What can be done with unwraps in these situations?

[t_smith5]

Hi

I'm a bit stuck with situations like this? When you have a simple of piece of geometry, such as a ring or collar, the tidiest option seems to be having the outside and inside as separate UV islands. But that creates long rectangles that no where near fill the UV space? 😕 Any suggestions?

[10DSpace · Accepted solution]

@t_smith5 

When you have a simple of piece of geometry, such as a ring or collar, the tidiest option seems to be having the outside and inside as separate UV islands.

If you are doing your texturing in Substance Painter (which I think you are from previous posts of yours), then there is no reason to worry about "tidy" in your UV layout.  Just divide the collar into smaller sections to better use the UV space.    The only time I maintain a continuous length of a UV island is when I am not using Substance Painter and need to place a complex texture manually in photoshop over the UV template.  Even then, I can usually find a good place to break the island in 1 or 2 places and make better use of the UV space.   It is still organized enough to follow where the islands are, so you haven't really lost anything meaningful but have gained better use of the UV space.    

[t_smith5]

No, this particular project will be hand painted in ZBrush. 🙂 This is the same project where I needed help with the Align and Spacing Tool.

Thankfully, this particular piece is covered in such a way that making multiple seams/cuts won’t really be noticed. But I’m asking for future scenarios where it might not be. Tutors at uni have drilled into us the importance of not wasting UV space, so I just want to make sure I’m using up as much as I can.

[10DSpace · Accepted solution]

@t_smith5 

No, this particular project will be hand painted in ZBrush.

My answer is the same for any 3d painting program (i,.e., I agree with your tutors and would maximize UV space vs trying to keep things "tidy").  If you are worried about seams, there are simple ways of patching or painting over seams (clone tool in Photohsop, Triplanar Projection in Substance Painter).   So that would be my answer for future scenarios.   

[t_smith5]

Okay, thanks. I’ll trying breaking it up into multiple parts and try clearing up texture seams. 🙂