This was working in the v8 WIP last I checked. Sub-objects can have separate mapping channels applied to use those specific settings for the object itself. v8 will also have a number of other UV mapping updates and this is a good time to take a look and provide feedback if interested.
Hereās a v8 WIP sample file that shows the set up. The polysrf has two mapping channels, 1 and 2. The sub object face has a material applied that uses mapping channel 2 for itās texture.
multiple_mapping_channels.3dm (759.5 KB)
The development work in this area is ongoing and in looking at this post and making the sample file I uploaded, itās clear we still need to change some things in the UI to make it more obvious what is happening when adjusting sub-object mapping. @theoutside and I were just discussing it and weāll file some bugs/requests for @Jussi_Aaltonen . I think the number one thing is that a sub-object selection should still show a mapping section in Properties that leads you to creating a new channel.
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Thank you.
Iām coming to Rhino from FormZ which has a very easy click and drag Interactive texture mapping method and this has been difficult to do quickly in Rhino. Any chance you all are making any updates there as well?
Currently the Gumball is used to scale and reposition any mapping widgets and these need to be enabled in the Properties panel to do so. Iāll discuss this with the developers though and see if there are any thoughts on improving these widgets and making them more obvious. Thanks for the suggestion.
Hi Brian,
Thank you for your feedback.
If there was some way to make the mapping process more intuitive that would be great. FormZ and SketchUp both do this graphically without so many unnecessary steps through menus. A Texture Mapping tool is used. So perhaps Rhino could do something like, Using the Texture Map tool, select a object or sub-object (Shift+CTRL+Click), assign a material, then pull the arrows to snap to corners to complete interactive texture mapping. Assuming your cube example, which is perfect. Thoughts?
Just following up here to see if this has been changed at all since October?
I feel subselection is sometimes not so easy to handle and so I have a wish: could it be possible that materials and mapping are kept after _join is done and transformed to subselection properties? Doeās @Jussi_Aaltonen develop this?
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Iāve logged the request as https://mcneel.myjetbrains.com/youtrack/issue/RH-73290/Keep-materials-and-mapping-when-joining-objects
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Hi Brian,
After another year in dev, I wanted to circle back here to see if this has been updated in Rhino 8 or WIP yet? Currently, it seems that setting up multiple Mapping Channels for sub object faces, remains a lot more difficult than is really necessary on a single object like this cube. Why canāt we just select the sub object face and use the Texture Mapping tool there straight away? Those are the most logical steps to do this without unnecessarily exploding the cube first.
Iād love to migrate to Rhino full time but this is a really big shortcoming compared to the ease of texture mapping in other applications like formZ and SketchUp. Working in 3D environment design for retail, and trade show exhibits need this feature to be quicker in the same way you all improved the Gumball to now have Push/Pull. Interactive Texture mapping is easily done in the other applications, where as Rhino feels like a programming procedure.
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Hi @the.Capt ,
Iāve filed that request as https://mcneel.myjetbrains.com/youtrack/issue/RH-84653
The other filed item regarding keeping materials and mapping after a Join is still open and slated for the v9 dev cycle currently. Sorry, I canāt give any more specifics on when this would be worked on. Iāll bump the issue though again now.
Hello @BrianJ, Any updates here? This is a major stopping point for adopting Rhino as our primary 3D application. Rhinoās Texture mapping is just way behind in providing interactive simplicity compared to how it is handled by other applications like FormZ and SketchUp. We donāt need complicated UV mapping, we just need simple, Plane, Box, and Cyl mapping with Interactive preview as we set and snap them. This is for 3D Environment Designs. Think Interactive Museums, Events, XL Tradeshow Exhibits, Retail, etc.
Hi @the.Capt ,
No updates on when either of those filed reports will get looked at by development but one is slated for 9.x and the other Future which could be longer. The method I showed you in the past still works though and from rereading this thread, I think you were just hoping it would be a different workflow and more similar to one you knew. The way it still works in Rhino is by mapping channel which is specified in the objectās properties for the whole object and also in the texture maps themselves in any assigned materials to sub-objects. Hereās another example for how Iād do this now. Select the polysurface box and look in itās texture mapping settings within the Properties panel. There are two mapping methods set up there, one for box and one for planar.
The materials assigned have texture maps in them that specify which mapping channel to use.
I hope this helps.
MultiMapping.3dm (1.1 MB)
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Hereās a video as well of the set upā¦
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Hello @BrianJ, Thank you for the video and explanation on how to currently use mapping channels. While this does highlight how you can get this accomplished in Rhino 8, watching this video, it should be very apparent to anyone who has used another 3D application for mapping this type of thing, at just how cumbersome the Rhino process is here. This is overly complex, with too many steps needed to do such a simple thing.
We donāt really need mapping channels to be so āhands onā here. They should just be more automatic, or even hidden unless really needed as other 3D programs handle it. Instead only coming up when that sub-object (mapping channel) is selected. For example, it would be so much simpler if we could start this process by first Sub-object selecting a face, and then simply clicking the Add Planar mapping button (or other mapping type buttons), which would then automatically create a new channel for that selected sub-object face with Planar mapping. Then you can adjust as needed. Done, and so much simpler.
Itās the whole front end process you want us to do with first manually adding extra channels and using the clunky command line to accept each option that is really a problem here. The less command line interaction, the better! Itās just too much for such a simple thing.
I do appreciate you looking into this and I think Rhino is otherwise pretty great and have been using it off and on over the years since learning it in college over 20 years ago. Professional requirements mean I need a fast, and interactive 3D modeling and rendering experience where rapid iterations are the expectation. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what could be done to simplify the current process. Let me know if I can help explain further.
Youāre welcome. I let the developers know about your comments and that the one filed as https://mcneel.myjetbrains.com/youtrack/issue/RH-84653 is what it sounds like youād like to see the most, i.e. texture mapping properties on sub-object selection.
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@BrianJ hello again. Is there any hope of this changing for Rhino v9? I canāt believe Rhino is still so much more difficult to map textures vs the other 3D applications we have tried. You all are doing such great things with modeling, it seems this is just an oversight that could be quickly resolved.
@andy @Jussi_Aaltonen Any ideas on when and if the above can be looked into?
Sub-object texture mappings would allow joining surfaces without loosing texture mappings. As far as I understand that has fairly high priority. I hope there will be time to work on that in the near future.
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