[hilde]

Hey,

I'm doing the caveman tutorial. First a modeled it. So far so good. Now I started texturing it.
the problem I have has to do with UV maps.
after I created a map I can't modifie it. The points outside the grid are fixed and they won't move :headbang:

is there any solution.

I'm working with LW 8.0

thanks, jocco

[NoStr0m0]

You have to hit Ctrl+U to unweld all the points so you can move them. Careful to move only points cause you can unwillingly move some polys if they're unwelded which can be a bad thing, not always, but in most cases

After you've moved all the points that needed relocation, just hit M and OK to merge all the points you previously unwelded.

One more thing. If you're in subpatch mode when you unweld, don't get scared if you're model turns into a lor of oversized dots. Just hit Tab to switch to polygon view while you're working with unwelded points. Hit Tab again after you merge the points and you'll see everything's fine, hopefully

Cheers!

[hilde]

yes,
it worked
thanks a lot !

jocco :attn:

[hilde]

Allright, so I have another questing on uv mapping ... what exctly is the purpose of the checkerboard map ?
is this to set the right resolution of the map ? and then the scale is the most important item to work on ?

when creating the map you need to tweak the points to get a good template. is their a relation between the tweeking of te uv map and the checkerboard ?

I hope this makes any sence ... my head is spinning

[NoStr0m0]

The checkerboard image has nothing to do with the resolution of the map, that all depends on the image you atibute to the map afterwards.
The tweaking of the points has the purpose of getting a better texture flow on your model, without deformations or overlappings. The checkers are to test your UV map and see if there are any unwanted deformations or weird texture "flow" on your model. The regular patern of the checkers helps you identify these problems easier than a "normal", chaotic image.

Check out the first lessons of the caveman texturing tutorial to get a clue about what I'm talking about...

Cheers! :beer:

[hilde]

mmm ...
I think I must be confused. It's hard work those UV's. I have a lot of questions about it.

I'm doing the tutorial about UV mapping the head. I hope I'll understand the whole UV thing more properly. I hate doing things I don't understand. If I don't I'll start asking those intelligent questions again ...

thans again for your reply ! :bow:

jocco

[nemac4]

UVs can be confusing but it helps to think of it as standard projection mapping that you can edit.

Also try to imagine a sheet of rubber stretched over your object and how you might push and pull areas to minimize stretching. UV view polys can be pushed and pulled and will not alter the geometry's point/poly positions.

The painted texture maps will auto scale to fit the square aspect of the UV space so don't worry about matching the square aspect in photoshop to the UV grab. It is better to stretch the UV grab in photoshop to make it easier to paint. The idea is to paint maps the way they should look and let Lightwave and the UV map apply the images to the object. The UV mapping offers a type of pinning control used to deal with stretching. Think of pinning down the rubber sheet to control stretching. This is the advantage over standard projections.

The resolution of the UV image maps are set by the render size and close up shots. For example, if you have a close up shot of a character's face you would want the rez to be high enough so the pixel density doesn't break down. Like when you scale a small image in photoshop,.. the pixels get bigger. Same thing here. Paint the maps at the scale you need but not so high that it uses up all of your ram.
Using the Texture filter in the image editor is a way to calculate the resolution while giving the ability to adjust the checker pattern aspect as well. This way you can let the UVs correct the aspect for you and gain the maximum usage of the UV space which will keep your image size smaller and ram usage lower.

When in doubt, Unweld first then merge back after.
If you find extra floating points in your UV maps, you can select them and press the clear map button, but it doesn't hurt to leave them.

UV maps are double sided so be aware of twisting of flipping your polys in the UV view.

Sometimes it helps to set the checker pattern image in the UV view to help grasp the idea of inverted editing,.. where the bigger the UV poly,.. the smaller the checkers will be, and the smaller the poly,.. the bigger the checkers will be.

Alpha map textures are great for layering Multiple UV maps. Just be sure to include all of the polys in the UV mapped surface or you will have issues with distortion.
It doesn't hurt to include all of the polys for your object as long as you use an alpha map to mask out what is not needed for the surface. This works just like standard projection textures but you have the added control of surfaces and UV maps to specify where the textures are applied. The restriction is that you must use an alpha map to mask unwanted polys of the surface and include the extra polys in the UV map when layering UVs. Think of using the rubber sheets in layers with the upper layers having transparent areas.

I hope this makes sense and helps a bit. :nod:

[hilde]

hey man
thanks for the info !
I'll think I'll need to read it a couple of times to understand it properly, but then, I have nothing else to do.
I'm sure this will help a lot !

:p

jocco

[hilde]

So I'm still fighting those UV's, maps, channels, ....:headbang: Trying to really understand what I'm doing, reading a lot and study on it ...

I work on them a day, than I improve my modeling skills, learning the rigging stuff etc ...

I hope to give an update on my caveman in a couple of days ...

How difficult


I have two questions:

Using LW 8 it is not possible to go in sub-patch mode for the UV's
There's no "freemove" option available, so I use unweld
right ?

jocco

[nemac4]

If you are using 8.0 then you will run into the Sub_D distortion problem. The Newtek website has a written tutorial on how to deal with the problem.

http://www.newtek.com/products/light...aps/index.html

You are correct about unwelding.

[hilde]

I've tried it but I don't understand :headbang:

can the UV map head tutorial help me out ? Or doesn't that handle the distortion problem ?

[nemac4]

Subpatched UVs are only available in 8.2 and above.
You might want to look at this link for some tips on subpatches and UVs:

http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthr...subpatched+uvs

[hilde]

I've been thinking ...



I've got a lot to learn. So would'nt it be a good option to wait a bit with UV-mapping untill LW9 is released. That way I've acces to more tools and new features.

The book that I've ordered on texturing by L Van der Byl has arrived. Maybe I can use that also in combination with the tutorials here. That way I learn other methods than UV mapping for a while and start with UV's later ...

jocco

[rwhunt99]

Hilde;
If you have a registered licenced copy of LW, simply go to the Newtek website and go to the register page and log on. Once you do that, then go to the downloads page and you will be able to down load any version up to version 8.5 for free, this will get you up to date and there are also addendums for the help files that include info on the new UV mapping tools like free move. Included in the help files are several tutorials that may help you with the UV mapping. Believe me I feel your pain. I hope this helps!

:beer:

P.S.: I also have the book you are referring too, it will help too.