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Post by Moon on Apr 19, 2016 15:22:14 GMT -5
I'm converting a couch from S3 to S4, the original UVMap is a complete mess but I love this couch and would love to have it in my game so I'm trying to re-do the UVMap so can I make a nice texture and bake for it, I read the Mesh Creating tutorial for beginners but regarding the mapping, the tutorial only shows how to do with a fairly simple mesh, so I'm really lost on how I should proceed here, can someone please help me? This is the couch:  And here is the package file of it: sofa.packageP.S.: After correctly mapping I'll make a new texture for the couch |
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Post by Mathcope on Apr 19, 2016 16:55:13 GMT -5
Unfortunely there's no "easy" way to do it. As you read in the tutorial written by OM, you'll need to keep making "seams" where you think it would be good for your map. For example, the front part of the pillows, You select the edges around the front face, mark the seam and keep doing that to all the faces of your pillow. The front, left,right, and bottom. You need to map everything in a separated space into the uvmap to bake it. There are many ways to mark the seams and they you will find with time and experimenting with the tool. This mesh is also a bit complicated because everything is joined into a whole mesh. When you create an object for scratch you usually map the parts separated before joining it is easier. Just focus on making every important face into a separated part in the UV. It requires a lot of patience and work but I'm sure you can do it.  If you run into more trouble I can try to make some pictures later tonight of how I'd do it. Good luck! |
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Post by suprememugwump on Apr 19, 2016 19:17:26 GMT -5
I've discovered it's possible to use a feature called "Smart UV Project" that lets Blender unwrap a section for you. It calculates where the seams should go. I haven't used the feature yet, though, so I can't tell you much more than that. Maybe someone more experienced can chime in? UV mapping complicated things in Blender is confusing for me, too. The trick is to practice, fail, ask questions, fail, cry a little, ask more questions, rinse and repeat until you succeed. That's my plan of action, anyway :D  |
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Post by Mathcope on Apr 19, 2016 19:24:26 GMT -5
I've tried the Smart UV option when I first started with blender, in my opinion it makes more trouble than help... In some meshes, like this couch, that is not a perfect cube, rectangle and doesnt have sharp edges won't work correctly. You can definetly try it but I don't think is a good idea. The mesh will break into many pieces and the uv will be even more of a mess. What you say suprememugwump is so true! The UV is all about practice, and of course patience! You need a lot of patience to map a coach like that, even more if you want the bake to work properly. Just try it, if you have questions, fail or problems ask |
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Post by eronoel on Apr 19, 2016 20:14:00 GMT -5
Moon My approach to UV mapping complicated things is just to do it in chunks (even if it is already joined together). I use a variety of different methods. If there is something with a shape I want to keep you can go into the ortho view you want and do project from view, other times, like if you know it will be a square you can just do the regular uv map, but sometimes smart uv can be handy for parts (it projects it a tad differently I have found). I rarely mark seams anymore, unless the uv map isn't getting me, since I just do it peice by peice and that seems to work a whole lot better for me. So like do one pillow and then another and then the sides etc. With the legs, you could do one leg, and then do another and then another, and have them all stack on top of each other. I guess mainly what I mean to say is it takes practice to find a way that works best for you.
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Post by Mathcope on Apr 19, 2016 21:23:54 GMT -5
What eronoel said is exactly what I think about it, you need to practice until you get something decent. I also worked out the uv of the coach for you in case you need an example on how to get it going. It is HERE, you'll be able to see the seams I marked and use it in other project you needs, the process is pretty much the same. The texture is also able to be baked, although not perfect (you have to edit a few imperfections) is way more organized that the last one. A little more information on how I did it. I went to the edit mode in blender, First select all and press W, then remove doubles, the mesh have a lot and will make it harder to select the faces. I've selected a part I wanted to map first, the thing is split the mesh to unrap it by parts. I selected all the faces in the pillows and I hit P, then selected. Now I have a new group of just a pillow, so I can simple hide the other parts and focus on the pillow. Once you finish with each one of them join them back in one group again, go to the UV and re-organize all of them Another things to point out in the mesh : 1. You will have to edit of course the new layout to make new texture, just export it from blender. or you can see it here. (You can also bake in blender and export the png, theres tutorials in the forum too )  2. You don't have any more LODs apart from the LOD0 or high level lod, you need to have more as it will be really heavy for the game to process, considering the mesh itself has a lot of polycout (I even removed 730 doubles from it) When cloning a sofa try to decimate the mesh in blender to import in all the lods, don't just delete them. You can find tutorials about it in the forum. 3. The shadows planes in the mesh (blender) help give some realism to the mesh in game, I fixed it too in blender, check it out for next times working with it. Hope it helps and you can take some of the stuff I posted here to use it in other project/future problems you may have. |
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Post by Moon on Apr 21, 2016 8:56:55 GMT -5
suprememugwump I can try the Smart UV Project in a future project but this one, the mesh is way too complicated, I mean the way it was made yk. I remember a friend of mine told me to use Smart UV when I first try may way with this mesh and it didn't work, at all xD eronoel I think for big detailed meshes doing it by pieces could really be a good option, I'll remember that, thank you! Mathcope WOW that is a very neat mapping you did there!! I'm looking at the blender file and the seams you did, and that's the seams I thought I should do but I just couldn't find the proper ones? So, I think I got the idea of how seams work, so I'm going to continue to practice on smaller and simpler meshes, like boxes until I nail it! As for the LODs that was an approach I tried way back with a few projects on an attempt to the make the files less heavy but it turns out is not a good idea as you pointed. I usually do the remove doubles but sometimes, if the mesh is too detailed I end up losing parts of the mesh, you know what mean? About the shadows planes, I'm sorry if it's a stupid question but what exactly are those? And yes you were so helpful thank you so much! Meshing is still very tricky and difficult for me but I do feel like I'm one little step closer to figure things out, so thank you, really.
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Post by Mathcope on Apr 21, 2016 12:51:14 GMT -5
Glad you find it useful! I do understand what you mean when removing doubles, but sometimes you need to try. For example in this project to select the parts individualy it would be easier if you do that. The Shadow planes I mean those planes in the floor under the objects, thoose are just planes that are mapped to match a shadow texture that will appear in game. It gives the item a more realistic look. You can edit them as they are a different group of meshes. I edited those in those in blender for you to see them. You can find more information in THIS tutorial written by OM, it describes how to fix every type of shadow in an object, just scroll down until you see the plains I'm talking about. |
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Post by femmejean on Apr 21, 2016 13:08:31 GMT -5
It is much easier to unwrap the UV on a mesh you have made yourself, but yes - practice makes perfect. |
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Post by orangemittens on Apr 21, 2016 13:23:51 GMT -5
Another thing to keep in mind while mapping is that parts that are duplicated on both sides often only need to be mapped once. For example, with this couch, you could map one sofa cushion, duplicate it, and then mirror it across the x axis to replace the other. You could do the same with the sofa arm, the legs, and the back sofa pillow. Blender can sometimes get a little fussy with the bake so multiple bakes can become necessary if you do it that way but it saves mapping time and map space.
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Post by Mathcope on Apr 21, 2016 13:31:30 GMT -5
Yes! That's really true. In this case the pillows were not identical although really similar. that's why i did it that way. definitely something to keep in mind.
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