Hi all, I have asked this question before, but have only ever gotten one of three answers (1) It's too tedious, don't even go there; (2) Use UV Mapper; or (3) Use UTC. In response to (1), that may be the case but I'd like to decide that for myself - and at least find out. In response to (2), yes I already have UV Mapper (the free version) -- so where do I go from there ? i.e. what do I actually do once I have UV Mapper open ? .... I have (say) the seam guides for V2, now what ? In response to (3), I already have UTC - its great - but I am trying to map (say) V2 textures to Elle or Natalia - these characters are not supported by UTC. So can anyone give me a definitive step-by-step guide to the murky world of UV re-mapping ? Thanks for any help. regards, Andrew

P.S. I should have mentioned that I own zBrush v2 - any chance that it could be used for this purpose ?

Well, the easiest method (and the only one I know of) with UV Mapper is to remap the character to match the layout of the texture you want to use. Obviously you won't be able to do that with all characters, as some have more parts than others. For instance, it would be very difficult to remap my simple dragon model to use the MilDragon's textures, because the MilDragon has more parts, and a more complicated map than mine does.

SnowFox, Thanks for replying. You've essentially given me a variation on reply (2) above, though. The question still remains - if I am armed with a seam guide for Victoria 2, and one for Elle (say), .... *** HOW *** ... do I use UV Mapper to map one to the other ? regards, Andrew

This is how I understand it, haven't put it to the test, but what I've been told. seam guides are of no use to you for the purpose that you are going for. Seam guides are like the last stage of uvmapping if that makes sence. if u have V2 the model, open uvmapper and point to the V2 obj file (don't remember exact name) you will then lay out the maps, head, body, fingernails, eyes etc you will save out a UVS file which is the positions of the uv coordinates used for the obj. close, don't save anything. now open up your elle obj file layout all the parts similarrly to the way V2 was, now load the V2 uvs file in the background. having both elle uv coordinates on top, and V2 in the background, now you move the various positions of the elle maps to where the V2 corrdinates are as extremely close as you can. this is where lots of coffee and time come in, your talking about every coordinate changed to match as closely as you can to V2's. you would then save out this NEW Elle_v2-mapped.obj file from UVmapper. copy the OLD elle.cr2 and make a new one called Elle_v2-mapped.cr2, open it up in a text editor and change all references to the old OBJ file for the new remapped obj file. copy the obj to the geometires folder and the new cr2 to where it needs to go..... and this is where I have no more information hahaha. eseentially now it's setting up the various poser files in the runtime and rsr file so that you can see it in the library etc. the whole object is not to regroup the model, or change the verts of the model, but how the UVs are positioned so that in poser Elle works as the model should, clothing etc, however the material placement (uv coordinates) are that of V2 so you can apply your V2 map to this new model. take with a grain of salt, not sure if I have all that correct, but basically. You should post a thread in the UVMapper forum at www.uvmapper.com and see if someone can give you menu settings, buttons ya push etc as I haven't gotten this far. I did get as far as the old uvs in the background and the new lays out on top, and it was SOOO messy and overwhelming I exited everything and went into the corner and rocked back n forth. That is why, your (1) is always the same responce, it's daunting. hope that helps, if you figure out some steps or clues, post um, information on the topic interests me but there is a lack of it out there.

Hi MachineClaw, Thanks for responding. Can you do what you say in the free version of UVMapper. I can't work out how you paste V2's uv map on to the background - also is it possible to render it in a different color to make it distinguishable from Elle's ? Also, I hear what you are saying about cowering in the corner and rocking back and forth. I guess you could make it a bit more palatable by doing it in small chunks and saving the results each time ? Finally, more on the seam guides --- are these actually designed to be used when you are actually painting a texture ? regards, Andrew

