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42.4 UV Maps - DeepUV v1.2, Advanced Features 2 |
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DEEPUV, CYLINDRICAL UNWRAP Next, I'll unroll his remaining body as a cylinder, slitting him up the stomach. I select the 'Perspective View', pressing SHIFT-L to see his left side. I select 'Cylinder' from the 'Automatic->Interactive' section of the 'Command Panel'. 
I use the blue rotation gadget  to rotate the cylinder representation until the red rotation gadget  points downward.I use the 'Angle' gadgets to nudge the angle's up and down arrows of the X axis rotation until it reads 90 degrees. 
The side of the object which splits is always the side where the red rotation gadget is, opposite the red dot. I look at the 'Body' Material in the Material window and see that his tail, thighs and back are all connected. The dense areas are the jumble of arm and leg polygons. 
I adjust the height of the center by moving the red dot  I adjust the side-to-side by moving the green dot  
I can always leave the cylinder tool, and come back to it later to make slight adjustments. If I wished to reshape the UVs that I just unwrapped, I could click in the Material View, press CTRL-t to transform the UV shape, and adjust the corner and side gadgets until it's the height, width, and position that I wish it to be. I apply four or five 'Advanced Relax->UV Knead - Even'. 
DEEPUV, SEND UV UPDATE TO DEEP PAINT 3D & SAVE It isn't altogether necessary, but before you transfer UV data from DeepUV to Deep Paint 3D, I always turn off Projection Paint. You can't save the data until you turn it off, anyway, so it can't hurt. The greatest possibility that one of the two programs will crash is when you transfer data between the two. Switch back to DeepUV. To save the UV changes, select 'File->Export->Send UV Update'. It will say 'Saving Transfer Data'. 
Switch to Deep Paint 3D. It will say 'UV Coordinates have been updated. Do you want to apply the changes?' 
Click 'Yes'. Then, in Deep Paint 3D do 'File->Save'. The changes have been saved in the project file. DEEPUV, ADVANCED RELAX In DeepUV I can flatten the hide even more. I do 'Select->Reduce Selection to Non-seams'. This deselects every seam vertice point. 
If you have a small component, and it doesn't include extremely twisted areas, you might wish to just apply a relax to the component without reducing the selection to non-seams. You can tell whether you have to reduce it to the seams if when you do the relax, crazy things start happening. If, after applying 'Relax' to a component, the result stretch out methodically and rationally then you don't have to. If, on the other hand, polygons start stretching out to infinity as they rearrange, you have to reduce to non-seams. In my case, with both arms and legs in the mesh, I wish to use the relax with 100 set for Area Greed to shrivel the arms and legs to nothing, while stretching the hide as flat as possible. Another time you absolutely HAVE to reduce the selection to non-seams is if you have already begun painting a UV. In that case, if the edge vertice points moved, your painting would no longer work. I repeatedly apply a 'Relax' with Area Greed of 100 until no change occurs any more. Then, I apply 'UV Knead -Even' multiple times until it stops working. Then again apply 'Relax' multiple times, then 'UV Knead -Even' multiple times. Over time the legs shrivel like a tarantula just sucked the life juices out and the hide polygons spread evenly across the surface. 
Sometimes AFTER you have reduced to non-seams, applied relax multiple times with 100 Area Greed, applied 'UV Knead -Even' multiple times, and UVs are spread out, you can then reselect the component so all vertice points are selected and apply 'Relax' to the whole component and the edges then behave. Best thing to do it try doing a relax without reducing to non-seams, first, if it starts acting wild reduce to non-seams and apply the successive relax techniques I described. Then, at the end, select everything and do a relax overall to see if that helps, or hurts. No matter what you choose to do, though, always end up all processing by doing a final 'UV Knead - Even'. DEEPUV, FEET AND LEGS To determine what to do with his legs, I check how much the program relaxed his leg UVs. I select the 'Lasso Tool'  .With 'Backfaces' selected, I draw a circle around his left foot while in 'Point Selection Mode'. 
