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Quicktip for Texel Density Tool (Unwrap 3D Pro)
The texel density tool in Ultimate Unwrap 3D can be used to get or set the texel density of UV islands. This is helpful when
you have to visualize several real world objects at the same texel density. For example, if you have a library of 3D assets,
perhaps created by different artists, it would be ideal if every 3D asset was UV mapped at the same texel density. If these objects were placed in the
same environment, it would ensure that every object has a consistent look. Since choosing a specific texel density really depends on your project requirements,
this tutorial will mainly focus on using the tool with any texel density.
What is Texel Density?
Texel density in Ultimate Unwrap 3D is measured in pixels per unit or px/unit. The word unit is simply the unit of your chosen unit system,
such as centimeters or meters,
so you may choose it to be px/cm or px/m. As you might expect, the size of your object in 3D is very important when calculating texel density.
Therefore, before using the tool, your 3D object should be already scaled to real world measurements, otherwise it won't make much sense.
Aside from ensuring that different 3D assets have a consistent look, the texel density tool can also ensure consistency among
different parts of the same model. Simply select a UV island and click Get. Then select the remaining UV islands, and click Set,
to scale them to the same texel density. It's that simple!
Quick Example
Let's say we have two planes, one is 4x4 and the other is 8x8. The UVs of both planes occupy the same UV space of 0 to 1, however, if we apply a checker pattern to both planes,
the checker pattern is much larger on the larger plane:
From the main menu, click Info | Texel Density to open up the Texel Density Tool. This is a floating window, so you may leave it open while you work.
If we select each plane and click Get, we see that the two planes have different texel densities, 256 px/unit and 128 px/unit:
To copy the texel density of smaller plane to the larger plane, select the smaller plane and click Get. Then, click the larger plane and click Set:
Now both planes have the same texel density. And the checker pattern is now the same size on both planes.
Note that, in this specific example, don't be too concerned with the actual value of texel density, as everything is relative. Only when
we began to build a library of 3D objects that share the same environment, texel density plays an important factor.
That's it! If you have any other questions, please let us know.
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