Flattening procedure
Surface flattening can be used to obtain the shape of a decal required to fit onto
a surface. It can also be used to render an image with the decal applied to the
surface with minimal distortion. The normal texture areas commands, which are
much simpler to use, can be used to produce a similar rendered image but minor
distortions may be introduced. Only in the most stringent of applications (such
as ceramic tableware decoration) will surface flattening be needed to create a
render image.
In summary, the basic steps of using surface flattening are as follows:
-
Cut out a strip of the surface you will texture using
SURFACEÞChange:Split in Two.
The general flattening mode requires that the start point of a symmetrical surface
is located at a symmetry line of the surface strip. You may use
SURFACEÞChange:Revolve
to obtain this. Any trimming operation on the surface strip should be performed only
after revolving.
- When ready for texturing, flatten the surface strip using
SURFACEÞFlatten:Surface.
- If required obtain the 2D
contour of this flattened surface using
SURFACEÞFlatten:Contour
. Think of the contour as the shape of a decal to be applied onto the surface.
-
You may then use TextPaint, or any painting program to decorate this contour.
-
When ready, apply the texture image onto the unflattened surface strip using the
command
SURFACEÞFlatten:Assign.
- Render the surface with ExTrace. The texture automatically appears on the surface.