[Plugin] UVTools v0.1

kwistenbiebel · 1 Jul 2008, 10:45

Yes, the latest Skindigo 1.1.5 is pretty stable and the displacement is a nice feature.

I quote Whaat on the Indigo forum to get you going on displacement. His explanation helped me a lot:

You have to start using Indigo displacement! It's really easy. Try setting your max subdivisions to 9 and then your displacement map 'gain' (b-value) to about 0.1 for starters. Then, keep tweaking the gain until you are satisfied with the depth of the displacement.
Here's a tip for quick tests: Just select the stone material and 'render selection only'.

But to go back on topic: I would still be interested in a way to texture (uv-map) the above example....
I can't find the proper 'hack' in Sketchup for it.

plot-paris · 1 Jul 2008, 10:55

cheers, kwistenbiebel (and thanks to Whaat). I will definitely have a try. sounds indeed quite easy to use.

to the uv-mapping: I am still dreaming of the multiple (and individual) pin mapping. but I am afraid, this is far do complicated to achieve and will remain a dream for now...

kwistenbiebel · 1 Jul 2008, 10:57

@plot-paris said:

to the uv-mapping: I am still dreaming of the multiple (and individual) pin mapping. but I am afraid, this is far do complicated to achieve and will remain a dream for now...

Same here.
I love your photoshop simulations for 'yet-to-be-developed' plugins very much though.
They often are spot on !

plot-paris · 1 Jul 2008, 11:06

thank you.

I wish ruby programming was as easy (I never went beyond the "hello world" stage...)

lewiswadsworth · 4 Jul 2008, 14:29

@plot-paris said:

:oops: thank you.

I wish ruby programming was as easy (I never went beyond the "hello world" stage...)

I can program in Ruby, and I hate it. I hate programmming in OO languages. I just hate it...the whole non-native-language grammatical lexicon of UML languages and their contrived set of relationships. Classes, methods, instances...Pahhh!...object-orient THIS!

Normally I resist suggesting major changes to SU, but I really think they missed the boat with scripting in SU. Other programs are implementing true visual programming languages, with immediate uptake on the part of users:

ERROR: The request could not be satisfied

(grasshopper.rhino3d.com)

MALAISE · 6 Jul 2008, 08:47

What 'else , an another amazing tool .

Champagne .....

MALAISE · 11 Aug 2008, 06:44

Hi everybody

Does anyone use the plugin ? Could we have just a simple tuto ?
I forget something because SU goes out as far as I start UVTool

Thanks
MALAISE

addicted2ownage · 13 Aug 2008, 10:35

great work !!! thank you very much

gaucho · 14 Aug 2008, 09:48

I'm having problems using this plug-in. But I’m maybe using in the wrong way.

I normally use the SU in “color by layers” and not with normal materials. This ‘cause the way that people draw in the office, and also to make my file smaller (since they always have more than 100mega)

Sometimes, rarely, I use in the same mode, an image as layers color to show an specific situation. This is when the problem occurs; apparently I’m not able to use this plug-in in this mode.

Is that right?
Does anyone know something about it?

Thanks!

bigstick · 14 Aug 2008, 10:43

Using colour by layer isn't the best way to assign textures. It isn't really compatible with most renderers for a start. Although it is very efficient for modelling, it doesn't allow any flexibility for positioning textures on surfaces at all.

It would be useful to have a Ruby plugin which reads these textures from layers and assigns them directly to faces.

plot-paris · 14 Aug 2008, 11:54

as far as I know there is a ruby that does exactly that. has been discussed here somewhere. don't ask me where though.

gaucho · 14 Aug 2008, 12:07

@bigstick said:

Although it is very efficient for modelling, it doesn't allow any flexibility for positioning textures on surfaces at all.

So that means the ruby script won't work in the "colour by layer" mode... snif...

jstahlman · 20 Aug 2008, 20:36

@whaat said:

This plugin is a work in progress. There is much functionality yet to be added but it is still quite useful in it's current state so I am releasing it.

Installation:

Copy to SketchUp/Plugins folder

Usage:

The plugin will create a context menu called 'UVTools'

I put the UVtools.rb file in Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Google Sketchup 6/SketchUp/Plugins
I also tried Users/myname/Library/Application Support/Google Sketchup 6/SketchUp/Plugins

But it no contextual menu shows up when relaunching SU

kwistenbiebel · 13 Sept 2008, 07:55

@Whaat,

I can't seem to find a way to apply the cilindrical uv-mapping to both sides of a surface.
Any suggestion on how to do that?
I' m curently trying to render a clipmap texture which is cilindrical mapped on a cilinder using Fryrender.
Having the ability to map both sides of the cilinder surface would be a big Plus.

Thanks in advance.

solo · 13 Sept 2008, 08:22

LOL, I had that exact situation last week, trying to map a barbed wire fence clipmap/alpha to a sphere. There was no way I could map the back faces.

I ended up using Hexagon (nurb modeler) to map the sphere and import it.

Frederik · 13 Sept 2008, 09:22

Would that be necessary to map the back-face with the clip-map for a render..??
I assume that the clip-map is identical to the actual texture in size, and in the render application you apply the clip-map texture in the clip-mapping channel...
Or what am I missing..??

remus · 13 Sept 2008, 19:53

Im guessing this isnt the case in other renders, but in indigo its pretty useful to map clip/displacement maps on to the reverse faces. its an easy way to get the UVs right without having to do lots of messing around.

kwistenbiebel · 13 Sept 2008, 20:57

In some cases it is not needed.
But in my case and the case Solo describes a cilindrical mapped fence seen on both sides in an animation, it is useful.

coo_man · 14 Sept 2008, 08:24

Thanks brother, this is very useful for me.

pilou · 14 Sept 2008, 23:06

@unknownuser said:

I ended up using Hexagon (nurb modeler)

Are you sure of that? Nurbs : I don't think so