Sculptie Extrusion messing up UV Map

lisa · 22nd April 2008, 05:56 PM

Other apps rely on having exactly 1024 vertices. The AC3D plugin uses the UV map not as a shortcut, but rather as a means to be able to import existing models that otherwise could not be made into sculpties. i.e. The same reason Maya uses nurbs for sculpties, it is a parametric representation.

It would be trivial to implement the methods other programs are using if its desirable, but you would be far more limited in the types of shapes possible.

Petite Pixie · 22nd April 2008, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisa

Other apps rely on having exactly 1024 vertices. The AC3D plugin uses the UV map not as a shortcut, but rather as a means to be able to import existing models that otherwise could not be made into sculpties. i.e. The same reason Maya uses nurbs for sculpties, it is a parametric representation.

It would be trivial to implement the methods other programs are using if its desirable, but you would be far more limited in the types of shapes possible.

That's all good but it's confusing and the results are not easy to get right unless you know how to work it by knowing how the code works and as an artist I don't care about how the paint is made or all the ingredients in them I just want to know I will get results. I'm not a software person or technical users and that's the main reason I bought AC3D was because it's very intuitive and easy to learn but I baffled as why even simple shapes have holes that need to be removed in the UV Map and what is the best way to do this. I've done some pretty nice meshes that should be simple enough to export to sculpty but often with very crappy results after spending 3 times as much time on fixing the UV maps than I did making it and it's getting so when I think of making something in AC3D I often don't bother because I don't want to spend hours on something that won't work.

As for limits the biggest limit is not getting anything to work at all.

Severa · 23rd April 2008, 12:28 AM

This has been tough for me too. If you use that sculpty extrude button it seems to fail most of the time. Sometimes it does work though. It seems like if I use it from the start and use that program sculptyspace you can open them in that to see if it even worked without bothering loading them up into SL first. Just do a search for that program and try things in there first. You can import the sculpted prim map and put a texture on it too. It's really useful for trial and error.

lisa · 23rd April 2008, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severa

If you use that sculpty extrude button it seems to fail most of the time. Sometimes it does work though.

Do you have a specific case where you can repro this? It sounds like a bug.

The sculpy extrude function is actually one I've had some help on, so knowing how to reproduce the problem will go a long way toward fixing it.

Severa · 24th April 2008, 05:53 PM

Well as a test I was making a pillar which you know about, and I had done the extrude, everything looked fine and I can always tell from the maps if they are going to fail. I did another and everything still looked good. It loaded up nicely in max and maya as well as zbrush, but in the viewer it looked all crazy - the extreme stretch. I'll mess with it later again and try to do something else to get a better explanation of what's going on with it.

Actually after posting this I just went back to messing with the TCE but I wanted to try an extrude for two eyes that protrude, it did it in that instance on one eye but not the other. I should have saved it but next time I see this happen, I'll post up a broken one so you can load it up yourself and see what's going on.

lisa · 23rd April 2008, 01:29 AM

I understand your frustration; I know uv mapping is hard to learn. I'll have to mull it over a bit, but if I can come up with a good auto-mapping algo I'll update the plug-in to include it.

FYI: I don't work for Inivis, and I don't get paid in real dollars nor Linden dollars for any of this. I wrote the sculpty plug-in for my own ease-of-use and thought it might be nice to share. Andy was so kind as to incorporate it into the AC3D distro and help to support it and the community, which I think is awfully gracious of him.

I try to help the AC3D community specifically because I do understand your frustration. I work in 3D for a living, and it took me many years to learn these "technical" things that you insist that artists shouldn't have to know. (I have to laugh a little at this one, no offense meant, because the art leads of the studio where I work went with me to Los Angeles just last week for some hardcore hardware and software design instruction. Art makes or breaks frame-rate way faster than code.

) That said, if I can help someone else avoid having to jump through the same hoops, then I'm all for it.

