo a bit and weld/break some vertices in Edit UVW.

Also, the pelt seams work with the Pelt Map only. The cylindrical map will create its own seam.
utherdoul
09-14-2009, 07:22 AM
I've had nothing but problems with UVW mapping and even though I've researched and read a number of tutorials, your explanation seems to have made the whole process make a bit more sense. I think I just needed to break the map into smaller sections instead of trying to do most of it in one piece. Thank you, Piflik.

Does this apply for most objects - you just have to choose the right stype of unwrap for each piece and disassemble it in the template? I understand more organic objects will most likely need a bit more work.
Piflik
09-14-2009, 11:50 AM
Unwrapping is always a trade-off between Stretching/Distortion and Seams. You would want to minimize both, but that is not possible (in most cases...you can, of course, unwrap a completely planar object without any seams or stretching, but in general it is not possible). The less seams you have, the more stretching you get and vice versa. Seams are easier to hide than stretching, so most prefer adding a seam to minimize the stretching.
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