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So that are the UVs then , I often get this like that especially when buying cars , did you got the model from the store here ? what's the name of the product
With the things you manage to create, I can't imagine you being eclipsed all that often! You make amazing products!
Yes, it is from Daz3D store - Dragon Skeleton (Articulate Vertebrae):
http://www.daz3d.com/dragon-skeleton-articulate-vertebrae
This is a very old model ( I have it too and I actually really like it lol) but it has a sku of 712 so it might just be that its a much older model and I don't know how far things have come since then as far as uv mapping etc.
Keep in mind that if you use an Iray decal you can override the mapping with projection mapping. Though that doesn't work with displacement, and it might be tricky to get a projection that looks right.
Never mind, I just realised I hadn't noticed your download, I was trying to use your instructions on the Mec4D shaders. Got it now. Your shader renders very nicely using all three Them Bones texture sets.
The UVs on the Dragon are projection plane UVs , it project the shaders just on one side and mirror it to the other side , very old method used for symmetrical models back in the late 90s , not really good for organic models , a lot of old DAZ Animals still have the old UVs from back then when you have to relax UVs per hand so Planer or Cylindrical UVs was handy in speeding of the process
Does it mean, that one need to UVmap it again? If so, what is the easiest way?
I have 3D Coat, but have not so much experience with it yet.
And what about Blender projection UV mapping - will it get better results?
I have also some tools for Unity 3D - may be some of them will be usable in this case.
Let's put it this way...just about any UV mapping that isn't the simple planar that it currently has would be better.
The UVs are projection type UVs doing the same thing as the projection camera in 3DL , I think the geometry is too complex for Decal trick but who knows maybe not
I didn't say best method, just easiest. ;)
(A better method might be using free UV Mapper, which might create something decent. At least... better)
I played with the model is not easy to catch good light with too many bones make it chaotic but works best on solid backdrops with less details so you actually see the all bones lol
I relaxed the UVs but it have million little islands as I did just relaxed them and not worked on them proper way but looks much better , the all bones are closed shells so need extra time for placing the correct seams
unzip the files and place the MEC4D folder here :Users\[your name]\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library\data\DAZ 3D\DAZAnimals\Dragon Skeleton\UV Sets
after you load your Dragon you can change the UVs from the surface tab , not so perfect with the seams but already better especially on the legs bones , you can also incrase the normal a little bit on the bone shader and scale Tile to to V-10 H-10
Did I said anything about better or not ? nope I was just wondering
but the best would be to spend 30 min and place the seams correctly and relax , but I was not feeling well for that so I just relaxed the UVs so each bone have now separate island catching each different details from the 4K texture , I will make proper one when I feel little better
Oh sure, just chatting.
I was inspired by this thread to attempt a bone shader with my new noise shader, but it'll probably be easier to just tell people to copy/paste shaders they like.
I SHOULD come up with a good 'network of cracks' preset, though -- good for bones or mud or whatever.
Thanks for the new UV set, Cath.
Cracks are always good , you never know when you need them , I bake a lot of stuff in DS for use as textures later in my iray shaders but mostly are 3DL shaders but I have other tricks for bake with iray lol
Looking good ! and you welcome
Hi Cath! Thank you for being, well, the ever-generous you! =) I found a moment at the office to try out your super cute shaders... this old computer will only render with Iray on CPU, but at least there are no insta-BSoD driver conflicts, unlike on my laptop. Here's a freebie skull from Turbosquid, with your "fresh bone" preset lit by this particular free HDRI:
https://hdrihaven.com/hdri.php?hdri=street_lamp
It's too lo-res to be used as a background for anything but a test render, but the dynamic range is crazy good IMO.
And thank you so much for the remap of the old dragon skeleton.
You welcome ! and very nice test , the night HDRI are much easier to make for better dynamics than the day HDRI , I need just half of the night shots to get the same range I have in day shot HDRI what have 36 EV in dynamics as more Iray will not handle before you get weird stuff and the best range for iray is something between 28EV for optimal result in HDRI dynamics anything lower will create weak shadows and low ambient dynamics and anything above 36EV will create bad shading on the model as they are not triangulated as in other program Octane or Luxrender
Very nice skull , looks authentic , definitely a skull of a dude from African origins