A tip for UVW editing for making new models

For all those struggling with changing or making entirely new UVW maps, here's a technique I use that speeds up the process and hopefully makes it better.

With the standard texture for units, it's hard to see the relative size between faces. When changing around vertex's or making new ones, often the texture becomes skewed. A little thing I found on this site, http://waylon-art.com/uvw_tutorial/uvwtut_01.html helps get some perspective on size and angles by using a checkerboard pattern. You can map the checker pattern directly in MAX or just put it on whatever texture you are working on.

Here's a before and after screen of a unit I've been working on.
https://usera.imagecave.com/scottrycroft/3DSbefore.jpg
https://usera.imagecave.com/scottrycroft/3DSafter.jpg

By moving around the vertex's and looking at the model directly, you make some great progress quickly.

Notice the squares are a bit more consistent now, and are lined up more properly. Once I start texturing, I won't have to worry about the size and angles of the UVW map so much.

Not sure if this'll help anyone, but I use it alot. Who knows, maybe everyone already does this!

PS. I am still working on units, I've just been a lot busier lately. ~:)

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Originally Posted by The samnite

For all those struggling with changing or making entirely new UVW maps, here's a technique I use that speeds up the process and hopefully makes it better.

With the standard texture for units, it's hard to see the relative size between faces. When changing around vertex's or making new ones, often the texture becomes skewed. A little thing I found on this site, http://waylon-art.com/uvw_tutorial/uvwtut_01.html helps get some perspective on size and angles by using a checkerboard pattern. You can map the checker pattern directly in MAX or just put it on whatever texture you are working on.

Here's a before and after screen of a unit I've been working on.
https://usera.imagecave.com/scottrycroft/3DSbefore.jpg
https://usera.imagecave.com/scottrycroft/3DSafter.jpg

By moving around the vertex's and looking at the model directly, you make some great progress quickly.

Notice the squares are a bit more consistent now, and are lined up more properly. Once I start texturing, I won't have to worry about the size and angles of the UVW map so much.

Not sure if this'll help anyone, but I use it alot. Who knows, maybe everyone already does this!

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Nice!!! I never used it before. I think I'll start doing it now. :2thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The samnite

PS. I am still working on units, I've just been a lot busier lately. ~:)

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Why do you think I haven't posted any too? ~:)

Be careful though. Some scretched UVs may be there deliberately to take into account the fact that the animations will deform the skin in certain ways, which will not be immediately apparent on the default 'scarecrow' pose.

What you've done with the cloak looks to be right, but bear in mind what the typical 'at rest' and 'walking' animations do to the skins.

Good point ~:cool:

I have a problem , I made this ... http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index...post&id=279798

but when I export the exporter messes up the unwrap mapped polygons ....... what is due to?

The problem lies in that RTW can only have one texture vertex for each vertex! While in 3ds max you can have no limit. The solution is to detach the geometry which has shared texture verts.

See this pic for what I mean about vertices having more then 1 texture vert. The solution would be to select the extruding geometry and detach->"to element"
http://img72.exs.cx/img72/6079/sharedTverts.th.jpg

http://img22.exs.cx/img22/3910/a379.jpg

this is the error I get I detached the vertices but didn't work....I open the edit window of the uvw mapping and detached but then I export and when I import it again it looks all messed up like this ....why???

Wow, your elephants rule, Prom. I love the saddle cloth thingie.