Unfold 3D 7.0 Review
Price
Full: USD / 299 Euro / GBP
1 network seat: USD / 799 Euro / GBP
5 network seats: / 2800 Euro / GBP
Academic: On request
Platform
* MS Windows – most flavours (x32, x64) ,
* Any MacOS X operating system, including 10.6
Main features
* Speed
* Density painting
* New ISOMap unfolding algorithm
* Well documented
* New optimization workflow
Developer:
Creators of one of the first UV mappers on the market, Marseille, France-based company Polygonal Design recently released Unfold 3D 7.0, a stand-alone UV mapper claiming to be the best and fastest on the market. This fresh-from-the-compiler release sports a new, ISOMAP based unfolding algorithm, which reduces stretching even more than it’s predecessors. In addition, Unfold 3D now has the ability to paint density maps onto the unwrapped mesh, and a new surface optimisation tool. In addition, a whole load of minor tweaks have been implemented aside from a few of the more obvious bug-fixes, like autopin, an improved strecth visualisation which uses polys instead of vertices, and, finally a relax-function.
Old and new users alike won’t have to spend too much time familiarising themselves with the interface: As with most standalone UV mappers, you have the 3D and cutting/welding view on the left, and your map-view to the right, with toolbars on top and the sides for mapping annd views. Generating a map also follows Standard Operating Procedure – you cut your mesh, press a button, and there’s your UV map, which can now be tweaked and optimised further. In addition, Polygonal listened to their users and finally mapped the C and W shortkeys to cut and weld respectively, following the shortkey standard from other applications.
And that’s where some of the similarities end. First of all, before you start mapping, you will need to read the manual or look at some videos, as they contain some vital information pertaining to your mapping process. Most importantly, mesh hygiene is not optional in Unfold 3D, it’s mandatory: It can’t unwrap wires which have 3+ neighbouring polys, or meshes which have butterflies. Neither will it allow relative vertex numbering (something most applications from UV Mapper to UV Layout allow), and you’ll probably want to avoid non-convex n-gons. While a lot can be said in favour of mesh rigid hygiene, it may not be optimal for an application to demand you adhere this strictly to it’s standards without putting some tools to handle the exceptions in place, like i.e UV Layout has done with it’s Clean, Weld and New/Edit functions on import. Otherwise you’ll very much run the risk of wasting quite a lot of the time Unfold 3D claims to save you on making the mesh compliant with the application.
Should you have a perfectly compliant mesh, you may still face another bump: If you’ve cut a mesh into groups and materials prior to importing them into Unfold 3D and you change your mind, you will have to go back into your modeler to fix this. Unfold 3D won’t modify pre-existing mesh information from the loaded OBJ file, it won’t weld back two edges together when they are marked as split, even if their coordinates match. And even if you’ve gone back into your app, and have attached or welded everything back together, there may still be traces of the original splits in the object-file, so your best bet may be to map in Unfold 3D first, and then cut your groups when you’re done with the UV mapping.
These issues aside, is Polygonal’s claim that Unfold 3D is the fastest mapper out there a valid one? In terms of workflow, it’s definitely one of the fastest. It’s toolkit and functionality take a lot of work out of organic or mechanical UV mapping, provided you’ve avoided the mentioned mesh issues. The cutting process itself is on par with UVLayout’s, and is more intuitive, albeit a little more finnicky in it’s use of keys and clicks. The new algorithm, however, keeps it’s promise, and produces better UVs than the earlier, ABF (Angle Based Flattening)-based incarnations.
One big standout feature, however, is the density paintbrush: After you’ve mapped your mesh, you can directly paint areas with increased or decreased density, allowing for either more or less detailing on the painted-on areas of the map. This is an incredibly handy feature, and a real timesaver, as it saves on cutting and in- or decreasing the size of said cuts. It works by selecting the paintbrush after you’ve mapped your model, or model component, and then just painting on the areas which need more or less density. After you’re done, you run an optimise function, and voilá – more or less density on your map, with a minimum of hassle.
As with the density paintbrush, the new surface optimisation tool and workflow are also designed to save time: Post-mapping, Unfold 3D will, like most other UV mappers, show you areas which still need work. The optimise toolkit makes this fast and easy: You select your area or island, define amount and type of optimisation you want to run, and one click later, your UVs are (mostly) optimised.
This release also sports tweaks and featurettes aimed at speeding up the workflow even more: The new gizmo (finally) takes a lot of hassle out of cycling editing modes via it’s TAB>mouseclick menu, and you can now also make a vertex selection grow (The old version had ploygons only). In addition, the long-awaited relax function has finally been implemented, and the new point edition workflow, finally enables you to add pins or edge constraints without cancelling previous work and starting over.
As mentioned, Unfold 3D is definitely one of the fastest mappers out there, in terms of workflow. The unwrapping speed itself is dependent on mesh, hardware, and complexity, so it’s fairly hard to substantiate. As for it’s claim that it’s the best, it may have been valid back in the day when UV mapping really was a major, and painful chore. However, in a day and age where any claim of superiority usually is a matter of opinion rather than fact, it depends on what you want and need in your UV Mapping software. Especially with recent years’ advances in mapping and mapping tools.
Having said that, if you’re in need of a good, fast UV Mapper, Unfold 3D is definitely worth investing in. It may lack some of UV Layout’s finer features, but if you just want to map, and get it over with, investing in Unfold 3D is money well spent
Verdict box
Pros:
* Speedy workflow
* Density Paint feature
* Solid optimization tools
Cons:
* Mesh hygiene issues
* Documentation could use an update
* Can be slow on complex mesh import
Related Posts
