[Modding] RTW: Basic Guide to the UVW Modifier(s)

[Perikles]

Author: Goscinio
Original Thread: Basic Guide to the UVW Modifier(s)

Basic Guide to the UVW Modifier(s)

I decided to make a small and basic guide on how to use the UVW modifier, as I noticed a couple of people are still interested in modding Rome – Total War, but are/were stuck at UVWing several parts of the model.

1: Adjusting the UVW of an already made unit


Most of the time you will be using a vanilla model as a base. You will not need to use the ‘UVW map’ modifier in this case. We’re going to use the ‘Unwrap UVW’ modifier. I imported a Roman hastatus, but you can do this on every other model you import.

Right, to business: select the body and click on the arrow next to modifier list. Then press ‘U’ once, and press enter. Now you can see a now modifier in the stack: the unwrap UVW modifier. Press edit to see what the UVW of the body looks like.


If you select one group and press on ‘&’ , you can see which part of the body uses those UVWs in the viewport. Now you can start experimenting with things, for instance moving vertices around to see what effect that’ll have on the unit.


As an example: if I move these vertices down, the bottom of the skirt will grow longer, while the chest plate will grow smaller. Anything you move will have effect on how the texture is divided over the model.


That's basically all there is to it, it will just require a lot if experimenting and testing rather than using very complicated tools which I know nothing about.

2: UVW-mapping a new object


There are times however, when you go further in modelling, that you will have completely new objects, created entirely from scratch. Your UVWs will be completely messed up by the time you’ve modelled the box ( or whatever object you started from ) into the object you want. For that we have the ‘UVW map’ modifier. This will create entirely new UVWs in order to make everything look good when you apply a texture. I myself am just going to use a hoplite shield as an example.

Select your object. Go to the modifier list again, but this time you press ‘U’ twice, so you get to the ‘UVW map’ modifier. Press enter. Adjust your length and width to so that the object fits in the gizmo. Now you need to decide from which side you want the UVW map to make the UVWs. In my case it’ll be from the top, but not everything can be UVWed from the top. For instance if you’re UVW mapping a new helmet, it’s best to UVW map it from the side. You can experiment on this by yourself to see which side will result in the best UVW. To rotated the gizmo, press on ‘&’ , or just on ‘UVW Map’. Then select ‘Select and rotate’, and now you can rotate the gizmo at will.


When you’ve finished adjusting everything, go back to the modifier list and select ‘Unwrap UVW’ once again. If all went well you should now have the desired UVW in front if you. You may need to make small adjustments, like stretching the ends of the UVW if you UVW mapped an object from the side, but that is best done when making the texture.


In my case, I need to separate the top and the bottom of the shield, as it wont look terrific when they are the same. You can simply do this by selecting all the vertices. Then you go to ‘mapping’, and select ‘normal mapping’. Select Top/Bottom Mapping and press ok Now you got a top and a bottom.


Next you might want to simplify the UVW of the top. You can keep it like this if you’re going to skin an asymmetric figure on it, but you can also just use a quarter of the shield. What I’m going to say next is probably not the best way to do it, but it’s the only way I know, so here goes: select the right halve of the shield. Select the ‘Freeform mode’ and fold the right halve on top of the left. Now fold the bottom halve on top of the top.


When you finished, right click in the viewport and press ‘Convert to - editable poly’

The next step is probably wheighing all the vertices ( if you haven’t already done so ), and alin has already written an excellent tutorial on that: Alin's guide on using the skin modifier

I forgot to mention tons of things, but these are some very basic things about the UVW. I don’t know that much about modelling/3D Studio Max , and my methods are probably not very sophisticated, but I hope they help the ‘newbies’ in modelling. Also, if anybody has any suggestions/criticisms, feel free to post them.

Oh and if you have any questions, you can either ask it in here, or PM any talented modeler (Lusted comes to my mind, as well as SigniferOne, Spirit of Rob, Halie Satunus and all the others that make beautiful creations.)