[Preview] UVTools 0.2

Ecuadorian · 17 Nov 2009, 16:41

Yeah, the old UVTools can go a long way if you rotate your object before applying the plug-in.

remus · 17 Nov 2009, 16:47

Whaat,

You mention that this ruby will re-import the UV mapped file back into SU via OBJ format. As SU has no obj import, does this mean that your plugin has it's own OBJ importer? I ask as the only OBJ importer ruby I've come across (objloader.rb) never seemed to work for me- verrrry buggy.

Or did I misunderstand- will your ruby convert to skp from Ultimate Unwrap 3D's native format?

Jackson

TIGs got a script that can import .obj stuff while preserving the UV data so its certainly possible, perhaps even based on it (just a guess.)

Jackson · 17 Nov 2009, 18:06

Thanks Remus, I'll try TIG's obj importer.

Jackson

Whaat · 17 Nov 2009, 18:31

@jackson said:

Whaat,

You mention that this ruby will re-import the UV mapped file back into SU via OBJ format. As SU has no obj import, does this mean that your plugin has it's own OBJ importer? I ask as the only OBJ importer ruby I've come across (objloader.rb) never seemed to work for me- verrrry buggy.

Or did I misunderstand- will your ruby convert to skp from Ultimate Unwrap 3D's native format?

Jackson

Hi Jackson,

The plugin does import from the OBJ file but only imports the UV coordinates. It wouldn't take much to convert it to a full OBJ importer but I don't think that's necessary because TIG already has created a full featured OBJ importer which I believe works pretty well.

Whaat · 17 Nov 2009, 18:46

I have some good news and some bad news....

The good news is that I will be including support for other UV mapping apps. I did some testing with Blender yesterday and it worked very well. I think Roadkill already works and I will see if I can get compatibility with all the other apps that have been mentioned.

The bad news is that it will take longer to release than I had mentioned earlier. Also, I am reconsidering offering this plugin as commercial instead of free. I hate to go back on my word (and I sincerely apologize) but things have changed a bit behind the scenes.

Another reason that I will have to delay release a bit more is that I need to provide some sort of documentation and tutorial for the plugin (especially if will be commercial) so please be patient. This is only one of many projects I am involved with right now. However, I hope it won't take too long to release.

Thanks

Jackson · 17 Nov 2009, 19:04

Whaat,

Thanks for the quick answer. I meddled with a few UV unwrapping prog demos a few months ago, but got nowhere- most SU meshes just seem to unwrap 3-dimensionally (i.e. polys are exploded above and below each other when viewed in the UV editing view) making them impossible to export an editable UV map from. I did have some success exporting an apple mesh from SU, but haven't been able to work out what it was that made that mesh import properly into UV unwrapping software properly while most don't. I've specifically made closed convex hull meshes (which the apple obviously was) in SU to see if they would import properly in UV unwrapping programs, but it makes no difference.

I just did a quick trial with the demo of Ultimate Unwrap 3D and yet again, the apple mesh imports and unwraps correctly, but anything else (even single sided very low poly meshes) unwraps as a bunch of exploded overlapping triangles.

As a note for your anyone using UU3D you must always export obj meshes and texture bitmaps FROM UU3D using names WITHOUT SPACES. SU doesn't import the UV map otherwise.

richcat · 17 Nov 2009, 20:52

Another application to consider and just out of interest to do with uv mapping - has any one come across this Headus UV layout-UV flattening software.I tried it, a while back and it seemed very simple, but have not stumped up $200 for hobbyist version yet, and there is Mac version.

Whaat · 17 Nov 2009, 22:01

@jackson said:

As a note for your anyone using UU3D you must always export obj meshes and texture bitmaps FROM UU3D using names WITHOUT SPACES. SU doesn't import the UV map otherwise.
Does this tip apply for importing any 3DS mesh into SketchUp? Or are you using another format?

