geometric informatics

8/9/2019 geometric informatics

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Geo UV: 3dsMax Plug-in for Windows

User Guide

2006 by Geometric Informatics Inc

11/28/06


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2006 Geometric Informatics Page: 2 of 71

1. Installing GeoUV......................................................................................................................... 7

2. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 7

2.1. What is Geo UV?.................................................................................................................. 7

2.2. Uniform Texture Mapping.................................................................................................... 8

2.3. Increased Continuity............................................................................................................. 9

3. A Little Theory.......................................................................................................................... 10

3.1. The Triangle or Quad Mesh Constraint.............................................................................. 10

3.2. The Manifold Constraint .................................................................................................... 11

4. 3dsMax Tools ............................................................................................................................ 13

4.1. Selection Modes Using the Edit Poly modifier or Editable Poly surface........................... 13

4.2. Viewing the Modifier Stack ............................................................................................... 16

4.3. Converting a Mesh to Triangles ......................................................................................... 19

4.4. Converting a Mesh to Quads .............................................................................................. 19

4.5. The Unwrap UVW Modifier .............................................................................................. 20

4.5.1. Normalizing Texture Coordinates ............................................................................... 21

4.6. Applying a Checkerboard Texture ..................................................................................... 21

4.7. Displaying Boundary Edges............................................................................................... 23

5. Geo UV Tools............................................................................................................................ 24

5.1. Object Properties ................................................................................................................ 25

5.2. Slice (for Triangle Meshes) and Quad-Slice (for Quad Meshes) ....................................... 25


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5.3. Auto Slice (for Triangle Meshes) and Quad-Auto Slice (for Quad Meshes) ..................... 25

5.4. UV Coverage Area ............................................................................................................. 26

5.5. Mesh Loop Select............................................................................................................... 26

5.5.1. Selecting Two Vertices................................................................................................ 26

5.5.2. Selecting Three Vertices.............................................................................................. 26

5.6. Get Bad Cover .................................................................................................................... 26

5.7. Geo UV Scale..................................................................................................................... 27

5.8. Geo UV Layout .................................................................................................................. 27

5.9. Selection Sets...................................................................................................................... 27

6. The Process................................................................................................................................ 29

6.1. Manual Process................................................................................................................... 29

6.2. Automatic Process.............................................................................................................. 29

7. Separating the Mesh .................................................................................................................. 30

7.1. About Separating the Mesh ................................................................................................ 30

7.2. Manual Separation Using Geo UVs Mesh Loop Select.................................................... 32

8. Tutorials..................................................................................................................................... 37

8.1. Pipes ................................................................................................................................... 38

8.2. Automatically Mapping a Tree........................................................................................... 46

8.3. Manually Mapping a Tree .................................................................................................. 51

8.4. Automatically Mapping a Hand ......................................................................................... 70

8.5. Manually Mapping a Hand................................................................................................. 70


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Figure 1 - Pipe Mappings ................................................................................................................ 8

Figure 2 - Map Continuity Comparison .......................................................................................... 9

Figure 3 - Non-Manifold Mesh ..................................................................................................... 11

Figure 4 - Non-Manifold Single Vertex ........................................................................................ 11

Figure 5 - Object Selection............................................................................................................ 13

Figure 6 - Edge Selection .............................................................................................................. 14

Figure 7 - Face Selection............................................................................................................... 15

Figure 8 Modifier Stack.............................................................................................................. 16

Figure 9 - Viewing an objects state at some point in the stack .................................................... 17

Figure 10 Switching off a Modifier in the stack......................................................................... 18

Figure 11 - Convert Mesh to Polygons.......................................................................................... 19

Figure 12 - The Unwrap UVW Modifier....................................................................................... 20

Figure 13 Changing a textures density...................................................................................... 22

Figure 14 - Display Boundary Edges ............................................................................................ 23

Figure 15 - Geo UV Menu............................................................................................................. 24

Figure 16 - Selection Sets.............................................................................................................. 28

Figure 17 - Open Cylinder: No need to separate........................................................................... 30

Figure 18 - Bendy Pipe: No need to separate................................................................................ 31

Figure 19 - Selecting Three Vertices Around Torus ..................................................................... 32


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Figure 20 - Separating Torus in Two Distinct Places.................................................................... 33

