Priya Kapoor
Substance Painter's Auto UVs feature has made UV unwrapping easier and faster. When creating a new project or re-importing a mesh into an existing project, make sure the setting Auto-unwrap is checked. This feature can be used to paint on 3D models that don't have any existing UVs. However, some artists still prefer to manually unwrap their models to achieve more detail in their work. When importing a UV unwrapped object into Substance Painter, it is important to ensure that the UV map is correct to avoid issues such as stretching and strange lines.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| UV unwrapping | A divisive aspect of 3D modelling that some people love and others don't |
| Auto UVs | A feature in Substance 3D that can be used to quickly texture an object when deadlines are tight |
| Overlapping areas in UV maps | Can cause problems in Substance Painter, resulting in unwanted lines |
| Triangulation | Required for Ngons in the model to prevent issues in Substance Painter |
| Smart UV Project in Blender | A tool that can be used to address overlapping areas in UV maps |
| Projection modes | Triplanar Projection can be used to avoid stretching in textures |
| Texture Paint mode | Allows users to get a basic idea of how good the UV map will work before importing it into Substance Painter |
| Exporting to Substance Painter | Ensure the FBX file is exported with the Vertex Colors box selected |
| Importing textures | The UV map from the Project tab of the textures can be dragged into the Fill option |
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What You'll Learn
- Utilise Substance 3D's Auto UVs feature to save time and achieve faster results
- Ensure the Auto-Unwrap setting is checked when creating a new project or re-importing a mesh
- Use the Texture Paint mode to preview the UV map before importing it into Substance Painter
- Fix stretching issues by changing the projection mode to Triplanar Projection in Substance Painter
- Clean your topology and triangulate Ngons before exporting the mesh to Substance Painter
Utilise Substance 3D's Auto UVs feature to save time and achieve faster results
Substance 3D Painter's Auto UVs feature is a handy tool to have when you're short on time and need to texture something quickly. It can be used to paint on 3D models that don't have any existing UVs. When creating a new project or re-importing a mesh into an existing project, ensure the "Auto-unwrap" setting is enabled. This feature automatically generates UV islands when importing a 3D model, saving you time and effort.
While the Auto UVs feature is useful for quick texturing, it might not always produce perfect results. Some manual adjustments may be necessary to fix any issues. For example, you might encounter unwanted lines or stretching when using this feature. To address these issues, you can try changing the view to a sensible option like the front view before unwrapping. Additionally, selecting edges in problematic areas and using the "Mark Seam" function (Ctrl+E) can help disconnect the UV map along specific edges.
Another way to improve the results of the Auto UVs feature is by adjusting the projection mode. By switching from UV Projection to Triplanar Projection, you can minimise stretching issues, especially for assets that need to follow a certain flow, such as wood grains. This combination of automatic and manual adjustments ensures that you achieve the desired texture flow while saving time on the overall texturing process.
To further streamline your workflow, consider the following tips: when exporting your mesh, ensure "Include UVs" is turned on. In Substance Painter, under "Edit" and "Project Configuration," select the exported meshes. Change the "Seams" option in the auto-unwrap settings to "Generate Only Missing Data." This will ensure that existing UVs are preserved while filling in any gaps. By utilising a combination of automatic and manual UV unwrapping techniques, you can achieve faster and more efficient results, especially when working with tight deadlines.
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Ensure the Auto-Unwrap setting is checked when creating a new project or re-importing a mesh
When working with Substance 3D Painter, it is important to ensure that the "Auto-Unwrap" setting is enabled when creating a new project or re-importing a mesh. This setting is crucial for automatically generating UV islands when importing a 3D model and can be used to paint on models that do not have existing UVs.
By checking the "Auto-Unwrap" option, you can take advantage of the automatic UV unwrapping feature in Substance Painter. This feature simplifies the process of UV mapping and allows you to work with models that may not have been properly UV unwrapped beforehand. It saves time and effort by automatically generating UV islands, which are essential for applying textures and materials to your 3D models.
However, it is worth noting that the automatic UV unwrapping process has certain limitations. For example, processing high-poly meshes can take a considerable amount of time. Additionally, there may be challenges with degenerated faces or non-triangular mesh faces that have small or overlapping edges. These limitations should be considered when utilizing the "Auto-Unwrap" setting.
To enable the "Auto-Unwrap" setting, go to "Edit" and then "Project Configuration" in Substance Painter. Here, you can select the meshes you want to import or re-import. Additionally, you can adjust the seams in the auto-unwrap options to "Generate Only Missing Data" to ensure that existing UVs are not altered.
