U V Projection

Ever apply a texture to an object only to see it distorted or not aligning properly due to some work you did on the object? Then you'll find this tutorial, U V Projection, very helpful. In fact, when it comes to texturing, you'll find U V Projection one of the most useful tools in TrueSpace. The one thing you must remember with U V Projection is that you're not applying the texture directly to the object but projecting it over the object. This means that the texture isn't effected by any alteration you made to an object. Also, you're not limited as to how the texture goes on the object. You'll soon see what I mean.

Fig. 38

In Fig. 38 you see the four U V Projection you have to work with. As to which one you use for your work depends on what you doing, though, in most cases, you'll use Cubic as we'll be using in this tutorial.

In the tutorial, Corner, I showed you how to make the peek of a roof. We're now going to make the ends of the roof. Fig. 39

Fig. 39

Add a Cube to your screen, center it on the grid and the move it to one end of the roof but not all the way to the end. We want to have an overhang. Fig. 40

Fig. 40

Reduce the Cube's thickness (I reduced it to .100 meters thick) and increase the width so that the bottom of the Cube is extending just into the two sides of the roof. Fig. 41

Fig. 41

Using the Point Edit: Face tool on the top face of the Cube, bring the top to a point. Fig. 42

Fig. 42

We're ready to texture the end of the roof. For the end of the roof, I'm going to use a wood plank texture. Fig. 43

Fig. 43

Not too good. As you can see, the planks of the texture are angled, yet the planks of the texture I used are vertical. The reason for the angle in the texture is because we changed the shape of the Cube, causing a distortion in the texture. This is one place where U V Projection can help.

First, click on the Cubic UV Projection button. Depending on which version of TrueSpace you're using, the lines of the Cube will change color. Fig. 44

Fig. 44

Now apply the texture as you would normally do. Fig. 45

Fig. 45

As you can see, the planks are now vertical. However, I don't want the planks vertical. I want them horizontal. If I were doing plain texturing, I would have to rotate the texture first. If I was already using this texture in my OP for another object, I would then have two textures, one with planks vertically and one with the planks horizontally. With U V Projection, you don't need to rotate the texture and add it to your OP. You can use U V Projection to do that.

Since the U V Protection is active, we can rotate it. In the Object Info, rotate the U V Projection 90 degrees in either the X or Y Rotation depending on how you made your object.

Fig. 46

As you can see, the planks are now horizontal.

Note: In TrueSpace 3, you can't use the Object Info to rotate the U V Projection. Instead of rotating the U V Projection, you rotate the entire object. In TrueSpace 3 you have to rotate the U V Projection manual with the Rotate Object Button.

Now that you know rotating a texture with U V Projection is possible, I going to show you how to use this for your benefit. Fig. 47

Fig. 47

In Fig. 47 I made an overhang (a kind of roof) for a door. On the sides, ends and underside I going to add a plank texture. The top I'll add a shingle texture. Since the two halves are the same but opposites, I'll delete one. Once I have the textures on the half I didn't delete, I'll copy it and move it to where the other half use to be. Like plain texturing, I can use the Paint Face Tool to apply more then one texture on an object with U V Projection.

Note: For those using TrueSpace 3, sorry, the Paint Face Tool doesn't work with U V Projection.

Here I'm going to use Cubic UV Projection. First I load the texture I want to use. I'll start with the shingle texture. Then clicking on the Cubic UV Projection button, I apply the texture with the Paint Object button to see how it looks on the top of the object. Fig. 48

Fig. 48

A little adjustment is needed in the V Repts, but otherwise it looks good. Now I'll load the plank texture, but this time I'll use the Paint Face button to apply the texture just on the sides, end, and underside. Fig. 49

Fig. 49

Notice how the plank texture applied on the front side. Since I angled the object, the plank texture is on an angle. Doesn't really look good. I would prefer the planks vertically. With U V Projection, I can do that. This object I angled 30 degrees, so all I need to do is angle the U V Projection 30 degrees in the opposite direction. Fig. 50

Fig. 50

The Projection will look more like a cube now, but this is what I want. Since we already applied the plank Texture using U V Projection, you don't need to reapply. Fig. 51

Fig. 51

As you can see, the planks are now vertical and the object has two textures applied to it.