PINS SEAMS UV MAP
dot_bat
Posts: 373
Have tried endless permutations of seams and pins to get the sides to match front and back. simple rectangular shaped cube. i can get sides or back and front but not both.
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What UV mapping option are you using? Cube?
custom and box
Did you try the six sided box option?
no, i've almost got it. working on it now. will let you know on next pass. close enuff. just had to add seams on the corner edges. thanx for response evilproducer, not my strong suit either but making some progress. thanx again for input
Sorry I'm not able to do much more than ask questions at this point. UV mapping is not what you call a strong suit of mine.
You wouldn't normally need to use pinning on a geometric shape, but they are essential to get a good unwrap on an organic shape.
The first pic shows a flattened cube unwrapped using seams, but no pins. You can see the blue lines where I placed seams.
The second shows a cylinder unwrapped using seams, but no pins and the third with pins. The dots show the placement of the pins.
A good rule of thumb - but not always true, depending on the shape and how you want it unwrapped - is to place a minimum of two pins along the same line, opposite the seam cut, one vert in from a cut.
Thanx roygee, found out using pins not necessary after a while. Keeping your screen shots. have one more object to uv. this should be useful for visualation
I use Unwrap for pretty much everything apart from a simple plane. Even something as "simple" as a wooden plank. (try Box unwrap and you get an almighty mess - it seems to assume that everything is a regular cube and resizes the sides accordingly. Ugh!). But with unwrap, I can place seams where I want and have a perfect UV in seconds.
I haven't really played with pins (my mother told me at a very young age not to play with sharp objects...), but looking at Roygee's bent cylinder example, it does seem like they make for a better UV.
But I do hate how unwrap tends to put things at a "jaunty" angle - such a pain straightening them out afterwards.
Any suggestions on mapping this shape? i've exhausted all my ideas on this one. didnt even stumble on a acceptable map.
Tim A, i have that app but am trying to do everything in carrara. i might bring it over to hexagon, but the principals are the same. if i dont get in carrara, probably wont in another app
My bad - I should have said Unfold, not Unwrap. I do everything in Carrara, cos things like Hexagon, the external unwrappers etc don't run on a Mac!
Here's how I would unfold your shape (or close to it):
Basically, split the inside from the outside by drawing a seam around it, then splay out the arms/legs, using the top as the centre. The inside needs scaling up on the map, but you end up with only two parts. I don't think you can do it elegantly as a single piece.
Actually, it depends on your proportions. You may be able to manage something like this, without the parts overlapping:
(this all comes from making lots of cardboard cutout models as a kid!)
Tim_A could you show me how you cut up your last screen shot to get it one piece? Ive gotten nothing remotely like what you have
2 pics, from front & back. I've drawn arrows so you can follow the creases. The main ("front") crease is as follows:
Start at a top outside corner, work your way down. Cross to the inside, then work your way to the back. Now go up the inside back edge. Cross to the front. Work your way along the lower top edge, then cross to the back. Down the inside back edge, inside bottom to the front, Move to the outer front edge and finally up to the outside top corner.
That's the main crease in pic 1 (and the yellow lines in pic 2 show it from the back)
There are two more creases on the back side. and they are repeats of the first/ last two creases on the front: Start at the top outside corner, go down to the bottom, then in to the inside bottom corner (where it joins the other crease). Repeat for the remaining corner.
It helps if I have the right picture!
I should also say, I still had the base polys. If you've taken those out, you don't need the creases around the bottoms of the legs.
thanx, i couldnt see the creases inside. do you select everything at once and make the seams or do it twice front and back. thanx for the help with this driving me nuts, i guess i mispent my childhood, i didnt take the cardboard cutout class. thanx again for your time, will try it in a while
Doesn't matter - you can select all the edges in one go then click "+", or you can add them one at a time. The end result will be the same.
If you get one wrong, select the edge and click "-", that'll uncrease it.
Another way to visualise it: Imagine each face is a door - which way does each door need to open so it doesn't bang into the others... The side where you would put the hinge is the side you *don't* crease.
Great tip. I have to practice with that idea for a while and see if I can get it to work for me. I admit I almost never use unfold if I can avoid it. Maybe it is time to change that. Thanks.
thanx Tim_A!!! for this info even i can understand. i'll try your method a little later on. great tip also, this will help alot
I like Tim's analogy of the hinge - describes it very nicely.
It is possible to unfold that shape as one island - hopefully you can see the seams in the attached pic.
Carrara's UV mapping capability is pretty basic, but adequate. Hexagon is a lot better, with more options, but if you are going to do a lot of complex modelling, it is a good investment to get a dedicated mapper such as UU3D - many more options and does the work in a fraction of the time :)
I really struggle with unfold. I tried to replicate what Roygee has done. ugh. I must have one line off or something.
:-)
It does take some practice - start off with a plain cube. Try to visualize as being made of cardboard and see where you need to make cuts to lay it out flat.
thanks roygee, i see the seams. i'll try yours and tim_A's methods later today. i can see this is going to take a lot of practice and visualisation, but just looking at what you and Tim_A have done it seems simple but getting to that point not so simple. this helps me.
Roygee, this is the result i get trying your seam selection. i cant see where i went wrong. i hate to impose on you, but could you check it or show the backside of your mesh for seams?
I deleted some seams and, got for me, a good map with your provided seams. THANK YOU BOTH Tim_A and Roygee for your help.
below are the finished meshes. i need to learn this!!!
OK - I see it! The difference between yours and mine is that you have put a seam all the way around the tops of the drop sides, thereby cutting them off from the top and making three islands. Mine is cut on on three sides, keeping the front attached to the rest of the model.
Doesn't make any difference to the efficiency of the UV map because you have aligned them as if they were one - well done :)
I tried your way but wasnt sure of the other seams in yours and it wouldnt work with one island. i'll be trying again to get it down to one island
Been away couple of days and just catching up.
Roygee has come up with a slightly different cutting scheme than I did, but the principle is exactly the same. Mine unfolds it like the sides of a cube; Roygee unfolds it like it's 3 cylinders joined at the hip. His seems to result in a more compact map - less splayed out.
It might help you visualise if you think of a cube/door/frame as a 4-sided cylinder...
Just shows there's more than 1 way to skin a cat! (cat: vertical cylinder in each corner, big horizontal cylinder..... ;))