Wednesday, September 25th, 2024Posted by Jim ThackerCheck out Blender 4.3s new SLIM UV unwrapping systemhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"UV layouts generated from a 3D model of a human head by Blenders existing Conformal method and the new SLIM algorithm. Areas of UV distortion are shown in orange and red.Blender just got support for SLIM, a state-of-the-art iterative UV unwrapping algorithm.The algorithm, implemented in alpha builds of Blender 4.3, unwraps complex meshes with less distortion than existing options, The work was originally begun eight years ago, but has just been completed by ukasz Czy, developer of the UVPackmaster UV unwrapping plugin for Blender.Less distortion and more controllable results than existing UV unwrapping algorithmsDeveloped by researchers at ETH Zurich, SLIM (Scalable Local Injective Mappings) is an iterative method for UV unwrapping meshes.As well as providing good results on complex meshes, even those with no UV seams defined, setting iterations lets users trade the quality of the UV maps generated against processing time.Work on integrating SLIM into Blender originally began eight years ago, while Blender 2.7 was in development.Although the project initially stalled, ukasz Czy has now picked up where original developer Aurel Gruber left off, and the code was merged into the main branch of Blender this week.In alpha builds of Blender 4.3, SLIM is available via the Minimum Stretch option in the UI.In this blog post, you can see comparisons of the UV distortion it creates when unwrapping a 3D model of human head, relative to the existing Angle Based and Conformal options.According to Czy, SLIM can also be used to reduce stretching on meshes that have already been unwrapped.System requirementsSLIM UV unwrapping is available in Blender 4.3. It is currently in alpha, with the stable release due in November.Blender is compatible with Windows 8.1+, macOS 11.2+ and glibc 2.28+ Linux. Its free.Read more about integration SLIM into Blender on ukasz Czys blogDownload daily alpha builds of BlenderHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsCheck out Blender 4.3's new SLIM UV unwrapping systemTry the 'state-of-the-art' new iterative UV unwrapping algorithm available in alpha builds of the open-source 3D software.Wednesday, September 25th, 2024Nevercenter releases Silo 2024.3 and Milo 2024.0Check out the new features in the lightweight 3D modeling software, including modifiers for Boolean modeling, extrusion and replication.Tuesday, September 24th, 2024NIM Labs launches NIM 7.0Studio management platform for VFX and visualization gets new scheduling, conflict detection and resource usage tracking features.Tuesday, September 24th, 2024Alexey Vanzhula releases Modeler 2025 for HoudiniMajor update to the popular hard-surface modeling toolkit for Houdini reworks the interface, workflow, and adds new retopology tools.Monday, September 23rd, 2024People Going Places is a free Blender crowds add-onLightweight Geometry Nodes setup provides a quick way to add background crowds to scenes for animation or motion graphics work.Monday, September 23rd, 2024How to create facial blendshapes using photogrammetryNew Gnomon Workshop tutorial reveals how to process 3D scans of an actor for use in a FACS-based facial animation rig in Maya.Sunday, September 22nd, 2024More NewsOtoy releases OctaneRender 2024.1Unity previews its roadmap for Unity 6.1 and beyondHow Unity created Time Ghost, its beautiful Unity 6 tech demoLightWave Digital releases LightWave 2024.1Adobe releases Substance 3D Painter 10.1Epic is making Megascans free to all - but only until the end of 2024Epic Games to launch its Fab marketplace in October 2024Tutorial: Creating Efficient Digital Doubles for VFXKiri Engine 3.10 and 3.11 are outMaxon releases Red Giant 2025Check out the new machine learning tools in Silhouette 2024.5Unity scraps controversial Runtime Fee but raises pricesOlder Posts