While Substance Painter's Auto UVs feature can be a timesaver, it is not a perfect replacement for proper UV unwrapping. In certain cases, you may still need to manually adjust UVs to achieve the desired results, especially when working with complex materials like wood, where the grain direction is important. Nevertheless, the "Auto-Unwrap" setting in Substance Painter remains a valuable tool for quickly importing and working with UV unwrapped objects.
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Use the Texture Paint mode to preview the UV map before importing it into Substance Painter
To use the Texture Paint mode to preview the UV map before importing it into Substance Painter, follow these steps:
Firstly, open the FBX file inside Substance Painter. Drag your file in and ensure Auto-Unwrap is deactivated. You can then click OK and your model and UV map should appear. You can test that everything is working by drawing on the model and checking that the markings are reflected on the UV map.
Next, you need to bake the model. Go to Texture Set Settings and scroll down until you see Bake Mesh Maps. Click this, and another window will open. Here, you can bring in your hi-poly mesh and bake it down. Go to ID and change the colour to Vertex Colour, then adjust the resolution to your desired level. Finally, hit Bake Selected Textures.
Baking creates extra maps that tell the software how to treat edges, ambient occlusion, and normals. This is an essential step as it ensures that the results look clean and impressive.
UV Reprojection is an automatic process that occurs when you change the texture resolution or import a new mesh. It recomputes all the layers and brush strokes, which can take some time, especially at high texture resolutions. To ensure your project is reprojection-proof, rely on masking by an ID map and other types of selection and painting in the 3D View.
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Fix stretching issues by changing the projection mode to Triplanar Projection in Substance Painter
When working with Substance Painter's Auto UVs feature, you may encounter stretching issues, especially when working with certain materials like wood or fabric. This happens because the UV projection mode in Substance Painter can cause the material to look warped when applied to a mesh.
To fix this issue, you can change the Projection Mode from UV Projection to Triplanar Projection. Triplanar projection projects the texture three times, once for each axis (X, Y, and Z), and then blends them together. While this may still result in some stretching when viewed up close, it will generally look much better and may not be noticeable for background assets.
For example, if you have a model of a bedside table with two materials, one for the body and one for the drawers, you can fix stretching issues by deleting the UV map for the body and leaving the UVs for the drawers. This will ensure that the wood grain flows along each panel as it would in real life.
Additionally, when using Triplanar Projection, it's important to consider the shape of your model. If your model has mostly rectangular faces that primarily face one axis, Triplanar Projection will work well. However, for round models or cylinders, you may encounter more blending issues, and other projection options, such as cylinder mapping, may be more suitable.
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Clean your topology and triangulate Ngons before exporting the mesh to Substance Painter
When preparing a 3D model for texturing in Substance Painter, it is important to ensure that your mesh is clean and free of any issues that may cause problems during the texturing process. This includes cleaning your topology and, in some cases, triangulating Ngons before exporting the mesh to Substance Painter.
Cleaning your topology involves ensuring that your mesh is well-formed and optimised. This means checking for issues such as overlapping vertices, non-manifold geometry, and inverted faces, and correcting them using appropriate modelling tools. A clean and optimised mesh will ensure that your UV unwrapping is accurate and efficient, which is crucial for achieving high-quality textures in Substance Painter.
In terms of triangulating Ngons, there is some debate among artists and developers. Some people choose to triangulate their meshes before exporting to Substance Painter, as it can help with the texturing process and avoid potential issues with certain game engines that always triangulate meshes for easier calculations. Triangulation can affect lighting and shading, as different engines will triangulate quads in different orders, resulting in slightly different lighting due to the interpolation of normals. Additionally, triangulation can influence the way textures are applied to certain shapes, such as trapezoids and other quads.
On the other hand, some artists choose not to triangulate their meshes before exporting, as it adds an extra step to their workflow and may not always be necessary. Substance Painter has an Auto UVs feature that can handle some of the UV unwrapping automatically, saving time and effort. Additionally, some artists report that their exported models are not triangulated but are automatically triangulated when imported into Substance Painter, which can cause issues with animations and deformations.
Ultimately, the decision to triangulate Ngons before exporting to Substance Painter depends on your specific use case and workflow. If you are experiencing issues with texturing, lighting, or compatibility with game engines, triangulating your mesh beforehand may be a good solution. However, if you are working within a tight deadline and need a quick solution, relying on Substance Painter's Auto UVs feature can be a viable option.
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