Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
FIG. 3.33
The LSCM mesh can easy be re-centered and resized with either the Arrange UV in Bounds or the
Scale UVs to Bounds command.
These commands, along with
Scale UVs Proportionally
are incredibly valuable
when a UV is in multiple unmirrored pieces, as we will see in Chapter 13.
U V M anipulation
Now comes the manual manipulation of the UV map into a nice and tidy
form. This will help the shirt display in as natural a state as possible, and there
are some important tools to help in the process.
Pin UV Vertices
, accessible
from the
UVs/Materials
drop-down menu, will i x points on the UV grid to a
particular visual point on the image. This can be helpful in lining up geometry
with a texture image and for smoothing out the UV interior.
●
Using the
Tweak
tool, or any other polygon tool you like, straighten out
the sides of the shirt as best you can.
●
Next, select the outer edge loop and
Pin UV Vertices
(
Shift
U
).
●
Once that's done, select all of the faces and press
U
(or
UVs/Materials
>
Unwrap UVs using LSCM
).
Pin UV Vertices; UVs/
Materials
Pin UV
Vertices
Shift
U;
This will have a smoothing ef ect on the internal UV geometry while the
edge stays locked, helping the 2D image i t better on the 3D model, (see
Figure 3.34).
Another very important tool that we won't use here, but will show in Chapter
13, is the
Live UV Unwrapping
tool. Often with UV maps, parts of the mesh
will be tightly compacted and distorted even after LSCM unwrapping. Moving
these sections around vertex by vertex can be painstaking, so the
Live UV
Unwrapping
toggle (
UVs/Materials
>
Unwrap UVs using LSCM
or
Control
Alt
U
) will allow you instead to pin certain sections that you'd like to stay
put, and then, by dragging a vertex or two, spread out the rest using the LSCM
algorithm in real time. Because our T-shirt mesh is well spaced to begin with,
the tool isn't necessary, but feel free to try it anyway to see the impact. We'll
use the tool in Chapter 13 to create the UV map for our character's jacket.
