I need help mapping a shoe set I am working on. Besides Roadkill and UVMapper are there any other Mapping tools that are free or cheap?

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You might want to look at Blender - it's a huge modeling suite but it has a lot of nice uvmapping features.

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/Unwrapping_a_Mesh

Don't you have Cinema 4D?  If you do then you probably want to look at the UVmapping tools included with Bodypaint, very powerful.

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Attached Link: http://www.morphography.uk.vu/uvmapping.html

I'm sure RoadKill and UVMapper can do the job between them - I used that combination to map my recent Nancy Boots freebie, and I think the map turned out ok. Was there something particular you're having trouble with? Here's a link to my tutorial, in case you haven't seen it. 

Quote - You might want to look at Blender - it's a huge modeling suite but it has a lot of nice uvmapping features.

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/Unwrapping_a_Mesh

Don't you have Cinema 4D?  If you do then you probably want to look at the UVmapping tools included with Bodypaint, very powerful.

I have tried blender in the past not a program I think I could learn.

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Quote - I'm sure RoadKill and UVMapper can do the job between them - I used that combination to map my recent Nancy Boots freebie, and I think the map turned out ok. Was there something particular you're having trouble with? Here's a link to my tutorial, in case you haven't seen it. 

Problem with Roadkill it clears out the grouping of my obj file after I export it. I cannot find any settings to keep the groups in tack. UVMapper I cannot get the maps to relax like I want with Roadkill. I think I am at version UVMapper 2 Pro

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*Problem with Roadkill it clears out the grouping of my obj file after I export it.

Read Bob's Tutorial he linked for you. he shows you how to fix that.*

Quote - *Problem with Roadkill it clears out the grouping of my obj file after I export it.

Read Bob's Tutorial he linked for you. he shows you how to fix that.

if I had time right now to read it I would be we are starting to get busy here at work.

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I cross-posted with Khai. Here's the executive summary:

1. In UVMapper, open the model you saved from RoadKill. Go to File > Export UVs. Make sure that all the options are unchecked so you get only the UV mapping.

2. Open up your original (grouped) model in UVMapper.

3. Now go to File > Import UVS, and select the file you saved in step 1. This applies the RoadKill mapping, but doesn't change the scaling, or overwrite the original grouping or material zones.
    

Can I just say thanks Bob?
I hate Tuesdays, we are always busy between 9AM and 10AM. Plus it does not help that our systems are slow this morning. 
Khai, sorry if I sounded snippy. It is easier for me to glance at a reply in the forum than to read a tutorial while at work.

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You're welcome. :)

By the way, RoadKill is based on UV mapping code taken from Blender; so it may be that their capabilities are not too different anyway.

I happen to be digging the UV map unwrapping in Hexagon :)

Hi, my namez: "NO, Bad Kitteh, NO!"  Whaz yurs?
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Quote - I happen to be digging the UV map unwrapping in Hexagon :)

I have not the played with Hexagon's UV tool in awhile and don't currently have it installed. I will give EB's method a shot first.

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EB just had a chance to try your method works great thanks

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 Cool. When might we see the results?

Quote -  Cool. When might we see the results?

Soon I hope, I am not the best at textures and hope with the reference images I have to this complete in a few days. I have set a few hours a side on Saturday to for just poser work since I am stuck in front of my system checking work emails for a few hours.

On a side note what is the best size to save templates at?

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Quote - On a side note what is the best size to save templates at?

Whatever's a comfortable size for you to work with, which will depend on the size of your screen among other factors. I usually go for 1024 x 1024, although I might go larger for figures. 1024 is quite large for shoe textures, unless they're going to be seen in closeup - but you can always shrink them.

Quality Is what I am looking. I want the best bang for the buck, specially if I decide to sell this product.

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Well, if you take an average full-figure render in the gallery here, the shoes aren't going to cover more than a hundred or two pixels square (those that are wearing shoes, that is... :D ) For that use, having a shoe texture bigger than 256 x 256 is a waste of your customer's memory - bang for the buck doesn't really come into it. Of course, if the render is going to end up on a huge poster, or if they're going to do an extreme close-up, then something larger would be necessary.

What's convenient is another matter. I'm not an expert texture artist either, but I prefer to work at a large scale and optionally resize afterwards, if there's going to be a lot of fine detail. It's easier to draw something small (stitching, for example) a few pixels wide, than it is to do it at the final size which may be less than a pixel across.

Here is one of the reference images I am using for textures. Not the shoe laces but going to try a bump map or displacement. If push comes to shove I will figure out the best to model the laces.

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Just an update. I SUCK AT TEXTURES!
I am going to have to redo some of the modeling and remap it a little different due to the way is looks when I have simple textures. I tried a bump map for the shoe laces and decided that is not the way to go, so I am just going to have to make some laces that will fit.

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Yes, I think I'd expect modelled laces from a paid-for shoe. Even the Poser 4 shoes have modelled laces...