Jackson · 17 Nov 2009, 22:35

Whaat,

I must admit I got pretty confused while I was testing UU3D as I was juggling obj and 3ds exports from SU with obj and 3ds exports from UU3D as well as running them all through Meshlab, 3DMax and Vue 6 and saving further obj and 3ds copies to see if it helped with SU's and UU3D's importing, but I think the "no spaces" rule applied both to 3ds and obj.

Then again, I'm pretty sure most progs capable of exporting in 3ds format automatically insert understrikes/underscores in place of spaces. As such, I've never had problems importing 3ds into SU before, from any source.

Whaat · 18 Nov 2009, 05:33

I can confirm compatibility with Roadkill, UVMapper classic (free), and Argile.

I had a hard time testing Argile, though. I couldn't get the UV manipulators to show up and the UI seemed to behave very weird.

I can't test with UVMapper Pro or UVLayout yet because their demo versions do not allow OBJ export.

jeff hammond · 18 Nov 2009, 06:41

yeah, i tried the argile demo and it seemed very weird to me.. that's just messin around without reading anything but still...

roadkill looks to be another mac option so i'll check that one out too.

question for whaat-
what happens further down the line in terms of rendering? (more specifically, with indigo).. does the mapping stay put or does the mesh need to be built a certain way prior to mapping? (spheres need to be triangulated first for them to work in indigo etc..)

Jackson · 18 Nov 2009, 07:52

If Whaat's plugin does the obj conversion correctly, rendering in other plugins/progs shouldn't be a problem. I did a test (the apple again), exported from SU to UU3D and back into SU via TIG's obj importer and it rendered fine in V-Ray for SU. This is actually surprising as V-Ray for SU usually doesn't recognise textures which have been skewed or distorted in SU.

remus · 18 Nov 2009, 08:27

Jeff and jackson, after using whaats current UV tools your mesh needs to be triangulated for the UVs to make it in to indigo intact, id guess this is a skindigo/indigo thing and so likely to be the same with this plugin.

dedmin · 18 Nov 2009, 08:29

I can confirm - V-Ray doesn't recognize textures which have been painted in Photoshop via .kmz import-export.

Whaat · 18 Nov 2009, 13:55

@unknownuser said:

question for whaat-
what happens further down the line in terms of rendering? (more specifically, with indigo).. does the mapping stay put or does the mesh need to be built a certain way prior to mapping? (spheres need to be triangulated first for them to work in indigo etc..)

Jeff,

Currently, the meshes would have to be triangulated prior to rendering in Indigo. I am not sure about other rendering apps. Most do not support rendering distorted textures. I suspect that the apple rendered properly in Vray because it was triangulated.

thomthom · 18 Nov 2009, 14:03

@whaat said:

I suspect that the apple rendered properly in Vray because it was triangulated.

You can distort the mapping of a triangle as well - don't think the triangulation should matter.

Ecuadorian · 18 Nov 2009, 14:58

It was hard to believe at first, but a small test with triangles reveals Thomas is right.

triangles.skp

thomthom · 18 Nov 2009, 15:19

When you map in SU you either get four points to drag about or the Move,ScaleUniform,ScaleNonUniform,Distort pins. You can always use the distort pin on any face, even triangles. It's basically a texture applied to an invisible plane - clipped by the shape of the face.
If there are non-parallels sides to the UV mapping gizmo - V-Ray will fail to render. But it will render a texture mapped as a parallelogram.

Ecuadorian · 18 Nov 2009, 21:15

For render programs that can't handle distorted mapping, I've read the workaround is to export as 3ds and re-import, but I can't test this as I don't have SketchUp Pro. If the object only has a few faces, you can click on each one and right click > Make Unique Texture.

Khai · 19 Nov 2009, 21:21

@whaat said:

I can confirm compatibility with Roadkill, UVMapper classic (free), and Argile.

I had a hard time testing Argile, though. I couldn't get the UV manipulators to show up and the UI seemed to behave very weird.

I can't test with UVMapper Pro or UVLayout yet because their demo versions do not allow OBJ export.

works fine with Uvmapper Pro