Poly Resolve
Last updated
Last updated
In conjunction with our Curve Extract tool, this tools will attempt to resolve tube-shaped or card-shaped polygons into extractable geometries.
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.
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.
UV Mode
Requires straight vertical UVs for best result.
This is what the resolving process goes through:
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.
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
Example of UVs that will NOT work in UV mode.
Retopologize Mode
Does not require UV, will use Maya's retopologize function and a few extra steps to solve the cards.
This is what the resolving process goes through:
Merge short distanced vertex, with a threshold of 0.001 Maya distance.
Runs Maya retopologize function with a built in setting optimized for cards.
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.
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.
Another video to see how we can solve some of the issues with the UV mode.