Figure 21 - Torus, Edges Automatically Selected......................................................................... 34

Figure 22 - Torus in Two Pieces ................................................................................................... 35

Figure 23 Detach Dialog Box..................................................................................................... 36

Figure 24 - pipe.max...................................................................................................................... 38

Figure 25 - Mapping, Single, Continuous Piece............................................................................ 39

Figure 26 - Selected UVs a third of the way up ............................................................................ 40

Figure 27 - Select Convert Vertex to Edge.................................................................................... 41

Figure 28 - Pipe in Geo UV Layout .............................................................................................. 43

Figure 29 - Pipes Normalized........................................................................................................ 44

Figure 30 - Pipe Texture Final....................................................................................................... 45

Figure 31 - tree.max ...................................................................................................................... 46

Figure 32 - Tree (Select 2 Connected Edges in a Straight Line at the Base of the Tree) .............. 47

Figure 33 - Tree With Checkered Pattern (With Repeat Values of 40)......................................... 48

Figure 34 - UV Map, Final Layout................................................................................................ 50

Figure 35 - tree.max ...................................................................................................................... 51

Figure 36 - Connected Edges in a Straight Line at the Base of the Tree....................................... 52

Figure 37 - Connected Edges in a Straight Line at the Top of the Tree ........................................ 53

Figure 38 - Tree with Checkerboard Pattern (with Repeat Values of 40) ..................................... 54

Figure 39 - Tree Selection Face Mode .......................................................................................... 55

Figure 40 - Geo UV Bad Cover..................................................................................................... 56


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Figure 41 - Tree with Broken Branches ........................................................................................ 57

Figure 42 - Selected Edges at Tip of Branch................................................................................. 58

Figure 43 - Geo UV Slice Processing............................................................................................ 59

Figure 44 - Face Selection Mode................................................................................................... 60

Figure 45 - Geo UV Bad Cover..................................................................................................... 61

Figure 46 - Geo UV Separate........................................................................................................ 62

Figure 47 - Checkered Tree........................................................................................................... 63

Figure 48 - Object Selection Mode................................................................................................ 64

Figure 49 GeometryAttatch Options .......................................................................................... 65

Figure 50 - Tree Scaled ................................................................................................................. 67

Figure 51 Shells Laid Out in Approximate Square .................................................................... 68

Figure 52 - Final Map.................................................................................................................... 69


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1. Installing GeoUV

Copy the GeoUV.dlm file to the plugin directory of 3ds Studio Max 9. It resides at

"Autodesk\3ds Max 9\plugins". A typical location might be:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 9\plugins

Once the plug-in is copied into that directory, it loads automatically when starting 3ds Studio

Max 9.

2. Introduction

This chapter introduces you to:

What Geo UV is and how it simplifies the mapping process.

How Geo UV creates a 2D plane from a 3D surface that may contain thousands of

faces.

How Geo UV provides better memory management than other texture mappers.

2.1. What is Geo UV?

Geo UV is a tool that automatically produces a map from a 3D surface to a 2D plane.

Traditionally this process was done by hand. Each polygon of the 3D mesh was chosen andplaced, one by one, onto the UV plane. When meshes consisted of only tens of faces, this processwas feasible but time consuming.

However, meshes with thousands of faces are commonplace; the traditional methods areinadequate. Geo UV automates this mapping process, including meshes with complex geometrieswith only a little guidance from the user. Geo UVs methods are founded in new mathematical

research that keeps the angles on the 3D surface and the 2D plane consistent with each other.


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2.2. Uniform Texture Mapping

Geo UV generates as uniform a mapping as possible while keeping the UV shell count to aminimum. Notice how nicely the texture follows the surface in the following figure.

Figure 1 - Pipe Mappings


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2.3. Increased Continuity

Geo UV maximizes texture map continuity providing more detail and better memory usage. InFigure 2 - Map Continuity Comparison, the image on the left uses 29% of the UV plane while theimage on the right uses 69% of the UV plane. The image on the right provides much greaterdetail using the same memory requirements used to produce the image on the left.

Figure 2 - Map Continuity Comparison

Greater continuity means that painting with a patterned brush covers the surface completely

without breaks or cracks.


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3. A Little Theory


Converting polygonal meshes to either triangle or quad meshes.

