Weld textures won't map properly on solid geometry.

[DEJ_Design]

I've been trying to follow along with the weld texture tutorial (https://blog.keyshot.com/local-uv-mapping-creating-realistic-weld-textures-in-keyshot) by Magnus Skogsfjord using my own parametric solid geometry (i.e. not mesh). The weld labels won't map properly. When you use UV mapping, you get weld marks in additional random areas you don't want them. I want the weld mark only between the pipe and the flange. When you use cylindrical mapping, the weld label explodes over the flange when you try to cover the fillet in the solid model. Moving the diffuse texture for the weld further away from the flange results in a weld that looks unrealistic. I'm assuming the UV mapping works in Magnus's tutorial because he's using T-spline surfaces, which you don't really have access to in Fusion 360 when you're doing solid modeling. The UV mapping option gives better placement for my solid model, but I don't know why the diffuse and bump textures show up in all these other unwanted locations. I've adjusted every setting to get rid of the issue, including breaking out the fillet surfaces or even creating another body for just the fillet that the weld label can be mapped to, but haven't had any luck getting any of this to work. Any advice you can provide on getting this to work correctly would be much appreciated.

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

Hi DEJ_Design.

When using UV mapping on CAD/NURBS based geometry, you have to keep in mind that every single surface has a local UV coordinate system. So, when you apply a texture using the UV technique to a solid, it's going to map the texture on every surface on that model, relative to each local UV coordinate system. This is why you are getting scattered weld textures all over the place.

So, TL;DR, you have to unlink the material on the blend (if it's separated coming from F360) and remove the weld texture from the other faces.

PS: cool to see the texture in use!

Cheers,
Magnus

[Ryan Day]

As noted in the tutorial, the weld surface should be a separate material from the rest of the part. The surface should also be one contiguous face with no breaks in it for correct UV mapping. I don't recall what tools exactly F360 had in it (only played with it for a week or two and wasn't too keen, went back to Solidworks), but as the part is cylindrical then the surface itself can easily be made as one face; either a revolve or a loft between the top and bottom edges that define the face, etc. Just make sure the entire loop of the weld surface is one single face, and is a separate material from the rest of the part.

[DEJ_Design]

Thanks for the feedback both Magnus and Ryan.

I finally managed to get this to work. Your advice was spot on. I was able to split the weld face in F360, but couldn't figure out a clever way to hide the seam between the faces. I tested this on another part and eventually managed to blend the heat-affected zone between the weld face and the rest of the part to get a better look (bike frame experiment below). Needs more slag though. 

Thanks again for posting that tutorial Magnus. It was super helpful. I'm not sure how you did it, but the weld work you did here (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi7SggvFygo/) is gorgeous.

[Ryan Day]

Great stuff!

I've been meaning to give the technique a try myself (as well as several other applications for the parametric UV stuff I can think of) for a while but just piled under lots of other projects at the moment.

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

Thanks for the feedback both Magnus and Ryan.

I finally managed to get this to work. Your advice was spot on. I was able to split the weld face in F360, but couldn't figure out a clever way to hide the seam between the faces. I tested this on another part and eventually managed to blend the heat-affected zone between the weld face and the rest of the part to get a better look (bike frame experiment below). Needs more slag though. 

Thanks again for posting that tutorial Magnus. It was super helpful. I'm not sure how you did it, but the weld work you did here (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi7SggvFygo/) is gorgeous.

That looks super nice man! Glad we could help out I felt at the time that the weld job you're pointing at is a bit "too perfect", but i'm glad to hear you like it. Personally, I think you're onto something better in that image of yours there.

[Bruno F]

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