headus 3D tools

DarrenGoldsmith · Posts: 3 Joined: 20 Oct 2009

Hi

I'm completely new to UV mapping but love UV Layout so far. I have a question regarding my texture though... apologies if this has been answered somewhere else on the forum... I couldn't see it.

Essentially I'd like to know how to avoid my texture map curving/warping, as per the attached image. My geometry is straight but there are some n-gons present so perhaps that's it? Or is it simply because I didn't unwrap the model correctly?

Cheers,

Darren.

headus · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject:

UVLayout is flattening everything to minimize stretching and compression of the mapped texture, so often if you have a free form shape, the UVs will end up curved as well.The trick is to make sure that the marked edge loop (see below) is horizontal in the UVs, and the "I" hotkey (for internal edge straightening) is the best way to make that happen. Have a look at the "UVLayout-Interior-Straightening" video on the Advanced video page at uvlayout.com

Phil

DarrenGoldsmith · Posts: 3 Joined: 20 Oct 2009

Hi Phil

OK, that's great... I'll watch that vid and give your suggestions a try!

Cheers,

Darren.

DarrenGoldsmith · Posts: 3 Joined: 20 Oct 2009

Hmmm... maybe I'm just being thick but results aren't forthcoming. My attached image shows what happens when I select that interior loop in the UV window and tag it with the 'I' key to straighten it. Upon flattening, I get the mess on the right! Smile

I think there are some fundamentals I'm missing here... I've been through the basic tutes and everything seems to make sense... I was able to cut and unwrap my object... but I'm not sure if I'm suposed to weld everything together again or whether I should be leaving seams. My objective is to have no seams but perhaps that's not realistic?

The 'Interior edge straightening' vid shows the head as having a seam at the back... is that how it would be left? Surely that just causes issues when texturing and would look horrible?

How would you match/line a texture up in the case of having to leave a seam?

Apologies for what I'm sure are stupid questions...

Cheers,

Darren.

headus · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:36 pm Post subject:

Ahhh, yes, quite a mess! The edge straightening only really works when the edges are close to horizontal or vertical already. I think some pinned points would help though, so if you email me a copy of your file, I'll have a go at it.

Laying out UVs is always a balancing act between seams, distortion and straightness. You cant have everything, so if one of those is super critical (e.g. minimal seams) then the others usually have to give to allow it to happen.

Phil

headus · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:28 am Post subject:

Thanks for emailing the mesh!

To get the textures along the sides straight, you basically have to unwrap it like its a cylinders (e.g. flattening out a tin can). The top bit has to be separated from the sides, otherwise you'll never get the sides straight like you want. This creates an extra seam, but like I said, something has to give :-)