UV Mapping in Blender

[Tankko]

I'm trying to do some UV Mapping for a semi-complex model (Seafaring Ship) and it is such a combersome process that I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing it the right way.

I've read all the tutorials I can find, but they all use simple shapes like a cube or cone, but nothing complex.

I've tried defining edges and then using the LSCM Unwrap, but it produces a jumbled mess. I've tried fixing it with "pinning" (as one tutorial shows), but that is amazingly slow and I can't imagine having to redo this hours long process everytime I make a change.

I've tried going into UV Face Select mode, and select just the Faces I want and LSCM Unwrapping them one at a time. This produces the best results, but then I have to take each group of Faces and scale and move them. It's still a couple hour long process and something that will need to be redone if any changes are made.

I like the idea of defing the edges, but it seems that the unwrapping process could be pretty smart, but it's not.

Am I missing something, or is doing the UV Maps just a pain in the ass?

The other issues I am facing (no pun intended) are:

1) I don't want to UVMap the ships masts, they are thin 8 sided poles and I just want them to be a color. How do I do that.

2) I'd like the sail of the ship to be a completely separate UV Mapping, so I can apply a different material (i.e. image) to each instance of the ship in the game. How do I specify a different UV Mapping file for a different object?

I'd be happy to upload my model for someone to take a look at, but I have no server to upload it to. If someone will host it, I'll send it to them.

[danharibo]

ok, im no genius but here goes:
1. Edges are your friends, its just a mater of getting them in the right place.
2. Don't use a separete uv-map for the sail, just use a projective decal.
3. for the mast, just make a brown blob on the texture.

[Tankko]

OK, I re-did the edges (Mark Seam) and it worked a lot better this time, so I must have been doing something goofy the first time.

Is there a way to remove the masts from the faces in the UVMap? Once they appear in there, they can't be removed. Since I don't want these UV Mapped, I'd like them to not be there at all. Is that even possible? Same goes for the sail, if I'm going to use a "Projective Decal".

also, is there a way to make the LSCM unwrap do a better jo of fitting everything into the texture area? Right now they are all at the very bottom and much smaller then they need to be. Or do I have to move and scale them by hand?

[Jerky]

OK, I re-did the edges (Mark Seam) and it worked a lot better this time, so I must have been doing something goofy the first time.
...
also, is there a way to make the LSCM unwrap do a better jo of fitting everything into the texture area? Right now they are all at the very bottom and much smaller then they need to be. Or do I have to move and scale them by hand?

Marking seam is the way to go. You need to make sure that your new area is completely enclosed by seams, otherwise it does no good at all.

When using LSCM unwrap, you will need to scale and rotate your sections to fit correctly. The best way to do this is select 1 point and press L. This selects all linked points, which works great if you have each section seperate (using mark seams). You can then grab each "island" seperately and set them up for the best fit possible. You always want to try to have eveything uniformly scaled, otherwise people can tell where your seams are.

Most of all, don't give up, it takes practice.

[Tankko]

I just noticed in the UVs menu, there is a "Archimap UV Projection Unwrapper" option (script) that does a great job of fitting everything to the page. Just what I was looking for.

Of course... now I'm getting this error:

File "<string>", line 136, in bevent
IndexError: list index out of range

when I try and save the file. I get this even without using the ArchiMap script. Seems like people are suggesting that I just take a screen cap and use that.

Thanks for the help

[Tankko]

For what it's worth, I figured out the error in the "Save UV Face Layout..."

Seems it is because there is no selected object, which is a little strange since I can work on the object just fine in Edit Mode, etc.

Solution is to go into Object Mode and select the object. Seems to me that it would already be selected based on it being in Edit Mode. Guess not.