This tutorial explains how to UV Map a new addition (shoes, watch, etc) that you have created. You should do the uvmapping *before* adding the object to your mesh.



Here I have made a new shoe mesh in MilkShape. I am going to uv_map it first, before I duplicate to make the second shoe. This way, both shoes will share the exact same uv_map and it will be easier to skin, and easier to find room for it on the texture image.

First, I select the whole mesh - then I use "unweld" on the vertex menu. This will allow us to separately move the uv-co ordinates without interference with each other.

Next, I want to separate the three main parts - the side, the top, and the bottom, so I can uv map each from a different view.



I go to Select mode, and set it to "face" - I carefully select the faces of the sides of the shoes, leaving the top and bottom un-selected. I check by using "Hide Selection" on the edit menu.


What I want to see is just the top and bottom, and none of the side parts.


When I have all the side parts hidden, I set the selection controls to "face" and "by vertex", then select only the bottom of the shoe. I ReGroup this, and name it "bottom"



I now select only the top part, regroup again, and name it "top"

I unhide everything now, and rename the other group "sides"

Now we are ready to do the uv_mapping
I Select All on the menu, then assign a Maxis skintone texture .bmp as the image. This will make it easy to find a good place to put our new parts where they will not interfere with the clothing texture or with the skintone texture. A safe place is in between the front and back sides, below the hands.

(To get the skintone texture, use BodyShop to export a SkinTone project. You don't need to import it back to the game, you can just go in the folder inside "Projects" and get the texture image for the age/sex you are working on.)



I open the Texture Co-ordinator. I click [Region], and drag a box where I want the sides mapped. Then I choose Sides in the first drop-down box, and "left" in the second one. Then I click [ReMap] This will remap the shoesides group into the defined box, from the left side view.



I repeat for the Bottom group, setting "Bottom" and "bottom" in the two boxes. I do the same for the top, using "top" and "top" in the drop-downs.
I define a different "region" for each first, of course.

Now I select all the groups, and regroup them back into one.

Then I go back to the texture co-ordinator, and move, rotate, scale the various sections as needed


This is what my final uv mapping looks like.

The final step is to select all the groups again, and on the vertex menu use "weld together"

You can now duplicate the shoe for the second shoe, export as an .obj file, and go back to your body mesh to bring the new shoes in and assign the vertices, etc.

Here is how the finished shoes look:

Very nice and useful! *Applauds*
Thank you for making this! I always wondered how people made such nice shoes

This is awesome, I'm working on my on and maybe it'll save my butt Thanx

THX!!! It is very helpfully for me!!
I will try it.

dr. pixel... why is everything you do so damn useful hehe thanks

thank you sooo much!

thanks ,i had discover some of this myself,but now i understand better,thanks you so much

HI Dr. Pixel!

How do I do this last step? "Duplicate the second shoe" and "Bring the new shoes in..." In other words, how do I add this part to my existing mesh?
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You can now duplicate the shoe for the second shoe, export as an .obj file, and go back to your body mesh to bring the new shoes in and assign the vertices, etc.

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I figured out how to do it! But you may want to let others know how to do it. They'll probably trip up on the same step. :0) Thanks!

If the shoe is in it's own group, you can use the duplicate command in the group area to duplicate it. There's also a duplicate command someplace else in the program, because I've selected parts of a mesh before and duplicated them. Although I'm not sure if I know how to flip a mesh left to right, lol.

Thanks Tig! :0) I've learned how to add parts to a mesh without exploding it and now I've learned how to UV map it and add it to the main body group and find a spot for it. :0)

Thanks for this tutorial, it worked perfectly One question -- is there an easy way to reassign all the bones in the duplicated foot from right to left or left to right?

No, you'll have to redo the bone assignments by hand.

I love your tutorial but have just 1 question how do u get just the shoe in milkshape. im kind new to meshing but i have done a clothing and hair mesh. i just need help with this one problem. THX! BTW: i :lovestruc all ur tutorials!

He MADE the shoe, people can make things using 3d modeling programs. You are indeed very new - you need to go do the 3 unimesh tutorials, and then tutorials for milkshape from the web to learn how to make your own models (or pieces)

This must be the most stupid question about Milkshape, but where am I supposed to find the Texture Coordinate Editor? In my Milkshape v. 1.8.0 I can't find it anywhere...