Manifold and non-manifold meshes.

3.1. The Triangle or Quad Mesh Constraint

A mesh that describes a 3D surface can be composed of any number of polygons. 3dsMax allowsany polygon on the mesh to have any number of faces. For example, when creating a teapot fromthe Standard Primitives objects, a mesh is generated, composed mostly with four-sided

polygons. Geo UV requires that each mesh contain either triangles or quads. 3dsMaxs built inTurnToPoly modifier can convert any polygonal mesh into a mesh made of triangles or quads.

Geo UV requires a triangle or quad mesh in order to simplify processing and increase calculationperformance.


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3.2. The Manifold Constraint

A mesh is non-manifold if:

Any edge in the mesh is common to more than two faces.

Figure 3 - Non-Manifold Mesh

The surface shrinks to a single vertex.

Figure 4 - Non-Manifold Single Vertex


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3dsMax does not permit a polygonal mesh to be non-manifold. If you attempt to load a

non-manifold polygonal mesh into 3dsMax it will automatically convert it to a manifoldpolygonal mesh but the resulting mesh may not be what you want. It is therefore recommended

that you always load manifold meshes into 3dsMax. Geo UV requires a manifold mesh in order tosimplify processing and increase calculation performance.


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4. 3dsMax Tools


Useful tools for manipulating mesh data.

Critical functions that are outlined in this section and are referred to throughout the

rest of this manual.

Please familiarize yourself with these commands before you begin working with Geo UV.

4.1. Selection Modes Using the Edit Poly modifier or Editable Poly surface

1. Use theSelect Object cursor or selectEdit Poly in the modifier list.

Figure 5 - Object Selection


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2. Expand the Edit Poly modifier or Editable Poly object and select Edge" to go into edge

selection mode. Pressing CTRL + left mouse button will allow you to select or deselect edges.

Keeping CTRL key pressed allows you to select multiple edges. Note that if a texture is

applied to the object, it might be tricky to view the edges. To get around this problem rightclick on the top left of the view (for example, at Perspective) and select Wireframe.

Figure 6 - Edge Selection


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3. Expand the Edit Poly modifier or Editable Poly object and select Polygon" to go into faceselection mode. Pressing CTRL + left mouse button will allow you to select or deselect faces.

Keeping CTRL key pressed allows you to select multiple faces.

Figure 7 - Face Selection


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4.2. Viewing the Modifier Stack

To understand the history of an object you need to view the Modifier stack. When performingrepeated modifications to an object they will appear as a stack of modifications in the Modifierstack, the oldest starting at the bottom and the most recent at the top. For example if you selectedges, then change the texture, then select vertices (in that order), they will appear as a stack ofthree modifiers, with the edge selection at the bottom in a Edit Poly modifier followed by aUnwrap UVW modifier and then finally another Edit Poly modifier containing the vertex

selection.

1. To see the modifier stack for an object, select the object using the select object cursorand click the Modify tab on the column on the right:

Figure 8 Modifier Stack


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2. To view the state of an object at a particular stage in the history, click on the modifier

in question. Ensure the Show End Result On/Off Toggle is not pressed (pressingthis button gives you the state of the object after all the modifications have been

applied).

Figure 9 - Viewing an objects state at some point in the stack


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3. To see how the object would appear if a modifier were not applied, switch off the

light bulb next to the modifier.

Figure 10 Switching off a Modifier in the stack


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4.3. Converting a Mesh to Triangles

Geo UV operates on triangle and quad meshes. To convert a mesh made of polygons to a meshmade entirely of triangles, perform the following steps.

1. Make sure you are in object selection mode and select the mesh you want to convert.

2. From the drop down Modifier list add a Turn to Poly modifier to the modifier stack.

3. In the parameters box change Limit Polygon Size to 3.

Figure 11 - Convert Mesh to Polygons

4.4. Converting a Mesh to Quads

To convert a mesh made of polygons to a mesh made entirely of quads, do the same as above,except change Limit Polygon Size to 4.


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4.5. The Unwrap UVW Modifier

The Unwrap UVW Modifieris accessible from the list of modifiers available in the drop downModifier List. Alternatively you can access it from the menu by selecting Modifiers UV

Coordinates Unwrap UVW. In either event it will add a new modifier to the stack.

