3ds max 7 - Using the same uv coordinates/texture on more than one object

Berkut

Sorry if the title is confusing, but I'm having trouble finding a solution on the net due to this: I don't even know how exactly to name what I'm trying to do.

Ok, I'm basically trying to unwrap more than one object with a single set of uvs and use the same texture file on it. I don't know if this is even possible but hopefully it is and I'm just too noobish to be able to figure it out on my own. Or perhaps there is a completely different way of getting the same result that anyone can point out.

I think this would be best described with a simple example. Lets say I have a ship and a turret on top of it. I'm trying to paint a stipe line over the whole length of the top covering the turret as well. If treated as a single object there wouldn't be a problem. I would unwrap the model, fiddle around with the coordinates till I'm happy with them, textport the coordinates and then fire up photoshop and paint away. However the problem arises when I would need to turn the turret afterwards. And so what is needed is a way to apply a single set of uv coordinates and use the same texture file for both the ship object and the turret object in a way that the coordinates remember their object/polygonal alignment thus when I would rotate the turret nothing would get messed up. Is there any way to do this?

I've tried everything I can think of and can't find a way. For some reason I get the feeling its one of those times when the solution is really simple but for whatever reason it escapes me. Any help would be greatly appretiated. Thank you

Coolhand

yes you can use the same textures on more than one object, but you probably already knew that... obviously however if you've painted a texture to use on one specific object then it won't 'fit' a differently shaped object.

as a solution You could use a tiling texture, or a procedural, then different uvs wont matter, or even be necessary... not sure if thats any help to you, but I'm not sure what you mean by 'turning' the turret and how this is messing up your coordinates... once you've mapped an object you should be able to rotate it any way you want and the textures are locked to the object, unless you're rotating a sub-object. underneath a UV mapping modifier.

Berkut

Thank you for the reply. I guess I failed to describe what I'm trying to achieve though. Essentially what I need is the same result if max would allow applying the unwrap uvw modifier to more than one object at the same time, which it doesn't. So that as in the ship/turret example I would be able to unwrap more than one object together and use a single image file as a texture for both objects, so I can work on the textures for both objects at the same time in 2d software. Which back in max I could move/rotate the two objects around separately.

Berkut

Ok, I think I more or less figured it out. This is probably not the best way to do it but it gets the job done. I connect all the needed objects. Unwrap the single large object. And once the texture is applied convert the object to editable poly and detach the polygons of the objects that need to be movable. The main downside seems to be that I would have to do this every time I change the texture, and also I don't know if this is going to have a negative effect on rendering performance since this means that some of the smaller objects use like 1/10th of their texture size. Do any of you guys know if max disregards any parts of the texture that aren't mapped on the object when rendering? Or does it like upload the whole texture file into memory and only then applies it to the object?

If anyone knows of a more efficient way of doing this please share.

@Coolhand, again thank you for trying to help

Coolhand

ok, thats pretty easy, just attach the turret to the ship, unwrap everything then detach the turret.

*edit*

no it doesn't really matter, as long as you're not wasting huge amounts of texture by not using the space *anywhere* on the model.

also, you won't need to re-attach the turret to edit it, just be careful where you're putting the unwrapped parts, you should be putting all the bits of turret in roughly the same area, otherwise use your saved wireframe as a background in the uv editor so you can see where the other parts would be.

Berkut

alrighty, thank you