UV-Mapping Advice

[dvatreknerd314]

So I've got two projects now where I've successfully created a model, and now it's time to create the texture. The problem I'm having is a strategy of fitting all the pieces onto a single (or two) textures while trying to keep the relative level of detail in mind for each section. It's inducing a bit of frustration and anxiety in me as I try to apply textures to these things so I was wondering if anyone has some tips?

 

[kjc733]

Can you post some pictures? It may help describe things.
First thing you must decide upon is scale. This will depend on two things:
1. How much space you have available on the texture file.
2. Whether or not the texture will have a consistently scaled element to it.
Star Trek ships are a good example, they typically have aztecing. You are going to want this base detailing to be consistent across the entire mesh, which means that you will probably want all of the structural elements to be scaled the same (otherwise the aztec panels will be different sizes on each mesh element).
Where possible you want to minimise the amount of breaks in the mesh, otherwise you'll need to figure out how to align the textures across the joins.
Where possible you want to align the plane of the map so that it parallel to the surface of the mesh, this will reduce the amount of stretch on the texture.
If you have a large segment of the mesh, use that to set the scale for the rest of the mesh elements.
Don't be afraid to double up on the textures. By that I mean if you have a symmetrical model (especially one where you can only see one side at a time) then "fold" the uv map so it's the same texture on both sides. However keep in mind that this can cause complications if you have a registry as it'll either be mirrored or you won't be able to write it over the centreline (there are tricks to get around this however). Depending on the texture type it can also cause problems with making a visible seam along the fold.

Example:
The Thunderbolt upper wing surface dominates the texture. It is as large as possible because this is where the most customisation will be and there is a reasonable chance it will be asymmetrical at times. However, I wanted to only have one texture file (unlike the Starfury) so it is not the full width of the texture. I chose a size that I felt would allow everything else to fit (it was close though).
Everything else is sized to be the same scale as that wing surface. This means that the base texture can be the same across the entire mesh.
The interior sides of the wing (i.e the lower surface of the top wing and upper surface of the lower wing) only has half the mesh, this is because the texture is the same on both wings.
You only see one side of the fuselage, this is because you are only ever going to see one side of it at a time, so both sides can be identical.
Some of the engine parts are not to scale, because they won't be using the same base texture and because they are physically small. If I used the same scale then the textures would be very pixilated, so I've zoomed in the texture on those bits. The scale of those bits doesn't matter.

Without having a specific example, that's about all I can suggest right now.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
Have you ever assembled a model-kit? To make a texture for a 3d ship is like making the opposite, it is like you want to return the model-kit back into the box for storage as it originally came to you.

Another thing I do is to split the model into it's larger areas (like the pizza-shaped hull of an ISD) and I only use half of it because it can be mirrored, that will help get a better-looking texturing while saving a ton of space.

And what kjc said