Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 9.31
Three rings of edges (one inside the lips and one for each nostril) that will be cut.
Figure 9.32
The head moved away from the nostril and oral cavity shells.
Why?
When this head is unfolded, the geometry in the mouth and nostrils
will need to be accounted for. The oral cavity is a really big space, which
means that as Maya attempts to solve for the head, it will cheat the
polygons around the mouth to make room for this big oral cavity. The
same would happen for the nose. Because the oral cavity and nose
will likely be mostly black (or a very dark red/brown), we can map
that separately and leave more texture space for the mouth and nose.
What we're doing here is cutting those parts of the face off into their
own shell so that they aren't included in the Unfold function to come
(
Figure 9.32
).
Warnings and Pitfalls
Unfolding with the UV
Smooth tool is truly one
of the greatest inventions
of all 3D-dom. However
if the geometry isn't
“right”—if there are
any 5-or-more-sided
polygons—when this
tool is used the shell
just disappears. If this
happens, be sure to go
back and look at the
Cleanup process to get
rid of any bad geometry.
Step 44:
Unfold the head. In the UV Texture Editor, swap to UV mode
and select the shell that is the head (remember this might be done
easiest by selecting one UV of the head, Ctrl-right-click-hold and
select To Shell). Activate the Smooth UV tool, and drag (to the right)
on the Unfold button. Do this until all movement in the UVs stop. This
may mean that the Unfold button needs to be dragged several times
(
Figure 9.33
).