To view the UV coordinates, select the modifier. In the Parameters box, select Edit.

Figure 12 - The Unwrap UVW Modifier


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4.5.1. Normalizing Texture Coordinates

UV coordinates must be normalized within the range of 0...1 on both the U and V axes for manyapplications to function properly. To normalize the UV mapping of an object:

1. Add a Unwrap UVW modifier to the stack and go into Edit mode. You will see that the01 range is clearly marked in the editor as an outlined blue rectangle.

2. Go into freeform mode (this is actually the default mode), and drag the mouse around allthe UVs to select them all.

3. Select the top right corner of the selection area and shrink the selection area by draggingthe mouse, so that all the UVs now appear within the default blue area.

4.6. Applying a Checkerboard Texture

To see the checkerboard pattern on the surface of the mesh:

1. Select the material editor from the main toolbar at the top.

2. Press the selector box marked M on the right of Diffuse and choose the Checker

texture.

3. Click the checkered blue cube (Show Map in Viewport) to ensure you can view the

texture in your scene when it is applied to the object.


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4. Drag the spherically mapped texture from the material editor onto the object in your sceneusing the left mouse button. You should now see the texture on the object in your scene.

5. The default checker density is usually too coarse. To adjust it, change the Tilingparameters for that texture in the Material Editor. The default is 1.0. Changing it to avalue such as 40.0 will increase the texture density.

Figure 13 Changing a textures density


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4.7. Displaying Boundary Edges

To display Boundary Edges, select a mesh with the Edit Poly modifier, expand the modifier, andgo to the Border sub-object selection mode. You can now select border edges with the leftmouse; pressing CTRL+A will select all the boundaries.

Figure 14 - Display Boundary Edges


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5. Geo UV Tools


The Geo UV plug-in (accessible from the Modifier list) to access Geo UV.

The following selections: Object properties, UV Coverage Area, Auto Slice, Slice,

Auto Slice for Quads, Slice for Quads, Layout, Mesh Loop Select, Get Bad Cover,Scale, and Selection Sets.

Figure 15 - Geo UV Menu


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5.1. Object Properties

Use the Object propertiescommand to display information about the selected object. The object

must be a manifold, triangle or quad mesh. The following information is shown:

Vertex Count

Edge Count

Face Count

Genus Number

Number of Boundaries

Number of Components (you can view these components in Edit Poly mode by selecting the

separate parts of the mesh under Sub-Object Element selection mode)

A textual description of the surface

5.2. Slice (for Triangle Meshes) and Quad-Slice (for Quad Meshes)

A slicegenerates the mapping coordinates for the selected object. The object must have twoboundaries, existing or specified by selection edges. This command makes one pass over theobject that results in a single, rectangular UV segment.

5.3. Auto Slice (for Triangle Meshes) and Quad-Auto Slice (for Quad Meshes)

Auto sliceautomatically generates the mapping coordinates for the selected object. The objectmust have one or two boundaries, existing or specified by selecting edges. This command makes

many passes over the object generating multiple rectangular UV segments.


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5.4. UV Coverage Area

The UV coverage areacalculates the percentage of UV area used. Coverage greater than 100%indicates overlapping UV shells or shells that do not fit within the UV space.

5.5. Mesh Loop Select

The Mesh Loop Selectcommand selects the edges between selected vertices that indicate theshortest path across the surface. The object must be a manifold, triangular or quad mesh.

5.5.1. Selecting Two Vertices

Select two vertices on the same surface and then choose Geo UV Mesh Loop Select. Chooseto have Geo UV automatically select the edges along the shortest path between the two points.

5.5.2. Selecting Three Vertices

Select three vertices on the same surface and then choose Geo UV Mesh Loop Select. Chooseto allow Geo UV to automatically select the edges along the shortest paths between the three

points. The resulting edge selection is a closed loop around the three selected vertices.

5.6. Get Bad Cover

Select a group of faces on a surface that exhibit the mapping density that looks nice. Choose GeoUV Get Bad Coverto have Geo UV automatically select all the faces that have a

disproportionately less-detailed UV mapping.


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5.7. Geo UV Scale

Select an object and select Geo UV Geo UV Scaleto have Geo UV scale the UV shells basedon the surface area. This helps make the shell mappings have a more uniform mapping. The meshdoes not need to have any special characteristics. Use Geo UV Layout, after scaling, to arrangethe shells so they do not overlap.

