UV Editor Improvements
DESCRIPTION
Hiya! I'm a bit new to this site, so please correct me in case I make a mistake.
Anyway, I'd like to suggest improvements to the UV Editor in Blender. Right now, UV Editing is viable but is lacking 'tools for ease' per say and a few important tools for a proper UV Editing-workflow.
Suggestions I'd like to make are as follows:
SUGGESTIONS
1: Orient Island
This tool tries to set the island's orientation straight up. So basically when this is activated, it reset the orientation of the selected islands to (0,0).
(Example pre-orient:
i.imgur.com/pZ9EN1T.png)%5C
(Example post-orient:
i.imgur.com/ZHsoNiz.png
)
2: Straighten Island
There is a tool similar to this, however this, as far as I can see, does not show the desired result, nor are there any adjustable parameters. (Such as the angle.)
(Image:
i.imgur.com/iKxUWty.png
)
The desired result, I think, should be that it puts every UV-edge that is within a certain angle in a straight line.
(Example pre-straighten:
i.imgur.com/Uq5kUWk.png)%5C
(Example post-straighten:
i.imgur.com/4TTUXhf.png
)
3: Stack Islands
This tool should stack each selected island onto the active selected one.
(Example pre-stack:
i.imgur.com/hAlhoGi.png)%5C
(Example post-stack:
i.imgur.com/WhzJ5s9.png
)
4: Improved Aligning
Right now, Align Auto, X or Y packs the selection into one straight line.
(Example:
i.imgur.com/WAzVqie.png)%5C
However, the same result can be achieved by scaling the selection in an axis to 0.
I'd suggest revamping this feature into the following: Similar to any advanced text editor, you're able to align text to right, left, center, top, middle and bottom. Do something similar for this feature by allowing to align the selection, to simplify the workflow for manual UV-packing. (Example: i.imgur.com/2gUZfzJ.png)%5C (Example pre-align: i.imgur.com/zETVKp4.png)%5C (Example post-align left: i.imgur.com/UFEqtxZ.png)%5C (Example post-align right: i.imgur.com/9x3ugv5.png )
5: More Snapping
I'd suggest adding a few more snapping options.
Such as snapping to a certain region on the UV-field.
(Example:
i.imgur.com/wGc99Fn.png)%5C
(Example pre-snap:
i.imgur.com/CtgxZKs.png)%5C
(Example post-snap middle-left:
i.imgur.com/WfOKuMY.png)%5C
(Example post-snap middle-right:
i.imgur.com/8jvEZjx.png
)
Thank you!
6 Comments
TexTool addon (download 2.8X) UVPackmaster addon mostly cover what you looking for.
* @IIIFGIII * Awesome, thank you! I'll look into it and see. However, I do think this should be something by default because UV-Editing is being used very frequently.
Edit: It appears the link to UVPackmaster addon does not work: page not found.
Edit2: I just went searching and figured it's paid, too. It should not be a paid feature at all, UV-Editing is a process which every model basically needs. I really think this should be a free, default feature.
Edit3: TexTool seems useful! It's free and does indeed contain most of the requested features.
* @pgcoenen.pc * mb. Blender live a bit different then Autodesk or other software. Lot of cool stuff exist only as addons which maintain by creator somewhere somehow and it's ok. If it's free - it almost part of Blender. You just need a bit of googling.
* @IIIFGIII * Thanks for your response!
I agree that Blender works different compared to Autodesk and such.
(I'm honestly glad, because Blender provides in my opinion a much better workflow haha)
I've been told that the only thing with addons is that it can be used with malicious intentions, I doubt that's usually the case, but companies usually don't want to deal with that. Along with that, if an addon breaks, contacting the addon developer may be more complex compared to calling a helpdesk. Finally, if a developer finds a better job, their addon(s) may be left in the dark and will become outdated.
The solution to this is by making tools like this default in Blender because then there is some sort of additional layer of 'trust' since Blender owns it, if that makes sense. And since the UV-Editor is such a frequently used tool, I think this is without doubt a good idea.
One thing that's really missing for me is a proper UV Relax tool/algorithm. I can do most everything else with Addons. Although it would be good to have those addon functions built in as this thread talks about.
I'd love to see built in:
* @Matt L * It's been a while, but I definitely agree! The issue is with the plugins, to me, is they don't work as intended or at least isn't user-friendly and usually lack crucial features (unless I'm missing out on which plugins I need).