MODO - UV from Smoothing group
polycounter lvl 11
Hi guys,
I would like to make my UV islands from my smoothing groups, but when I google it, I find that everyone is trying to do the opposite
Im using farfarers furiously sexy Vertex Normal Toolkit to do the normals, and would then like that as a base for my UVs.
Is that possible? Im very new to MODO, so I am most likely missing a simple button.
I would like to make my UV islands from my smoothing groups, but when I google it, I find that everyone is trying to do the opposite
Im using farfarers furiously sexy Vertex Normal Toolkit to do the normals, and would then like that as a base for my UVs.
Is that possible? Im very new to MODO, so I am most likely missing a simple button.
Replies
Soo....
Run that, but make sure "Remove Smoothing Groups" is unchecked when it pops up to ask you, otherwise it'll remove all your smoothing groups after it's converted them to hard edges.
Then hit the "Select Hard Edges" button (left, second row from bottom) and you can then unwrap your mesh using the now-selected edges with the Unwrap Tool.
And then, to get back to your original smoothing from the smoothing groups...
Drop your edge selection and hit the Smooth Selected Edges button (left, second row) to remove all the hard edges, then hit the Toggle Smoothing button (right, second row) to delete the vertex normal map and it should put your mesh back to the way it was before you started (except now with a UV map, of course).
I must say I am impressed. No matter what issue I google regarding MODO, and no matter what forum pops up in the search results, you are always actively helping people out
While I am at it, in hopes of not having to create a new thread, does anyone know of a way/script to export "exploded " scenes?
For example, if I am working on a modular set, I would like all the pivots to be the same/relative, but instead of having to turn off visibility for layers I dont use, I like spreading them out like this.
There were several nice scripts like this for Max. Are anyone aware of something similar for MODO? Or am I just not using that relative coordinate system properly?
Are you wanting to have the pivots all stay at the origin, but you're getting the pivot move?
Or are you wanting the pivot to move but you're getting them all staying at the origin?
In general, don't mess too much with Pivots unless you need to - what you want to edit are the Centres. They do different things.
The Centre is the mesh item's origin.
The Pivot is an offset from the Centre (by default it has zero offset unless you move it) and it acts as the origin for any item-level rotation or scaling for that item.
http://docs.luxology.com/modo/601/help/pages/scenesetup/CentersPivots.html
Yeah it was a bad explanation. I will try again!
If I am doing a modular set, lets say I am working on 3 different wall pieces.
A, B and C.
When I import them into the engine, for example UE4, then I want them all to have the pivot in the lower right corner of the wall, so I can easily build in the editor, and swap the pieces if needed.
In max, I could just have the pivot of the object where I want the pivot of the object to be in Unreal. The placement of the object in the Max scene was irrelevant, with a script.
In MODO, as far as my newb knowledge takes me, the pivot will be at the origin.
So, for my pieces to all have the same pivot in Unreal, I should have the 3 walls be on top of each other in MODO. For a modular workflow, however, I would like to have them spread out, so I do not have to toggle layer visibility constantly.
Is there an easy way to have them move the mesh item to the origo at export? I can only figure out how to do it 1 item at a time, since, if I choose multiple items, I get the average pivot to be centered instead.
I tried taking some screens.
I would like to work like this. Objects in different world position in MODO, but with each item having the pivot I would like in Unreal.
But, if I export like this, wall A would get a pivot like this:
Where I would like it to be, as if I had worked like this:
I hope this makes any sense
Thanks for taking the time to even read all of this.
Basically, move the mesh's center to the world origin (dragging all of it's polys along with it), export it, move it back. That way you can work on a modular environment however you want, but it all exports correctly for Unreal with proper pivot locations.
Yes, thats what I am doing atm
Was just wondering if there was a script for it out there. Since I am new to MODO (Just bought it today!!) I am not really aware of what is out there yet
EDIT:
Yes, farfarer, it is simply the pivot the object/FBX/whatever will get at export that is important to me
This will show you how to use and export them via FBX:
Make a box off-centre:
Select pivot (6) and then (w) move it to the position you want your pivot set to in UE4:
With everything still selected press (7) then (w) and move to your required position. Notice that the pivot will then move from its original position but that is not a problem:
Export to UE4 and there is your pivot (flipped) In UE4 Z-Up/Y-Forward:
First move pivot
Second move center to original pivot position
Congrats! Welcome to team Modonaught.
Thanks, Dataday! I already love it! I have no idea why I didnt try it earlier, having used Max and maya for years
Slowclap.gif
Thanks so much for that, will save me a lot of time.
Anyway I have wrote a script to take the pain out of this, just testing now and will upload it later :poly121:
Remember to rotate your mesh 90 degrees (i think) clockwise before you add the pivot or it will be arse about face in UE4 :poly122: like the pic above. I might add a "rotate mesh" button to this script later. So you just rotate and then add the pivot.
This works also in selection mode, so you don't have to do any extra steps. Just remember when you want to re-move the pivot you have to follow the same procedure. I know it's probably not the best solution but it works.
Just add the file to your "User Configs Folder" and I set the hot key to "shift F1" but you can use whatever you want or add it to your tool bar.
Have fun :poly121:
Anyway, does anyone know if Modo has a "group selected UV's" button like 3ds Max? It saves the positions of the UV's so that when you use the "pack" function, the groups move as one big island, instead of separate islands. I use it a lot to put small islands within empty spaces then pack everything to use up the new space, instead of resizing each island by hand.
I made this gif as an example (not sure how to post gifs)
http://imgur.com/JVFbk8T
I'm looking at buying Modo but I'm a bit hesitant to commit before I learn a bit more about it, so any help is appreciated, Thanks everyone!
Really appreciate your effort !
Thats completely fine, Shackles! But if no one sees it here, go ahead an create the thread
He mentioned that UE4 doesn't appear to need them any more, though. Not tried it to verify that.
http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/discussion/topic.aspx?f=37&t=108247