[Plugin] SketchUV - now free

numerobis · 9 Apr 2012, 23:40

wow! great!
i think this will be my first paid plugin!

solo · 9 Apr 2012, 23:45

@numerobis said:

wow! great!
i think this will be my first paid plugin!

really? you do not have Artisan? I'd suggest you get that too.

Krisidious · 10 Apr 2012, 00:08

will this work for mapping cars? and will the maps transfer over to other programs well like Max?

can you optimize UVW maps with it? using all the area on a map for more than one piece of geometry?

jason_maranto · 10 Apr 2012, 00:20

Tube mapping looks to be a especially nice new tool.

Best,
Jason.

ninopiamonte · 10 Apr 2012, 00:28

If only I have bucks I would buy that plugin!

utiler · 10 Apr 2012, 01:34

Well done, Dale!! I'm going there now to purchase....

EarthMover · 10 Apr 2012, 01:41

Woohoo! Great job Dale! A MUST HAVE PLUGIN!

Frederik · 10 Apr 2012, 07:55

Excellent plugin, Dale...
I've always wondered why the Google SU team haven't made better UV-tools...
Well... It's fortunate for you guys, who then have the option to work on various plugins and get some $$...
Nevertheless, it should be a standard in SU IMHO...

thomthom · 10 Apr 2012, 08:15

Looking forward to see the models people make with this tool.

moghamdi · 10 Apr 2012, 11:39

I tried to use it on my sofa, but I could not get the result that I am looking for.

I used Box map and planner map, but it did not work.

Can you please help me with this?
I attached SKP file.

Thank you.

Sofa1.zip

agamemnus · 10 Apr 2012, 15:16

I just got the newsletter. No visible link to the review.

I can't find the review via google. (try putting "sketchuv" on there... no hits)

http://news.sketchucation.com/ is a horrible indecipherable mess.

Gaieus · 10 Apr 2012, 16:38

Here is the announcement, Agamemnus:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=44500

The links are in big, fat letters at the bottom of the first post.

agamemnus · 10 Apr 2012, 17:42

Thanks.

That soldier example was very impressive...

numerobis · 10 Apr 2012, 17:51

@solo said:

really? you do not have Artisan? I'd suggest you get that too.

i have tested the free demo but found it to be too slow and lagging for intuitive sculpting and it's still no subD-modeling so the geometry gets broken and the model becomes very large and unhandy... - i prefer subD-modeling in max and export it to sketchup or merge the geometry before rendering.
Real SubD-modeling in sketchup would be incredible!!! Hope dies last...

(maybe i'll integrate silo or voidworld into my workflow - quite nice little modeling apps, but this would be one import/export step more... which holds me back for now)

Whaat · 10 Apr 2012, 19:33

@moghamdi said:

I tried to use it on my sofa, but I could not get the result that I am looking for.

I used Box map and planner map, but it did not work.

Can you please help me with this?
I attached SKP file.

Thank you.

Hello,

Box mapping will show seams at curving surfaces so it is not ideal for that part of the couch. I recommend using the exact same technique that I used in the tutorial video attached to the first post of this thread (first part of the video):

Separate the surface into smaller surfaces using the Path Select Tool
Use planar projections on each surface
Align them using the UV transformation tools

In the attached video, I actually began with box mapping, and then used the seams as a guide to separate the surfaces. I didn't have to switch the material to the UV Texture but I thought it would help with the alignment.

[flash=560,315:34f1096s]http://www.youtube.com/v/MKH7AkTq-f0[/flash:34f1096s]

Gaieus · 10 Apr 2012, 19:37

This is still magic to me.

Whaat · 10 Apr 2012, 19:44

@krisidious said:

will this work for mapping cars? and will the maps transfer over to other programs well like Max?

can you optimize UVW maps with it? using all the area on a map for more than one piece of geometry?

Hi Kris,

You can map cars by dividing the surfaces into separate panels and applying planar projections to it. I expect it would work very well. Any surfaces that were especially tricky could be easily unwrapped using Roadkill (a free UV unwrapping app) that you can export and import UVs with using SketchUV.

You can not optimize maps with it directly. However, by exporting to another app, that can be done. Again, using Roadkill, the maps are automatically optimized by default as you unwrap the mesh. See this tutorial:

[flash=560,315:mq6wro7c]http://www.youtube.com/v/NXS6_WdXZ3s[/flash:mq6wro7c]

The maps should transfer perfectly to Max as long as you first use the triangulation function prior to 3DS export. This is explained in this tutorial:

[flash=560,315:mq6wro7c]http://www.youtube.com/v/baQwxL6mgMQ[/flash:mq6wro7c]

numbthumb · 10 Apr 2012, 19:46

A kind of magic I´m willing to learn.
And how did you make your signature dissapear Gaieus?

Gaieus · 10 Apr 2012, 20:15

@whaat said:

...The maps should transfer perfectly to Max as long as you first use the triangulation function prior to 3DS export...

Well, I do not know about Max itself (although why would it be different) but have tried a couple of 3rd party apps and indeed, with triangulation on, it exports perfectly.
And Dale, you need to make a new video for this feature. This one shows the UV maps a bit distorted but the plugin does not distort them (any longer).

[off:2c139be9]
@numbthumb said:

And how did you make your signature dissapear Gaieus?

It's there...
http://forums.sketchucation.com/ucp.php?i=profile&mode=signature [/off:2c139be9]

Krisidious · 10 Apr 2012, 20:48

awesome... Thanks Whaat.