Texturing An Organic Profile

[Hieru]

OK, time for a pesky UV problem.

I'm trying to texture the profile of an organic model so that a plywood edging material runs parallel with the edge of the form. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a way of doing this. I've tried Quad Face Tools (I might be using it incorrectly) and exporting the mesh/texture to Ultimate Unwrap 3D, but I haven't had much success.

Could someone please help me out and point me in the right direction?

I'm planning on sharing the model when it's complete, so here's what I've done already (12MB!):

SkateboardUVs.jpg

http://www.box.com/s/35dd371f6e7ad60d9eec

[Rich O Brien]

Used external app and reduced texture resolution so I could upload here

Skateboard.skp

[Hieru]

That's awesome Rich.

Of course, now I want to know what programme you used for the UV mapping and how you did it .

[Rich O Brien]

I used UV Layout. Basically export the uv to obj with Dale's plugin. Load in UV Layout and relax them out. They are then straightened so it maps correctly.

There's a video on my YouTube channel showing me doing a bedspread quickly, Ignore my farmers voice

[Hieru]

That's great - I had completely forgotten about that video.

I think I'll try UU3D again and see if I can find an unwrap method that works. Otherwise I'll give UV Layout a whirl.

Thanks again.

[Rich O Brien]

Here's a video showing the mapping in SketchUp using Thom's Quad Tool...

[Hieru]

That's fantastic - above and beyond!

I'm guessing that QFT didn't work before because the mesh wasn't made of quads and I hadn't thought of rebuilding the faces though......and you were right about the profile, so I swapped it out for a simple 6 edge arc.

I hadn't come across Edge Follow Me before. It didn't work in this case as the top and bottom paths arn't paralell (I used Extrude Edge by Rails instead) but it will definately come in handy in the future.

Thanks again.

[thomthom]

Similar thread: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=42675

[Hieru]

Thanks Thomas. That thread/video was my starting point, but I ran into trouble because the profile wasn't made of quad faces.

On a related matter, at one point I found that I wanted to adjust the mesh after texturing and smoothing the profile. In the end I had to just undo back to the point where I had un-softened quad faces.

If I didn't have that option, does anyone know of a way to only soften triangulation?

[thomthom]

If I didn't have that option, does anyone know of a way to only soften triangulation?

Soften the diagonal edge in triangulated quads?

[Hieru]

That's right.

I think it's something that would be very useful when using QFT and you find that you need to change a texture or mesh after softening.

I'm pretty sure there isn't a native solution (other than manually softening) or a plugin.

[thomthom]

You mean you have a set of triangles which you want to convert to Quads?

[Hieru]

Sort of.

In this case I recreated the new profile I needed using Extrude Edge by Rails. I selected the quads option when prompted and then used QFT to map a texture.

I then smoothed the mesh thinking I had done what I wanted, but then found that there were a few mesh anomalies that prevented QTF from doing it's job properly.

Luckily I could just revert back to the quad faces, adjust the mesh and apply the texture again.

However I might not have spotted the mesh issue, saved the file and shut down SU. If I then wanted to change the mesh and unsoften it, I would then end up with unsoftened diagonals running across all of the quads, which would prevent me from reapplying QFT again.

Essentially it would be usefull to have the 'create quads' option from Tig's extrude plugin as a separate tool.

Do you know what I mean?

[thomthom]

No - not suite sure... ...but then again.. it's 4:35 in the morning.. or 3:35 if you ignore the DST change. ...a somewhat significant amount of alcoholic units in my body might impair my comprehension abilities...

...why I am I still awake..? trying to decrease the amount of units...

...yes, spelling tools is the only reason why this post made any sense....

[Hieru]

It's best not to ask those kinds of questions. I did wonder why it felt so late and everyone around me is fading fast.

[thomthom]

Hieru
Location: UK

UK? Night owl as well? I'd not noticed your profile - from your nickname I'd assumed you'd be in Japan or something near that region. What's your excuse for being up at these hours - at this forum - at this time and space ..continuum.

[Hieru]

Just got a poke from an old friend from Oslo and he's been thrown by the time change as well.

[Hieru]

I've got no excuse. I've been out clubbing with friends and the time change has thrown me. I'm trying to resist turning on my PC as I'll probably end up modelling all night.

With my user name I was trying to mix up my real name with an interest with Egyptology, but only recently realised that it was a pretty common Japanese name. It seems to catch a lot of people out.

When the haze has cleared, it would still be good to hear if you have any thoughts on the truangulation issue. Think of it as splitdonut in reverse.

[thomthom]

It's a very silly thing - this DST ... you can never be sure when the pub close or when the last bus departs. And which clock automatically adjust and which doesn't? My oven appear to be as ignorant as a rock. I'm baffled by contradictory electronic devices! Enough of this non-sense - I'm reverting to solar clocks! ..despite it disadvantages during the darker hours - which is plentiful up here north...