Blender UV layout distortion

[pdobrev]

As expected, I'm completely green in 3d modeling, and I quickly ran into a weird issue within Blender v2.73.

I've modeled a simple solar panel divided into two parts- the frame and the silicon surface.

The surface's UV layout is perfect, but whenever and in whatever way I try to unwrap the frame, it always comes out distorted. I tried different seam patterns- non of which worked, so in a final attempt to simplify the shapes as much as possible, I marked every single edge as a seam. No change. Most shapes are still distorted, even though there is not one distorted face in the frame mesh.

I did a lot of google-ing and I found some alleged solutions, but non of them worked either:

-Remove doubles from mesh- A good practice anyway, from what I've read, but no effect in this scenario.

-CTRL+A- Apply location, rotation, scale, while in object mode in the 3d view window - No effect

-CTRL+A- Average islands scale, while in the uv editor window - No effect

-CTRL+V- Minimize stretch, while in the uv editor window - No effect

I'm really keen on modeling new parts for this game, and I have some interesting ideas, but snags like this one can kill my enthusiasm quite quickly, so I'm borderline desperate to find a solution to my problem.

.blend file

[martinezfg11]

I was looking at your model and it needs a bit of cleanup. You have a bunch of vertices floating around with no real purpose. The verts will create some funny effect once you take it into Unity I would imagine. Also, you scaled your side parts too much in the UV.. for the Main face, I would try projecting from view. But I'm afraid you will need to take care of some topology issues first. Also your missing a face on the center area.

Edit: Try this.

A quick rework and all I did on the UV side was a quick UV smart project. I'm sure you could get a more efficient unwrap if you spent more time on it.

Edit again: Also, your model can only have one material per mesh, you had like 3 of them. Consolidate your textures into one you should be fine.

Edited April 2, 2015 by martinezfg11
format

[Enceos]

Edit again: Also, your model can only have one material per mesh, you had like 3 of them. Consolidate your textures into one you should be fine.

I use several materials per mesh to mark different faces with color on my high poly mesh. And later bake the material map, it really helps when texturing.

My low poly mesh which I export to unity uses only one material per mesh. Ofc, both low poly and high poly should have the same UV layout.

[martinezfg11]

I use several materials per mesh to mark different faces with color on my high poly mesh. And later bake the material map, it really helps when texturing.

My low poly mesh which I export to unity uses only one material per mesh. Ofc, both low poly and high poly should have the same UV layout.

All you said is true, and I've used that in my workflow in the past. Thanks!