headus 3D tools

[suwak]

Hello.

It seems that I cannot load a subd surface into uvlayout, anytime I try to do this I get an error saying: "can't read this sort of PLY file". When I convert the same geometry back to polys it loads okay, but I find it important to load subd, because even the good unwrap in polys isn't giving me enough uv space and the texture gets warped after subd'ing.

Thanks in advance for any answer.

[headus]

Sorry about the slow answer ... I was away most of last week.

Are you able to email your OBJ file? There could be something about the topology thats confusing my subd surface routines.

Phil

[suwak]

Hello.

Thank you for response.

Sure I can email an obj, but I can't load ANY subD obj. That's the confusion. Anything I do subd in Maya, export as obj, gets the same error while loading to UVLayout.

Still want the obj? Any ideas?

[headus]

Can you load back into Maya the OBJs you save out? I'm wondering if theres a general problem with the export of the SUBD meshes; maybe you need to put them into poly proxy mode first? I don't have Maya with me at the moment (am away from the office) so cant check myself.

You might also want try the Maya plugin; it knows what to do to subd meshes to get them into UVLayout.

Phil

[suwak]

Plugin sounds like a good solution, where can I find it?

And well, I can't import subd obj to maya. Maybe that's because obj can't store subds, according to the manual: "objExport does not export OBJ formatted curves, surfaces, smoothing groups, or point group materials. It also does not support NURBS".

Of course I can convert this subd mesh back to level 0 poly, export to uvlayout, lay the uvs, import back to maya, convert to subds and get the very same subd geometry with uvs layed out properly, but my problem is that after subding, there's not enough space between some uvs (very little space in 0 to 1 as opposed to a lot of space on the model itself) and the texture gets stretched. I have to manually give them more space and that's not the point and it's not precise. So I thought if I can get uvs for subd mesh maybe all the faces will get enough space.

[headus]

You can get the Maya plugin from the "Plugins" forum ...

http://www.headus.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=13

As for handling SUBDS, you need to export the cage ... I'm sure you just have to turn on the poly proxy mode for that surface to get that to work. Anyway, the plugin handles that correctly.

You would then load that OBJ with "SUBD" selected in UVLayout, and the flattening calcs take into account the shape of the limit surface. For more accurate flattening, the Pro version has some extra tools; for more info on those, have a look at "SUBD Surfaces" under the "Advanced" videos at uvlayout.com.

Phil

[peri]

I seem to be suffering from the same problem - i can't export any subD's at all.
I made a simple polygon cube, and that exported fine (using the maya plugin). I converted it to a subD, and now i get the 'Can't read this sort of ply file' error.

Using Maya 8.5, XPsp2x32 and UVLayout 2.00.05 with Maya Plugin v2 (With quad core q6600 & 8800gt if that helps )

Any ideas would be really appreciated.

[headus]

Bug confirmed! Sorry, I just assumed it worked and hadn't tested it recently.

I'll have a go at fixing the v2 script today so it does that automatically, and will get UVLayout to return a more helpful error too in case it occurs again.

The work-around is to turn "Poly Proxy Mode" on for that surface before you Send it to UVLayout.

Phil

[headus]

Actually, the v2 plugin does handle subdiv surfaces correctly, but you have to tick the "Using SubDiv Mesh" box in the plugin info window (see below).

But I've also fixed UVLayout itself so it handles the error better; its a minor change, so I wont upload the fix now, but it'll be there for the next release.

Phil

[peri]

Ahhh......I had subD's checked in the load options, but for some reason forgot to check it in the plug-in pop up options.

Thanks Phil - fantastic program. Autodesk should make you a millionaire,buy you out and include this as standard with Maya.

[headus]

What would be good is if the two buttons were linked, or even better, the plugin subdiv option goes away and uvlayout tells Maya what sort of object its expecting. I'll have a look at that sometime ...

Phil

[peri]

Talking of the subD option going away...........mine has haha.

Its not a great problem for me (i'm converting to poly before sending), but its something i thought you might like to know about.

[headus]

Yeah, thats a safety feature built into the plugin script; it locks the subdiv button whenever a mesh is "checked out" to UVLayout, and only enables it once the mesh is sent back to Maya.

I did find yesterday though that if UVLayout was quit before sending something back, then there was no way to re-enable that option back in the plugin window. So if you grab the script again from the Plugin forum, you'll now be able to at last reset the subdiv option by clicking on the "Stop UVLayout" button.

Phil

[peri]

Excellent mate.

I wish all software support was this good.

Steve

[suwak]

Headus, could you please tell more about 'smooth subd uvs' option in display dialog - manual only compares it to Renderman's option, is it RM exclusive or is something similar possible in Maya? After unwraping subd surface (yes, turning poly cage on is the solution to avoid error) I don't get suberb results (using calc subdivision targets), but when displaying preview texture with smooth subd uvs option it's almost perfect, that's why I wonder how can I get this results back in Maya. Thank you.