Here's the UV Map: 
I'm surprised how far down his leg the flattened area reaches. Here's the 3D View: 
I click the up-arrow on the 'Resize' gadget to spread the selection up his leg. 
When the resize gadget reaches 4%, I determine that if I chopped off the foot there, I would be able to flatten the polygons in the hide. Here's the UV Map: 
Here's the 3D View: 
I generally only use the 'Resize' gadget to determine things. You can't selectively add together resized selections. I want the joint where I cut the leg to be on an even row in the leg, so I deselect all, then magnify the leg. The sharp angle where the ankle meets will be a perfect seam area. With the lasso tool, I press ALT to subtract and draw a circle around the vertice points. 
I rotate to the front to make sure all vertice points are selected in a row. 
I feel a bit disheartened when I look at the UV Map, as it won't be as easy flattening that many polygons once I cut it off, but it shouldn't be too bad. 
I click the 'Cut' button. 
The seam vertice points turn pink. 
I press 'v' to select the 'Move Tool' and drag the foot UV away from the hide. 
I do a 'File->Export->Send UV Update' to Deep Paint 3D, update the UVs, then save the changes. I choose the 'Lasso Tool', drawing a circle around the area I need flattened. 
I wish to deselect points behind that vestigal projection so I rotate the 3D view, hold down the ALT key to subtract and with the Lasso Tool, draw a circle around the points I think will be the right ones. 
In the Material view I deselect all points that I can see by holding down ALT while clicking with the 'Polygon Wand Selection Tool'. I rotate the orthogonic view to see the back of the leg at the knee area and see the remaining points I need to deselect (right side of image). 
I deselect the remaining three points with ALT and clicks from the wand. I try one Relax with Area Greed of 20, then one with Area Greed of 100 (which does little to change anything). 
I click 'UV Knead - Even' three times until it stops doing anything. I rotate the orthographic view to the side, hold ALT down to subtract and draw a circle with the 'Lasso Tool' to deselect more polygons to better isolate the area. 
Here's the UV: 
I do two 'Relax' with 100 Area Greed, one 'UV Knead - Even' and two more 'Relax' with 100 Area Greed. It's a good sign that I have to magnify to see how it's doing. 
I hold ALT down to subtract, drawing a circle with the 'Lasso Tool' to deselect one more row of vertice points. 
I continue doing that process, removing one more row of vertice points, relaxing, kneading, removing one more row, etc. until I have only three remaining rows. 
I've reached a dead-end. This process stopped working about two vertice rows back, because there is no longer a hole through which I could relax them. So, I do a 'Edit->Transform->Reduce by 33%'. This might give me some room. 
I alternate between 'UV Knead - Even' and 'Relax' with 100 Area Greed. I keep alternating until nothing happens any more. I remove one more row of vertice points with ALT Lasso Tool. I again alternate between 'UV Knead - Even' and 'Relax' with 100 Area Greed. I keep alternating until nothing happens any more. I again transform the size by 33%. I keep doing this process, when it won't go any further I transform the size by 33% and continue. 
That's far enough. I should now be able to untangle the rest by hand. I better save the changes. Sometimes when you do a 'File->Export->Send UV Update', when you switch to Deep Paint 3D nothing happens. If that occurs, enter 'Projection Paint mode and return to DeepUV. Again do a 'File->Export->Send UV Update'. When you flip back to Deep Paint 3D, it should give you the 'Update UVs' requester. You'll have to exit from 'Projection Paint' mode before saving. Using the 'Component Select Mode' and the 'Lasso Tool', I select his right foot/shin. I ALT-Lasso Tool to subtract his foot leaving only his shin, select the 'Rotate Tool' to be able to rotate the cylinder once I envoke it, press SHIFT-r to see the Right View, and select the 'Cylinder' Interactive Mapping Tool. I press the 'Selection' button to shrink the cylinder to the size of the selection. I ensure that the red rotation gadget is aligned with the back edge of his shin so it will split there. I move the cylinder left and right by dragging the red dot. I move it up and down by dragging the green dot (You can always use the yellow dot to move it in any direction, if it's not behind one of the other gadgets). 
