UV puzzle

[zzz7net]

have a 2 meshes and 2 UVlayouts, one for head

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/7179/headuv.png
and another one for body
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/6302/bodyuv.png


What should I do next?
I think professional 3D Artist combines those into single one mesh.
So he has 2 textures on one single mesh or not ?
When I'm trying to do so I have one mesh and strange UV Layout:
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6800/charuv.png

[Pola]

Shift one set -/+1 along the UV range and it'll be more readable for you.

[zzz7net]

2Pola: Shift + in Maya it is (Increase manipulator size)
I want to ask about how it should be done in a professional way.
a) 1 mesh (head + body), 2 materials, 2 textures and one uv-set for this?
b) 1 mesh (head + body), 1 material, 2 textures and second uv-set for the head ?
c) 2 meshes (head + body), 2 materials, 2 textures and 1 uv-set
d) something else

If (c) I have the following seam between head and body:
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/2817/headbodyseam.jpg

It is because normals direction of two meshes in border edges not matching each other
even if I make it hard of soft. That is why I think the better way is to have 1 single mesh for whole 3dcharacter
but I can't say it for sure. 3D Artists please help.
Normal maps are not yet baked, so I need your advice to combine head and body of the character in a right way.

[lysaara]

Do you need a separate texture for the head for some reason? Otherwise I'd just resize and move your UV shells around so you can fit both the head and all the body shells in a single 0-1 space, so you have one mesh, one material and one texture.

[zzz7net]

One mesh and 0-1 space is the most simple and amateur way. Is suit for basic uv-mapping tutorial :)
Do you need a separate texture for the head for some reason?
The head has to come with more resolution. That is why the face UV shell is much bigger then the other shells. But for this reason it doesn't fit to character uv-layout.
Look at this professional uv-layout:
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/9725/quicktourpage2.jpg

[Butthair]

Is this a main character? Will the face be the focus for a cinematic in the future? Is it a unique face? Does the face animate?

A yes to any one of these would bias toward having a separate face and body page. However it can still be one mesh.

Is this a generic NPC? Most likely a distant enemy or have distant interactions only with them?

If yes, it would be more optimal to have everything on one page, maybe even more practical to symmetry some elements, like the hands and legs, possibly the chest and face if essential in packing UVs.

If the body is going to be used with other heads, then you'd want to keep the head and body separate, in texture. Although it would have different heads, you'd only keep the head separate when you model it, but when you export it, there's a good chance it'll work better as a single mesh, but referencing two textures and materials.

A lot of games run this way, the face tends to get a devoted shader, what with SSS and rim lighting, etc.

Games like Skyrim might have two models being drawn instead, head and body, as the body elements are very reusable and the head is plopped on top, usually covering the seam with their attire.

[Butthair]

Is this a main character? Will the face be the focus for a cinematic in the future? Is it a unique face? Does the face animate?

A yes to any one of these would bias toward having a separate face and body page. However it can still be one mesh.

Is this a generic NPC? Most likely a distant enemy or have distant interactions only with them?

If yes, it would be more optimal to have everything on one page, maybe even more practical to symmetry some elements, like the hands and legs, possibly the chest and face if essential in packing UVs.

If the body is going to be used with other heads, then you'd want to keep the head and body separate, in texture. Although it would have different heads, you'd only keep the head separate when you model it, but when you export it, there's a good chance it'll work better as a single mesh, but referencing two textures and materials.

A lot of games run this way, the face tends to get a devoted shader, what with SSS and rim lighting, etc.

Games like Skyrim might have two models being drawn instead, head and body, as the body elements are very reusable and the head is plopped on top, usually covering the seam with their attire.

[zzz7net]

it'll work better as a single mesh, but referencing two textures and materials.
yes! that is what i`m trying to do. But when I click a single mesh I see this altogether !
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6800/charuv.png
not the separate uv-page for head and separate uv-page for body. Is that normal ?

Or I have to put a head UV in the second uv-set ?

[o2_is_alright]

There's no need for a second uv-set. What you can do to separate the uvs in the uv-editor is offset the uvs of the face -1 to -1-0 space. That way you won't have unwanted overlapping uvs.

[zzz7net]

hmm... you mean just move head uv-shell left to -1 space range? It can be the solution but how to bake normals in this case ? confused :

[o2_is_alright]

Well one solution is to bake the normals before combining the mesh and offsetting the uvs. Another would be to first offset the body uvs and bake the face normals, then swap and bake the body.

[zzz7net]

o2 is alright ! ) thanks it's a good trick
And finally I have the last question about hair uvs. How it should be done better ?
I have this hair mesh
http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/1394/hairmesh.jpg
and the following uvs for the mesh
http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/3360/hairuv.png
But I've seen in Skyrim uv shells of the hair strips are flatten into rectangular strips
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1635/evoblonde.jpg
The problem is if I'll do so my hair uv shells will be easy-to-use on the layout
but checker texture will be stretched. I mean checker squares (

[zzz7net]

Ok. my issue solved. I think I have to use planar mapping but with camera projection on my hair strips.