5.8. Geo UV Layout

Select an object and select Geo UV Geo UV Layoutto have Geo UV arrange the UV shellsinto a square. This helps pack the shells to get maximum area coverage. The shells have small

gaps between them to prevent bleed-over while painting. After layout, use 3dsMaxs built-incommands to normalize the arrangement as described in section 4.5.1. Normalizing Texture

Coordinates on page 21.

5.9. Selection Sets

When auto slice is used, Geo UV generates a number of selection sets. The selection set namesbegin with Geo UV_ShapeNodeName_. The types of sets generated are:

*ManualCutthe edges selected before the slice

*AutoCutthe edges selected during subsequent automatic slicing

*shellthe faces making up the final separated shells

For easy viewing of the selection sets, expand the GeoUV plugin in the modifier panel, andchoose Selection Sets. Then select the drop down list from the main toolbar at the top of the

window to display the selection sets.

Clicking a selection set in the list selects the corresponding items in the scene.


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Figure 16 - Selection Sets


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6. The Process


Manifold meshes using either a manual or automatic process.

Manual process and the automatic process.

6.1. Manual Process

1. Logically Separate the Mesh - Select sections of the object so that each section is in theshape of a cylinder using the Detach commands of the Edit Poly modifier.

2. Combine the pieces. Use 3dsMaxs Edit Poly modifierAttachcommand.

3. Triangulate or quad the Mesh.

4. Cut edges. Select edges in the mesh to open the closed ends of cylinders.

5. Process with Geo UV. Use the Geo UV Slicecommand on the mesh on any remainingselected edges.

6. Merge the vertices. Use the 3dsMax Weld Vertices tool in the Edit Poly modifier tore-combine the pieces of the mesh that were separated in step one.

6.2. Automatic Process

1. Triangulate or quad the mesh.

2. Cut Edges if needed. The automatic process needs 1 or 2 open boundaries.

3. Process with Geo UV. Use the Geo UV AutoSlicecommand on the mesh while any edgesthat were selected in step 2 are still selected.


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7. Separating the Mesh


The necessary steps to separate a mesh.

This chapter discusses this process and also explains how to separate a mesh manually.

7.1. About Separating the Mesh

Separate the mesh into cylinder shaped pieces by selecting faces. Use the Edit PolyDetachcommand to split the selected faces off into a separate object. Separate the object keeping thefollowing guidelines in mind:

Each segment must have no more than 2 open ends.

Be careful not to move or modify any of the pieces if the results need to be transferred to theoriginal copy of the mesh.

Figure 17 - Open Cylinder: No need to separate


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Figure 18 - Bendy Pipe: No need to separate


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7.2. Manual Separation Using Geo UVs Mesh Loop Select

The Geo UV Mesh Loop Selecttool also separates meshes. The following steps illustrate how atorus is split into two halves.

1. Select a torus from Standard Primitives. In this example we also want the torus toconsist of triangles, so we add a Turn To Poly modifier and limit the polygon size to 3.

Allow editing of this polygonal object either by adding an Edit Poly modifier to the stackor by right clicking on the object and selecting Convert to Editable Poly.

2. Select three vertices around the torus using the vertex mode of the Edit Poly modifier.

Figure 19 - Selecting Three Vertices Around Torus


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3. Add a GeoUV Modifier to the stack and select Geo UV Mesh Loop Select. The edges

are automatically selected. Because this selection opens the torus into a tube with openends, it can be processed with Geo UV Slice. However, the following steps illustrate how

to separate the torus into 2 distinct pieces.

Figure 20 - Separating Torus in Two Distinct Places

4. Reselect the Edit Poly beneath the GeoUV modifier and go into vertex mode. Clickanywhere to deselect the 3 vertices you selected in (1). Use the left mouse button to selectanother three vertices around the torus on the opposite side. Holding down the Ctrl key

keeps the edges selected.


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5. Add another Geo UV Modifier to the stack on top of the existing Geo UV Modifier.Choose Geo UVMesh Loop Select within the top modifier. The edges are automatically

selected.

