[WIP] Star Maps Revamp

[DarthParametric 3,785]

Unwrapping is an entire art unto itself.

[CarthOnasty 214]

38 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

Unwrapping is an entire art unto itself.

Dude, you are not joking. I'm learning that more and more. I know that are parts I want to accent, but I also don't want a map that has 30 different islands. And then making sure the seams work well against each other? It's madness.

[DarthParametric 3,785]

And then you see some of the layouts Bioware shat out for K1 and you wonder how is that the work of a professional development studio?

[CarthOnasty 214]

1 hour ago, DarthParametric said:

And then you see some of the layouts Bioware shat out for K1 and you wonder how is that the work of a professional development studio?

Seriously, yes. The ones for the star map were just so bizarre and disproportionate. I mean, there were places where the texture would be stretched for sure---an obscene amount. Some parts of the .tga disproportionately sized as well, because I guess it was easier to edit the image versus the UV map?!

[DarthParametric 3,785]

As I mentioned in another post a while back, they were likely using Max 4 at the time, which is basically what GMax is (it's just v4 with some of the features ripped out). Max's UV tools aren't fantastic, but they certainly aren't bad enough to excuse some of the work Bioware came out with. I have to wonder whether some of it was automated via script or something.

[CarthOnasty 214]

3 hours ago, DarthParametric said:

As I mentioned in another post a while back, they were likely using Max 4 at the time, which is basically what GMax is (it's just v4 with some of the features ripped out). Max's UV tools aren't fantastic, but they certainly aren't bad enough to excuse some of the work Bioware came out with. I have to wonder whether some of it was automated via script or something.

That would make a lot more sense. There's a feature in Blender that basically does that. What I found to be the most odd thing, is that these little guys....

....are mapped to literally the whole texture. I'm not at my comp, but the UV basically looks like this:

I mean, I get that 1 side of the pyramid is all light, but c'mooooooon.

[A Future Pilot 161]

That...is terrifying.

[CarthOnasty 214]

Okay, I think I have a map I like at this point...

[ebmar 893]

8 hours ago, CarthOnasty said:

What I found to be the most odd thing, is that these little guys....

Spoiler

....are mapped to literally the whole texture. I'm not at my comp, but the UV basically looks like this:

Spoiler

I mean, I get that 1 side of the pyramid is all light, but c'mooooooon.

Oh my... now I know, from where those awesome circling pattern comes from 🤣

Edited July 24, 2018 by ebmar
Attached images set as hidden contents.

[DarthParametric 3,785]

9 hours ago, CarthOnasty said:

What I found to be the most odd thing, is that these little guys....

....are mapped to literally the whole texture.

That's the usual behaviour for default UVs when creating new geometry. They probably never bothered manually unwrapping that object.

1 hour ago, CarthOnasty said:

Okay, I think I have a map I like at this point...

I'd advise against the unwrap for that top object. While splitting apart the polys like that will eliminate any stretching or compression, it will be a real bastard to texture unless it is just a flat, solid colour. Is that like a half-sphere or something?

[ebmar 893]

1 hour ago, CarthOnasty said:

Okay, I think I have a map I like at this point...

Spoiler

 

 

20 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

... it will be a real bastard to texture unless it is just a flat, solid colour.

Okay, if what I think is correct; that map, right there. Is it going to be a .tga file with textures in it?

[DarthParametric 3,785]

That's the unwrap. It's how you apply a 2D texture to a 3D object. Think about the sort of thing you probably did as a kid, making cubes and other shapes out of paper:

It's the same idea, just in reverse. The texture will conform to the unwrap. You can use a template like that when texturing by hand.

[ebmar 893]

15 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

That's the unwrap. It's how you apply a 2D texture to a 3D object. Think about the sort of thing you probably did as a kid, making cubes and other shapes out of paper:

Spoiler

It's the same idea, just in reverse. The texture will conform to the unwrap. You can use a template like that when texturing by hand.

Ah, think I get it. They will be separated as some parts, is that it? Hahah! Good luck with that, @CarthOnasty!

Spoiler

 

[CarthOnasty 214]

10 hours ago, DarthParametric said:

I'd advise against the unwrap for that top object. While splitting apart the polys like that will eliminate any stretching or compression, it will be a real bastard to texture unless it is just a flat, solid colour. Is that like a half-sphere or something?

Yeah, I've been going back and forth with that. I've tried it all connected but I just get too much distortion since the angles are inconsistent. The unwrapped polys I can make work at this point, but yeah, I totally get what you're saying. And yeah, it's basically a half-sphere, it's the base of the map.

 

9 hours ago, ebmar said:

Ah, think I get it. They will be separated as some parts, is that it? Hahah! Good luck with that, @CarthOnasty!

Exactly what @DarthParametric said. I ended up splitting this model a lot more than I had intended, but I think things will be much easier for in the long run, also considering I'd be making 5 different models.

 

[DarthParametric 3,785]

For Max you'd typically see something similar to what you have as default UVs:

But personally I prefer something like:

One reason is that in ye olden days, old MDLOps was a nightmare trying to deal with UV seams. You'd have to break/detach all island edges or you'd wind up with your UVs being destroyed. So that default style of unwrap would have lots of nasty hard edges. That aside, texture seams across the middle of big, continuous surfaces is typically a bad idea in general. But I guess a lot depends on the topology of the mesh and how you are generating your textures.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

I should really put up my UV map tutorial. The second one is a little better, but mostly because that's probably strictly just a top down mapping.

[CarthOnasty 214]

@ebmar Here's a rough idea of how these wraps would work:

[ebmar 893]

12 hours ago, CarthOnasty said:

Here's a rough idea of how these wraps would work:

Spoiler

 

And those separated colorful things there; were those what you guys called island(s)?

[DarthParametric 3,785]

Yes. An "island" in UV mapping terms is a single group of contiguous UV polygons.

[CarthOnasty 214]

Random progress pic.

[Rinku 22]

This is looking great! Excited to see the final product

[CarthOnasty 214]

3 hours ago, Rinku said:

This is looking great! Excited to see the final product

Thanks for having a look! I encourage you to download v1.1 in the meantime if you haven't. And as a special treat, here's a version I'm working on for Tatooine:

[Salk 374]

I really like what you are doing here, CarthOnasty.

I think I will wait for version 2.0 to be released though. Keep up the excellent work!

[CarthOnasty 214]

Stuck in star map. Please send help.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

I recall discussion the fonts with you before - with an eye towards suggestion one other than Aurebesh.  When looking at a texture for the doors on the Star Forge, I noticed these symbols on it...

I might have a font that might simulate those symbols well.  (I'll send you a link in a PM so you can take a look at it and make your own call.)  If you don't use it, then no problem. No harm, no foul.