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Understanding U/V mapping - Where is the wood?
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These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
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Understanding U/V mapping - Where is the wood? // New Users
Post by PrimMac // Jul 13, 2006, 8:10am
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PrimMac
Total Posts: 78
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Hello everyone,
I just don't understand how U/V mapping works. I have an object I modeled in another app. It is supposed to be a game level (a fairly simple one at that). I exported the object from that other app as an .obj object and imported into ts7.1. It imported without textures, so I decided to retexture it using the textures that the other app created when I exported. So the two textures I places on this level object are placed there with the Paint over existing material tool in the standard Material Editor.
The problem is... it consists of two different textures. When I import this into my 3D engine, how am I going to get it to load the textures on the corresponding polygons? I figure that's what U/V mapping is supposed to do, though I'm not sure now. So I open the UV editor only to get this "Object has no UV space" message. OK, so perhaps I have to use this UVunwrapper thing to get an exportable U/V space texture. This is the result:
http://www.geocities.com/hypermeister/uvmap_question.JPG
So, where in this U/V map is the wood texture I used? Or this is object to complex to be able to be U/V mapped? Or am I completely mistaken about the function of U/V mapping? When I export this U/V space as a bitmap, and re-import the object and texture it with this bitmap, it is painted completely with the grass texture, and the wood texture is lost. Can anyone help me? I've never done UV mapping before!
Sincerely,
PrimMac |
Post by scapino // Jul 13, 2006, 1:48pm
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scapino
Total Posts: 101
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At the bottom of the editor, see where it has the texture file name?
To the right is an arrow. Click on it and a drop down menu should appear, with the other texture listed. Select it, and the window will change to that texture, with the appropriate polygons sitting on top.
Hope this helps.
Kurt |
Post by Steinie // Jul 13, 2006, 2:37pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Did you try to import using the luuv tsx? You'll find it with your plugins in TS7 |
Post by Tiles // Jul 13, 2006, 9:37pm
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Tiles
Total Posts: 1037
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I don´t have TS 7. But i have written a little tutorial for the UV Mapping Editor of TS 6.6 some times ago. May be useful to lead you into the basics of the UV Mapping Editor so that you are able to find the needed buttons. Should be nearly the same in both versions:
Truespace 6.6 UV Mapping Editor Tutorial (http://reinerstileset.4players.de/TS66_UV_Mapping_Editor_Tut_E.htm)
Im and exporting a mesh is a bit tricky sometimes. There may be the need to repaint your mesh with the formerly texture, dependand of your file format. LUUV for example imports for me just the mesh and the UV Space into TS, giving me flat colours. The textures are gone then. I have to repaint them. Simply paint over existing material. And keep your fingers away from Paint Object. Then the UV Space should still fit. |
Post by KeithC // Jul 17, 2006, 5:02am
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KeithC
Total Posts: 467
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Very nice tutorial, thanks for taking the time to do this. I wonder if Caligari would mind including it in the TS and GS pages permanently?
-Keith |
Post by skipper // Jul 29, 2006, 3:32am
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skipper
Total Posts: 113
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PrimMac, thank you very much for the tutorial, I'm halfway through and it helped me already get a better view of the available (somewhat hidden) options of the uv-editor. The art of uv-mapping is anything but trivial and it's going to take a bit more time and practice for all the concepts to sink in. Even with the tutorial I'm having problems figuring out the proper workflow. By the way, I'm a trueSpace 6.6 user.
I "boxmodelled" an object and I painted each of the six sides a different color so that I can identify them more easily in the uv-editor.
I am basically now trying to create a uv-map for the texture I want to apply to the object. As noted in the tutorial, there is no point in creating a texture (which I did in Illustrator) and then try to adjust the mesh as this causes undesired stretching or distortion of the texture itself. So I've resigned myself to create a uv-map and that's where the problems start.
At this point I'm not sure what technique to use. There seem to be several ways of getting things done, but the results vary quite a bit. Named selections for instance come in quite handy, but when polygons have different angles to each other, things get distorted inside the uv-editor window. Planar uv-mapping seems to be the way to keep things 99% ok to be useful for later texturing though.
I used to create homepages with notepad... but things have evolved... the uv-editor kinda feels like I'm doing 3D stuff in notepad again. (I guess I like to learn things the hard way...) :D
Don't know how uv-mapping is handled in truespace 7+, but I'm not ready to upgrade yet, so I'll have to suffer through this until I get it right. |
Post by Délé // Jul 29, 2006, 3:47am
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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Here is another link to a general texturing tutorial by Leigh Van der byl called "Texturing For Dummies". It helped me a lot. She's done texturing and modeling for some blockbuster movies. She's very good. :)
http://www.onona3d.com/tutorials.htm |
Post by skipper // Jul 29, 2006, 4:18am
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skipper
Total Posts: 113
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Thank you, Délé, but that feels like taking your first driving lessons with Jeff Gordon or Michael Schumacher.... :D I wouldn't even be able to model that suit of armor, not to mention to make it look photorealistic. I will read those PDF files though because they contain tips I will need later on as well.
I see, I have no choice, I have to texture that darn cube... why does it always have to feel like homework? :D
3D is just like maths... there just is no easy way to learn it.
I've come this far, I'm not going to give up now. I had to remodel my object from scratch because I broke the first law of 3D-modelling (that I know), I used boolean subtraction... I almost cried... if you want to see a grown man cry... make truespace crash when he wants to add a single edge to a polygon (of a model partially modified using boolean subtraction). |
Post by spacekdet // Jul 29, 2006, 6:44am
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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...I broke the first law of 3D-modelling ...
I thought the first law was making Control S hotkey a frequent unconscious reflex action.
I think we've all been there...that sinking feeling...
'When Booleans Go Bad' |
Post by skipper // Jul 29, 2006, 10:39pm
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skipper
Total Posts: 113
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I thought the first law was making Control S hotkey a frequent unconscious reflex action.
I think we've all been there...that sinking feeling...
'When Booleans Go Bad'
Oh, no worries, I do save my work often, I'm even a SAVE-AS fanatic... I've learned that lesson way back when 8-bit computers were cool... :D That urge to beat up something is really not necessary in this day and age.
My middlename is Back-Up... I don't trust the media (pun intended), I always have several copies of the stuff I'm working on. |
Post by skipper // Jul 29, 2006, 10:52pm
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skipper
Total Posts: 113
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Is there a list of 3D laws anywhere?
- Save your work often.
- Don't use booleans, ever.
- Don't export objects into another format before triangulating them first?
I saved my model as a .cob object and then as a .3ds file and of course there were bugs in the mesh when I loaded up the object in another 3d application. I triangulated the object and the bugs in the .3ds file were gone.
Gotta love it. |
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