Figure 21 - Torus, Edges Automatically Selected


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6. There are two closed loops on opposite sides of the torus. Add an Edit Poly modifier to thestack, and go into Edge Selection mode. Check both loops are highlighted. Select EditEdges Split. This breaks the torus into two pieces that can be selected and moved

independently. Highlight each piece by going into Edit PolyElementand selectingeach half.

Figure 22 - Torus in Two Pieces


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7. Select Edit PolyElement, select one of the pieces and then select the options box to the

right of Edit GeometryDetach. This brings up the Detach options box. Onclicking OK, this turns that piece into its own object, so that each piece is now a separate

object.

Figure 23 Detach Dialog Box


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8. Tutorials


Working with Pipes

Automatically Mapping a Tree

Manually Mapping a Tree

Automatically Mapping a Tree

Manually Mapping a Hand


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8.1. Pipes

1. Open the example file pipe.max.

Figure 24 - pipe.max

2. Triangulate the pipe with a Turn To Poly modifier (see section 4.3. Converting a Mesh toTriangles on page 19).

3. Add a GeoUV modifier to the modifier stack.

4. Select MaxScriptMaxScript listener from the main menu at the top, to ensure you can

view the calculation output.

5. Choose Geo UV Object properties. Geo UV reports that the pipe is an open surfacewith 2 boundaries. Geo UV can process this mesh as it is.


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6. Choose Geo UV Slice. Processing begins and will take about a minute. Monitor theoutput window for progress as calculations proceed. The message done computing willappear.

7. To view the mapping, add an Unwrap UVW Modifier to the stack and select Edit within

the modifier panel (section 4.5. The Unwrap UVW Modeler on page 20). Geo UV createsa mapping with a single, continuous, rectangular piece.

Figure 25 - Mapping, Single, Continuous Piece

8. With the pipe object selected, reselect the Geo UV modifier and choose Geo UV UV

Coverage Area. Geo UV reports that about 8.88% of the UV plane is used. Thisinformation is available through the MaxScript Listener. If no other objects share the sametexture image, this coverage is not acceptable. It looks like splitting the single piece into

three pieces allows arrangement into a square. The segment may be left as it is tomaximize continuity but it would require almost 9 times more memory to get the same

amount of detail.

9. Using the middle mouse button and middle mouse wheel, pan and zoom into the UV mapsection at about a third of the way up the V axis.


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10. Select a row of UVs about a third of the way up. You can drag a rectangle around theUVs to select them.

Figure 26 - Selected UVs a third of the way up


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11. From the Edit UVW toolbar, choose Select Convert Vertex to Edge.

Figure 27 - Select Convert Vertex to Edge


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12. Choose ToolsBreakfrom the Edit UVW window menu.

13. Repeat steps 10-12 to make a cut about two-thirds up the V axis. This leaves the UV mapcut into 3 pieces roughly the same length. (Note that you can select multiple rows of UVsat the same time by keeping CTRL depressed while dragging selection rows of UVs).

14. Add a new GeoUV modifier to the stack.

15. Return to object selection mode and select the pipe object. Choose Geo UV Layout, andthen add a further Unwrap UVW modifier to the stack. Select that modifier and then edit

the UVs as previously explained.


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Figure 28 - Pipe in Geo UV Layout


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16. Normalize the map to use as much of the UV plane as possible as described in section

sub:Normalizing-Texture-Coordinates.

Figure 29 - Pipes Normalized


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17. With the pipe object selected, choose Geo UV UV Coverage Area. Geo UV reports

that about 75% of the UV plane is used. This is a much better use of UV space and allowsfor much greater detail when painting.

Figure 30 - Pipe Texture Final


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8.2. Automatically Mapping a Tree

1. Open the example file tree.max.

Figure 31 - tree.max


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2. Triangulate or quad the tree (see section 4.3. Converting a Mesh to Triangles on page 19)

to satisfy the mesh constraint. You can do this by adding a Turn to Poly modifier to thestack.

3. Add a Geo UV modifier to the stack and choose Geo UV Object properties. Geo UV

reports that the tree is a closed surface with 0 boundaries. Geo UV cannot process thismesh as it is. The end of the mesh must be indicated by selecting the edges.

4. In Editable Poly Edge mode, select 2 connected edges in a straight line at the base ofthe tree. Remember you might find it easier to do this with the mesh in wireframe mode(see page 14 for more information on this mode).

