Hi all
Delving into 3d printing and having seam problems with the tools uv cylindrical mapping to use with surface noise. Tried all sort s of settings, fix seams, repeat tile patterns from Photoshop. Tried UV master but I don’t get how to do cylindrical mapping in it. I’m a novice at mapping, I just want a simple UV cylinder map. Any suggestions or video links would be much appreciated!
Hello @zakcat!
The cylindrical UVC projection in the Tool > UV palette is adequate as a quick solution for very simple texture work, but will always have limitations and is not a replacement for unwrapped UVs. I find it works best with the default UVs that come on the parametric primitives in the Zbrush tool menu, so try using one of those cylinders (make it into a polymesh 3d tool) for this and don’t UV it. You’re going to want to dive into UV Master or another UV tool if you want to have better control though, and there are quite a few tutorials for it floating around.
For the sake of your eyes, I have hidden a regrettably lengthy post giving you some general tips on some fundamental issues if you wanted to move onto UV Master. If interested, click on “Wall of text” below.
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UVs are never fun, but keep in mind that they’re generally only necessary for 3d print work in order to achieve a special modelling effect the way you’re attempting. But there are many ways to radially apply color and detail to a cylinder in Zbrush that don’t require as much forethought as a full blown UV Layout. Don’t let yourself get stressed out over it is my point. One of the pros of working for print is that you have relative freedom to create a mesh without UV or topology concerns, and there are other ways to get where you want to go. There are also ways to touch up the displacement from an imperfectly fitting texture if it comes to that. Print output is generally only concerned with the physical object, not how a texture will display on it.
Let me give you some general tips if you decide to move to UV Master.
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UV Layout is drastically easier on lower poly objects with clean topology. You have a fairly dense mesh there, possibly dynameshed, that probably would take forever to unwrap and would be difficult to manage if it does unwrap. It is especially important to have clean topology on hard surface objects you are trying to UV for a lot of straight lines and right angles, as opposed to a much more forgiving organic object with organic detail.
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UV Layout is significantly easier with cleanly defined polygroups, and polygroups are also easier to define at low poly.
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Most texture work in Zbrush with the goal of rendering in another program is designed around the idea of a multiple subdivision level mesh, with a low poly base.
You should factor all this into your intended approach, and plan on eventually arriving at a mesh with multiple subdivision levels with a cleanly constructed low poly base if you want to work with UVs for this purpose. You don’t have to start there, but it would be easier to do so if you aren’t at ease with re-meshing and transferring detail between meshes in Zbrush.
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The image map must be constructed to be seamless if that is the intent. Seams on color maps can be touched up, but bump/displacement is trickier, so make doubly certain there are no unwanted borders on the image, and that the point where the two ends of the texture meet are constructed in such a way as to help disguise an abrupt change in detail.
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There will always be seams with visual artifacts to some degree. Which is why it’s important to control where those seams appear.
I just did this quickly with UV Master (so dont laugh at my layout 
). Because it was clean, well distributed topology with clearly defined polygroups, it was easy to unwrap and lay out. The cylinder topology didn’t come out that straight initially, but because of the limited topology, it was easy to tighten up (which will be important to avoid distortion for what you’re trying to do).
I applied one of the stock ZB textures that was similar to what you’re attempting as a displacement in the displacement menu, only because it doesn’t have as many balls in the air as Noisemaker. It’s very low res, so pardon the blurry detail. Since the topology on my end caps is not suitable for non-radial detail and the texture image isn’t custom made for my UVs, I simply hid those while I applied the displacement, leaving them smooth.
And finally, do read the documentation for UV Master. It has a ton of important information and tutorials.
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Thanks so much for all the great info SPYNDAL! I’ll copy paste this and take a closer look tomorrow. I have Blender as well but don’t know how to set up uv’s in that yet either.
Thanks again