[Plugin] SketchUV - now free

Whaat

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

This is still magic to me.

Whaat

@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

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

Gaieus

@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

awesome... Thanks Whaat.

jorge2011

beautiful coincidence.
This new plugin comes with excellent new fredo tool for manipulating textures

[flash=853,505:2ik15ks3]http://www.youtube.com/v/l2QjLlUQVrY&fs=1[/flash:2ik15ks3]

thank you very much whaat

pilou

Very complementary!

McGyver

Super impressive!!
I have a question in regards to exporting a finished model (to OBJ or DAE)...
With some plugins that allow you to modify, or reposition a texture, when the finished model is exported, multiple copies of the texture image are generated (or in some cases, copies of parts of the image)... does this occur with SketchUV?
Thank you in advance for any info.

Whaat

@unknownuser said:

Super impressive!!
I have a question in regards to exporting a finished model (to OBJ or DAE)...
With some plugins that allow you to modify, or reposition a texture, when the finished model is exported, multiple copies of the texture image are generated (or in some cases, copies of parts of the image)... does this occur with SketchUV?
Thank you in advance for any info.

Hi. Your question is answered in this tutorial:

[flash=560,315:2f18ixq5]http://www.youtube.com/v/baQwxL6mgMQ[/flash:2f18ixq5]

McGyver

That is great!! Thank you Whaat for replying so quickly and providing a link to the video! Once again another great plugin for SU! Thanks!... And THANKS for making it affordable for those of us on a budget!

Whaat

I had a support question about how to map a curving deformed tube-like shape composed of triangles so I created a quick video showing how I would do it. (I could have saved some time by not exporting the cap faces but you get the idea)

[flash=560,315:9c6bzvk2]http://www.youtube.com/v/U-Gb1_Ibi0k[/flash:9c6bzvk2]

rv1974

Whaat, this is amazing tool. Thank you!
The only thing I could complain about are the shortcuts. My U,V and arrows keys set for other tools.
Was it hard to make a temporary shortcuts override?

Whaat

@rv1974 said:

Whaat, this is amazing tool. Thank you!
The only thing I could complain about are the shortcuts. My U,V and arrows keys set for other tools.
Was it hard to make a temporary shortcuts override?

Thanks! Unfortunately, you can't override the shortcuts (AFAIK). Maybe I can come up with a solution in a future update...

fredo6

@whaat said:

Thanks! Unfortunately, you can't override the shortcuts (AFAIK). Maybe I can come up with a solution in a future update...

Whaat,

For info, I have logged a bug to Google on that, asking them to let all alpha characters be captured by the VCB after a valid character (digit, (, +, -, ...) is entered. They do it for some charcaters like 's', 'm', 'x', etc...
Let's see if they listen or hear!

Fredo

Whaat

@unknownuser said:

@whaat said:

Thanks! Unfortunately, you can't override the shortcuts (AFAIK). Maybe I can come up with a solution in a future update...

Whaat,

For info, I have logged a bug to Google on that, asking them to let all alpha characters be captured by the VCB after a valid character (digit, (, +, -, ...) is entered. They do it for some charcaters like 's', 'm', 'x', etc...
Let's see if they listen or hear!

Fredo

Thanks Fredo!

McGyver

Hi there, sorry to a bother...
I just purchased and installed SketchUV and I can not find it anywhere in SU... No toolbar, no listing in the plugins menu.
It has been placed correctly in the plugins folder as far as I can tell... Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Google Sketchup 6 /SketchUp/Plugins.
I tried it in SU 6 and 8 and it does not show up.
The downloaded file was SketchUV.rbz
I have never installed a RBZ file so far, could this be a problem? Does this require a password or some other method of activation?
Is this a PC only plugin?

In case you need to know: 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo running OS 10.5.8

Thank you for any assistance in this matter.

Rich O Brien

Check the preferences panel for install extension

Or rename .rbz to .zip and extract

Whaat

@unknownuser said:

Hi there, sorry to a bother...
I just purchased and installed SketchUV and I can not find it anywhere in SU... No toolbar, no listing in the plugins menu.
It has been placed correctly in the plugins folder as far as I can tell... Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Google Sketchup 6 /SketchUp/Plugins.
I tried it in SU 6 and 8 and it does not show up.
The downloaded file was SketchUV.rbz
I have never installed a RBZ file so far, could this be a problem? Does this require a password or some other method of activation?
Is this a PC only plugin?

In case you need to know: 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo running OS 10.5.8

Thank you for any assistance in this matter.

Hello! I think you will find all of your answers in the manual:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22333105/SketchUV%20Tutorials/SketchUV%20Manual.pdf

Let me know if you need further assistance.

Thanks for purchasing!

Whaat

Absolutely no bother! We've all had those moments. RBZ is a still a very new thing.