Is it possible to fix this distortion problem without another seam?

[Bananacb]

This might be way too much to ask, but would it be possible to fix the distortion shown on this UV map without adding another seam?

I do understand if I add even one seam across it could solve the problem. The thing is, I wanted to make this goalie mask customizable as a template, so anybody could easily create their own textures for the mask.

It would still be possible to customize a template with another cut, but it would be confusing. Especially for a less experienced person, to go into their photo editing software and try to paint a design, knowing you have to start to rotate your image to match the UV map. When you could just have that one fit UV island where your whole image can stay upright.

If you still don’t understand what I mean here is an example:

This is a goalie mask texture that a person made for a EA Sports game NHL 09 that is modded. See how easy it is for someone to make a design without worrying about the curves and turns of a fully cut out UV Map.

Now here is the mask I made in Blender and the UV Maps.

The UV map to make it easy for people to customize the texture later on:

The result:

You can see it there is a lot of distortion there.

Here is what it looks like when I add a seam to the chin area:

The result:

The results are fantastic. The map is hard to follow along with.

I also tried putting a seam at different spots across, like the top of the head. Very good results, very confusing UV Maps…

This one could work maybe?

Though, to line up images to match the islands could be a difficult task for them.

I Tried every single UV unwrap method on the list.

I tried adding weight paint to areas where the distortion is marked on the UV map. Went to “Minimum Stretch” > “Importance Weights” > changed the “Weight Group” to the name of my Vertex Group.

The result was not great. I also experimented with different weight amounts. It’s just picking one side to focus on, which is the forehead area. It’s not a good solution for this scenario, as the stretching got worse on the back.

This seems very complex, or maybe I am just overthinking this whole thing. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and choose the distortion or the extra seam.

Really, the goalie mask is the only piece of equipment in hockey that requires a full image to wrap around, using up all of the available space. This is easy enough for me because I can use Substance Painter with the extra seam UV map without having to worry about doing it in a photo editor program. Really, it’s about the others who don’t have this privilege. I want them to be able to have the opportunity to design a cool mask. I want it to be extra special. The rest of the equipment should be a piece of cake compared to this for UV unwrapping. This one has me pulling my hair out.

All suggestions, ideas, recommendations, and help are welcome. Thanks for reading!

[Hazelfluff]

Have you tried making the msask accorind to the ideal

@Bananacb

goalie mask texture that a person made for a EA Sports game NHL 09

?
Like if you match the Uvs according with an image you can really see the stretching for yourself.

Or what if you cut this one in half?

Like just so certain edges would have more room to stretch but the imagetexture remains upright, but split in two.

[Bananacb]

I was over relying on UV Stretching “Area” rather than check with “Angle”. I went and I made a UV map for each unwrap method and if you look on “Angle” there is way more blue with the unwrap option for “Conformal” and “Angle Based”. As well as the squares being more square. “Minimal Stretching” did help minimize the stretching but in the process it also the squares were appearing more rectangular in shape. This made it harder to create a texture in Photoshop during the test. I had to distort the images which was a lot of time testing and applying back n forth for nearly 30 minutes to get it perfect. While testing with “Conformal” I was able to do it within minutes but there was a noticeable stretch to the forehead area while everywhere else was excellent.

Conformal unwrap result:

Minimal Stretching unwrap result:

Splitting the mask faces in half was the best in terms of eliminating stretching but the island shapes are not ideal as I couldn’t match the edges. When I tried to straighten the edges the stretching got bad.

I tried splitting the islands without the seam and it didn’t change the results at all.

I think the key now that we now “Conformal” is probably the best result overall but “Minimal Stretching” minimized the stretching the best is that I need to figure out a way to either fix the forehead stretching from “Conformal” or fix the distorted squares scattered all around the mask from “Minimal Stretching”.

[Hazelfluff]

what if you notched it?

Like instead of adding a seam that cuts all the way though, why not add partial seams in the places where the mesh needs a little more room to un-squish?

[Bananacb]

Sorry for the late reply. I got busy and left this project to the side.

I just tried out this method, and it didn’t work. It was better. It looks perfect except the forehead. This has worked the best so far, but it’s still not satisfactory for what I need, especially since the forehead is going to be the most visible area. I feel like at this point I tried all the methods. I just need to try and fix the forehead manually. Every time I try manually, the squares become more even but also way more twisted and when I try to add one of my seamless test textures it just looks awful. I’m out of ideas other than keep trying to manually stretch the forehead.

Here is what the result looked like when notching it.

Unwrapped with Conformal:

Unwrapped with Minimum Stretch:

[Hazelfluff]

Hmm I think i may be out of idea for now,…
other than more niching and building your modeled from a pre-existing uv map I mot 100% sure what to tell you.

Do you have a texture you could put on the helmet? I dunno if its as stretched as it looks…