wanted: Script to display UV seam on mesh without having to put an unwrap modfiier

Miauu, you're very skilled. One day, I will have to buy all your script packs.

I don't think your reply was for me, but in case it was, then I wasn't asking if it was possible to see the seems while working on the mesh (even though its a very useful feature).

I was rather wondering if there was a way to see the corresponding UV when you are selecting polys on a mesh. I don't know if you are aware of the way Maya works. You can work on UVs and poly meshes parallel.

Currently, I have to add a Unwrap modifier, select the faces I need to select, collapse and have them selected in the physical mesh.

Thank you.
Can you give a link to video where I can see what you mean?
What are the advantages of the workflow that you have described?

Unfortunately I couldn't find any video that shows exactly what I said, but I could try to explain the benefits.
Basically, it is like the UVWUnwrap, but in maya, you are still in Edit Poly. In other words, you can physically modify a mesh while seeing the UV.
In max, you cannot do both. Each time when you need to see the UV, you will have to add an Unwrap UV. Then you collapse, continue

Imagine the ability to have an open UV Editor plus the regular mesh tools.

A wild idea is that you have a popup window, which actually is a viewport with an isolated reference object that is "physically unwrapped" (you know, like in the old days when you did physically cut the object, put a planar map on it and then morph it back to the original shape).
This could be a hack, allowing you to see the "UV" while still able to edit the mesh.
Or that was maybe way too crazy? :-/

Really cool script!

Something else I have been wondering about is to see the UV like in maya, in other words, without having a unwrap modifier on it, allowing one to see the uv's in edit poly mode.

Is that doable in max?

Watch:

EasyPeel_01

EasyPeel_02

EasyPeel_03

Here is a script that might be useful. Haven't tested too much, but it seems to work, although it's slow.

There is room for optimization and improvements so I hope someone can get their hands on it.

Hope someone find it useful.

(

	unRegisterRedrawViewsCallback cbDrawOpenEdges
	
	global RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE
	global cbDrawOpenEdges
	global cbSelectionChanged
	
	local vertexPos   = #()
	local uvChannel   = 1
	local edgesColor  = [0,255,0]
	local edgeOffset  = 0.03
	local forceRedraw = false

	fn cbDrawOpenEdges = (
		gw.setTransform (Matrix3 1)
		gw.setColor #line edgesColor
		for j in vertexPos do gw.polyLine j true

		-- Needed in some Max versions or used dirvers
		if forceRedraw do (
			gw.enlargeUpdateRect #whole
			gw.updateScreen()
		)
	)

	fn cbSelectionChanged mForce:false = (

		unRegisterRedrawViewsCallback cbDrawOpenEdges
		
		if ($ != undefined) do (
			
			setwaitcursor()

			st = timeStamp()

			obj = snapshotasmesh selection[1]

			allChannels = for j = 1 to meshop.getNumMaps obj where (meshop.getMapSupport obj j) collect j
			
			RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE.ddl_channel.items = for j in allChannels collect j as string
			
			if (mForce == false) do (
				uvChannel = allChannels[1]
				RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE.ddl_channel.selection = 1
			)

			numTFaces = meshop.getNumMapFaces obj uvChannel
			numTVerts = meshop.getNumMapVerts obj uvChannel
			
			facesTVertsIdx = for j = 1 to numTFaces collect (meshop.getMapFace obj uvChannel j)
			
			emesh = trimesh()
			setMesh emesh numverts:numTVerts numfaces:numTFaces
			setMesh emesh faces:facesTVertsIdx
			
			objOpenEdges = meshop.getOpenEdges obj
			meshOpenEdges = (meshop.getOpenEdges emesh) - objOpenEdges

			vertexPos = #()
						
			sharedFaces = meshop.getFacesUsingEdge emesh meshOpenEdges
			foundEdges = #()
			
