Anyone willing to guide me through my first UV mapping?

[Shamrockx7]

I was wondering if anyone skilled enough at UV mapping would be able to guide me through my first time at UV mapping.... I just need someone to do this so I can make sure what I´m doing is right because so far I have no clue on how to UV map... not even the tutorials helped me >_<.

Thanks in advance and sorry to be a bother.

[donnato]

Ok cool Shamrock, lets start at the start...what are you wanting to unwrap? Attach a pic if you can and we`ll help you,`k?

[Shamrockx7]

Alright I made a small basic hammer I haven´t added a texture or anything on to it yet because I´m still not quite sure how to on that part either >_>.... The picture is at an angle which leads to another question.... Is it alright to rotate the object? Like will it screw anything up if I rotate it bad or something?

[Meo]

Im not an expert at making weapons, but i would say you should always keep your mesh perfectly align with the axis. You should also import a vanilla weapon like an axe as a visual reference to help you with size, placement and collision.

If you use Blender, i cant help you much further though, i use 3dsmax.

[_echo]

Meo is 100% correct. Always ALWAYS import a reference model, and keep them aligned to the axis. It makes working with them a TON easier.

Then, try these on for size. There is a UV mapping one in there. Made by yours truly.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19303

[Meo]

Shameless personal advertising... i like it

[_echo]

Well when i have the tut, why not?

[donnato]

Ok Shamrock, as these fine gentlemen stated above... A:on export,the position of your object will determine how it "fits the hand" in game.If you have moved the object around it`s even more important that you import something like your object and use that as a guide to position your work. If, in game, your hammer comes up floating apart from the hand but still swings on attack then you`ll have to adjust it`s positioning, either in nifskope,or blender and reexport...B:Echo`s tuts are very good as well as the other resources here...read/watch them.I also highly recommend Vince`s Blender2Oblivion classes as well as Rider`s and Insanity Sorrow`s. Try to inform yourself as much as possible...then don`t be afraid to ask...C: Don`t worry, almost anything you do wrong can be fixed. Use the different layers (Object Mode, M key) To segregate parts of your work to avoid confusion.That said...to be safe...save a virgin copy of your object...just in case.This also can help making the collision depending on the method you choose.

Remember unwrapping in simple terms is like cutting the corners of a box so all the sides lay flat in one piece. On occasion you`ll have a few different parts that will be seperated to be mapped to different textures.This can be one of the most tedious,frustrating,angerfying,confusilating, aspects of modeling. Making meshes is easy...impressive meshes,not so much so but nothing like the final steps to finishing a worthy project and getting it in-game as you intended.

Read the tutorials...watch the vids...and remember this is supposed to be fun.

[Shamrockx7]

Thanks for the advice guys I´ll be sure to remember it. Thanks to Hanaisse I´ve learned where I´ve been going wrong when trying to understand how to UV map and so far I´m getting the hang of it I just need to keep practicing I guess... Anyways once again thanks for the advice guys and hopefully I get better at this stuff before Skyrim comes out >_<.

[_echo]

Yeah, stock up on knowledge now, cus with Beth using a new engine, we are gunna have to re-learn almost everything for the new CS and file formats, so any short-cuts will make the transition less painful.