headus 3D tools

[nbreslow]

Hi,

I was wondering if there was a way to assign boxes to specific UV tiles when packing multiple tiles?

Currently I organize my shells into boxes and pack but have no control over where they ultimately wind up. I will move boxes around manually for better organization after a final packing but it takes time. I didn't see a way to lock anything in the user guide where it wouldn't be moved during final packing.

Thanks,

-Nick Breslow

[nbreslow]

I will send free donuts to anyone who can answer this. Coffee will be included if you give me the answer I want to hear.

-nb

[headus]

Sorry about delayed response ... I've been out of the office for the last week or so.

So the answer is that there's no way currently to lock a box to a specific tile, but you can lock the position of a box (so it doesn't move from where it is). The other shells and boxes will pack around it, but if the overall UV scale changes then it will end up drifting over to other tiles. In the latest releases you can tick the "Dont Resize Shells" option though, so that'll ensure that the locked boxes stay exactly where they are inside each tile. To "fix" a box., use the { or } hotkeys.

A possible alternate is to nest your boxes. See image below ... there's one box that's the size of the tile, and inside that are other boxes and shells. I've fixed the position of the outer box so it wont move away from that tile, but the contents are free to pack however they want. If you have one of these fixed outer boxes for each tile, then you should have the behaviour you're after I think.

Phil

[nbreslow]

Thank you for responding, I appreciate it!

I think I am just going to pre-plan my layout a bit more and use some nested boxes, then place them manually in the quadrant I a want them in. It would be great to have a way to assign a two digit quadrant code to a box and have it pack to that quadrant.

One more question - Typically I send over my entire model in one shot to Headus. I was thinking that it might be best to send over sections at a time based on the UV Quadrant I am ultimately going to place their shells into. However I am worried about scale issues - this would be a problem, right?

Thanks again,

-Nick Breslow

[headus]

"great to have a way to assign a two digit quadrant code to a box and have it pack to that quadrant."

I could probably add an optional hint to boxes and shells to push them towards one of the four corners. Would you need boxes at all if the shells organized themselves into the different corners?

"However I am worried about scale issues - this would be a problem, right?"

Well, the shell scales probably would be different, but maybe its not a big problem? I'm guessing that you want to work on bits that are separate anyway in the total scene, so if UVs on those different parts are at different scales, it may not be that big an issue.

But you can also work on the separate parts initially, which will be faster because fewer polys are loaded, then at the end load everything together and use the Rescale tool to, well, do what it says ... resize all the shells so they have a consistent scale.

Phil

[nbreslow]

"push them towards one of the four corners"

I think this could be a really nice intermediate solution. Another option might be to make two different types of boxes - one that works the way it does now (call it reg. box) and another that is a constrained square (call it tile box). The tile box could have a little more functionality geared toward full-tile organization and act as a wrapper of sorts for multi-tile organization. Just a thought.

I'm guessing that you want to work on bits that are separate anyway in the total scene, so if UVs on those different parts are at different scales, it may not be that big an issue.

You're right, scale wouldn't be a huge issue and I could rescale in the end. I think I also have a Maya script somewhere that can do it as well.

-Nick Breslow

[headus]

Here's a sneak peek of the new "pack hint" for pushing shells to one of the four corners. It'll work for boxes too, but not currently for shells inside a box (though that shouldn't be hard to change).

You use the keypad 7, 9, 3 and 1 keys (i.e. the diagonals) to assign a direction to a shell or LMB selected shells, and the ones without the hint go where-ever any remaining room is.

Phil

[nbreslow]

Nice implementation - thanks so much for listening to feedback and making this happen, very much appreciated. Look forward to the next update and will report back on it. Appreciate it,

-NBreslow

[headus]

"assign boxes to specific UV tiles when packing multiple tiles?"

This feature has been included in the latest release. See below for details ...

http://www.headus.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=5889#5889

Phil

[nbreslow]

[headus]

"You are very modest to make it a small point release!"

