Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 3rd Nov 2016 at 2:00 AM
UV Unwrap Question (Custom Mesh)
Hello! It is the year 2016, 2 years after the release of TS4, and I'm just now doing my first custom mesh for TS3. (Go me!)

Background first:

I've followed a variety of tutorials in my process of making making a custom mesh in Blender for the paladin armor from the new Voltron show--just for fun. I also have Milkshape, though I very much prefer using Blender when it's possible. And I've also got TSR Workshop and the Mesh Toolkit. I did originally clone a wet suit from Seasons for my base/reference, so in theory it should fit just fine. But every tutorial I've dug through ends up with a few "problems" that makes things slightly murky to me, when it comes to texturing. The first issue is that the tutorials almost always work with tops, and therefore part of the process involves pulling an appropriate body mesh into the project for a base and subtracting the verts overlapped by the clothing mesh. The reason this is a "problem" for me is because my mesh has no exposed skin, so I don't need that step. The reason this is really a problem is that while these projects are using files that feature the standard UV unwrap, my mesh has yet to have my seams placed.

My question:

And this is probably a stupid question, but: Does the UV unwrap have to be in the same basic shape, with the seams placed around the shoulders and cutting the mesh in half in a specific manner along the X axis? Or can I unwrap my mesh however I like--place my seams as makes sense to me--as long as the parts are positioned in "Red/Green zone" from the popular Red/Green/Yellow color coded UV template?
Advertisement
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#2 Old 3rd Nov 2016 at 6:04 PM
Your UV map doesn't really need to be EA's basic shape, but it might make things easier so your clothing piece won't show up pixelated in-game. It does depends on how much needs to be unwrapped, but knowing how the paladin armor looks like... it might make things easier.

For fullbody meshes, you don't necessarily need to cut the body in half. In the UV map, I would leave the TS3 body as it is. This is because else the game won't know where to generate the body texture, or the body texture will look really off. So do never touch the TS3 body uvmap.
You can easily UVWrap your mesh just the way you like. But do make sure they're inside the Top and bottom area if you're making a fullbody mesh:



So when you're making a top mesh, You always want to keep your uv map in the red area. same for bottom meshes, shoes, etc.

I have made a tutorial about UVmapping, but this is a way I like to use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icRNo0-wNEg

When I convert game clothing to TS3, it's a different way of UV mapping but could also be done if you really do not want to bother straightening things: https://youtu.be/1XdsPwDQCOQ?t=9m57s

So your UV map can look different from EA's if you like. ^-^
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 3rd Nov 2016 at 11:55 PM
That's EXACTLY what I need to know--thanks so much!
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#4 Old 4th Nov 2016 at 5:33 PM
Back to top