I do honestly want to make this easier for new users, and I am listening to your concerns. I have a couple of fixes to some other plug-ins that are on my to-do list first, but again, if I can think of a good way to make it easier without breaking existing functionality--or perhaps as a separate piece if it can't be done within the context of what's there--then I'm happy to add it.

Incidentally, *specific* wishes and criticisms are much more useful to improving the software. i.e. "I wish I had a tool that did XYZ function" is much more helpful than "Aieeee, it didn't work." Obviously, if it wasn't working for me the way it was, I wouldn't have written it that way, lol.

I can only guess at the way other people use it unless you show me.

22nd April 2008, 05:56 PM	#1
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Sculptie Extrusion messing up UV Map Other apps rely on having exactly 1024 vertices. The AC3D plugin uses the UV map not as a shortcut, but rather as a means to be able to import existing models that otherwise could not be made into sculpties. i.e. The same reason Maya uses nurbs for sculpties, it is a parametric representation. It would be trivial to implement the methods other programs are using if its desirable, but you would be far more limited in the types of shapes possible.

23rd April 2008, 12:28 AM	#3
Severa Member Advanced member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 41	Re: Sculptie Extrusion messing up UV Map This has been tough for me too. If you use that sculpty extrude button it seems to fail most of the time. Sometimes it does work though. It seems like if I use it from the start and use that program sculptyspace you can open them in that to see if it even worked without bothering loading them up into SL first. Just do a search for that program and try things in there first. You can import the sculpted prim map and put a texture on it too. It's really useful for trial and error.

24th April 2008, 05:53 PM	#5
Severa Member Advanced member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 41	Re: Sculptie Extrusion messing up UV Map Well as a test I was making a pillar which you know about, and I had done the extrude, everything looked fine and I can always tell from the maps if they are going to fail. I did another and everything still looked good. It loaded up nicely in max and maya as well as zbrush, but in the viewer it looked all crazy - the extreme stretch. I'll mess with it later again and try to do something else to get a better explanation of what's going on with it. Actually after posting this I just went back to messing with the TCE but I wanted to try an extrude for two eyes that protrude, it did it in that instance on one eye but not the other. I should have saved it but next time I see this happen, I'll post up a broken one so you can load it up yourself and see what's going on. Last edited by Severa; 24th April 2008 at 05:55 PM.

23rd April 2008, 01:29 AM	#6
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Sculptie Extrusion messing up UV Map I understand your frustration; I know uv mapping is hard to learn. I'll have to mull it over a bit, but if I can come up with a good auto-mapping algo I'll update the plug-in to include it. FYI: I don't work for Inivis, and I don't get paid in real dollars nor Linden dollars for any of this. I wrote the sculpty plug-in for my own ease-of-use and thought it might be nice to share. Andy was so kind as to incorporate it into the AC3D distro and help to support it and the community, which I think is awfully gracious of him. I try to help the AC3D community specifically because I do understand your frustration. I work in 3D for a living, and it took me many years to learn these "technical" things that you insist that artists shouldn't have to know. (I have to laugh a little at this one, no offense meant, because the art leads of the studio where I work went with me to Los Angeles just last week for some hardcore hardware and software design instruction. Art makes or breaks frame-rate way faster than code. ) That said, if I can help someone else avoid having to jump through the same hoops, then I'm all for it. I do honestly want to make this easier for new users, and I am listening to your concerns. I have a couple of fixes to some other plug-ins that are on my to-do list first, but again, if I can think of a good way to make it easier without breaking existing functionality--or perhaps as a separate piece if it can't be done within the context of what's there--then I'm happy to add it. Incidentally, specific wishes and criticisms are much more useful to improving the software. i.e. "I wish I had a tool that did XYZ function" is much more helpful than "Aieeee, it didn't work." Obviously, if it wasn't working for me the way it was, I wouldn't have written it that way, lol. I can only guess at the way other people use it unless you show me.