Why do UV maps come out so messy?

[kungfubellydancer]

It get on my every last nerve that straight and simple objects that I make in Blender have unwrapped UV maps that look like crap. Is there no way to keep the dimensions (except scale, where need be) while unwrapping? This is supposed to be a mirror, and will use highly detailed textures and normals, but the UV will make that very difficult to achieve. Does Blender offer a sort of script or setting to make the UV's much, much neater?

 

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj27/kungfubellydancer/ssaass.png

[ub3rman123]

Usually the best method to UV a somewhat complex object is to map each part separately, instead of getting it to run all of it at once. Select individual sections and then UV those.

[kungfubellydancer]

I am doing that, but it doesn't seem to make a difference, as each part unwraps in the same messy, distorted shape as the picture above. I'll try to straighten them out manually.

[baduk]

Hi!

 

 

Yeah its kind of tedious to arrange your uv maps and stuff.

 

IT is sort of a strategic exercise to choose where to put your seams for unwrapping. I would try on your model to first separate the center quad cause it gives a point of reference. then maybe put a seam to separate the side parts and the bottom parts. Then i will select all vertices and unwrap at once. And then i will select only the parts i was unhappy with the way they unwrapped and re unwrap em, maybe with changing seams or something.

I will make sure i am happy with the scale and proportions of existing uvs, always keeping in mind what part is what. If the uv is unrecognizeable you can go into face select mode and select faces in different places to identify what is what.

 

There is one script for em ive been using .

 

Uv tool from here has a script that rotates uv islands so they are facing a certain way (i think in regard to global space) then ther is another one that welds uvs together for when u want to stack em directly ontop of each other.

It has another script also that i find quite useful for mesh work.

http://glender.hybird.org/

 

I dont know about other uv scripts, havent really been looking. maybe there is some other great scripts to find!

If u find something please post about it.

[heavywaters]

The unwrap method you chose should be dictated by what the geometry of the object is...

 

There are quite a few different choices which are suitable for specific situations.

 

In your case, with a mostly flat object I would recommend aligning the mirror strait on in the window, then unwrap with the "project from view" option.

 

This way your UV map will end up exactly as the object appears on screen with little need for adjustment.

 

 

If you do need to adjust the UV coordinates the "Align" tool is very handy to straiten things out.

What I find myself using most from the scripts that baduk recommended is the "distribute" tool to evenly space your UVs.

 

With these two tools and a little work your UV maps will look nice and organized.

Edited January 22, 2011 by heavywaters

[LHammonds]

As said, there are MANY options and combinations available to you. One of which is the ability to "pin" verticies in the UV editor window. For example, you can align the 4 corner verts of your mesh to be square and "pin" them in place. When you issue an unwrap again, it will leave those verts alone and try to align the rest around them. This also weighs heavily on how you choose your seams. For flat surfaces, it may be best (as said above) to use "Project from View" to set those faces and then unwrap the sides or small parts separately.

 

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention...while in the UV editor window, select a vert and press "P" to pin it into place. Press ALT+P to unpin it.

[Nadimos]

Good to know, which reminds me of question i had regarding uv mapping, i thought it is better then having a new thread in here. If you have splitted the screen in blender accordinglz to on the left being the 3d view of the mesh and on the right the uv window and you are in the uv window to the right, selecting individual islands, then i had it once, that as soon you would select an individual island, it would be also marked in the 3d view of the mesh on the left, but due to reasons unknown i somehow lost that functionality. Is there anyway to get it back? Thanks. Edited January 22, 2011 by Nadimos

[LHammonds]

Nadimos, if you only select the faces in the 3d view, you will only see the UVs in the right. I don't remember a setting like you described (I never really customize my settings stuff either)

[Nadimos]

Thanks, thats already pretty usefull stuff.

[kungfubellydancer]

Thanks for your help, folks. I did just manually straighten out each piece, before I read about 'Project from View" which would have been useful, but here's the end result.

 

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj27/kungfubellydancer/ScreenShot167.jpg

 

There is one slight problem, however: the right-most horn has inverted normals, where it appears as if you're looking at it inside-out. I would include a screenshot but the dark textures make it very difficult to see without physically moving it around with a cursor, but I hope you understand what I mean. How do I fix it without inverting all of the mesh?

Edited January 22, 2011 by kungfubellydancer