left my brain at home, please help

[Dave Buckley]

how do i align a uvw map gizmo to one particular poly in my model

 

trying to map an image to one poly so that it fits 1 to 1 with the poly

 

i'm being really thick and think i'm doing it really more complicated than it needs to be

[DanGrover]

how do i align a uvw map gizmo to one particular poly in my model

 

trying to map an image to one poly so that it fits 1 to 1 with the poly

 

i'm being really thick and think i'm doing it really more complicated than it needs to be

 

Well you can set the mapping to "face" mode, but this'll only work if you have a single poly. Well, no, it'll work with more, but it'll be repeated on EVERY poly.

[Dave Buckley]

yeh cheers that worked, i do only have one face.

 

basically i have a box divided into 3, i have 3 separate images, each needs mapping to one of the 3 panels.

 

i wasn't too sure about 'bitmap fit' 'acquire' etc in the uvw map settings

[Dave Buckley]

i actually watched a video with someone doing this not so long ago, some one was doing it with a 3 piece canvas art work, they spread one image across the 3 pieces. anyone seen the video that can point me to it.

 

i remember the guy using the acquire feature in the uvw map settings.

[Chad Warner]

You can edit poly/edit mesh the selected face you want to map, and choose "fit" and it will set the uvw map to the size of the selected face.

[Dave Buckley]

yep cheers nice one, the model is from sketchup and already comes through as an edit mesh, i need 3 different images mapping to 3 different polygons on the one model.

 

in order to do what you described, i'd need 3 edit mesh modifiers and 3 uvw maps (1 per image) right?

[Chad Warner]

Yep. And technically, if you've got 3 different images, you'd need to give each face it's own material ID and apply a multi-sub object material to the entire object.

[Dave Buckley]

yep cheers, to be honest i don't even know why i'm asking any of this.

 

i know how to do it, i'm just having a really really really blank day. it's as though i've lost all knowledge of max overnight

 

cheers guys, early night tonight i think

[Koper]

Aaaand, in the uvw map, below where the bitmap fit button is (Alignment) there is also a button called Normal Align, click that and then pick a face. that is if you're not mapping in face mode

 

slow day heh?

[DanGrover]

Just sounds like a Monday to me!

[Dave Buckley]

Mate I'm just being a f****n retard. I closed max down with anger ages ago

[Peter M. Gruhn]

I guess there's a degree of "to taste" involved.

 

I detached the faces and worked them each with their own uvws and material. Then reattached and welded. I think what appeals to me about that approach is that while the detaching/attaching adds some overhead, I get nice short stacks - this object, this uvw modifier, this material. Also lets me dragdrop images right from ThumbsPlus onto the individual objects. Then reattach and let the multimaterial sort itself out. Align Normal and Fit, of course.