IMPORTANT - If the 'Rotate Tool' was selected when you chose the cylinder tool, clicking OUTSIDE the yellow cage of any interactive tool allows you to rotate (left mouse button), pan (both mouse buttons), or zoom (right mouse button) the view without exiting from the interactive tool. I adjust the cage from all angles until the unfolded cylinder in the Material View looks the best I can make it.
I exit from the interactive tool by clicking on the 'Zoom Tool', then clicking in the Material View. I zoom with the left mouse button and pan with both buttons until the shin material is centered. 
Although there are overlapping polygons, the edges are straight lines. Without reducing the selection to non-seams, and with the component selected, I do 'Relax' with an Area Greed of 20, then one 'UV Knead - Even'. 
You can always leave an interactive tool to do things like this. You can stretch or warp the UV, reposition vertice points, use the Advanced Relax tool, or anything else you'd like to do. You re-enter an interactive tool by either clicking the 'Mapping Tool' button, or by clicking the button of the interactive tool you were using (or, even a different interactive tool). In my case, I press the 'Cyllinder' button. The yellow cage re-appears, and the tool's position and angle are the same as it was when I left it. I use the 'Component Select Mode' and the 'Lasso Tool' to select the last section of his foot, then click 'Unfold'. Unfold is good to use on irregular surfaces which don't conform well to the other tools, such as cylinder. Some polygons are overlapped, but I untangle them by hand. 
I switch to Deep Paint 3D, turn on 'Projection Mode' so it'll see that the UV Maps were accepted, return to DeepUV and do 'File->Export->Send UV Update'. I switch to Deep Paint 3D, apply the UV Map changes, exit from Projection Paint and save the changes. I try doing an 'Unfold' on his entire left shin and foot, which works pretty well. I find that only two polygons need to be 'Cut' away as a separate component (the other stray components were created by the 'Unfold' tool) 
DEEPUV, ARMS I, next, use the cylinder tool on his left arm, not worrying about his hand for the moment. 
I alternate 'Advanced Relax' with 'UV Knead - Even'. It flattens out except for two fingers. I select one finger, cut it off, then 'Unfold' it. I relax and even-up the finger UV. Then, select the second finger. 
I magnify each UV Map, checking each edge to ensure that no polygons are overlapped or tangled. DEEPUV, PACKING UVs After I'm done I 'Pack' the UVs. From the 'Packing' section of the 'Control Panel' I choose 'Organic (Fast)' and click 'Pack All'. DeepUV rearranges the UV Maps so they most efficiently fit on the square. I send the UV Maps to Deep Paint 3D and save. Here's the body's finished UV Map. 
DEEPUV, NEXT MATERIAL What I've said so far all had to do with the processing of one material, the Body. Each other material is done in the same manner. You must determine which interactive or automatic tool you wish to use with each surface. The next most important surface are the scales beneath his tail. In the 'Material View', I right-click and from the 'Materials' menu choose 'Scales'. I click in the right window and press CTRL-d to deselect all points. From the 'Materials' tab of the 'Command Panel' I choose 'Scales'. 
I flip back to the 'Mapping' tab of the 'Command Panel' and from the 'Interactive' area choose 'Cylinder'. I click 'Selection' to size the cylinder cage to the tail scales. Since the last cylindrical unwrapping I did was at a strange angle, I manipulate the values in the 'Angle' gadget so they'll be exact. 
I make sure that the red rotate gadget points upward so the seam is on the open side of the scales. 
The UV Map looks correct. 