			for j in sharedFaces do (
				
				objFaceVerts = getFace obj j
				
				edge1 = j*3 - 2
				edge2 = j*3 - 1
				edge3 = j*3
				
				n1 = (getFaceNormal obj j) * edgeOffset

				if (finditem meshOpenEdges edge1) > 0 do (
					v1Idx = objFaceVerts.x
					v2Idx = objFaceVerts.y
					if (findItem foundEdges [v1Idx, v2Idx] == 0) do (
						v1 = getVert obj v1Idx
						v2 = getVert obj v2Idx
						n3 = (normalize (cross n1 (v1-v2))) * edgeOffset
						append vertexPos #(v1+n1+n3, v2+n1+n3, v1-n1-n3, v2-n1-n3, v1-n1+n3, v2-n1+n3, v1+n1-n3, v2+n1-n3)
						append foundEdges [v2Idx, v1Idx]
					)
				)
				if (finditem meshOpenEdges edge2) > 0 do (
					v1Idx = objFaceVerts.y
					v2Idx = objFaceVerts.z
					if (findItem foundEdges [v1Idx, v2Idx] == 0) do (
						v1 = getVert obj v1Idx
						v2 = getVert obj v2Idx
						n3 = (normalize (cross n1 (v1-v2))) * edgeOffset
						append vertexPos #(v1+n1+n3, v2+n1+n3, v1-n1-n3, v2-n1-n3, v1-n1+n3, v2-n1+n3, v1+n1-n3, v2+n1-n3)
						append foundEdges [v2Idx, v1Idx]
					)
				)
				if (finditem meshOpenEdges edge3) > 0 do (
					v1Idx = objFaceVerts.z
					v2Idx = objFaceVerts.x
					if (findItem foundEdges [v1Idx, v2Idx] == 0) do (
						v1 = getVert obj v1Idx
						v2 = getVert obj v2Idx
						n3 = (normalize (cross n1 (v1-v2))) * edgeOffset
						append vertexPos #(v1+n1+n3, v2+n1+n3, v1-n1-n3, v2-n1-n3, v1-n1+n3, v2-n1+n3, v1+n1-n3, v2+n1-n3)
						append foundEdges [v2Idx, v1Idx]
					)
				)
					
			)
			
			sharedFaces = meshop.getFacesUsingEdge obj objOpenEdges
			
			for j in sharedFaces do (
				
				objFaceVerts = getFace obj j
				
				edge1 = j*3 - 2
				edge2 = j*3 - 1
				edge3 = j*3
				
				n1 = (getFaceNormal obj j) * edgeOffset

				if (finditem objOpenEdges edge1) > 0 do (
					v1Idx = objFaceVerts.x
					v2Idx = objFaceVerts.y
					v1 = getVert obj v1Idx
					v2 = getVert obj v2Idx
					n3 = (normalize (cross n1 (v1-v2))) * edgeOffset
					append vertexPos #(v1+n1+n3, v2+n1+n3, v1-n1-n3, v2-n1-n3, v1-n1+n3, v2-n1+n3, v1+n1-n3, v2+n1-n3)
				)
				if (finditem objOpenEdges edge2) > 0 do (
					v1Idx = objFaceVerts.y
					v2Idx = objFaceVerts.z
					v1 = getVert obj v1Idx
					v2 = getVert obj v2Idx
					n3 = (normalize (cross n1 (v1-v2))) * edgeOffset
					append vertexPos #(v1+n1+n3, v2+n1+n3, v1-n1-n3, v2-n1-n3, v1-n1+n3, v2-n1+n3, v1+n1-n3, v2+n1-n3)
				)
				if (finditem objOpenEdges edge3) > 0 do (
					v1Idx = objFaceVerts.z
					v2Idx = objFaceVerts.x
					v1 = getVert obj v1Idx
					v2 = getVert obj v2Idx
					n3 = (normalize (cross n1 (v1-v2))) * edgeOffset
					append vertexPos #(v1+n1+n3, v2+n1+n3, v1-n1-n3, v2-n1-n3, v1-n1+n3, v2-n1+n3, v1+n1-n3, v2+n1-n3)
				)
					
			)

			format "Found %\tUV Open Edges in %s\n" vertexPos.count ((timeStamp() - st) / 1000.0)

			registerRedrawViewsCallback cbDrawOpenEdges

			delete obj
			delete emesh
			
			gc light:true
			
			setArrowCursor()
			
		)
		
		forceCompleteRedraw()
		