My problem is that when I load an OBJ into Milkshape, the entire UVmap gets translated:



The two images show how the UVmap looks in the original OBJ ("Before") and after having imported in Milkshape ("After").
Please note that the mesh is mapped outside the texture: it must be so, I can't change it. Is there any way to prevent Milkshape from modifying my UVmap? Or at least, to fix it with the Texture Coordinate Editor?

Window - Texture Coordinate Editor.

Milkshape does have that annoying quirk - it'll drop the map down below your texture for some stupid reason. I think either UV Mapper can adjust it (it has a query when importing if that has happened) or you can do so in the Texture Coordinate Editor.

The Window menu! I've examined one by one all the other menus, but I overlooked that one

This habit of Milkshape to move the UVmap usually doesn't create any problem, because the texture is "tiled", and therefore a translation of 1 unit downwards doesn't change the object appearance. But in this specific case, I'm mapping a kitchen countertop, and it must be mapped exactly in that position, otherwise the sink hole won't appear in the right location; and I can't use UVmapper because I'd lose the joint assignments...

However, thanks for helping me with the Texture Coordinate window; at least, one problem is solved

Numenor, I don't believe it's milkshape - I believe it's obj export that is the issue, although I could be wrong (in terms of the moved uvmap). The 'fix' for accessories doesn't like the mesh that I initially extracted using obj format (and later adjusted the uvmap on). Unimesh doesn't create the low mapping - Wes would know if it's a milkshape quirk or obj export quirk perhaps. Does unimesh work on the cabinets?

PS - you need to assign the material before the uvmapping stuff works - full details are here

Thanks Tig, I've found out how to assign a material and open the UV editor

Unimesh should work fine for the counters, I guess; I don't like it very much, though, because it shows only the joints, and not the bones, and the joint names are hard to understand (but I'm not sure to have the latest Unimesh )
Anyway, the Unimash is a valid solution for my problem; thanks for suggesting

Well does any1 have a tutorial on how to make your own objects on Milkshape. I have done alot of ediditing with clothes and all but if any1 has something on how to make your own stuff, that would really help please. Thank u though! . If any1 has any recommened site and/or tutorials 4 me pleeeeeeeease reccomend them. thx! but make sure they're good! <---

The misplaced UV_map is in fact a quirk of SimPE's .obj exporter - it doesn't happen when importing .obj files from other sources into MilkShape.

Numenor, for doing object meshes that have no morphs, you might prefer the MS3D Ascii import/export options of SimPE and MilkShape. It's not useful for BodyShop parts (no multiple vertex assignments) but quite good for objects, since those don't seem to use multiple vertex assignments anyway.

The joint names will be what you expect, no worries about the comments, the joints will have the "bones" shown, and the UV_mapping still comes in correctly located.

As for tutorials on making new parts in MilkShape, the first place to look is in MilkShape's "help" file - it has some basic stuff in there. If you don't have the MilkShape Help File you can download it from the MilkShape site. There is also a Tutorials link there, which offers links to many MilkShape tutorials on various subjects.

I have been intending to write one myself, about creating simple new parts, but haven't yet had the time.

Thanks Dr Pixel for clearing up this point. Now that you made me think about it, the problem aroused when I imported in Milkshape a .OBJ mesh that was extracted directly from SimPE (while, in most cases, I import in Milkshape .OBJ files that come from Wings and UVmapper).

I understand that you are expert with Milkshape, and you find easy to tranfer the mesh from SimPE to MS in .TXT format, and then work on the mesh in MS; but I just can't use MS as quickly and easily as I can with Wings, so I must make these additional intermediate steps -

However, your clarification has now solved all my problems Thank you.

I did look 4 the help file and it really helped!Thx Dr. Pixel. I'll be looking out 4 ur next createing tutorial :D

I don't mean to resurect a dead topic, but how would i have two different textures for one mesh. Say the "body" mesh has a jacket, but the chest still dips around to the sides. I want to be able to map the entire jacket on its own texture so i can have the skin display properly. It would be a pain in the ass to pop it into the area that isn't used... And again, how do i upload my own meshes?!11!

So how do you make your own shoe meshes? Lolz