Well I have read alot that says that this is suppose to be hard.  It seems ridiculously easy - this leads me to believe that I am screwing it all up.

When I move the points on the UV map am I messing up the mesh points?  IE do the points on the model move at the same time?

Does it matter if these dots are in a jumbled mess as long as they don't overlap eachother?
Does overlapping even matter?

Thanks in advance.

p.s. maybe it is necessary to point out that I am doing this in carrara.

Quote - When I move the points on the UV map am I messing up the mesh points?  IE do the points on the model move at the same time?

As a general rule, no.  The UV mapping has its own set of coordinates.

Quote - Does it matter if these dots are in a jumbled mess as long as they don't overlap eachother?
Does overlapping even matter?

How jumbled and overlapping are we talking here?  Try to look at it from a texture-painter's point-of-view.

Overlapping parts that will be divided among separate maps (body textures vs. head textures, for instance) are okay.  Overlapping parts on the same map, however, might cause texturing problems.

The ultimate goal of UV-mapping is to flatten a three-dimensional object with as little distortion as possible.  And for continuous surfaces like organic bodies, with as few seams as possible.  Good UV-mapping is as much an art as it is a science.

Quote - Well I have read alot that says that this is suppose to be hard.  It seems ridiculously easy - this leads me to believe that I am screwing it all up.

When I move the points on the UV map am I messing up the mesh points?  IE do the points on the model move at the same time?

Does it matter if these dots are in a jumbled mess as long as they don't overlap eachother?
Does overlapping even matter?

Thanks in advance.

NO!!  Take my word for it.  A UV Map only tells a 3D mesh object where to look on a 2D pictiure of any given dimention where to find its pixels, nothing more.  UV mapping is VERY simple, bit it is also VERY tedious and exacting.  Patience is the most important virtue, and is the only factor that will eventually achieve the required results.  Also, save your work frequently.Two hours of mapping usually require another two hours to redo if you should haqve a brown-out right before hitting the save button.
DPH

Thank you very much for the replies.

Right now the model I am working on mapping is really pretty basic and simple - so the map is also pretty easy I guess.  The information you gave me will be very valuable  when I move on to more complex models.

depends...;) Actually, putting a basic coat down isn't too hard (at least in Wings 3d), it's when you have to have things 'line up' that it gets tricky..;)  The UVMapper in Wings allows you to cut along vertices, which can help. It's where to cut, and how to cut, that you have to work with. Things like signeage on spaceships, hair, etc., is where you have to work with this.

The other thing that can drive you mad is using textures, photos, whatever, to make the material to 'paint' your object. Depending on the size of the mesh, moving anything after you've UVMapped, etc., the pic can get 'distorted', if you're not careful. Sometimes a great-looking texture will get 'magnified' when UVMapped, which tends to make it look obvious.

I'm the poster boy for bad UVMapping technicque, but I'm learning. Come on in, the water's fine..;)

Attached Link: FREE "Making Money" tutorial compliments of Dr Geep Studios - Been to the "U" lately?

This page is excerpt from the "Making Money" tutorial at Dr Geep Studios.

Use the link above the image to access the entire tutorial.

It might help with an understanding about UV mapping. :blink: ___ HUH?

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

BTW - The answers to your questions are:

1. no
2. no
3. no
4. no

;=]

What UV map does is takes a saran wrap of your character, tears it off, straightens it out, so you can paint pictures of clothes on it.
That way, next time your hubby wraps the saran wrap on you, it's not all see-through.

Does straightening saran wrap make my butt look smaller (change the mesh structure) ?  No. (heh, I wish) The massive amounts of paint applied to the saran wrap would only attempt to mask it.

Or think of it as taking a shirt off, and ironing it all out (move vertices and relax UV) so you can paint on it with fabric paints.

First you need to iron things out, then you nedd to separate front form back (or the other way around, doesn't matter  too much)

If you have the front and back of the shirt in the same spot, the really gooey fabric paint will go through, and the same image will show up front and back.
(in 3D world jargon this would be a fancy term of overlapping polygons on a UV map)

DrGeep can draw us a nice cartoon of the bove saran-wrap-unwrap metod ;)  Only he could do it justice!

the best description I've found is this.

take a teddy bear.

(Image Public Domain via Wikipedia)

now look at how they stitched the cloth together to make the bear. when UVmapping we're doing the job of making the Bear in reverse. We're taking the completed Bear and then taking it back to this :

(thank you to **www.lyrical-bears.co.uk/free.html )
**which is our VUmap. 

"":If you have the front and back of the shirt in the same spot, the really gooey fabric paint will go through, and the same image will show up front and back.""

Hrm the program only gave me one side.  Can I define the front and back of polys as different material groups?  Does that depend on the program Im using?  Does this mean that I have to make all things with two layers of polys?  Does this make any sense lmao....

Off to school - I hope Dr Geep isn't too cranky this time of night...

@ Conniekat8

LOL !!!  ...... I'll consider it if I run out of other projects ... ;=]

@ jjroland

Dr Geep is NEVER cranky ..... (except maybe when NSG asks a stoopid question). ... ;=[

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

Quote - "":If you have the front and back of the shirt in the same spot, the really gooey fabric paint will go through, and the same image will show up front and back.""

Quote -  

Oh, sowwy, my bad.. bad description...I left out some important parts.
You only get to paint on the outside of the shirt. Outside of the front, outside of the back. UV mapping never lets you paint on the inside of the shirt.

But, if your front piece of fabric (or a UV map), and back side of fabric are overlapping, then the paint will go all the way through.
I'll come up with a picture of this when I get home. It's whopping 18 min after quitting time here, and I'm not gonna let the door hit me ...you know where... on the way out. ;)

Quote - Hrm the program only gave me one side.  Can I define the front and back of polys as different material groups?

Polygons only have one side, and from the back side they are either invisible, or you may see the material on the polygon's face.  When you get into trying to apply different materials to the "back" side of the polygon, you're getting into some voodoo territory.

Quote - Hrm the program only gave me one side.

A polygon, by definition, is one-sided.
A 2d plane (w/ no segments) is made of two one-sided polygons...front and back.

Quote - Can I define the front and back of polys as different material groups?

No. There is no back to a polygon.
You should definitely be able to assign different materials and UV maps to the opposite sides of a surface; because the two sides are not the same group of polygons. I don't know how you would do that with C5.

Quote - Does that depend on the program Im using?

Sort of. I have shaders that make one-sided polygons two-sided and individual materials can be applied to the opposite side. But; that is really making two polys out of 1; certainly at least in terms of render time hit.
You also can't have individual UV Map co-ords doing that, so you are forced to use the same UV co-ords on both surfaces, AFAIK; which isn't always desireable. It is better to have the two poly surfaces to work with in the first place a lot of the times.

Quote - Does this mean that I have to make all things with two layers of polys?

Yes. If you want the backside of a surface to be visible, then you are in effect making another polygon group.
It is a complete waste of resources to have non-visible polygon surfaces; unless there is transparency involved (when you could see the hidden polys) or the object is made to be viewed from all sides. A floor, for instance, only needs the top side; the bottom polys are a waste of resources.

Thank you.
That post dvlenk gave me alot of useful info and amazingly enough I understood all of it !