Typically I base the version jumps on how much work it was to get there, not so much on how much they're wanted :) The tile locking thing was fairly easy ... to get UVLayout up to v2.08 it would have to be something really huge like UV sets/layers, and my head hurts thinking about what v3 would entail (a new GUI?).

"I would send a mass e-mail to all service plan customers"

I do that on an "opt in" basis ... its the "Updates Emails" field on your uvlayout.com Support Details page. By default its empty, so you need to put something in there to get the emails when a new version has been released.

Phil

[oesponda]

Phil,

I understand what you say, but honestly i totally agree with nbreslow, this is an awesome update, and even if it was easy for you, the features are a big jump indeed.

Thanks a lot for the hard work and the very best program of the kind.

I know people that get scared when they look at the GUI, IMHO it looks rather old, BUT when i show them what the program can do, they just drop their jaws hehe. So I guess a new GUI with a more fresh look would contribute a lot to people's perception. And of course that would mean better sales. I really dont care how it looks because it's by far the best one, but just saying what people i know think about it.

Just for the record, I think if you call this latest version 2.1 instead of 2.08, nobody could even ask why or think that the update is not good enough for that. (except you hehehe). Again, think on people's perception: for most people this jump from 2.07 to 2.08 would be like a bug fix update, without new features, and if you jump back to 2.06 and think about it, there had been huge improvements since, but maybe people think it's almost the same.

Just my 2 cents anyway

Thanks again and you definitely made the uv process to be fast, easy and fun.


Orlando

[headus]

"I know people that get scared when they look at the GUI,"

Yeah, I do accept it turns some people away, so its definitely something that will get fixed eventually. But like you said, you don't really care now you've got over the initial shock, and its all about the UVs themselves ... that's my focus too at this stage. UVLayout v1 was like the alpha version, v2 is the beta development, where all the functions and bugs are properly sorted out, and then v3 is going to have the nice GUI wrapped around the solid foundations.

"for most people this jump from 2.07 to 2.08 would be like a bug fix update, without new features, and if you jump back to 2.06 and think about it, there had been huge improvements since, but maybe people think it's almost the same."

It can go too much the other way though ... Firefox has gone from v5 to v10 in a little over 6 months, and most of those are bug/security fixes as far as I can tell :)

Anyway, if you click on "Check For Updates" in UVLayout itself, it'll list all of the changes from whatever version you're currently running. That's probably the best way to get a quick idea of whats new, plus the Demo version is usually up-to-date, and can be safely installed alongside your purchased version to do a hands-on check of any changes.

Phil

[oesponda]

Right, in a couple of years we'll be using firefox v5845 LOL Certainly you picked a good example of bad versioning, but UV Layout it's the opposite: v2.xx.xx since 2007! I'm aware of the enhancements and bug fixes, and that's why I suggested a different versioning scheme. But for somebody who saw let's say v2.03 years ago and decide to give it a try one of these days, the first impression could be "yeah, it's the same" if they dont look at the change log


Nevermind Phil, whatever it works best for you. At the end we're getting these fine updates and lots of features. I was only giving you some feedback of what Ive seen, but again, after the first shock, people see what the program can do and are more than satisfied, so no worries at all

Best regards.

[nbreslow]

Any way you flip it the update was BIG and it is very much appreciated!

I agree that the next big update should be the UI. While I am used to it (and actually have come to like it a lot) I think it might be costing you sales. Modernizing it might make you more money and actually be worth the time? Your product is (way) better than Unfold3D but I feel like a lot of people use that because it has a flashy UI. Little do they know the immense power of UVLayout!!!

My only issue with the UI/Workflow is the heavy reliance on hotkeys. I use so many applications that rely on memorizing hotkeys that my brain is about to explode. It would be great if UVLayout incorporated context sensitive toolbars with illustrated icons representing the tools available within that context. When a icon is clicked that tool would become active and the keyboard modifiers to work with it could then show up in the view. Also, a properties pane for each tool could be nice to make using them less of a linear process.

You could probably mock it up in Qt Designer pretty quickly. Pretty icons, refining it, and any eye candy would definitely take some time though so I don't blame you for keeping it as it works great as is.

Thanks again,

-Nick