DEEPUV, IF 'SEND UV UPDATE' DOESN'T WORK As I've said before, we're really Beta testers for DeepUV. It's very buggy, and one problem it has is sometimes when you do a 'File->Export->Send UV Update', nothing happens. I would tend to guess that this might be because I only have 256 MB of RAM, though. Also, the numerous 512 x 512 materials and the one 2048 x 2048 material take up RAM. The reason I think this may be the case is I hear lots of hard disk work, which generally indicates Virtual Memory is working hard. That still shouldn't keep the programmers from telling me when RAM runs out instead of just having a function not work or have the program crash. If no 'Saving Transfer Data' requester appears which indicates that DeepUV is working, then nothing is occurring. When you switch to Deep Paint 3D, no UV Maps will have been updated. That's severe. You could have been working on those UV Maps for hours and now, they'd be gone. If that happens to you, there's still something you can do... Go to Deep Paint 3D and exit from 'Projection Paint'. Save what you have. Close Deep Paint 3D. Go back to DeepUV and do a 'File->Export->Paint With Deep Paint 3D'. It should show a 'working' requester that counts down until it's done, then should say 'Waiting for App to Load' at the bottom of DeepUV. It should load Deep Paint 3D and inject the object into it. In Deep Paint 3D, you should now get the 'Material Import' requester. This time each material should have checkerboards next to them. Click 'OK' and it will load. Exit from 'Projection Mode' and save USING A NEW NAME. Remember that it creates a folder, then writes the images into that folder, so if the folder it is defaulting you to is the folder where the old .dp3 file was, back up one folder before you create it. Make sure you select 'Deep Paint 3D Project Files (*.dp3)' as the default is RH3 scene file (which is annoying). The new version should have all the new changes since your last successful 'File->Export->Send UV Updates', and Send UV Updates should work again. On his tongue, I do an interactive planar, then 'Lift' the top and bottom away from each other. Where it curves at the back of his throat, nobody's going to see anyway. On his lips, I do an interactive cylindrical with the cylinder's axis on the Y axis and the seam at the back of his head. I do an automatic 'Unfold' for all other remaining surfaces, doing a 'UV Knead - Even' afterwards. This method flattens both the nails and teeth well. After I'm done, I do a 'Pack All' with the 'Organic (Fast)' method. After packing for the last time, you should inspect every UV Map. Pack sometimes overlaps components, and sometimes readjusts material sizes or shapes so vertice points that you had untangled cross again. DEEPUV, MATERIAL OVERRIDE You should use 'Right Mouse Menu->Material Override' and set 'Small Gray Tile' in the 'Material Override' area of the 'View Settings' section in the 'Scene' tab of the 'Command Panel'. The checkerboard patterns of every material should be as consistent in size as possible. Two DIFFERENT surfaces such as the tongue and the body don't have to have consistent sizes, only two components on the same material. The irises, for example, are going to be extremely fine squares because the irises have an entire 500 pixel x 500 pixel image to use just for the irises. The head, on the other hand, is a cramped little area on the 'Body' UV Map, so the squares are large. One of the disadvantages of creating a UV Map which has few cuts is, there will be areas that will be extremely tight such as where the calves meet the ankles. In that case, as you can see - the top part of the calf has large squares (few pixels to draw on for a large area on the object)... 
