Cineversity

Hi Doc -

Since I know very little about modeling, I’m wondering if there is a fairly straightforward way to fix uneven geometry on a model?  As you can see in the attached rigged model, the geometry on the head has much smaller polygons than on the neck and body.  Because of this, the UVed texture scales differently on the head than on the neck/body.  Is there a way for a non-modeler like me to even up and improve the geometry without affecting the UV placement of the texture?

On another note, what is the best way for me to scale the entire model up in size while still keeping the rigging intact?

Thanks, as always, for your advice!

Mark

P.S. If the file is not attached to this post, perhaps it’s because I received the following error message:

The file you are attempting to upload has invalid content for its MIME type.

Doc, I don’t know what this error message means.  The file I am attempting to attach is a 3 MB Zip file.

Hi Mark,
Please check your Cineversity Private Messages. I have send an upload link.

Typically, to get a different UV/Texture result, one uses the UV Editor.

Any joint rig is weighted to the points of the geometry, any change here might have a negative effect.

I will have a look.

Thanks for the file, Mark.

The first problem with the mesh shows up when I explored it. While active (polygon) I went to Attribute Manager>Mode>Modeling. When you check it to active, it shows 2555 bad polygons, but it is kind of “invisible” as they are mostly located in the two eyes. I would not even start to fix them, replace them with to Spheres (set to hemisphere).

The simplest way would be to just select them and delete those. Which appears to create new problems, which can be selected the same way and deleted. This leaves some tiny holes in the head of the dino. The Mesh> Create Tools>Polygon Pen will certainly help to close those. Some of the new quads (four sided polygons) need to be Mesh>Commands> Triangulate. All of the new polygons need to weighted again to work with the rig.

The scaling could be as easy as setting the Attribute Manager>Project to a new project scale and merge the saved file into a new one. Or place all under a new Null Object (don’t use the group short cut, just in case) use a new one and set the the two parents of the scene under it. Now set the Null to the scale you like. There are other ways, but these seems to be the simplest.

The UV information connects the mesh with the image. A UV polygon is just a 2D representation of the polygon mesh. It works for each polygon like a picture frame, putting a certain amount fo the texture into the frame, like a rubber canvas. In this way a single UV polygon could be as large as the whole texture, or nearly invisible small. It doesn’t really say anything how large the polygon of the mesh is, how much texture is used from the UV.

Since the texture is not just a pattern, this can’t be just changed. The texture is individually created for this. There is a method where one can select the UV polygons, store the information, scale it and then remap the information, but this goes always with a loss of information. Not really advised just because one can.
Anyway, to illustrate the process, I have made a screen capture: Let me know if you don’t like to have the model public.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/jffJ6ic1EFUkvIwzylDx8yzA48EOamRUKUWEfjE5iLF

All in all, there are some problems with this model, which should be solved first. While fixing the mesh, I found that working from the inside of the mesh, helps to avoid accidentally select the wrong points.

My favorite tool, besides the Polygon Pen would be the Mesh> Create> Weld Function. After the first round the space bar is the switch between select and weld, one can get very fast with it.

For the head, if the pattern is too small or too large, perhaps, use the body texture of the scene and with the “cloner” paint a new texture on the head.

I hope all of that helps
My best wishes

Doc, thanks so much for your response.  I had several interruptions come up today, so I’m planning to get back to this dino some other day when time permits.  When I do, I’ll reach out if I have questions. 

Regarding the model, please feel free to share screengrabs, but please don’t share the actual model.  Thanks!

Mark

You’re very welcome, Mark.

I will not share the model.

One question, I saw IK handles in the Object Manager (but no IK tags), which made me uncertain if the file that I got was reduced? It matter only in terms of how much work was done so far, and to evaluate further steps.

Perhaps, think about some typical camera settings, so we can discuss the resolution of the model, it seemed to be from SD times… not UHD.

Please take any time you like, if you pick it up again, I will have a look into any questions of course.

Cheers

The model I sent was not reduced.  It’s the native model I purchased from Turbosquid.  Thanks!

Thanks for the reply, Mark, that helps for further inspections, and opens up other ways to scale it.

I hope it was not expensive…

ENJOY

Mark,

I have send you via PM an example of your model, using Instant Mesh. You might have missed any text with the PM, as usual, I try to have as much in the forum as possible. I’m not a fan of behind the curtain discussions.
Introduction to this application is here
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaytut/turn_any_object_into_hexagons_with_instant_meshes

The new mesh didn’t took anything given from the VAMP function, so I weighted the Joints again.
A quick noise texture was applied, and baked based on an more equal UV distribution.

Eyes are not included. It is an example, not a production ready model, but that is kind of obvious.

Cheers

Looks very interesting, Doc.  I’ll certainly investigate this more when I come up for air.  Thank you for your assistance!

You’re very welcome, Mark.

Have a great evening!