Figure 32 - Tree (Select 2 Connected Edges in a Straight Line at the Base of the Tree)


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5. Choose Geo UV Auto Slice. Processing begins and takes about 30 seconds. Monitor the

output window for progress as calculations proceed. The message done computingappears.

6. Apply a checkerboard pattern to the tree with repeat values of 40 (see section 4.6.

Applying a Checkerboard Texture on page 21).

Figure 33 - Tree With Checkered Pattern (With Repeat Values of 40)


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7. Add a Unwrap UVW Modifier. In the UVW Edit window, break the long piece a little

above the halfway point using the techniques in the Pipe Tutorial.

8. Add another Geo UV Modifier to the stack, and choose Geo UV Geo UV Layout.

9. Add another UVW Modifier. Normalize the UV map to get the final result.


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10. Choose Geo UV UV Coverage Areato see that the coverage area to about 88%.

8.3. Manually Mapping a Tree

1. Open the example filetree.max.

Figure 35 - tree.max


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2. Triangulate or quad the tree (see section 4.3. Converting a Mesh to Triangles on page 19)

to satisfy the mesh constraint. You can do this by adding a Turn to Poly modifier to thestack.

3. Add a Geo UV modifier to the stack and choose Geo UV Object properties. Geo UV

reports that the tree is a closed surface with 0 boundaries. Geo UV cannot process thismesh as it is. The mesh ends must be indicated by selecting edges.

4. In Editable Poly Edgemode, select two connected edges in a straight line at the base ofthe tree.

Figure 36 - Connected Edges in a Straight Line at the Base of the Tree


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5. Use the alt+middle mouse button to rotate around the tree to the top end. Ctrl-Select 2

connected edges in a straight line at the top of the tree. Four edges are selected all together.

Figure 37 - Connected Edges in a Straight Line at the Top of the Tree


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8. This option provides a nice uniform mapping down the trunk between the selected sets ofedges. Branches attached to the trunk are not mapped very well. To fix this, reselect theEditable Poly modifier, ensure Show end result on/off toggle is pressed, and change the

selection mode to Polygon and select a group of faces that look nice.

Figure 39 - Tree Selection Face Mode


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9. Geo UV examines the mappings of the selected faces and automatically selects faces that

are much worse. With the nice faces selected, add another GeoUV Modifier to the top ofthe stack. Within this modifier, choose Geo UV Get Bad Coverand Geo UV

automatically selects the branches.

Figure 40 - Geo UV Bad Cover


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10. Add another Edit Poly modifier to the stack. Expand it and select Element. Select

Detach within the Edit Geometry category of the modifier to break the branches off intoa separate object. Note that the branches, though separated from the trunk, are still part of

one object; so to separate the branches into their own objects, select the branches object,and sub-select Element in the Edit Poly modifier. You can now select each branch withthe left mouse button. Select each branch, and then Detach again. You can now create

a separate object for each branch.

Figure 41 - Tree with Broken Branches

11. Each branch now looks like a miniature tree. The base of each branch is open so there isno need to select these edges. Only edges on the tips of the branches need to be selected.Start with the branch closest to the base of the entire tree.


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12. In Editable Poly (edge mode), select two edges at the tip of the branch.

Figure 42 - Selected Edges at Tip of Branch


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13. Add a GeoUV Modifier, and choose Geo UV Slice. Processing is quick. The message

done computing appears.

Figure 43 - Geo UV Slice Processing


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14. Go back to Editable Poly->Polygon mode (ensure Show end result on/off toggle is

pressed) and select some nice looking faces.

Figure 44 - Face Selection Mode


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15. Add another GeoUV Modifier to the stack. Choose Geo UV Get Bad Coverand Geo

UV automatically selects the sub-branches.

Figure 45 - Geo UV Bad Cover


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16. Add an Edit Poly modifier to the stack. Use EditPolyDetachcommands as described

above to break the branches off into their own objects.

Figure 46 - Geo UV Separate


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17. Repeat steps 12-13 for each object that has no sub-branches. Repeat steps 12-16 for each

object that has sub-branches. Do not worry about the relative density of the sub-branches.

Figure 47 - Checkered Tree


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18. Switch to object selection mode(you can do this either by selecting the Object Select

cursor, or by selecting Edit Poly) and select the central part of the tree.

