UV Mapping Tutorials?

Zig Zag

Hi,

Since May I've been learning Carrara.

I read the Carrara 7 manual
I watched Phil's Learning Carrara video course
I watched Phil's Realism Carrara video course
I'm currently Watching Phil's Advanced Advanced Carrara video course.

However I'm hitting the wall with UV mapping. The manual as well as Phil's courses fall a little bit short in this respect. I've also found a few tutorials in these forums and on the net but most are of the click here watch there style but don't really explain what is happening or why.

And Carrara's interface isn't very straightforward for this aspect either, at least for me as a noob in UV mapping. It seems UV mapping is kind of a black art that you either get or not.

So I'm looking for resources that could help me overcome this roadblock. Any good resources for Carrara? I see Mark Bremmer has a video course but that would mean yet another course to buy :-(

Another option might be to switch to another 3D program that has better documentation or tutorials, if such a thing exists? Blender? But this would again set me back a few months which I'd rather avoid...

Thanks in advance...

rk66

Hi,

http://carraracafe.com/tag/uv-mapping/

rk.

Design Acrobat

Here are some free UV mappers in case you find them preferable to use and a handy snippet from 3DAGE on labeling.

Freebie UV packages:

Roadkill (sort of based on Blender's UV)
http://www.pullin-shapes.co.uk/page8.htm

Blender UV (you'll need a copy of blender which is free)

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Textures/Mapping/UV/Unwrapping

Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/UV Map Basics
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/UV_Map_Basics

UV mapper Classic.
http://www.uvmapper.com/downloads.html

Creating a bottle label without UV's 3DAGE

http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/12116/

The very basics of what UV Mapping "is" by Guerrilla CG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIvTUDgaXik

Zig Zag

Hi thanks I already watched a few of those videos. I'll watch the rest of them.

It seems like learning Blender is also a good idea, Design Acrobat? Oh well...

Design Acrobat

It depends on what kind of object one is modeling or importing. Organic objects like the human body is much more difficult because the topology has a "flow requirement" for animation, texturing and yes, even unwrapping the UV.

Anytime one can name shading domains or even parts of object, by all means do so. This makes it easier UVing the object and later on when identifying what part needs to be textured or a material added.

It seems like learning Blender is also a good idea, Design Acrobat? Oh well…

I have used Blender, but not so much anymore.. For UV's, I use 3DCoat or Zbrush. The main reason is that re-topology kind of goes hand in hand when making good UV sets and both of those programs have re-topology features.

Zig Zag

Design Acrobat said:

It depends on what kind of object one is modeling or importing. Organic objects like the human body is much more difficult because the topology has a "flow requirement" for animation, texturing and yes, even unwrapping the UV.

Anytime one can name shading domains or even parts of object, by all means do so. This makes it easier UVing the object and later on when identifying what part needs to be textured or a material added.

It seems like learning Blender is also a good idea, Design Acrobat? Oh well…

I have used Blender, but not so much anymore.. For UV's, I use 3DCoat or Zbrush. The main reason is that re-topology kind of goes hand in hand when making good UV sets and both of those programs have re-topology features.

Well see, there, your already lost me ;-) But I'm learning :-)

Design Acrobat

I guess you mean I lost you on Shader Domains and Topology.

Shader Domains are just a group of polygons with a specific name that you identify for texturing or shading.

Topology is just the flow of the polygons.

Note the figure on the left is generic and has good polygons, but doesn't lend it self to animation or texture flow.

The figure on the right (Gen 2 modified) has a shader domain identified and has good edge flow for smiling, winking, etc. also for blending in textures with the facial features.

A figure with good topology is easier to UV map

The other UV facial map shows the good topology underneath the painting and how much easier to paint and texture with a good UV map that is laid flat *yeah, it looks odd - think bear skin rug)

Zig Zag

Ok thanks for the great info Design Acrobat :-)

Design Acrobat

It's also helpful to let other know what specific problems are you having. (Can't uv a machine, human, building, etc. all of the above).

The problem with adding UV maps to someone else's works is not understanding how it was built.

That's doesn't mean you have to build everything from scratch, but understanding the basics of modeling something to completion helps tremendously.

Goals and objectives are key to just about any project.

1. I'm going to model a rifle.
2. I will study the parts of that rifle and get front, back, rear and top, bottom views of it.
3. I will study how other do it.
4. I will become familiar with the modeling tools.
5. I will practice, practice practice
6. I will ask others each step of the way how to do something if I don't know how to do it.
7. I will ask others again how to do something if it hasn't soaked in yet. :)
8. I WILL name parts and shading domains even if I don't have to, so I can get in good practice.
9. I will ask how to put textures on, including uv maps and ask very specific questions.
10. I will repeat steps 2 through 10.

Learning how to model 3D, UV maps, texturing, rendering and lighting is a bit like a bulldog chewing on a wasp. It looks really ugly while it's being done, but eventually the bulldog wins out and there is one less wasp in the world to annoy you.

Roygee

Well put !

UV mapping is at first really a dark art, but gets pretty simple once you understand the principles :)

I have found that having a dedicated UV mapping application one of the best 3D investments I have made - general purpose apps just don't give you the options of a dedicated mapper.

Zig Zag

Well let's get more specific then. :-)

In Carrara, in the model room, in UV editing mode, I fail to grasp the relationship between the Model->UV Mapping tab and the Operations->Projection tab.

Design Acrobat

Zig Zag said:

Well let's get more specific then. :-)

In Carrara, in the model room, in UV editing mode, I fail to grasp the relationship between the Model->UV Mapping tab and the Operations->Projection tab.

They are separate tabs with a different gateway into parametric mapping.. Parametric mapping is just the mathematician's way that saying parameters of the texture will be applied in the UV space.

The Model >UV Mapping Tab doesn't allow for much customization other than the projections mode shown (cylindrical, boxface,etc.)

The Operations>Projection tab allows one to work more in the way the projections are handle (sometimes called islands). For instance, one can detach part of the object by identifying the vertices/edges and clicking detaching. The allows the item to be moved anywhere on the UV map. An example of this may be having a button detached for the purposes of adding text or a design to just that button and no where else.

Or, detaching a head for more detailed texturing.

This comes in handy when working with the display tab which is just next to the Operation>Projection Tab. I had previously made shading domains and want to see just what the 'head' part of the 'robot' looks like. I can separate it or I can use the option in the display tab to only check the part that I want.