Layout UVs tool
 

Does anyone use the Layout UV tool in the UV texture editor ?
Is it useful ?
I know its aim is to avoid overlapping uvs.

I don't use it. I layout everything by hand. Absolute control that way.

same here. :)

me 2 ;)

i never rely on "instant" things....computers cant make decisions like we do ;-)

I take that back. In my latest UV unwrapping scripts, I do use the Layout UVs command to get a start on organizing my UVs. However, I still manually define the shells and set up projections before running the command. It can be a time-saver.

just a question......

in reference to this tutorial http://www.dannyngan.com/mel_dannyuvtools.htm

how do ya apply ur final UV layout texture back onto ur human model after you are finished stitching ur shells?wat method do ya use?

Nothing complex. Once I have the shells all stitched together, I'll save off a UV snapshot. Next, I'll open the uv snapshot image in Photoshop and immediate save off a copy as a BMP or TGA file (depending on what I need to do). Then, I'll use this new copy as the file texture for the material on my model in Maya. You can use the existing material or create an entirely new one. I usually create a new one so I can switch back and forth between painted texture and the color mapping grid very quickly. Next, I'll start painting my texture in Photoshop, periodically saving over the flattened BMP/TGA copy file and reloading the image in Maya. And then it's back and forth between the two programs until the texture is done.

Tedious, but relatively easy. :)

As long as its easy danny! hehe

ok,......(in reference to ur tutorial again.).....fig 6 shows 7 shells, so would you apply ur arm 'shell' with a seperate cylindrical type mapping....and then do the rest for each limb perhaps?

I don't use any cylindrical mapping at all. I only use planar mapping. Figure 5 shows the results of just planar mapping individual groups of faces (I color code them initially for organizational purposes). You can do all that by hand, but I wrote uvLayout.mel to automate that process. Figure 6 shows the end results of editing the UV shells from Figure 5.

I use a lot of "Move and Sew UVs" and "Cut UVs" while I'm editing. I'm not a big fan of using a ton of tools. I like to keep things as simple as possible. :)

cool...makes sense man

cheers