soldier modeling help wanted

[mayurcool]

hi guys

this is my first post on this forum and here my Wip for a game character a soldier i have done the modeling in to parts like the pant Jacket etc.. the work flow i am following is

1 model the low poly
2 Unwrap and export the parts one at a time in to mudbox
3 add details and generate normal maps for each part
4 bring in back to maya and bake the map to the low poly

her are the images
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1243/1421327681_0b0bb38f1d_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1232/1421330173_82afb6a1c7_o.jpg


Now My Questions are
1 How should I unwrap the UV`s of all the parts of the character on the same plane or should i make uv sets for each of the part separately of the character and than export

2 Now after i have generated the Map should i apply the map to the parts and than join the parts together or some other methods

i mean how the do good game character in parts and also unwrapping

i am really confused please help...

awaiting for your valuable Reply s

[Deto]

1. I have no idea about Maya, but I presume its pretty much alike MAX, or so I've heard. But how I do it in max is first unwrap all parts seperately, not caring how they align on the plane yet, just to get them unwrapped nicely. Then I convert all pieces back to editable poly (or collapse them, to 'force the uvw on the faces'), then I just attach them all in one big object and add new unwrap modifier. You then get all your unwrapped parts in one big nice pile and you can arrange them however you wish :) Its best to use similiar feature to 'select by elements', I'm pretty sure there's one in Maya too :)

2. When you've UVWed it all in one piece and you bake, you get one texture for whole model.. Or if you want to use multiple textures, you can just bake different channels and use the same channels for textures on the model :)

But easiest probably is to unwrap, then move to MudBox and bake tehre too?

http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/mudbox/mudboxworkflow/index.html

My friend recently linked me this tutorial, I've seen it through and it seems very good and does exactly what you need.. Connecting some UVW parts together, in maya, mudboxing (:D) and then baking the texture there :)

Oh yeah, one suggestion on your model. The chest seems awfully flat, I think you should round it up a bit, ie by pulling the front loop with soft selection on. If you view from higher up you can see its now more [ shape than ( which it rather should be :)

Good luck with the model!

[poopinmymouth]

For your particular question, I'd combine all the objects first, make one UV map that everything fits onto. Then break them back apart for exporting to Mudbox. This way you will only have one texture sheet, for ease of painting in photoshop, but you can still export him in pieces.

Alternatively, you can keep just the head separate, and do one UV map for just the head, and then one for everything else. That's another common UV layout.

Also agreeing with Deto, in that your model is still very boxy. It's like you started his torso from a box, and added too many details without fully removing the boxlike shape. I'd use Maya's equivalent of soft select, and try to round him out a bit.

http://www.mr-chompers.com/images/poop.gif (http://www.poopinmymouth.com)

[mayurcool]

hey thanks a lot poopinmymouth and deto :approve:
i will go wtih your suggestions and work it out myself and post my updates


thanks a :) :) lot