Transfer Uvs To A Model With Different Vert Order

[lord-mcgoat]

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but I'm kind of looking for a MEL based answer, so here goes -
I'm modelling in ZBrush, and take my mesh out to maya to UV. The problem is, the UV unwrapping program i'm using (www.unwrap3d.com) does a great job with the UVs but requires you to physically split the mesh to define the UV seams. When the vertices are merged back together, the vertex order changes, which is a big problem since Zbrush requires the vertex order to be the same for the higher subdivsion levels. In the future I know this problem could be avoided by UVing the lowest level before doing any detail higher up, but this time I haven't done it, and don't fancy the prospect of re-modelling or uving by hand.

So the situation is I have two meshes, exactly the same in size and vertex count, but different in vertex order. One has nicely laid out UV's, the other doesn't. I think the solution lies in finding a script to transfer UVs from one mesh to the other, but I don't know if such a script exists. I thought the "uvXfer" script here on Highend3d could do it, but it doesn't seem to be able to deal with seams.

If anyone knows of a script that could help or can figure a way around this, I'll be eternally grateful

[joojaa]

If the shells are realy splet then even the polycount shouldnt be tha same! But yes its possible to do if you can handle realy slow execution.

Anyway i doent se any problem modell the base, uvit bring back to maya combine it then push it to zbrush.

[lord-mcgoat]

The polycount is the same, because I re-merge the mesh after the UVing is done. And no, there isn't a problem unless you didn't see the problem coming and have already done the all the detail in zbrush So it's basically a one-off thing that I have to sort based on an oversight.

[sunit]

QUOTE(Lord McGoat @ 12/31/05, 01:51 AM)
The polycount is the same, because I re-merge the mesh after the UVing is done. And no, there isn't a problem unless you didn't see the problem coming and have already done the all the detail in zbrush So it's basically a one-off thing that I have to sort based on an oversight.
[snapback]223697[/snapback]

i've built in a tool with peltingTools that allows you to transfer uvs between objects with different vertex orders - take a look here to download:

http://www.sunitparekh.com/pelting

it's called 'brute force transfer uvs' (under the menu Tools -> Transfer UVs) and takes about 3-5 minutes for a mesh that has around 15,000 vtxs (on my laptop, that is).

you'll need to load the closestPointOnMesh plugin for the script command to work.

you can also use peltingTools for unwrapping, if you like there's a list of features that give you extra control over your pelts, and your vertex ordering doesn't change

my workflow also includes zbrush, and i also sometimes map my uvs after roughing out the forms in z.

cheers,
sunit