Jonathan
08-19-2003, 04:03 PM
One of the biggest challenges to 3D character design is the much neglected skill of UVmapping. For most beginners, the word UVmap means, instant confusion because unlike modelling and animation which can be often be instinctive and far more artistic, UVmapping is a skilled practice that has little reference to anything but the model itself and while you are trying to take a complex organic 3D mesh such as a human and make it flat or into a shape where all of the faces are acessible to a 2D scheme, it proves to be challenging to say the least.
Well of late, users have been ingenuitous enough to figure out work-arounds to the problem that has plagued texture mappers for years. Sure there are many tools on the market such as Unwrap, UVmapper, DeepUV etc. but I'm going to show you a cost effective way to do it in my chosen program Lightwave 3D 7.5
Lightwave 3D is an excellent program for creating UVmaps as it defies convention with the usage of endomorphs to warp the geometry while preserving the original shape of the mesh. Many of you have seen these example on sites such as www.menithings.com and croateam serious sam tutorials. This method is slightly different yet nontheless effective.
For this tutorial I am using a model I just created, a dark centaur. Pretty cool huh?
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur1.jpg
You can look at this mesh from the go and tell that it's not going to accept the usual planar maps, cylindrical will not work, spherical will simply create a mess, and atlas is not applicable unless you have a projection paint system, which is also not an exacting solution as reversion remains a problem with the projection paint system. So here's what we are going to do:
1st. I want to keep my body surface the same. Althought I'll be using deep paint 3D to paint to the mesh, I prefer to keep the number of surfaces I have as small as possible. Therefore what I have are hoofs, skin, and horns. Because of this, I now have 3 groups of polygons already made.
2nd. It is a good idea to group vertices and polygons. This is good for later down the line when creating weights and endomorphs. It is not really a necessary step however it does help to organize polygons within the same surface.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur2.jpg
For this tutorial, I create several groups. Face, head, torso, body, legs and hands, back, ecetera. Now when I select the group of polygons I modify them without having to deal with so many surfaces.
Now we create our new endomorph. I named it CentaurUV.
Next I select my torso group. Some would say that I should have unwelded my polys, this however creates confusion. Instead, cut the torso group away and paste it in a free layer. This will preserve symetry allowing you to edit both sides at the same time. Do the same thing for all of your groups.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur3.jpg
Tip: If you have problems with symetry, you can also delete have of the section, edit 1 side and mirror. It will work also so long as the number of polys are congrunent with the base morph.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur4.jpg
Next using the stretch tools, flatten all of your groups so that they look like a 2 dimensional plane. This will allow you to see if all of the polys are facing the desired direction more clearly. I chose to face them in -Z direction for an orthographic view for planar mapping.Arrange the groups around in their individual layers so that they are not overlapping then paste them all back in the layer you began with.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur6.jpg
Create a planar map using the direction that your polys are facing. For me it was Planar Z. In the end this is what I have, and nice clean UVmap that looks as clean as the mesh.
Now I go back to your base morph. Notice that the groups are not connected anymore. You have vertices that are now unwelded from your mesh. This is VERY IMPORTANT. if you are satisfied with your UVmap, DELETE THE ENDOMORPH 1ST! I cannot stress this enough. DELETE the ENDOMORPH 1ST. Don't clear it, but delete it. For me, it would be the centaurUV endomorph. Now merge your points which should weld like vertices. WALA, your map done and your shape is preserved, all of your faces are facing a distinct direction making painting easier.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur7.jpg
You probably notice seams in the UVmap. This is a normal and generally unavoidable product of UVmapping. As I use deep paint 3D, I simply projection paint over the seams and move on. If you don't have a projection paint systems, you can now easily move the points on your UV grid as they are now arraged in a true orthographic view. No cloning neccessary, no and extra surfaces needed, gosh I love this stuff!
Have Fun! :)
P.S. experienced mappers, if you noticed any mistakes in my tutorial review, let me know and I'll update the post.
Well of late, users have been ingenuitous enough to figure out work-arounds to the problem that has plagued texture mappers for years. Sure there are many tools on the market such as Unwrap, UVmapper, DeepUV etc. but I'm going to show you a cost effective way to do it in my chosen program Lightwave 3D 7.5
Lightwave 3D is an excellent program for creating UVmaps as it defies convention with the usage of endomorphs to warp the geometry while preserving the original shape of the mesh. Many of you have seen these example on sites such as www.menithings.com and croateam serious sam tutorials. This method is slightly different yet nontheless effective.
For this tutorial I am using a model I just created, a dark centaur. Pretty cool huh?
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur1.jpg
You can look at this mesh from the go and tell that it's not going to accept the usual planar maps, cylindrical will not work, spherical will simply create a mess, and atlas is not applicable unless you have a projection paint system, which is also not an exacting solution as reversion remains a problem with the projection paint system. So here's what we are going to do:
1st. I want to keep my body surface the same. Althought I'll be using deep paint 3D to paint to the mesh, I prefer to keep the number of surfaces I have as small as possible. Therefore what I have are hoofs, skin, and horns. Because of this, I now have 3 groups of polygons already made.
2nd. It is a good idea to group vertices and polygons. This is good for later down the line when creating weights and endomorphs. It is not really a necessary step however it does help to organize polygons within the same surface.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur2.jpg
For this tutorial, I create several groups. Face, head, torso, body, legs and hands, back, ecetera. Now when I select the group of polygons I modify them without having to deal with so many surfaces.
Now we create our new endomorph. I named it CentaurUV.
Next I select my torso group. Some would say that I should have unwelded my polys, this however creates confusion. Instead, cut the torso group away and paste it in a free layer. This will preserve symetry allowing you to edit both sides at the same time. Do the same thing for all of your groups.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur3.jpg
Tip: If you have problems with symetry, you can also delete have of the section, edit 1 side and mirror. It will work also so long as the number of polys are congrunent with the base morph.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur4.jpg
Next using the stretch tools, flatten all of your groups so that they look like a 2 dimensional plane. This will allow you to see if all of the polys are facing the desired direction more clearly. I chose to face them in -Z direction for an orthographic view for planar mapping.Arrange the groups around in their individual layers so that they are not overlapping then paste them all back in the layer you began with.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur6.jpg
Create a planar map using the direction that your polys are facing. For me it was Planar Z. In the end this is what I have, and nice clean UVmap that looks as clean as the mesh.
Now I go back to your base morph. Notice that the groups are not connected anymore. You have vertices that are now unwelded from your mesh. This is VERY IMPORTANT. if you are satisfied with your UVmap, DELETE THE ENDOMORPH 1ST! I cannot stress this enough. DELETE the ENDOMORPH 1ST. Don't clear it, but delete it. For me, it would be the centaurUV endomorph. Now merge your points which should weld like vertices. WALA, your map done and your shape is preserved, all of your faces are facing a distinct direction making painting easier.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jonathan.west3/images/UVmapping/centaur7.jpg
You probably notice seams in the UVmap. This is a normal and generally unavoidable product of UVmapping. As I use deep paint 3D, I simply projection paint over the seams and move on. If you don't have a projection paint systems, you can now easily move the points on your UV grid as they are now arraged in a true orthographic view. No cloning neccessary, no and extra surfaces needed, gosh I love this stuff!
Have Fun! :)
P.S. experienced mappers, if you noticed any mistakes in my tutorial review, let me know and I'll update the post.