MAXON Computer Cinema 4D Tutorials: Fixing Seams

Tips & Techniques - Bodypaint 3D

Bodypaint 3D:
Fixing Seams
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BodyPaint Requires:
Version 6.1

AAARRGGHH!! Now that you've finally got your complicated character or model built, how do you go about painting it? The answer is simple, Optimal Mapping (coupled with a few tricks to smite the seams!). Grab your tablet (or mouse) and follow forth!

Step 1: You first need a new Material. In the Material Manager select File=>New Material. Double click the icon in the Material Manager to open the Material dialog and rename the material "HAND".

Step 2: Now drag and drop the HAND material onto the handpoly object in the Object Manager and accept the default UVW Mapping projection. In the Layers Manager select Channels=>Color. Accept the default resolution of 600x600 as there is no need for a higher resolution for this little exercise.

Step 3: Now double click on the Background icon that appears in the Layer Manager to activate it in the Texture View Window. In the Texture View Window, Select View=>Fit to Screen and Tools=>Show UV Mesh. Now you can see the default UVs of the hand. Not too pretty...

Step 4: In the View Window, ensure you are in Polygons mode (Tools=>Polygons), and choose Selection=>Select All. This will select all the UVs in the Texture View Window as well.

Step 5: Now the cool instant gratification stuff. Select Functions=>Optimal Mapping in the Texture View Window. Set the Maximum Distortion to 40%, this will break the model into small pieces. A lower percent will totally break apart the model and 100% will give only a few large unmanageable "chunks". Set the spacing to 1% to save space. Check the box for Preserve Orientation to speed up calculations. Click OK.

Step 6: Now see the results, the UVs have been broken up according to the parameters set in the Optimal Mapping dialog.

Step 7: Now activate Paint Mode (Tools=>3D Painting Mode) and select your Brush Tool (Painter=>Tools=>Brush). Apply a few strokes to the hand. Everything "seams" to be OK. (Bad pun...)

Step 8: Now select Window=>Painter=>Brush Settings. Increase the Size to 75. Ensure all the settings of your brush match this one. A larger airbrush is a lot better to hunt for problem seams.

Step 9: Now try a stroke with this brush and seams appear! This may "seam" (Somebody stop me!) to be a bad thing, but it can be easily fixed in the Texture View.

Step 10: In the Texture View Window you will see how your paint stroke was split between the two different sections of UVs, allowing you to locate the problem UVs. Now using the UV Tools you will repair this seam.

Step 11: Now select the Live Selection Tool in the Texture View Window (Tools=>Live Selection) and paint the selection of the smaller portion of the problem area.

Step 12: Select the Rotate Tool in the Texture View Window (Tools=>Rotate) and turn the selected UVs 180 degrees. Use the Move Tool (Tools=>Move) to roughly line up the UVs. It's all right if the UVs are off the texture area, you can fix that later. You will notice the texture in your View Window change interactively as you rotate the UVs. Pretty cool eh?

Step 13: In your Active Tool Manager, under the Snapping tab, ensure that Edge and Point are both checked.

Step 14: Now select Edit Points in the Texture View Window (Tools=>Edit Points), then select the Move Tool and start snapping together the unconnected UVs that are causing this nasty seam.

Step 15: Now in the View Window you can see that the seam is no more! Try to paint on it with a medium sized brush (Radius=60) to test it out. You will find that the model paints perfectly in the repaired area! No more seam! You can use this method of testing in the View Window with a large airbrush to find the seams to repair in the Texture View. Soon no model will be safe from your painting prowess! Onward Artists!