Having been one of the people saying it's too tedious, I'll go further, lol First, you have to know how to use UVMapper. You have to understand use of the various functions, understand how to move various objects and in some cases you will need UVMapper pro for the stitch functions. You'll need to be able to zoom in close, and know how to move vertices and points. If you do not understand the above, learn that first, otherwise you will be very frustrated, as not knowing how to use the tool will make it all but impossible to do. Since the number of different functions requires essentially a complete tutorial on using UVMapper (some features of which are not available in the free version), it's beyond the scope of a fairly simple reply. Excluding the methods of using UVMapper, the replies you've recieved so far are correct -- and Machineclaw gives a fairly good step by step example of how to do it. To give the steps for doing it myself: Load the donor obj file (V2) save out templates as bmp files load target obj file load templates just saved as the texture start moving the various points Once the points match, save the *.uvs file out. create a copy of the original figure and rename it. open that copy up, and import the Vs you just saved, then save that figure (do not overwrite your original) Create a copy of the cr2 for the figure and name it. open that cr2 up and change the instances where it calls for the old object file so that it now calls for your new one. save. poof. You've got a new figure that takes the maps you want it to take. average time it takes me to do a full figure remap is about 7 hours. My first one took my about two weeks. Now, you can use the seam guides from the donor figure for this - seam guides are templates that have been marked for ease in seeing where the seams of a figure are to aid in the application of detailed textures. I would recommend doing it that way, however, only if you do not have the obj file of the donor figure. now, that's how you do it. That really is a step by step for the activity itself. If you don't understand the steps, then you need to ask specific questions about them, and beyond that you need to ask specific questions about the various tools if you don't know what tool to use. Thar ya be :) HTH

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)

Thanks, ynsaen. I have a partial understanding of UV Mapper free version. Sounds like I need to get the pro version to do what I need to do - which are the pro features in particular that I need for this task that are not available in the free version ? Would it be possible to process them bit by bit, i.e. just process the head, then the neck, then the chest etc.etc.etc. ?? You don't happen to know whether I can do this in zBrush ?? - would save me having to fork out more money to buy UV Mapper Pro.... Thanks again.... regards, Andrew

I can't speak for zbrush -- my understanding of the app is limited to a prior version where that's not possible -- the new one, though, is really more fully featured. IF there is a program that can do it "easily", I'd bet it was one. I can say that even Deep UV can't do it. lol I don't currently have the free version installed, so look under the tools -> UVs menu for Weld and stitch (they may not be needed in this case). The only other really important features are point editing and the zoom tool. The point editing changes everything to a bunch of dots where the lines intersect (the lines are vertices) and lets you move them around individually or in groups. as far as processing them bit by bit, if you mean can you do it over time, saving to a new file, then hell yeah -- and the ability of UVMapper pro to hide unselected stuff is a huge help there, but isn't critical. When you are doing it, you'll have to do it a bit at a time -- aside from the eyestrain, it's really, really, really boring stuff to do. If you mean can you do "only" the hands and not the rest, then yes as well to an extent -- you can do a artial remaps of any figure (I've remapped Posette's hands to take higher res textures for a close up series on making change). Mapping, all by itself, is a really cool thing, that takes a weird mindset. But you can do some really awesome stuff with it if you plan things out properly.

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)

As to free version of UVMapper. Yes if you use UVS then you can have each body part a different color, or all V2 as blue, and elle as red, or whatever ya'd like. I forget how to do it, I don't have UVMapper installed at the moment. If you use a seam guid in the background then only the OBJ uvs can be changed in color, as the background would be a image and would show as whatever color they are. Can it be done with UVMapper free. Yes. Would it be easyer in Pro version, well, from the features list of Pro some of the tools would be helpful if not easyer. Some of the higher end applications have even more tools that help, but then ya pay for what ya get if that makes sence. DeepUV is about $300, UVMapper Pro $45 they both do different things. some of the same functions. can you do parts. yes. V2 is broken into parts Head and Body are seperate maps. unlike V3 where the body and head are one map. Like ynsaen pointed out this has to do with how ya want things layed out. one of the advantages of the way V3 was mapped is it's easyer to apply tatoo maps due to the way the mapping was done. again, there are different ways to do it, and it is an artform. 3d artist quotes: "I love to model, hate UVin'", "I love to texture paint, if UV maps are layed out logiclly", "UVin is easy it's just moving points around, modeling and texturing now thats HARD!" haha, things I've heard over time in Poserville. It is a very simple idea, but when ya get in there and muck around, you'll know if it's for you. Think about this. Elle is about 30k and V2 is about the same if I remember right. that's 30,000 polys, that's a whole lot of lining up and matching and eyeballing to do. Impossible, no not at all. You may need a straight jacket and a padded cell afterward, or maybe it's one of those easy things for you. Me I'd rather set a kid down and tell him or her that I would buy 3 video games for them if they could get all the dots n lines to match up. little rats could probably do it quick too. hahaha. poke around the www.uvmapper.com forum, read the guide, check the forum for UVMapper here at Rend, and ask questions. Mostly, make copies of all your files, and dive in, try it out.