headus 3D tools

[nbreslow]

Hi,

I would like to put in a request for more options when rendering out UV Mesh Overlays - specifically for different types of UV Smoothing. It would be great to have an option to render the UVs as:

Standard - No UV Smoothing (Already available)
Preserve Border - All UVs are smoothed except Border UVs.
Smooth Internal - All UVs are smoothed except the outer-most Border UVs.
Smooth All - All UVs are smoothed, including Border UVs.

Currently UVLayout is the only tool I can find that will spit out all of the UVs for multi-tile layouts in one shot. Also, the wireframes have the perfect weight.

Also - An option to create a PNG file (black background, white wire-frame) would be great also. When creating snapshots in Maya with this setup the background is transparent in Photoshop and you are left with just the wire-frame to overlay.

Thanks,

-Nick

[headus]

"different types of UV Smoothing"

I realize its not covering all your requests, but there is a "Smooth SUBD UVs" option there already which does Renderman style smoothing (I think that's probably your "Smooth Internal"). Make sure you load your OBJ file as a "SUBD" and not a "Poly" though. And it currently only works for quads, and displays lines only (i.e. the quads aren't filled).

So have a look at that and let me know if its the sort of thing you are after.

"An option to create a PNG file"

How about TIFF with alpha? I have code for that already, so it would be easy to turn on.

Phil

[nbreslow]

I think the Tiff w/alpha would probably work great, thanks!

Regarding UV overlays and smoothing I do hope an option to just do it with polys in a variety of ways is added eventually. Good to know I can get the same result as Maya/Mudbox 2012 and Renderman defaults (Yes, Smooth Internal) by using the sub-d method. But ZBrush 4 r2 (UV Smoothing is a new option), and Cinema 4D handle things differently so it would offer complete compatibility (not sure about 3DS Max tho). Personally I seem to get the best results using Smooth All.

Just to add one more thing regarding some other discussions about the UI..Personally I think it is fine but it can be tough to remember every hotkey. The pop-up help is great when a tool is activated but sometimes I forget the initial key. A really simple toolbar for each view would be a welcome addition - all it would have to do is activate a tool or act as a toggle.

Thanks again,

-Nick

[headus]

"Tiff w/alpha would probably work great"

See file below ... there's one TIFF with filled polys, and the other is unfilled smooth UVs. All I'm doing is inverting the RGB and copying that to the alpha, so the solid red/blue polys end up highlighted even more if you view with the alpha on. I haven't decided yet if that's a bug or a feature :) Anyway, have a look and let me know if thats the sort of thing you wanted.

"an option to just do it with polys"

Yes, should be possible. In the meantime, if you're just rendering the UVs out, load your OBJ polymeshes as SUBD ... UVLayout wont care ... and you can then turn on the smooth UVs option for the output.

"But ZBrush 4 r2 ... and Cinema 4D handle things differently

OK, I didn't realize that. I'll look at expanding the UV smoothing options then.

"tough to remember every hotkey."

Do you know about the hotkey reminder window? Click on the "About UVLayout" button at the top of the GUI, then "Hotkeys" mid way down (typing '?' into the graphics window also works). It only shows the most common keys for each view mode, so you still need to study the user guide for the full list.

Phil

[nbreslow]

"Tiff w/alpha would probably work great"

Thanks! I know it isn't a huge deal but I like the ability to use a wireframe overlay where the only information you have is the wires (in black) and a transparent background. With the Alpha channel on the TIF I can go to the Channels Palette in PS, CTRL + Click the Alpha, Invert the selection, create a new layer and do a Fill (with Black) and I am left with the wireframe only. Again, not a huge deal but it is the way I prefer and the results are nice.

"an option to just do it with polys"

I am using the UVLayout - Maya plugin and have tried to set both the Plugin dialog and the Headus load option to SubD without success. I test using OBJ export and it worked nicely. Not sure if the plugin can be tweaked - it does seem to do a check to see if the object being sent is actually a Poly or SubD and a message in the status line appears if you try to send the wrong type. Again, not a big deal but would be nice to do it via the plugin using a Poly object.

"But ZBrush 4 r2 ... and Cinema 4D handle things differently
I did some more testing and I was mistaken about ZBrush 4 r2. It also does a "Smooth Internal". I am going to put in a request to see if they can add an option to Smooth ALL (can you tell I don't like Smooth Internal?)

Cinema 4D HyperNURBS (which is like the Maya Smooth Mesh preview in a way) is different though. It has the following options:

Standard - Disables UV Smoothing. Same as disabling the 'Smooth UV' option in the Maya Smooth Mesh Preview Attributes.
Boundary - Only Border UVs are not smoothed. Same as enabling the 'Smooth UV' option and selecting 'Map Borders\Do Not Smooth' in the Maya Smooth Mesh Preview Attributes.
Edge - All UVs are smoothed, including Border UVs. Same as enabling the 'Smooth UV' option and selecting 'Map Borders\Smooth All' in Maya Smooth Mesh Preview Attributes.

Also, Mudbox still retains an environment variable (which I use) to smooth the UV borders. I know a lot of people who use Mudbox to paint instead of ZBrush and apply the variable. Regarding Renderman I think you can also adjust the way it treats UV smoothing by adjusting the valence settings.

I am not sure why Smooth Internal is the way Autodesk/others have decided to go. Maybe it is more animation friendly (not sure) but I like the results of Smooth All and, as a BodyPaint user, it suits my workflow, so an option for that would be welcome.

"tough to remember every hotkey."
You have built the ultimate UV program and I am still amazed by it. So many features, all useful! I work with the User Guide open on one monitor and UV Layout in the other. I have used the reminder window, though, as you say, it is not a full list. I know a toolbar or a UI overhaul is a lot of work but I have a different suggestion:

Create a complete hotkey list for each mode that appears as a sidebar to the current window, or as a separate window. Its contents could update with the 1,2,3 mode change. I hope I am explaining it properly. It could be turned on/off globally in prefs.

Thank you so much for taking these requests so seriously and continuing to update an already great program.

-Nick Breslow