Just started off designing some new objects and need to know how to make seperate texture maps for differant subsets. i'm sure this may have been posted before but i'm having trouble finding anything si i appolagise if it has.

is it best to use uvmapper classic for this or uvmapper pro?

reading my post i thought i'd make my question more specific. I need to split my texture map so I can color one part of my object one color and the other side(s) with another. Any help would be greatly appreciated

There are two solutions for this. One is to divide the texture map into two halves and UV map each side to the respective portion of the texture map. An example is ths way skins are colored in the game.

There are multiple tutorials here for UV mapping.

The other way is to make two groups in your mesh. You map the texture to each group via a seperate line in the 'parts' tab of the SHPE file that points to your mesh.

If the mesh has only one subset currently, there is at least one tutorial on adding a subset to a mesh. Use Search to find it fast.

<* Wes *>

Thanks for the reply. My mesh has 2 groups. the front of the tv and back. I wanted to seperate them so I can make the front of the tv have a big enough map so i can get the brand name of the tv to be clear and readable. But yes i'll try and do some more resa research.

In UVmapper if you choose planar mapping and split by orientation, you should get the front and the back separated. Then you can grow the front and shrink the back.

ok cool. but under what axis and size? and once i've done that everytime i go to save the texture map ie: the size currently is at 1024 by 319 which needs to sacle ti fit in SimPE and makes it all messed up. If i choose to resize it on export at say 512 by 512 then the image is squashed and looks nasty? So i guess my question is how do I resize the whole texture map of front and back without is getting squashed?

Z axis, Horizontal, Split by orientation, Gaps in map, Scale result.

1024 by 319??? That's an unusual size! If you want to go to 1024 by 512, then after UVmapper makes your front and back map, with it still selected, pull it out twice its real width. Then it will be the right proportions on your narrow texture. You should save your template to 1024 x 512 - and that should show you the things in the proportion you wanted in the end.

okay i'll try that. but how do i pull it out twice? sorry i don't understand what that means and will SimPE let me import a texture map size od 1024 by 512 without making it scale?

Sorry for all the questions.

In UVmapper when an area is selected it gets a selection box with little pull handles. Assuming your texture is going to be tall rather than wide, pulling one of the side handles till your mapped mesh outline is all wide will make it be the right shape again when your map gets squashed up into your narrow texture.

Make a texture of 1024 tall by 512 wide in your paint program, using the 1024 x 512 template you asked UVmapper to save for you. Then in SimPE select the right TXTR resource, then right-click on the image itself and use "Build DXT" (you will need your NVIDIA DDS Utilities path set up in SimPE's Extra menu)

Anyway, using Build DXT means you can import a different sized image from the one you have. I haven't tried using an odd shaped texture like the one you seem to have, and personally I would stick with the regular shapes such as square, or twice as high as wide.

Thanks. I have downloaded and installed NVIDIA DDS Utilities but the option to select build dxt is greyed out. How to i set this up to run is simpe. Sorry

Sorry ignore that last post. Got it sorted out. Sorry. Anyway i'll try and go with the options you suggested above. Let you know how i get on. Thank you for your help.

does it matter what dxt format to use, level, sharpen or filter options when building dxt?

okay just tried to recolor a simple light switch now and chose bild dxt. opened the png, chose the format, level etc and nothing. it won't build the new texture size. What gives?

I need more details "won't" is too vague in technical terms Does it say anything? Did you actually click Build? What were you expecting and how did it differ from what actually happened?

Oh! I just realised! Don't choose the levels or format, let it set that itself.

Yes i clicked build and commit. I was expecting like with the last mesh that worked for a new texture size in the bottom left corner to come up with the new size. All i get is a black screen the flashes for like a second and that's it. No new build. And yes i have NVIDIA DDS Utilities installed and working with simpe.

Hmmm.... Perhaps you should upload the package in question and zip it up with the texture you were trying to import, see if anyone else gets the same result?

Ha. I got it totally down now. Well almost. I now know how to do all the things we discussed above and even know how to make seperate textures maps for my subsets but.......I can't get the uvmapper to correctly map my mesh. ie: i'm cloning the alrm system and made a few changes to it so it's a perfect square. simple. now when i import the mesh into uvmapper pro i want to place a texture on the fron of the square. every time i choose box it streches it in the left pane to almost a rectangle. Even if i do scale to fit, split back and front etc. How do i solve this?

Sorry forget that. I am sorry for all the post but i think i got it. I was worried that if i correct the size by scaling it in the left pane that it would get all messed up when i bring it back in to uvmapper from photoshop but it doesn't. Well hopefully soon i can begin posting my first creations on this site and give something back to all the people who have made some amazing mods for a very addictive game. Ha. Thanks everyone.

okay back again. urggggg. no matter what i do in uvmapper the texture i'm placing in my map shows up on every face of my mesh. it's now just a simple sqaure. planer, box, etc etc it always shows up on every face even though the preview of it in uvmapper is perfect. yes i click commit, i did the whole build dxt, it's just a simple 512 by 512. i just don't get it. i've tried everything i can think of. why does it show up on every side? I have used black to cover all the other sides of the face and have the texture cover only one side. doesn't work. and still when i choode box, planar etc the sqaure is more rectangle so I scale down the other sides and scale the front texture so it actually looks sqaure and view it in uvmapper and it covers the whole sqaure, check it out in the game and it only covers the size i scaled it down to. i'm going to bang my head against a wall now. Ha. i'm not getting angry people just loosing my mind.

Well if it's not just the front and back that matter, my settings won't do for you. You'll have to use that one that used to be called lithunwrap that properly unwraps the faces. Or else make each face into a different mesh group, select and map by group in UVmapper, (using your pre-made texture as a background so you can get them in the right place) and then finally group them back up in your 3D editor.

unbelievable. I got it now and did a littlle dance in celebration. Such a rookie mistake i guess. All i had to do was resave it in uvmapper and bring it back into milkshape just to export it again and now finally after almost loosing my mind it works. Post it up soon. Thanks once again for all the help and patience.