UV Mapping

[guest83783]

I've searched for UV Mapping tutorials and texture info but most of them are simple noise textures or box maps.

I'm getting the feeling that Luxion haven't solved simple UV mapping problems, some of these questions go back as far as 2011 with little or no answers.

I have a cube with the vertical faces filleted, I want to float a label around both sides so I can read the text.

I've tried using standard fillets in Rhino
I've tried extruding  a single surface but Keyshot still isn't playing ball.
I've tried floating a label over the form too and it doesn't flow around the edges of the box without distortion

Can this actually be done? 

Box: http://prntscr.com/7q8vrc
UV: http://prntscr.com/7q8w6d
Label:http://prntscr.com/7q8wnv

Any ideas... That aren't VRay

[TpwUK]

I see you mention Rhino as your modelling package. Rhino does not produce a UV map as such as it is a NURBS modelling app. NURBs surfaces are mathematical equations resulting in shapes, that are 'glued' together to produce solids. Using your shape apply the wireframe material from the miscellaneous materials and then zoom into any fillets or blended surfaces and you will see the underlying tessellated surfaces have different mesh densities, those kind of surfaces are fine for procedural shaders but are no good for bitmapped textures which is why you can't get good results with UV Mapping and a complex NURBs model/solid.

UV Mapping really needs to be applied to a polygon based mesh. Export your model from Rhino as an OBJ LWO FBX or whatever polygon format you prefer, you should get a dialogue box to adjust mesh density and quality and you should be able to see the mesh being generated. Once you are happy with the mesh, complete the export from Rhino, then use KeyShot to import and UV map the exported polygon model.

Martin

** Edit - I have just added two screenshots to help you understand a little better. Image 1 is from a polygon modelling app, image 2 is a NURBs cube with filleted edges being prepped for export as a polygon mesh (obj in this case). As you can see the NURBs surfaces are not of equal density and edge loops plus seams do not marry up nor do they stay consistent in direction etc. This is why NURBs do not UV Map very well and are best suited to Procedural Shaders **

[edwardo]

Good visual explanation Martin! That looks like a lovely rhino obj youv got there? They are a mess! why does Rhino slice a perfectly good 4 sided poly into several triangles? Its a real weak point of rhino.

[guest83783]

Thank you for the reply, It's just frustrating when you're not sure what the question you're asking should be! 

http://tips.rhino3d.com/2013/01/uv-mapping-in-v5-rhino.html  I was able to rectify the NURBS model using the tips in the link then importing it to Keyshot.

It's a case of assigning UV mapping and slicing the model at the right point, really helpful video by Brian at McNeel.

Thanks again.

Cheers

Andy

P.S. Is that a T-Splines model?

[TpwUK]

@ Edwardo

Good visual explanation Martin! That looks like a lovely rhino obj youv got there? They are a mess! why does Rhino slice a perfectly good 4 sided poly into several triangles? Its a real weak point of rhino.

In this case it's a MoI3D model - With MoI you get the option of N-Gons, Quads plus Tri's and Triangulated only. Rhino does triangulation export to mesh only as far as i know. That choice was made way back when as the majority of render engines could not handle ngons or quads very well and there were 0 render engines that handled NURBs render meshes unless they were 'plugged in' - such as Flamingo, BrazilRS, BMRT etc etc

@ Andy

Thank you for the reply, It's just frustrating when you're not sure what the question you're asking should be! 

http://tips.rhino3d.com/2013/01/uv-mapping-in-v5-rhino.html  I was able to rectify the NURBS model using the tips in the link then importing it to Keyshot.

Hmmm not seen this one before, or at least don't remember it off hand, so thanks for the link, i am off to watch it

Martin

[br3ttman]

Thank you for the reply, It's just frustrating when you're not sure what the question you're asking should be! 

http://tips.rhino3d.com/2013/01/uv-mapping-in-v5-rhino.html  I was able to rectify the NURBS model using the tips in the link then importing it to Keyshot.

It's a case of assigning UV mapping and slicing the model at the right point, really helpful video by Brian at McNeel.

Nice video!  Thanks for posting this.  As a Creo & SolidWorks modeler, I wish I had this same ability to create a custom UV map as in Rhino.  Any chance KeyShot might incorporate this functionality?

[cadjockey]

Awesome video thanks.
Also as a solid works user I struggle with this constantly. I would very much welcome limited uv unwrapping within key shot as shown in the video. Maybe with the new mesh editing in v6 this is feasible?

Rich

[afdesign]

Hello,

I'm new here I have a question. I have a 3D cylinder and wanna apply a brushed aluminium on a side and a polished aluminium on the other side. Can we do this in Keyshot?
Thanks a lot have a great day!

[TpwUK]

Hello,

I'm new here I have a question. I have a 3D cylinder and wanna apply a brushed aluminium on a side and a polished aluminium on the other side. Can we do this in Keyshot?
Thanks a lot have a great day!

If it's  a Polygon mesh then you can UV map it and use the texture you created with KeyShot, otherwise you would need to trim/split the cylinder where you want the two materials to be and assign them to different layers or colours, then import into KS and apply materials to them there

Martin

[blessid]

I am having a similar problem with a SolidWorks model that I wish to UV map. What is the work around for this?

[TpwUK]

Depends on the complexity of the model. If you create layers based on material types that makes life a little easier but you will find that you need procedural materials/shaders to avoid seams, so things like glass, metals, plastics etc will be ok but if you need bitmapped materials such as a checkerboard pattern then you will need UV mapping. Again this depends on the quality of the exporter from the modelling app. Some exporters convert the model to OBJ and include the UV data, most do not! So if the texture/material does not look correct on the exported OBJ, then you will need another polygon modelling app such as Maya, Max, C4D etc or the cheaper option is to use something like UVLayout. UV mapping is a skill in itself and requires a reasonably good understanding of the underlying topology of the mesh.

I think i should maybe start a thread that will cover when to UV or not for NURBs modellers

Martin

[blessid]

Tpwuk,

Thanks for the info! A thread would be really handy!

Luke

[Speedster]

A thread would be really handy!

+1...

As a note to SolidWorks UV mapping- If it's to be a custom surface, like an area that's intended for texturing, I always use the "Split Line" tool.  You can define anything you want, then map the resulting interior surfaces to suit.

Bill G

[Finema]

I think i should maybe start a thread that will cover when to UV or not for NURBs modellers

+1

When i need UV mapping, I export my MoI 3D model in Wavefront .OBJ
Open it in C4D, use BP UV Edit, save it in .c4d
Import it directly in KS5

[mertmg]

why don`t we have a detailed tutorial regarding to creating a UV map for Keyshot? i can`t  make it work