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FSXA Mapping problem

MEPaquette

MEPaquette

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ca-ontario
Hi folks
I have tried to da a mapping of a section of my side shell on my boat.
Here are the screen shots of my attempt
Texture-A.jpg
Texture-B.jpg
Texture-C.jpg
Texture-D.jpg


Everything looks OK until I bring it into "LithUnwrap.

Any idea as to what my problem is?

Michel E Paquette
 
Michael,

Just a note. You do not have to use LithUnWrap. Some people love it, some dont. Just saying. Its easy enough to just move things around on a texture map. Not that difficult.

I never really figured out LithUnWrap, so I am not really one to be posting here, but just wanted to give you an option.
 
You can not export only a portion of a model to LithUnwrap. What you can do though is hide everything in LithUnwrap except the specific Material IDs that have been UVW Mapped, providing you have assigned those mapped polys a unique MatID number.

If you look closely at your mess of mesh, you'll see that the part you did map is still there. The "mess" is simply all the rest of the vertices that haven't beem mapped yet!

Alternatively, since you are working on a Stack, you can create a temporary UVW Map for all the vertices except the ones you have already done, then scale 'em and move the into a corner of the area out of the way. Then, as you select and re-map more of the boat's hull, those temporary vertices/polys will eventually disappear as they are used up. This procedure will allow your mesh template from LithUnwrap to be clean and tidy... :teacher:
 
As Bill says, export only the object(s) you have actually mapped to LithUnwrap – and only if you have mapped them fully. If you haven't seen this already, there's a tutorial series on mapping (and using LithUnwrap) in the Wiki.
 
I have been looking at the tutorial on wiki. It seems that what I missed on the tutorials is that "all" of the polygon from an object has to be mapped before bringing it into LithUnwrap. It this case I might have a problem with my hull.
I tried building with polygons, then inverting to do the inner shell, but there was just too much problem at the front.
I ended up going back to a 3/4" thick vertical segmented box for the sides and 1 1/8" horizontal box for the bottom, translated to form the hull shape.
Therefore, if the whole object needs to be mapped, then I would need to map, the outside, the inside and all the edges to get a complete map of my shell.

Bill, the MatID you are talking about, is that covered in part 3 of the Wiki tutorials?

One more question. My shell as you see it on the first screen shot, is broken up into 5 objects. 3 of those are actual 2 sections that were attached to form one. For example, the side shell was made up using 2 boxes, 7 for either side, the attaching them together to make one item.

My question is, are the 2 sides considered as one object for mapping purposes?

Michel E Paquette
 
MEPaquette said:
Bill, the MatID you are talking about, is that covered in part 3 of the Wiki tutorials?
Click to expand...
I have no idea whether MatIDs are discussed in the Wiki or not.

However, the process is simple enough.
  1. Select a bunch of polys you want to keep together
  2. Scroll down to the Material ID section of the tools
  3. Assign a MatID number to that selected group of polys
  4. Repeat the process until all polys have been assigned a unique MatID
From now on, you will be able to Select by MatID all of those assigned groups of polys with one click. Whenever you export to .md3 and load that file in LithUnwrap, you will be able to hide/show every MatID as desired. It's just a simple control method that I've found very useful.
 
Hi folks
I have manage to map my "Side_Shell" on exported to LithUnwrap
Here it is

Texture-Side_Shell.jpg

This is of course the outside, inside and all edges.
I assume that it is at this point that I can delete the ones I don't want before saving as Bitmap file? Or can I do it when exporting?

Michel E Paquette
 
That's better! If you're following the tutorial series then you'll have read that LithUnwrap is only used to make the mapping template, so if there are areas of the model you no longer need they can be deleted in Gmax - individual polys, selections or entire objects. If you do, export the object or objects to LithUnwrap again to get an updated mapping template.
 
Tom
I am trying to understand what you are trying to tell me.
By deleting what I no longer need, do you mean to actually delete the polygons that I don't need from my object, for example, the edges that are actually not visible because they butt up to an adjacent section? In this case, all that would remain is my inside and outside polygons. The inside polygon I can't delete as the majority are visible even when looking around from the outside view.

There is one step in part 3 that I need a bit more explanation. On page 12, it says that after mapping is acceptable, to collapse the stack for "fuse". is the "fuse" part to an actual command, or do I just "collapse" the stack which will automatically "fuse" the stack? Then I believe I read later on the if changes need to be done I can just add it to the "collapse" stack and it will override the one that is in the "collapsed" stack. Am I understanding correctly?

Michel E Paquette
 
The word "fuse" was used in this context to mean fuselage, since the tutorial is working with an aircraft. For your project though, mentally substitute "hull" for "fuse" since you are working on a boat... :wave:
 
You 'can' delete unseen polygons. It might cause holes on edges, etc. I sometimes keep edges like that to keep the model looking good.

