3D printing with UV maps

#1

I’m trying to find a way to take an already UV mapped model and attach a non UV’d object to it. The part I can’t figure out is how to keep the UV on the original object after the merge without extending it to the second object. In other words, I have a UV mapped character and I need to attach a plain white base to it in a way that is watertight for 3D printing. I know dynamesh can join the two, but I lose the UV. I can also merge down in my subtools but I either lose the UV or extend it to the second object.

I need to get the UV’d object attached to the blank one in a single subtool and exported as an obj. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

#2

I desperately need you guys and/or gals to come through on this one. Is this even possible?

#3

Off the top of my head the solution that comes to mind would have to be to export, merge in maya/max/soft/C4D/ whatever software you can merge in without losing UV’s then import and project the detail back.

EDIT
This solution still leaves the geo as intersecting, i’m not sure how this will work with printing. If the intersecting geo is OK then another solution might be to simply decimate the geo and export the high detailed decimated geo and just add the base in another software and print

#4

Thanks for the response. I tried what you suggested for a few hours yesterday using varying techniques and ran into quite a few problems.

When I take it into a separate program or use Zbrush’s 3D print exporter I can successfully combine the two objects and keep the UV on the main model like I needed. However, just like merging keeping UVs in zbrush, the second object takes the UV of the first. After I take it into a uv editing program (photoshop or mudbox), when I modify one of the objects, the other gets affected.

For example: I’m attempting this on a character bust with a full UV texture. When I add the second object, its UV gets overlaid and stretched over the entire UV of the first (the entire jpg). Since both UVs are then on the same jpg, when I draw on one, I can’t avoid drawing on both.

So, now I have an almost new question. Is it possible for me to get two separate UV jpgs from a single object when exporting from zbrush (or any other program)? I know you can do this with separate subtools, but what if they are merged?

#5

You can re-UV in ZBrush using UV Master.

#6

Thanks for the response. But if I re-uv, then I lose all the edits I’ve done on the original UV map. The UV texture file is tailored to that particular uv placement. If I re-uv the entire model with the base, or anything added, I have to redo all of my previous work. Right?

#7

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