Solved: Uniform UVs

Anonymous · ‎08-04-2016

Can someone tell me what the problem is here:

Create 2 boxes, 1 large, and 1 small
then apply Unwrap Modifier
Flatten Map both boxes
Select all the UVs
Pack Normalize.
The checkers should all be of equal size... but are not.

Shouldn't they be the same size? They should have the same Texel Density, correct?

Please correct my work flow or tell me what I am doing wrong. thanks!

Alfred.DeFlaminis · ‎08-04-2016

Hello @Anonymous,

Following your directions here I did get 1:1 on these boxes. Did you lay out the uvs for each before you attached them? If so, did one get scaled down in object mode? My first guess would be Xforms, but if you attached them and then did the uvs that shouldn't be an issue.

If you relax the uvs, does the problem resolve itself? If not, doubly weird. You are correct in your base understanding here about how it should work, now we just need to figure out why it's not working that way for you. Is there a scene you could attach by any chance? Thanks!

Best Regards,

Anonymous · ‎08-04-2016

The boxes are not attached. They are two separate objects. I don't want them to be attached.

Can you try my steps again and see what happens?

I am trying to create a game texturing work flow so I have equal texel density across multiple objects.

Alfred.DeFlaminis · ‎08-04-2016

Hello @Anonymous,

I see. In that case, they will not have the same texel density. Normalization in the context of the unwrap window means bringing the uvs withing the 1-1 space of the uv unwrap square, similar to the mathematical concept. From Google:

"Usually when mathematicians say that something is normalized, it means that some important property of that thing is equal to one. For instance, a normalized linear functional on an operator algebra is a linear functional which takes the identity to 1."

In the end what it does is brings all your uvs to fit in the uv square (which occupies the space (0,0) to (1,1) as a square, irrespective of the size of the model. It's "normalizing" the uvs to fit into the square, and it has no concept of the size of your other objects. The only way it would would be to either UV map with real world scale, or attach the objects first so it could understand their relative spatial differences.

If you map with real world scale and then unwrap and normalize, you'll end up in the same position. All this being said, there are some neat plugins you can google for that help with unwrapping in 3dsmax for games especially and make this process easier.

Please hit the "Accept as Solution" button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question. This lets me know that I was effective in helping you, and thank you for doing so.

Best Regards,

Alfred.DeFlaminis · ‎08-05-2016

Hello @Anonymous,

I wanted to touch base on another part of this, which I missed in my previous post. According to the help, if you don't check normalize the uv shells will be arranged (But not packed into the 1:1 uv space) based on their size in the real world units. (Xforms permitting). This will mean they may go outside the 1:1 grid, but in the case of game assets this may actually be desirable if the model is using texture sheets for different parts or multiple uv grids. So, I was wrong in a sense about a a part of the packing because turning off normalize may give you what you are looking for, but won't necessarily fit into the square.

It's a minor correction but worth mentioning. Thanks!

Best Regards,

Anonymous · ‎08-05-2016

thanks for the update.

I found textools and that is working exactly the way I wanted.

Alfred.DeFlaminis · ‎08-05-2016

Hello @Anonymous,

I'm glad it's resolved and that is a great tool, I've used it before and it really made life easier. Good luck on your project!

Best Regards,

VictorvdBrink · ‎09-26-2019

Hello I'm having the same problem but nothing I do seems to fix it. I already made a post on the forums but nobody is responding to it.

Please help if you could.

torquemod · ‎05-01-2021

You don't have to attach the objects in order for the UVs to be normalized, you just have to select all of the objects and then apply one Unwrap UVW to all of them. Then when you pack normalize, you should see that all of the objects have a similar texel density.