headus 3D tools

Mr. Positive · Posts: 6 Joined: 05 Jun 2007

1. I'm not sure how to go about creating UV's for my head. Do I need any UV cuts at all?
When I hit the 'u' key it says "Can't UV edit. No faces in UV space". I'm not sure how to break apart this head. In Unfold 3D I went up the middle of the back of the head to the top of the skull and just stopped. However, I tried that here and I still get the same error. I'm stuck.

2. Is there a document that has all the hotkeys? I've had to write them down as I see them displayed in the videos. I just think it would be nice if their was a downloadable sheet for these.

headus · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject:

1. I'm not sure how to go about creating UV's for my head. Do I need any UV's at all?
If you import the OBJ with "New" selected, the mesh comes in with no UVs. What you need to do then is to cut the 3D mesh up into pieces that are then flattened out, hence creating the new UVs. The UVLayout work-flow is different from other applications in that you generally don't draw all seams in at the start and flatten in one go ... you cut the object up into a number of pieces that are then flattened and stitched back together.

2. Is there a document that has all the hotkeys?
Yes, the User Guide has them all. Click on the "About UVLayout" button at the top of the uvlayout GUI window, and there a "View User Guide" button in the window that pops up. Its a PDF that you could print out if you wanted.

Mr. Positive · Posts: 6 Joined: 05 Jun 2007

Well I'm trying to unwrap a self portrait of my head and I'm following the Essence the Face book. I want my unwrap to look similar to theres. I've uploaded a photo from that page in the book where they list your product. As you can see, it's a single mesh UV layout. I'm just not sure how to go about that in UV Layout. If anyone would like a crack at it, I've also zipped my .obj file. Thanks.
Clint

headus · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the pic! Thats the first time I've seen anyone using UVLayout in a publication . To me it looks like they might have used something else to create the UVs and only used UVLayout for the error feedback.

Here's my attempt at your head, about 30min of work. One day soon I hope I'll make a tutorial movie showing the steps, because there a few tricks required to get the best results. The first thing was to detach the nostrils and the insides of the mouth and eye lids; the nostrils were welded back in after the rest of the head was pretty much finalized, but the inner-mouth and eyelids are left separated because theres just no room for them otherwise. Another reason for detaching the nostrils for most of the processing was because theres a symmetry mismatch in there ... might be because theres a poly with more than 7 sides inside there, and its been triangulated differently on the left and right sides.

Phil

Mr. Positive · Posts: 6 Joined: 05 Jun 2007

The only thing that makes me nervous about that approach is it's not one seamless UV mesh layout. In the next chapter, they use projections to map the photographs from various angles to the face. I know I could have broken up the UV Layout, but I was wondering how to do it without it being in pieces, which is what my dilemma was. I will try this mesh with my maps and see how it goes. I would love to see a walkthrough on how you did that, as many people using UV packages are unwrapping human anatomy like this. Lastly, yes I am that ugly. Thanks so much!

headus · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:05 am Post subject:

Yes, unfortunately thats always going to be the trade off ... seams vs distortion. Here's a new layout ... basically the same, but with that under chin seam welded up.

I should point out I'm a programmer, not a 3D artist, so don't assume these are the right way to do heads :-)

Phil

Mr. Positive · Posts: 6 Joined: 05 Jun 2007

How are you doing that? I put that same seam up the skull and down the back of the neck and hit u and nothing happened!? hahaha What step am I missing? In actuality, I'd prefer the split on the top of th head, to start further back so I can make a bald map without seams.

By the way, here is the website for that book.
http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/essence/face/index.php?utm_source=CGSociety&utm_medium=900&utm_term=preorder&utm_content=bookdvd&utm_campaign=essenceface_ship2
You should ask for a free desk copy considering they used your application in their text.

moochie · Posts: 105 Joined: 13 Jul 2006

headus · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject:

Yes, watch the videos ... Maybe you're thinking that UVLayout magically creates those layouts with the click of a single button, but its more involved than that.

Phil

Rich-Art · Posts: 120 Joined: 29 Dec 2005

Haha yes. If that could be true...
A one button unwrap solution. that would be handy.
And if you're making this, perhaps you can think of adding a 1 button creation solution too. 1 Click and wow there is a whole character in front of you...
No, UVLayout works great and is a real time saver...

Peace,
Rich_Art. Wink

Mr. Positive · Posts: 6 Joined: 05 Jun 2007

moochie · Posts: 105 Joined: 13 Jul 2006

Good points, well made. Thing is, this is still a beta product. As you correctly point out, many aspects of the program have changed significantly, often as the result of user feedback. Now that Phil has cracked the undo feature, I assume we'll see the first iteration of the full product hit the market shortly, at which time there will be a static target for Phil (and some of the long-term users) to create videos around.

Remembering all the hot-keys can be an issue (I forget some of them if I don't need to do any unwrapping for a couple of weeks), but there is a user guide which ships with the program and the effort to remember the key moves (there aren't that many, really) is more than rewarded by the power of the application. I got so much usage out of Layout that I stumped up the cash for a dongle even while it's still in beta testing. And I don't open my wallet for just anyone!

moochie · Posts: 105 Joined: 13 Jul 2006

Actually, here are 3 vids I made for another forum, where users are wedded to another mapping product, but often encounter difficulties creating nice UVs in certain circumstances. Rather than just tell them to consider Layout, I go one better and show them a practical solution. Right click > save target as. You'll need the Techsmith TSCC codec http://www.techsmith.com/download/codecs.asp

http://www.pantsofpower.com/blob2.avi shows creating a rock sorta shape in ZBrush, which I map in Layout.

http://www.pantsofpower.com/bootz.avi is an example of remapping an obj used in Poser. I tried doing this vid without sound, so you haven't gone deaf.

http://www.pantsofpower.com/legz.avi was created to show how Layout can create symmetrical maps for an asymmetrical model (another Poser object, or part of one, anyway).

All 3 vids are fairly recent and use the last couple of releases of Layout. Hope they help you get into Layout. Any specific questions, just yell.

headus · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:14 pm Post subject:

The videos could show the majority of the tools while defining the workflow on one single project.
Yes, that is the plan, to have a number of these ready by the release date. But you are right, people who haven't "grown up" with the product wont know where to start. There is a "Quick Start" chapter in the User Guide, but its hidden away at the end so you might have missed that, and its so quick it wouldn't probably have helped you either.

So what I've done is picked out a few key videos ... watch those and you should get a good general overview of the work flow without being overloaded with too much information. Go back to http://www.uvlayout.com/try and you'll see them before the full list of videos.

Phil

PS. Am downloading moochies videos now ... looking forward to seeing those!

PPS. Again, really enjoyed the videos! A few tips for moochie ...

- Can use Shift-C in the Ed view if you want the cut selection to extend beyond 10 edges. It just keeps going until it hits a boundary edge or fork.

- Move the mouse pointer into empty space then hit G = - Enter to fill in small gaps.

moochie · Posts: 105 Joined: 13 Jul 2006

Ooo .. more hidden goodies! Thanks Phil. That Shift+C combo sounds excellent. Tell you what .. my left hand is getting so much exercise using Layout, I'll have to take up playing the guitar again. I bet my finger technique has improved! You'll have to imagine the Bill and Ted air-guitar widdle at this juncture.