	)

	
	try(destroyDialog RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE) catch()
	rollout RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE "UV Open Edges" width:160 height:198
	(
		checkbutton bt_enable "Display UV Open Edges" pos:[8,8] width:144 height:32
		dropdownList ddl_channel "UV Channel:" pos:[8,72] width:120 height:40 enabled:false
		colorPicker cp1 "" pos:[131,90] width:21 height:21 enabled:true color:edgesColor modal:false
		checkbox chk_redraw "Force Redraw" pos:[8,46] width:100 height:16 enabled:false
		spinner spn_width "Edge Width:" pos:[8,120] width:120 height:16 range:[1,100,4] type:#integer fieldwidth:50
		button bt_update "Update" pos:[8,160] width:144 height:28 enabled:false

		fn destroy = (
			callbacks.removeScripts #selectionSetChanged
			unRegisterRedrawViewsCallback cbDrawOpenEdges
			forceCompleteRedraw()
		)
		
		on RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE close do destroy()
		
		on bt_enable changed arg do
		(
			bt_update.enabled = arg
			ddl_channel.enabled = arg
			chk_redraw.enabled = arg
			destroy()
			
			if (arg == true) do (
				callbacks.addscript #selectionSetChanged "cbSelectionChanged()"
				cbSelectionChanged()
			)
		)
		
		on bt_update pressed do cbSelectionChanged()
		
		on ddl_channel selected arg do (
			uvChannel = (ddl_channel.selected as integer)
			cbSelectionChanged mForce:true
		)
		
		on cp1 changed arg do edgesColor = arg
			
		on spn_width changed arg do edgeOffset = (arg-1)/100.0
		
		on chk_redraw changed arg do forceRedraw = arg

	)

	createDialog RO_DISPLAY_UV_OE
	
)

That's it!!

nice job, I didn't notice any slow down on my machine?

Thanks :)

The only thing i would suggest to have is an automatic update. When i tweak the mesh I need to click the 'update' button, it should update on its own and loose the update button all together.
Still just like that it's very workable for what i wanted it to do.

Here is a start. Just fiddle around and collect the tVerts and assign those point3 values to the gw.Polyline and you have yourself a display.


delete objects
myBox = box width:10 height:10 length:10 pos:[0,0,50] wirecolor:blue
convertToPoly myBox

unRegisterRedrawViewsCallback showObjectNames
fn showObjectNames = if (gw.wTransPoint [0,0,0]) != undefined do
(
gw.setTransform (Matrix3 1)
gw.setColor #line green
-- gw.polyLine #([5,5,5],[10,10,10],[50,50,50]) true

for o in objects where classof o == Editable_Poly do
(
vertsPts = for i = 1 to o.numVerts collect polyop.getVert o i
gw.polyLine vertsPts true
)

-- Update the viewports
gw.enlargeUpdateRect #whole
gw.updateScreen()
)
registerRedrawViewsCallback showObjectNames
forceCompleteRedraw()

its a start...

...finding a need for this more and more, anyone willing to give it a whirl?

much appreciated

I would like a visual display of the uv seams on the poly mesh(highlighted edges, same as when you're in unwrap>configure>display: Map Seams)

If you could control the thickness of the highlighted edges and make it a toggle, on/off UV seam display.

yes, but there are multiple ways this could be handled.. so please elaborate on the last paragraph, how you'd like to work with it, from a to z, in order to display them

As an example,
In the game industry(where I work) there is alot of use of primitive type shapes and objects spheres, tubes, etc.

In most cases I would like to have the UV seam in a specific spot, away from the player view etc.

So, if I have a tube and need to know where that uv seam is I have to an unwrap modifier on it to see the seam highlighted, then go back to poly or delete the unwrap so i can then rotate or adjust the mesh.

I would just like to be able to have a toggle to see uv seams visible(highlighted) on poly meshes without having to use an unwrap modifier. An option to thicken visible highlighted seam would also be beneficial.

Much Appreciated,
Jeff

well then let's approach this from a UX point, and let me know what your preferred workflow for this would be.

anyone care to take a crack at it?

- already a couple times this week alone it would have been helpful

thx