Newbie - Space Ship Model - UVs and texturing advice wanted

[neutrix]

Hi all!

I'm fairly new to all this 3d modelling stuff, and this is my first work that I have posted here. I think I've finished the modelling part now, unless anyone has any crits or suggestions.

I'm mainly after some advice on how to split up this sort of model for UV mapping. Where should I be placing my seams? Should I be splitting it up in to texture islands?

Here is what I have so far:





Any suggestions welcome, thanks!

[TheGoozah]

My first question would be, what do you want to do with the model? Do you want to make a high poly version out of this en bake it? And is this for a next-gen game. Because right now, there are some places where the silhouette isn't that great, and could use more mesh detail. Like the 2 parts sticking out. I don't know, I don't have a clear vision of how you want it to look.
Don't understand me wrong, it isn't a bad start, but technically you can approve some parts if it is for next-gen.

About the unwrap. I mainly put my seems on places that are not important. Not for the bake, but when you texture you will always have some color/texture difference. You can fix that, but it is easier to avoid it, def on important places that are real eye-catchers. If you want to bake the ship you'll to take that into account as well. Polycount Wiki has some interesting articles about that!

[scooba01]

Split the UVs as needed to get the most resolution out of your texture.
The way that ship is modeled it looks like you could pretty much just planar map the whole thing apart from the cylinder jets.
And make sure the UV islands are all matching each other in size and are each getting the equal amount of resolution.
A good way of doing this is lining up edges that you know are supposed to be connected if theyre equal in size then your uv islands will match pretty closely.

[scooba01]

It also helps to think of the model as a piece of material to unfold like paper, cardboard, or skin on higher res models. Try to keep as many edges merged as possible while taking full advantage of UV space.

[neutrix]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'll work a bit more on the protruding side parts, they were going to be cannons of some kind. The main aim for this was for a fairly low poly model for a space game that I am making. I am really a programmer at heart, but I thought I'd learn a bit about 3D modelling as well. I have the possibility of using normal maps, spec maps etc.

My plan initially was to just make a low poly model with a diffuse map as I am still fairly new to this. I have had a go with normal mapping from a high poly mesh before, so maybe I will have a go at that as well with this model.

Thanks for the texture tips so far, I may indeed go with mostly planar projections, with some separate sections for the coils.

If anyone else has any comments or crits I'd love to hear them .

[neutrix]

I made some improvements to the weapons, C&C welcome!