Poly Resolve

Overview

In conjunction with our Curve Extract Tool, the Poly Resolve Tool will attempt to convert tube-shaped or card-shaped polygons into curve extractable geometries. Please note the goal of the tool is simply to make a geometry curve extractable, the solved geometries will not be pretty, but it will work.

Solved vs Problem groups

• After processing each geometry, the tool will run a check to see if it has become "curve-extractable". If it meets all the requirement, the solved geometry will be assigned a green color and put into the xgt_solved_grp.

• Otherwise, the geometry will be red, and be assigned to the xgt_problem_grp.

Tube

Tube Target Count:

• This is the estimate of resolved polygon count. Start with low value, and work your way up for unresolved tubes.

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Card

This tool will do its best to convert card shaped geometries into curve extractable geometries. Useful when trying to extract curves from game hair cards and turn them into workable guides for XGen, or other grooming software.

Disclaimer: this tool will do its best to perform checks and retopologize. Even though the tool goes through many checks and automatic solving procedures, not all cards will be resolved due to many factors such as:

• Geometry formation of the cards.

• Retopologize algorithm for different Maya versions.

• Using UV mode when there's no UV on the cards, or

• The card is actually not a card.

Preparations:

• Scale the hair geometry, so the hair size is about a 160 cm human in your Maya scene.

• If the hair geometry is combined into one geo, please separate them.

Resolve Method

UV Mode

How it's working - UV Mode

These are the steps the tool takes when solving each card.

• Merge short distanced vertex, with a threshold of 0.001 Maya distance.

• Sew and move the UVs, making sure no splitting edges in the UV.

• Check to see if UV count is too small ( less than 3).

• Check to see if UV is overlapping.

• Check for manifold geometry

• Check for straight UV edges for left/right borders.

• Rebuild the polygon into grid.

• Runs a final grid/card topology check.

• Requires straight vertical UVs.

• To resolve with UV mode, you will need the following to be met:

  • UV needs to be laid out in Maya's default UV set 'map1 '. If not, copy or rename the UV set to map1.

  • UVs are 'none' overlapping.

  • UVs are straight and vertically laid out.

  • Example of good UVs

The topology can be triangular, as long as the UV's are straight and vertically laid out.

• Example of UVs that will NOT work in UV mode.

Horizontally laid out UVs will NOT work in UV mode.

Overlapping UVs will NOT work in UV mode.

UVs with different point count on either sides will NOT work in UV mode.

• Retopologize Mode

How it's working - Retopologize Mode

These are the steps the tool takes when solving each card.

• Merge short distanced vertex, with a threshold of 0.001 Maya distance.

• Runs Maya retopologize function with a built in setting optimized for cards. Due to this reason, results can be different between different Maya versions.

• Check for 'L' shaped edges.

• Check for 'V' shaped edges (usually happens at the root and tip).

• Merges border vertex if the vertex contains 3 edges.

• Add vertex to a polygon if it only has 3 vertex (triangle face).

• Rebuild the polygon into grid.

• Runs a final grid/card topology check.

• Does not require UV, this mode uses Maya's retopologize function and a few extra steps to solve the cards. Since it uses Maya's retopologize functions in certain steps, results may be different if the same geometry is run in different Maya versions.

Example Resolve Cases

Resolve with Retopologize Mode in V14.03

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Here's a video that shows how solving hair cards can be used. In summary, when there are some-what straight vertical UVs, I run all the cards with UV mode first. Then run the un-resolved cards in the problem group with the retopologize mode again.

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Another video to see how we can solve some of the issues with the UV mode.