My Love Affair with 3D Coat

So the next step of my project has been UVmapping. Which as any 3D artist knows is a frustrating process. Shaun recommended I use the bonus tools for Maya 2013, but I've run into several glitches with them. The worst of which involves the grayed out buttons that show up in the viewport. They don't actually appear, they're still there, but the GUI buttons aren't. Which means you're stuck praying that you somehow manage to click the button.

So I did some research and found the MEL scripts that the buttons actually run:

Add borders button:

bt_defineWrapMapEdges;

Remove Borders button:

bt_removeWrapMapEdges;

Continue button:

bt_killUnwrapMapHUD; bt_defineWrapMapEdges; if (`optionVar -q AutoUnwrapMapMethod` == 3) { bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD3; if (`objExists "wrapMapAnchors"`) bt_defineWrapMapAnchors ;} else {bt_AutoUnwrapMap ; bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD4; textureWindowBakeEditorImage;};bt_killUnwrapMapHUD ; bt_defineWrapMapEdges; if (`optionVar -q AutoUnwrapMapMethod` == 3) { bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD3; if (`objExists "wrapMapAnchors"`) bt_defineWrapMapAnchors ;} else {bt_AutoUnwrapMap ; bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD4; textureWindowBakeEditorImage;};

Done button:

bt_killUnwrapMapHUD; bt_cleanUpAfterUnwrap;

bt_removeWrapMapEdges;

Continue button:

bt_killUnwrapMapHUD; bt_defineWrapMapEdges; if (`optionVar -q AutoUnwrapMapMethod` == 3) { bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD3; if (`objExists "wrapMapAnchors"`) bt_defineWrapMapAnchors ;} else {bt_AutoUnwrapMap ; bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD4; textureWindowBakeEditorImage;};bt_killUnwrapMapHUD ; bt_defineWrapMapEdges; if (`optionVar -q AutoUnwrapMapMethod` == 3) { bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD3; if (`objExists "wrapMapAnchors"`) bt_defineWrapMapAnchors ;} else {bt_AutoUnwrapMap ; bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD4; textureWindowBakeEditorImage;};

Done button:

bt_killUnwrapMapHUD; bt_cleanUpAfterUnwrap;

bt_removeWrapMapEdges;

Continue button:

bt_killUnwrapMapHUD; bt_defineWrapMapEdges; if (`optionVar -q AutoUnwrapMapMethod` == 3) { bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD3; if (`objExists "wrapMapAnchors"`) bt_defineWrapMapAnchors ;} else {bt_AutoUnwrapMap ; bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD4; textureWindowBakeEditorImage;};bt_killUnwrapMapHUD ; bt_defineWrapMapEdges; if (`optionVar -q AutoUnwrapMapMethod` == 3) { bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD3; if (`objExists "wrapMapAnchors"`) bt_defineWrapMapAnchors ;} else {bt_AutoUnwrapMap ; bt_AutoUnwrapMapHUD4; textureWindowBakeEditorImage;};

Done button:

bt_killUnwrapMapHUD; bt_cleanUpAfterUnwrap;

But most of this ended up just causing a ton of problems for me, including crashing Maya. I fully admit I don't know enough about MEL to even begin determining why. (Damnit, Captain! I'm an artist, not a programmer!) Also thanks to Zak from 3D Buzz for providing the MEL scripts.

So, I gave up on trying to make my life simple and decided to manually UV map. Now, funny thing about me, I actually really enjoy UV mapping...when I'm not in a rush to get it done. It took me 2 hours to UV map the Ward Beds which is one of the more complex models in my asset folders. That's ridiculous. So I decided to find a new way.


Well, 3DCoat seemed to be the obvious response. One of my brilliant classmates gave me a quick tutorial on how to use 3DCoat, and it's a surprisingly intuitive program. I tried using it on one of our lab computers, but there are some funky things going on with the licenses -I wonder if they're effectively kept on a cloud server since all of the computers are ghosted, but I digress. I remembered that Steam had a copy on their client and so I went ahead and bought it. So, worth it. In a fraction of the amount of time it took me to UV map that ONE model, I've UV mapped 6.

Needless to say, 3D Coat and I are very much in love and we'll be running away together to get married soon. :p Sorry, Maya.


Also Thesis was driving me a bit crazy so I decided to doodle some stuff in photoshop:

Every year I attempt to enter into the National Novel Writing Month website. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of November. Every year I usually cap out at about 15K words before I lost time or interest, but I like to attempt it every year anyway. This is Seven, she's one of the main characters from the fantasy novel I'm attempting this year. In D&D terms she's a swordsage (Meaning she's good with weapons and blade magic) she fights with a bladed quarter staff. She also suffers from a light sensitivity to the point that she has to wear patches over her eyes during the day (which she can still see through) in order to not be in extreme pain. She can see perfectly at night. She's also had her tongue cut out. Her lips have been sewn shut from a ritual that allows her to speak telepathically.