Issue With Mapping Textures

[Guest]

I am currently trying to recreate webbing similar to a bags strap using a One Rail Sweep with a single profile. However when I apply the webbing material the render is stretched at various points along the surface. I have tried using both UV Editor and Surface Mapping to edit the texture map however the results are the same.

I am just wondering if anyone might know of some possible solutions to resolve this problem please.

[monksalve]

Just dealt with this for a watch strap. I used the following method to correct the issue, there might be better ones:

What you want, is for the the "panels" in your part to be as close to square as possible. To do this you can either rebuild the surface or rebuild the curve you made the extrusion from to have regular spaced points. Let me know if you need more info and I'll make a mock up.

[Guest]

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.

I am a little unsure in regards to the "panels" and what to do once you have rebuilt the surface. Would it be possible to provide some more information please.

[monksalve]

Okie. Here's my full process.

1. This is my import from SolidWorks. It has a solid for the strap and the surface I used to make it.
2. This is the surface I used to make the strap solid in SW. I'm going to rebuild it in Rhino so that the mapping is easier
3. Use the DupEdge command to pull one of the edges of the imported surface out
4. Join it together
5. Use the Rebuild command to make a version with equally spaced points. I made mine with 200 points
6. Extrude this curve to the width of your strap
7. Use the new surface as the mapping tool. Select the object you want to map (the strap solid) go to the texture mapping tools and use the Custom Mapping tool (Rubber Ducky!) Select the newly created surface as the Custom Mapping source
8. In your materials Texture Placement, repeat the UV as necessary to fit into your surface. This is probably the weakest spot in my method. See the screenshot.

I added a pack of this scene for you.

Hope this helps! Mapping and UVs has been one of the things I've struggled the most with in the rendering world.

[Guest]

Thank you for taking the time to create a mock up of your process, it is extremely helpful.

The only part I am unsure about is 'part 7' using the new surface as a mapping tool. When I select the new rebuilt surface and click on 'Custom Mapping' I am unsure what surface or mesh to use as the custom mapping object ?

[monksalve]

It's backwards, you want to select the object you are going to render first and the surface we rebuilt as the custom mapping object.
In my case, I would select the strap solid, then click on the rubber ducky, then select the rebuilt surface.

[Guest]

Thank you for clarifying the process. I have found that if I apply the texture to the new rebuilt surface the texture mapping is distributed evenly.

Thank you for taking the time to help.

[monksalve]

No Prob! Yeah, step 7 just uses this surface as the mapping object for something else (the strap solid). Sometimes you need it, sometimes you don't.

[Micha]

Another way to get a mapping to a strap could be to assign the mapping to a flat strap and use _flow to bring it in the needed bended shape. For the flat strap a box mapping could be working. Very useful workflow if different strap shapes are needed to be rendered.

I'm not sure, but if the mapping get lost during _flow than it should help to extract a fine render mesh, export it as OBJ and reimport it again. So, the UV should be burned in the mesh and can't get lost by _flow.

[Guest]

Hi Micha, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.

I have attempted this method and although texture mapping was correct after this process unfortunately the new surface that was created using Flow Along Curve cut some of the corners along the curve, maybe I need to re-examine some of the parameters within this tool.