Hi,
i am relatively new to modeling and i wonder what workflow you use to model and texture environment objects…
For example when i model stairs, i create the geometry of the steps, rails and braces first. Then i end up unwrapping each brace and apply it to the same uv-texture space. if i want to change the geometry i have to a) change every brace and b) unwrap all again… this cant be how you would do it. how would you do it?
UV’s should be last/close to last step or like you experianced, work flow is just extra. Me personally I model every object first, THEN combine/re-edit objects. Then once most/all your objects are modeled start to UV map. You can also copy UV’s from 1 mesh to another, provided they are built the same. (So if u have a lot of same item only need to UV map one) in 2.49b select mesh to receive map, next select mesh with good UVmap
Object>Scripts>Copy UV from Active. (You could also just just Duplicate [shift-D or alt-D] the object once it is complete,map, textured, etc, then place them where you need in your scene.)
Copy UV from Active is a cool feature but i am looking for something different… if i create for example 4 instances of a pillar and join these pillars into one object to create a single arc-object how can i copy the uvs from one pillar to the others in editmode? or do i always have to unwrap them before joining objects?
When you have lots of object and lots of change, use “Unwrap (Smart Projections).” The map you get may not look pretty. But it is quick and dirty! If there are some texture detail that is important, that part can be unwrapped manually and separately.