headus 3D tools

[madno]

Hi,
I am new to UV Layout (and UV in general).
I like to make an environment sphere onto which I want to project an equirectangular hdr image. The geometry is all quads. To do that I replaced the tris at the top and bottom of the sphere with quads (as a result there are very tiny holes at the poles now).

I put that obj into UV Layout and tried to get a rectangular UV map. But because of lack of know how I can't get the desired result.

Thanks for any help in advance.

(For testing I let the normals facing to the outside of the sphere, but I know I need to flip them later on. Does this effect the UV?).

[headus]

The reason for the rounded shape after flattening is that by default, UVLayout is trying to make each quad the same shape and size in UV space as it is in 3D space. Because your quads at the poles are smaller than those at the equator, the top and bottom of the flattened shape is pulled in.

To get the shape you are after, use the Shift-R hotkey. This will make all the quads rectangular, and if you flatten some more after that, it will try to still even things out while retaining the rectangular shapes.

Phil

[madno]

I tried shift+R which gave me a red circle that altered the UV somehow. But in the end I get a similar result like before.
Is there anything else I need to take care of before using shift+R (some settings etc.)?

[headus]

Which version are you running? Click on the "About UVLayout" button at the top of the GUI to find out.

Since v2.07.02 (released in Feb last year) Shift-R has been used to square up UVs, but the "red circle" thing you describe is a superseded tool from earlier releases.

Phil

[madno]

It says v2.08.00 Prof.
from 2012/05/02.

I think I had a trial installed before that.
Maybe some old configs somewhere?

[headus]

Oops, sorry, I forgot about the R key function select in the Edit settings. See image below for where to select the rectangle functionality.

Phil

[madno]

Before I ask more questions, I like to say thanks for taking the time to help.

I noticed that shift+R does not do the trick (puts everything to one single line).
But reading the hotkey part of the manual I found shift+I and shift+K. That worked better.
But now I have another issue with the final outcome.
As you can see in the screenshots of the harbor, I get distotion at the edge of the map if I use the UVLayout map, but it is ok with the spherical map I made with Lightwave. Could this be related to the difference in left and right border after packing in UVLayout?

[headus]

Weird that Shift-R doesn't work! Anyway, its basically doing the same thing as Shift-I anyway, so at least you got the results you were after.

And yes, packing normally leaves a gap around the edge. If you want the shell locked tight to the UV square, then use "Fit To Sqr" tool under the Move/Scale/Rotate panel. If you click the "&" button, it should scale and move the shell so its completely fills the UV square with no padding.

Phil

[madno]

Thanks,

now I got the result I needed.
And I start to understand the concept of UVLayout mapping

[headus]

Excellent, and thanks for the update!

Phil