Figure 48 - Object Selection Mode


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20. In the same Edit Poly modifier, subselect Vertex. Use CTRL+A to select all the

vertices. Select Edit Vertices Weldto merge the duplicate vertices.


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21. With the tree object selected, add another GeoUV modifier and choose Geo UV GeoUV Scalefrom the main menu. Notice that the mapping is more uniform on the model.

Figure 50 - Tree Scaled


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22. Add an Unwrap UVW Modifier, select Edit. Observe that the shells are overlapping

each other.

23. Add another GeoUV Modifier, and select Geo UV Geo UV Layoutto lay the shellsout into an approximate square.

Figure 51 Shells Laid Out in Approximate Square


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24. Break the long piece a little above the halfway point using the techniques in the PipeTutorial. Add another GeoUV modifier and choose Geo UV Geo UV Layout.

Figure 52 - Final Map


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25. Add another Unwrap UVW Modifier, and normalize the UV map to get the final result.

26. Geo UV UV Coverage Areawill reveal the coverage area as approximately 76%.

8.4. Automatically Mapping a Hand

1. Open the hand.maxfile.

2. Select the hand with the Select Object cursor.

3. Turn the mesh into quads or triangles with the TurnToPoly modifier.

4. Add A Geo UV modifier to the stack.

5. Because the wrist is an open boundary, this mesh is processed automatically as it is. GeoUV Auto Slicewill quickly generate a mapping.

6. In the Unwrap UVW Modifier, normalize the UVs.

7. Geo UV UV Coverage Areawill indicate roughly a 71% coverage.

8.5. Manually Mapping a Hand

The Hand model is a very simple mesh. It is an example of a problem an artist encounters

frequently. The basic idea is to break the fingers leaving a palm with two open ends.

There are some considerations that you need to keep in mind. If a triangle or quad on the openhole is only connected to the mesh by one edge and the other two (three) edges are along the open

boundary (the hole) it does not have an acceptable mapping (it looks like a single color).

The way to work around this is to make sure that for each triangle or quad on the edge, only one

of the edges of the triangle or quad are open and the other two (three) edges are connected to themesh. This applies to any mesh but on the hand it is clearly evident because the mesh is sosimple.

1. Open the hand.maxfile.

2. Select the hand with the Select Object cursor.

3. Turn the mesh into quads or triangles with the TurnToPoly modifier.


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4. In Editable Poly->Edgemode, select edges around the thumb. Make a loop with theintention of separating the thumb from the palm. Keep in mind that only one edge of eachtriangle or quad should be selected.

5. In Editable Poly->Edgemode choose Edit Edges Split.

6. In Editable Poly->Elementmode, select the thumb and then choose Edit Geometry

Detach. The thumb is now a separate object from the rest of the hand.

7. Make a similar loop of selected edges around each finger. Make sure that only one edge ofeach triangle or quad is selected. When selecting the edges, around the index finger,

choose the edge that the thumb shares. Do this as you make each finger into its own object,ensuring a continuous open boundary is created where the fingers and the palm meet. Each

finger, the thumb and the palm should be separate objects.

8. Reselect the thumb in Object Selectmode. In Editable Poly->Edgemode, select twoedges at the end of the thumb.

9. Add a GeoUV Modifier and activate Geo UV Slice.

10. Repeat steps 9 and 10 for each finger. At this point, each of the six separate objects arerecognized as cylinders and ready for Geo UV to process.

11. In Object Selectmode, select the palm (largest part) of the hand.

12. In Edit Poly, go to the Edit Geometry->Attach options box. Select all the other objectsin the list and then click Attach.

13. Drag the checkerboard pattern from the Materials Editor onto the hand using the left

mouse button. Apply a Tiling UVvalue of 40, (see section 4.6. Applying a CheckerboardTexture on page 21).

14. In Edit Poly->Vertexmode, use CTRL+A to select all the vertices. Select Edit

Vertices Weldto merge the duplicate vertices.

15. Add a GeoUV Modifier and apply Geo UV Scale.

16. Add a GeoUV Modifier and apply Geo UV Layout.

17. In the Unwrap UVW Modifier, normalize the UVs.

18 G UV UV C A h ld l 75%

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