Eyeon:Manual/Fusion 6/UV Map
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The UV Map 3D tool replaces the UV texture coordinates on the geometry in the scene. These coordinates tell Fusion how to apply a texture to an object. The tool provides planar, cylindrical, spherical, XYZ and Cubic mapping modes, which can be applied to basic Fusion primitives as well as imported geometry. The position, rotation and scale of the texture co-ordinates can be adjusted to allow for fine control over the texture's appearance. An option is also provided to lock the UV produced by this tool to animated geometry according to a reference frame. This can be used to ensure that textures applied to animated geometry do not slide.
While it is possible to adjust the global properties of the selected mapping mode, it is NOT possible to manipulate the UV coordinates of individual vertices directly from within Fusion. The onscreen controls drawn in the display views are for reference only, and can not be manipulated by the artist.
To utilize the full capabilities of the UV Map 3D tool it helps to have a basic understanding of how 2D images are mapped onto 3D geometry. When a 2D image is applied to a 3D surface, it is converted into a texture map which uses UV coordinates to determine how the image translates to the object. Each vertex on a mesh has a (u, v) texture coordinate pair which describes the appearance the object will take when it is unwrapped and flattened. Different mapping modes use different methods for working out how the vertices transform into a flat 2D texture.
When using the UV Map 3D tool to modify the texture co-ordinates on a mesh it is best to do so using the default coordinate system of the mesh or primitive. So the typical workflow would look like Shape 3D -> UV Map 3D -> Transform 3D. The transformation tab on the shape tool would be left to it's default values, and the Transform 3D tool following the UV Map 3D does any adjustments needed to place the tool in the scene. Modifying/animating the transform of the Shape tool will cause the texture to slide across the shape, which is generally undesirable.
The UV Map 3D tool modifies texture coordinates per vertex and not per pixel. If the geometry the UV map is applied to is poorly tesselated, then undesirable artifacts may appear.
The UV Map 3D tool does *not* put a texture or material on the mesh, it only modifies the texture coordinates that the materials will use. This can be kind of confusing because the material usually sits upstream. For example a composition containing the tools
Camera projections with UV Map 3D
The camera mapping mode makes it possible to project texture coordinates onto geometry through a camera. Enable the Camera mapping mode on the UV Map 3D tool. Directly connect the camera that will be used to create the UV coordinates to the new ‘Camera’ input that appears on the UV Map 3D tool's tile in the flow.
Note that this does not directly project an image throught the camera. The image to be projected should be connected to the diffuse texture input of whatever material is assigned to the objects. When the texture is applied it will use the UV coordinates created by the camera. Because this is a texture projection and not light the alpha channel of the texture will correctly set the opacity of the geometry.
See the Camera 3D and Projector 3D tool for alternate approaches to projection.
The projection can optionally be locked to the vertices as it appears on a selected frame. This will fail if the number of vertices in the mesh change over time, as Fusion must be able to match up the mesh at the reference time and the current time. To be more specific, vertices may not be created or destroyed or reordered. For this reason projection locking does not work for many particle systems, for primitives with animated subdivisions, and with duplicate tools using non-zero time offsets.
Controls
- UVMap3D.SceneInput
- [ orange, required ] This input expects to receive a 3D scene.
- UVMap3D.CameraInput
- [ green, optional ] This input expects the output of the Camera 3D tool. It is only visible when the Camera map mode is used.
Controls
Defines how the texture coordinates are created. Think of it as a virtual geometry which projects the uv space on the object.
- Planar
- Creates the UV coordinates using a plane.
- Cylindrical
- Creates the UV coordinates using a cylindrial shaped object.
- Spherical
- The UV´s are created using a sphere.
- XYZ to UVW
- The position coordinates of the vertices are converted to UVW coordinates directly. This is used for working with procedural textures.
- CubeMap
- The UV´s are created using a Cube.
- Camera
- Enables the camera input port of the tool. After connecting a camera to it, the texture coordinates are created based on camera projection.
Defines the reference axis for aligning the Map Mode.
Clicking this butten will fit the Map Mode to the bounding box of the input scene.
Clicking this button will move the center of the Map Mode to the bounding box center of the input scene.
If the object is animated the UV´s can be locked to it. Enabling this option will do so and also reveal the Ref Time slider where it is possible to choose a reference frame for the UV mapping. Using this feature, it is not required to animate the UVMap parameters. It is enough to set up the UV map at the reference time.
Defines the size of the projection object
Defines the position of the projection object
Use these buttons to select which order is used to apply the Rotation along each axis of the object. For example, XYZ would apply the rotation to the X axis first, followed by the Y axis and then followed by the Z axis.
Sets the orientation of the projection object for each axis, dependent from the rotation order.
Defines how often a texture fits into the projected uv space on the according axis. Note that the uvw coordinates are transformed not a texture. Works best when used in conjunction with the Create Texture tool.
Mirrors the texture coordinates around the according axis.
Mirrors the texture coordinates on the individual faces of the cube.
Tips for UV Map (edit)
- This tool creates new UV coordinates. To scale or shift existing UVs, use the Texture Transform tool. To tile a seamless texture, use the Texture2D tool instead.
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