If you have polygons on the back sides, then those will need area's in your texture sheet as well. A texture for the exterior and one for the interior, and if they are the same part, you can squeeze them into the same sheet.

By the way. You can screenshot the UVW layout and paste that into a PSD (layered graphics file) as a home made template. Use Wand to delete the area's around parts in the Template. Then you can 'select' that layer and its selects the objects (islands) in that layer and you can then use paint bucket to Fill zones, (fast and easy).

Once you have your 'template' that Lithium produces (ha ha) you then move that into Photoshop or Gimp and create your bitmap graphics. But, do that in layers, like a PSD file, and keep the master PSD and burn (Save As...) copies into BMP format to use in the sim.

A technique I use is get the template into PS, copy the template layer and hide one so you have a backup, then use Wand tool and highlight the blue background area on the visible Template layer and delete that. You now have the parts left over (area's) that are the parts of your boat. Paint them a color on a new layer and name that 'base color layer' or something to that effect. I always (always) select those areas and raise them (increase them) by 3 pixels to keep edges from having no color in the sim. Then later, get some awesome wood textures from online and start using those to create your wood hull graphics (on new layers). Never compress or collapse the layers. Make 'Save As...' copies into BMP from your layered graphics.

Also, keep adding parts to your texture sheet. You can add the material to another part, map it, and you will see the areas' still open in the graphics where you can place new small parts to fit in the left open zones. Use every inch you can on your master sheets.

Also, as a small note and a tip, you can save your templates with their lines of mesh and use those to align with later (like door lines, panel lines, etc) but turning on and off layers (for visibility) and making your edge lights, moving parts around, etc, etc. Helps out. Dont delete your templates in your layers (unless you redo them).
 
Yeah Bill, the tutorial series Michel is reading tells him to do these sorts of things...!
 
MEPaquette said:
On page 12, it says that after mapping is acceptable, to collapse the stack for "fuse". is the "fuse" part to an actual command, or do I just "collapse" the stack which will automatically "fuse" the stack? Then I believe I read later on the if changes need to be done I can just add it to the "collapse" stack and it will override the one that is in the "collapsed" stack. Am I understanding correctly?
Click to expand...

As Bill says.

Once you have an object mapped, the stack will have a number of Poly Select, UVW Map and possibly UVW Unwrap modifiers on it. To avoid using more memory than necessary in Gmax, collapse the stack: right-click on the stack and select Collapse All. This also means you can't alter the mapping without adding more modifiers: when added these will override the existing mapping.
 
Thank you all
I think I have the basics to do my mapping, but just a few more questions.
Once I have an object fully mapped, is it possible to put the mapping on different sheets? How would this be done?
Once I have my mapping done and transferred to Paint.net, then save as a master template and also as a 24-bit .bmp file, the "painting" would be done on the bitmap file using a program like adobe photo shop?
When I did the exercise from part one, the only problem I ended up with was the text. My resolution was so low that I could not read it and the lines on the file were very pixelated. Could it have something to do with the fact that I might have been working in inches instead of meters for my system units?

Mixhel E Paquette
 
Reverse order here:–

Blurry pixelated textures? You may still have to alter the video driver settings for Gmax to display things properly. We all have to do that initially, then we forget about it...

Having made the mapping template, would you paint on a bitmap file of the template with Photoshop? Yes you could use Photoshop, or Paint.NET, or Gimp, or Photo Paint, or Windows Paint (some do, don't laugh!), or.... Lionheart's post above discusses some of the things you would then do when painting.

Is it possible to put the mapping on different sheets? If you mean another bitmap used as a texture for the model then yes: the name of the texture file is specified in Gmax material editor; change the specified name and the model will use a texture with the new name.

But, if you mean put parts of the finished mapping on one sheet and other parts on another sheet then you're using a different Gmax material for each sheet or changing the mapping itself.
 
Thank you
I have adjusted "video driver setting" and have yet tested it, but I have notice one problem. When I have Gmax open, then go to AutoCAD to do some work, after a few minutes I will get some sort of warning from Gmax, and going back to Gmax, I can't see my model. I usually then save and shut down and reopen, and keep in going. Its like my Direct 3D can't handle 2 programs open at the same time.

As for mapping on different sheets, I mean the latter. For example have my outer shell on one sheet and my inner shell on another sheet in order to have a different texture. Keep in mind that my inner and outer shell are the same "box" item (actually 2 boxes attached).

One more question. If I want a simple texture without the need to "paint" anything on, does the item still need to be "mapped"?

Michel
 
It needs a UVW attached. No mapping required for a basic 'color' sheet, like a small texture that is the color red, or white, etc. Just attach a UVW and collapse and you are good to go. I do this with chrome parts.
 
So basically, every part should have a UVW map in the stack, but they don't all have to be exported to a BMP file

Michel
 
They should all point to a texture file. A UVW without a texture will either cause an error, or probably an extra drawcall.
 
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