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3d coat is alas out of my budget range. I was thinking of getting Mudbox, but it's auto uv thing is... terrible. End up with stuff scattered all over.
When I can, I think that UV Unwrapper looks like one of my best bets...
Actually, if you have a valid student ID (even if you are just taking an exercise class or something) you are eligible for the educational version of some fairly high-end programs. A lot of them time out, but there are some which work on perpetual license.
A lot of them have limitations on commercial use, but I doubt that applies to renders, if you just want it for personal use.
3d Coat has a half off sale pretty regularly around Nov/Dec. There is also a lower price version on Steam but it is limited compared to the full one.
SketchUp users have a new UV tool/plugin called WrapR, looks relatively easy to use.
https://wrap-r.com/
I think UVLayout is the best in the business. I've used it and several others over 10 years and have always gone back to it. It is very versatile and all the options available to you are remarkable.
3D Coat is an excellent uv mapper.
Laurie
I've tried the beta versions and it is pretty good... For use with SketchUp. But it's based off of Roadkill, so if you are not a SketchUp user, it makes more sense to just use Roadkill... It's free and WrapR is around $60... Which is kinda disappointing because most of the "pay for" SU plugins aren't much more then $40... And WrapR was based off of a free program. Ultimate Unwrap 3D Pro (which works with .skp files) was $60... That has a lot more features and can be used to export models out in other formats... But it has no community support, and a handful of crappy tutorials and no YouTube videos... It's great if you have been uv mapping for years and know a lot, but daunting if you are trying to learn. In that regard, if you are a SketchUp user, and make proper quad models, WrapR is a better buy, because it operates similar to Roadkill, which there are tutorials and videos for... Also one can ask questions at the Sketch-U-cation website, where WrapR has its own thread.
Yes, and it has an automatic unwrapping mode... Auto unwrap is a bit wonky sometimes, but if you are not selling or sharing the model, it's good enough as is... But also, 3D Coat is around $200, so just for UV mapping, that might be a lot for some folks.
If it's not too expensive, then the 3D painting features and UV mapping are very useful.
I use 3D-Coat for UV mapping and texturing all my Hexagon models that I tweak in Carrara real quick first.
McGuyver: yeah, but UV Layout is $200-300 as it is, sooo...
I really like Carrara but it's inability to unwrap with any symmetry or proportion sinks it.
Try this maybe https://www.unfold3d.com/products/unfold3d-vs/
I tried it and liked it, BUT the perpetual license is crap and really isn't since you have no access to any newer versions after a year. I hate subscriptions, so obviously there isn't any viablility for me there, bummer, guess I'll stick with ultimate unwrap 3d.
On the site they say rent to own for 14.90 per month. Perpetual says 149 with 1 year maintenance.
Also says "1 year access to new releases" with the perpetual license which means you are stuck with whatever version you are using when the license is up. the rent to own does say you are "offered" a perpetual license after the 12 month subscription, wonder what the mean by "offered"? the chance to buy one after paying for 12 months or what? Either way it looks like you will have to shell out for any updated versions when released.
Not sure I follow. 1 year access to new releases means you buy it now and if a new release is coming in 11 months you can still get it for free. In 13 months you can't. Pretty standard stuff there. Do you want free updates forever?
Subscription says "After 12 months of continuous subscription, you’ll get a perpetual license that will allow you to run release built before the perpetual license support expiration date. For example if you already accumulated 6 months of subscription, and you if order 6 months more on January 1 2017, your perpetual license will run releases built BEFORE the July 1 2017."
Ok that sounds a little weird. Important is just the fact that you get a rent-to-own option at all. Doesn't get much better than that if you're against rental-forever but still don't wanna shell out the whole amount at once.
By the way that software has the best unwrapping algorithm on the market. It eventually made it into Maya.
UVLayout also has a maintenance fee every year. $50 to be about to download updates, however there may be in that period you paid for.
Actually yes. I have several apps that have perpetual licenses that let me d/l the latest version including Ultimate Unwrap 3d. I can understand having to pay for a newer version on complex apps like Max (which is why i am 5 versions behind), Maya, or photoshop, but for a smaller specific app like this not so much.
Anyhoo, it does work well and is worth checking out.
I'm just wondering how a software company is suposed to survive if they can never charge for updates. Why would they even create updates in the first place? Also why is it ok for the big guys to rip you off left and right but some small shop doesn't get your measly 50 bucks or so for a new version. If anything I'd feel the opposite. Give it to new, innovative "little guys".
On the other hand... I'm glad you're handling your money so you can buy more stuff here! :D
I am still wondering how Zbrush is able to do this (although they never promised there would be free updates forever). I purchased it back in version 2 point whatever and continue to receive free updates.
They have some unknown rich investor apparently. That's probably true, there is no other way. The money has to come from somewhere. Granted, ZBrush became such an industry standard that they probably made good money just selling once to everyone. Who knows. Definitely not something we can expect from other software companies.
And just to stay on topic: there is also UV unwrapping in ZBrush! I think. not that anyones cares about it :D
Using their UV Master algorithm.
Agreed and I love Ultimate Unwrap 3D Pro, it's my go too UV Mapping tool!
I could never get my head around uv-mapping, until I did a blender tutorial recently (Blender Guru unwraps an anvil).
Now it's easy as pie - plus Blender has a nifty tool to let you see at a glance where things are stretched (I imagine the paid for stuff has the same).
Next step - texturing...I need a lot of work :lol:
I've been using 3D Coat for all my UV unwrapping. Works fantastically.
EDITED TO NOTE: An update... In case anyone has come across this thread on or around 2023, the software mentioned below no longer exists as it was removed from ShareCG a couple of years ago... Sorry.
UltimateUnwrap (the pay-for version) still exists though and is still very good and goes for around $50 for the basic version and $60 for the Pro version... plus it has many different file format importers and exporters which allows you to use it to convert formats... Example: SKP (SketchUp native format) to OBJ... Which can be extremely useful.
So ignore anything below this point unless you are just morbidly curious about dead software you delightful ghoul.
It's funny how one can forget stuff and then rediscover that same information if they don't use it long enough... Yesterday when I posted stuff about Ultimate Unwrap I went looking for tutorials again (frustrating because there are virtually none and if you forget something you are sooooo screwed until you figure it out or accidentally find something)...
That said, the information I rediscovered is LithUnwrap... I guess it is sort of, either a free ultra lite version of Ultimate Unwrap 3D or an early beta/experimental version... It's really not mentioned anywhere, but long ago I figured out it's by the creator of UU3D (Bolthouse Studios)... Either way, it's here...
LithUnwrap: http://www.sharecg.com/v/5169/Software-and-Tools/LithUnwrap---Free-UV-Mapper-for-Windows
If you (the OP, or anyone else stumbling across this thread from a Google search) don't have a ShareCG account, it's free to register and they are a legitimate site, but you need to have a registered account to make downloads...
LithUnwrap is an easy way to dabble and get familiar with the basic workings of Ultimate Unwrap for an indefinite period without the time restrictions often found in most trial software...
It also seems to get update and bug fixes too... So it's not abandoned... And I suppose one could even ask some basic questions in ShareCG's comments section.
And one more thing to think about for people considering buying Ultimate Unwrap 3D... Something I rediscovered last night... Apparently when you purchase UU3D you get "Free updates when they become available"... For some reason they forgot to include this in the list of features (it's only mentioned on the purchase page)... and that's a pretty big deal because many software companies charge for updates. And there are frequent updates and bug fixes... One of the most frequent updates is import/export format additions, of which there are at the moment 57 (including DUF and DSF) 3D file formats, and 73 (more or less) video game file formats.