Separate parts and main body ready for UV unwrapping

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  • Hi. I have separated out parts from a main body that I wish to texture separately such as roof housings on a train which will be a different colour to roof etc. I assume this is correct. How are these separate parts used when unwrapping?
    Thanks


    Hi. Ich habe Teile aus einem Hauptkörper herausgetrennt, die ich separat texturieren möchte, z. B. Dachgehäuse in einem Zug, die eine andere Farbe als das Dach haben usw. Ich gehe davon aus, dass dies korrekt ist. Wie werden diese Einzelteile beim Auspacken verwendet? Danke

  • Hi. It is difficult to explain. I have attached 3 screenshots. When texturing I want to be able to colour certain objects which will probably be in front of other objects. Example a bogie has parts in front so I have made separate files for them. Program Blender. I do have 3ds max. But needed to learn Blender to pass model through to TPF. So stuck with Blender

  • If I unwrap and make a targa file, how do I get the separate parts onto the same targa file?

  • That is quite easy actually.


    Begin with one large part, e. g. the body. Unwrap it, shrink and then drag the UV map somewhere into a suitable spot on an appropriately sized image (I´d recommend 2048x2048; it needs to be a multiple of 512 for optimum performance). Í´ll call this image "body.png" for further reference.


    Then save this image and open it with your preferred image editor. Export it under a different name, say "Collection.png".


    Now switch back to Blender. Apply "collection.png" as a texture on your material.


    That done, unwrap part 2. Open "Collection.png" as reference and drag the freshly unwrapped UV map onto a spot where it does not interfere with the previously unwrapped parts as shown on "collection.png". Save the UV map as e. g. 2.png.


    And now it is back to the image editor that still has "collection.png" open. Open "2.png" as a new layer so that it is superimposed on your "collection.png". If done right, you will find the 2nd unwrap right in the spot where you dragged it in Blender.


    Save and export "collection.png" again.


    Wash, rinse and repeat until all the parts are unwrapped. You will end up with a stack of multiple single .pngs that are easily combined into one master unwrap once you are done.


    You will find "example.png" attached. This file was built exactly in this way, starting with the fuselage and then adding the other parts step by step as they were built.

  • Thank you for your prompt reply.
    Hope the colour doesn't run and shrink in the wash!
    I'll give that a try. I take it this is the best way to get to objects, especially if they are in front and I want to texture them separately.
    Having done lots of texturing of countless TPF models, most DDS and TGA files are 2048 x 2048 a few at 4096 x 4096. I was thinking of doing 1024 x 4096 primarily so as to align textures, having both sides of models aligned in a straight line. This should in theory give a file size of the same mb value as a 2048 x 2048.

  • Might sound like 'how long is a piece of string'. Ideal tri counts? Currently under 20k, which sounds quite high. However, having gone through model it seems there is not much more back face culling I can do.

  • ...and this is where the LODs come in. Build one high poly model, declare it LOD 0 and adjust its visibility range to say 0-1500m in the .mdl, then slash it down to a low (-ish) poly model by e. g. ditching the wheels, the interior and other details that are not visible from farther away and use this model as LOD1 visible from 1500 to e. g. 5000m. You can even build an even lower poly model falling back to a simple cube that may even be open on the lower side and just texture some detail on if you like a LOD2 that may be used for even further viewing distances.

  • Ok what is an acceptable low-ish (K)? Is there a sort of standard?

  • What I am trying to do is get a sort of yardstick. If I said 50k tri's would that be considered too high for a TPF high poly model. Hope that explains my question.

  • Build one high poly model, declare it LOD 0 and adjust its visibility range to say 0-1500m in the .mdl

    Now thats not standard for a train like this, normally lod_0 is just 0-100m , lod_1 100-300m and lod_2 300-2000. To make the model visible up to 5000m makes no sense at all, because from ~2000m it is smaller than the symbol.

  • :) ok, this of course depends a bit on the size of the model. If we are talking train carriages here, MaikC is probably right - I have no experience building those. The only models I used LODs on were my Zeppelins that are a wee bit larger than a train and might be visible from further afar than those; this is where those ballpark figures came from.

  • I was wondering about that as it doesn't comply with other models (train). However I will adjust to MaikC or Vanilla.

BlueBrixx