UV relax

UV relax

The ability to 'relax' UV coordinates, making short edge distances longer by making long edge distances slightly shorter.

Also, I'm assuming I just haven't found it yet, but I'd like the ability to 'ailas' 3d objects and groups so that each copy changes along with the original... this is immensely useful in architectural modeling.
 
As far as "Aliasing" goes You can use the "Array" modifier, the drawback being it has to be in a straight line. Your other option would be to use a Smart Folder.:rolleyes:
 
Smart folders will work but they have their share of weirdness. For example, ALL objects in the external scene will load with the smart folder, including cameras. This can make your primary scene pretty cluttered with extra things that you don't want.

And you can't just delete them because the next time you reload the primary scene or change the external one, it will all come back.

Anyway, I recently did a bit of a smart folder stress test to create a scene over on my site. Check it out if you like: http://wantonhubris.com/blog/
 
Smartfolders need work -- they do not handle multiple instances well.

Even if they worked perfectly, I would really like to see explicit instancing within a model rather than having to make an external file.
 
Smartfolders need work -- they do not handle multiple instances well.
What issues are you seeing? I did a bunch of instances of each mesh in my UrbanAsia scene and it seemed to work OK. Although, admittedly, I didn't really do a lot with the instances beyond rotating and placing them.

Even if they worked perfectly, I would really like to see explicit instancing within a model rather than having to make an external file.
Well, yeah, that would be awesome sauce.
 
In another thread I point out that if you make multiple smart folders (pointing to the same file) editable at some point you get a document with one or more objects with a "poison id" (internal "unique" id -- edit: the problem being that the internal unique id isn't unique, which confuses cheetah) which then cannot be worked with. The problem has been verified by Martin and there's no proper workaround (short of deleting the poison instance(s) and then manually replacing them with duplicates of non-poison instances).

So imagine you build a scene but, ultimately, need to collapse all the meshes (e.g. for lightmapping) ... you're screwed.
 
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Given the issues people have had with U.V. mapping over the years, I'd say the entire U.V. mapping workflow is due for some love. It could definitely be more intuitive, and have lots of little improvements. Just search the forum for U.V. mapping and you'll see the things people have come up against. In many cases the tools don't work the way people expect, and things are just not clear. Like trying to assign polygon selections to specific materials. That whole choose 1 then the next etc., just doesn't seem very clear to most people (myself included).
 
Yes I wish the UV mapping workflow would catch up with the rest of Cheetah but I don't think Martin cares much about it. Probably too busy getting ready for metal.
 
.... Like trying to assign polygon selections to specific materials. That whole choose 1 then the next etc., just doesn't seem very clear to most people (myself included).
Please don't: Cheetah3d will pick the numbers automatically - even when you forgot a bunch of polygons - just select those and drag the certain material onto it in 3d-view and Cheetah3d will add to the same material polygon selection. I'd say you just need an eye on those numbers when you try to change with another meterial: look up the number -drag the new material to the object in object browser -select the material tag and adjust the number accordingly - delete former material-tag to keep things tidy. Done.

Cheers
Frank
 
Oh I don't know. I think having selected a group of polygons you should be able to find a tool that says "Assign to Material Group ..." and then a drop down to allow you to pick which one. That way it's direct, precise, absolutely unambiguous, and visible to newbies. I also stand by my earlier statement, the entire UV mapping workflow needs some serious overhauls. It is Not user friendly, it is not easy, tools do not perform as expected, and most users have frequent trouble. I know, UV Mapping in general is a tough subject, but I still believe with some work it could be simplified.
 
Oh I don't know. I think having selected a group of polygons you should be able to find a tool that says "Assign to Material Group ..." and then a drop down to allow you to pick which one.

The process right now is actually easier than what you propose. You select some polygons and drag a material onto it. Select some more polygons and drop another material onto it. Etc. Couldn't be easier!

The only time you might need to pay attention to the selection #s is if you want to verify which polygons ended up being assigned to which material. Then you can go through each of the numbers, see which polygons light up (or don't), and add or remove polys from the selection as needed.

You can also select polys and add a "dummy" material to create a selection group for purposes other than texturing, like constraining items on a particle mesh. So you'd need to know the selection # for that.

I actually love UV mapping in Cheetah, compared to the other 3D apps I've used. My only "wishlist" item is an option to "relax" UVs!
 
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