headus 3D tools

[dustinbrown]

Pack Selected: Packs only the selected shells. Often I like to use auto-packing to pack the larger shells for a character, and then I like to manually sprinkle around the smaller shells.

Pack By Material Type: Some way to create a simple list of material types, and assign each type to your UV shells. Then the Pack feature would prioritize grouping shells of the same material type together while also trying to make efficient use of the space. So for example in my material list I would add skin, cloth, leather, steel, gold, and hair. Then I would select each of those materials in turn and assign them to the appropriate UV shells. Then when I hit the Pack button it prioritizes keeping those shells with the same material grouped together. Personally I think this could potentially replace the current boxes features. The boxes have always felt a little clunkly to use to be honest.

Packing Non-Square Textures: I know you can pack non-square textures by changing the tile values. That's awesome. The only rub is that it treats the non-square UV space like two squares instead of a rectangle. The mid-line between the two squares is not sacred space, and UVs can sit on that area. Currently the packing algorithm won't let shells overlap that mid-line, and that leads to it not producing the best possible non-square pack.

OBJ Import/Export: If I have a character comprised of thirty independent meshes (body, head, eyes, hair, and lots of components to his/her outfit) and I export it all out as one OBJ file out of Max or Maya, then import that mesh back into Max/Maya I'm able to retain all of those independent meshes with their names in tact. If I import that OBJ into UV Layout, make my UVs, then import it back into Max/Maya I have lost all of those mesh names and I now have to manually detach and rename each element.

Isolate Selected: A way to isolate the selected shell/shells in the 3D view, meaning all non-selected shells get temporarily are hidden. When you have a character with multiple layers of clothing, checking seams and texture stretching in the 3D view can be difficult when other elements cover the area you need to see.

[Boonta]

Hey Dustin,

check out the "Use trace option" I haven't tried it yet but it looks like it has the ability to pack non square uv's by masking out a region i believe. (Haven't tried it out yet..)

http://www.uvlayout.com/doc/Example:_Pack_Mask

+1 to all the other stuff ! even a simple aspect ration button could be faster than than creating/importing a custom mask.

[headus]

"Pack Selected: Packs only the selected shells."

You cant do this directly, but its not too many key taps to get the same result. Type H then P to hide all unpicked shells, do Pack All, then H-U to bring the unpacked shells back.

"Pack By Material Type: Some way to create a simple list of material types, and assign each type to your UV shells."

That is sort of what the boxes are for. Maybe if I can address the "clunky", then they will do the job?

Some-one did request box labeling just last week, so that'll be in the next release. You can name each box ... it doesn't get saved out in the OBJ yet, but at least you can keep track of what each box is (and can share a screen shot with others if need be).

"Packing Non-Square Textures:"

As Boonta quite correctly says, the pack mask is the best work-around for this currently. Make a square texture with a white rectangle for the aspect ratio you want (black for the rest) then pack everything into the single tile. Once you're happy everything is packed as you want, you can scale just the U or V to fill out the square (see pic below for an example of 1:2 ratio). You'll end up then with UVs optimized for a 2:1 ratio texture map.

"OBJ Import/Export: ... If I import that OBJ into UV Layout, make my UVs, then import it back into Max/Maya I have lost all of those mesh names"

Which version are you using? In earlier ones you had to use the "Update" button to retain material names, but since 2.08.00 this has been automatic (i.e. using "Save" should be retaining all the group/material names automatically).

"Isolate Selected:A way to isolate the selected shell/shells "

H-P again :)

Phil