... whereas the ankle has tiny squares (large number of pixels to draw on). The toenails have a very tight checkerboard pattern and the tips of the toes have a medium pattern. I would have to ask the question, "Would I mind if there was an obvious division line there?" When dissimilar-sized squares meet, there will be an obvious dividing line. Deep Paint 3D will try blending the two together, but the dissimilarity will be evident at close range. The large-square area will feel smudgy, and the small-square area will be tight and detailed So, to recap... if you see large squares, that means that less detail will be able to be drawn there. Where there are tight squares, fine detail will be able to be drawn there. When two cuts join, there will be a jagged edge and paint won't flow there smoothly. Thus, it's a balance between dissimilar square sizes causing lack of detail in one area and more detail in another, and an increased number of cuts which creates inability for paint to flow between polygons. This is where you can see how different methods of unwrapping your object give different quality UV Maps. When you have more consistent square sizes (equal amount of detail available for all parts of your object surface), you have more cuts to contend with (two surfaces are not physically joined together, therefore the transition of paint between those polygons is not smooth). You might resize a component on a material (such as dropping the size of the ankle UV so the checkerboard pattern at the bottom of the calf matches). That way, both will be equally smudgy and the joint won't be as noticible. If you did that, though, then the discrepancy between the toe and the heel would be greater. However, if it's a delineation between the toenail and the toe, it would be fine to let the toenail have more detail than the toe. I draw a row of blended round circles that run down the left side of the shin/ankle area on his left leg. I didn't do a screen grab before I left 'Projection Mode', so don't have the original to show. However, the drawing looked very much like it does on the bottom three circles. When I exited from 'Projection Mode', this is the result. 
Thick crude lines do well even when the checkerboard pattern is large, but fine detail needs more checkerboard squares in an area to properly be represented. DEEPUV, EXPERIMENTATION As with anything with 3D Sculpture, there are two keys to success - planning and experimentation. Planning, because then you're working WITH your object instead of AGAINST your object. And, experimentation, because you won't learn anything new unless you make mistakes. Feeling free to make mistakes is the secret to eventually having a solid knowledge of how something works. The more you try different things, the more you'll understand it better. Once you understand where problem areas reside, you'll be able to better work with your UV Maps. You should put more detail where detail will be taken best, and you should use broad general work in areas which won't take paint well. When doing UV maps, there are ALWAYS the places which won't take paint well. Your task as a 3D artist is to try and move those areas to be in inaccessible places. Now you can see why I used such a difficult model to use for my UV Mapping example. If you can do the most difficult, then anything else is easy by comparison. In the case of UV Maps, you should try at least two different methods of creating UV Maps for your object before you even start to paint. Take the extra time, beforehand, and you're results will be extraordinary and of high quality in the end. DEEPUV, SECOND TRY Let me compare two completely different UV Maps of Deinonychus. The body is the most important material. Here, I tried a completely different method. This method is an attempt to more equally spread out the size of the squares over the entire surface. On the top is the method I just outlined. It is what you get when you try and cut the body apart like it might be an animal's hide and you want to make an intact rug out of it. 
On the bottom, I used completely different methods for cutting apart Deinonychus. In many ways the squares are more ordered, and are generally the same size all over the model. After I'm done, the two UV Maps look like night and day. Although it's the same object, the UV Maps are nothing alike. On the top is the one from this tutorial. The one on the bottom has more cuts, but a more even distribution of the checkerboard pattern. 
So, although a UV Map may seem more logically perfect, or because the UV Map is prettier, or more symmetrical, or more like an animal hide, it doesn't necessarily give you a better surface to draw on. Sometimes more cuts are needed than you'd think. Here, for example, is Deinonychus' head with the new map that I did. 
So, I hope you learned in this tutorial that trying to preserve an entire body as if it were one animal hide is not, necessarily, the best method of creating a UV Map. If you followed this entire tutorial, you should now be able to create any kind of UV Map that you'd like. You should know what the checkerboard pattern should look like in a good UV Map. You should be able to modify or change any section of a UV Map. You should now know what does, and doesn't make for a good UV Map. Try and balance between the number of cuts you make, and the density of the checkerboard throughout your object. After you're done, to test your UV Map, get out the spray can ( I use the 'Simple - Medium +' or 'Simple - Bump' brush in Deep Paint 3D ) and start scribbling graffiti. For once, turn OFF 'Projection Paint' mode. This will show the raw interface with no embellishment. 
If it can paint the surface with 'Projection Paint' turned off, then it will paint excellent with it turned on. It is probably the best way you can tell whether the surface is ready to be painted.br> | ||
