VF Planar UV

This add-on was designed for Blender version 2.8-4.1 (though not all previous versions may be fully supported). For Blender 4.2 and onwards, please see the new Mesh Kit extension.

Numerical planar projection of 3D meshes into UV space, allowing for accurate and replicable results instead of relying on Blender's "Project From View" (which is either non-repeatable by default or non-customisable in "orthographic" mode).

Installation and Usage

• Download VF_planarUV.py
• Open Blender Preferences and navigate to the "Add-ons" tab
• Install and enable the Add-on
• It will show up in the 3D view VF Tools tab

Settings

Main Settings

• Axis sets the direction of the planar projection: X, Y, or Z
• Centre sets the centre point of the projection space, allowing for any specific location to be mapped
• Size defines the scale of the projection, allowing for known numerical translation from object space into UV space
• Space sets local or world space for both loading selection settings and generating the UV map

Advanced Settings

• Load Selection Settings calculates the bounding box of all selected vertices and sets the centre and size settings to exactly contain the selection (particularly helpful for mesh elements that aren't centred with the object pivot)
• Rotation swizzles the input coordinates to offer 90° variations in mapping orientation (this is akin to rotating a camera capturing the geometry; it efficiently rotates the space the coordinates are loaded in)
• Flip takes the resulting UV mapping and flips the U values (this operates before alignment and works reliably with both options below)
• Alignment determines how the mesh will be aligned to UV space
  • Image is standard UV map usage, where the centre of the defined area will be aligned to 0.5, 0.5 in UV space
  • Zero is for situations where standard UV mapping principles may not apply, and the centre of the defined are should align to 0.0, 0.0 in UV space for reliable data storage within a UV map

Note that this add-on operates in object space, not world space. Planar projection settings centre and size will not take into account the object's position, rotation, or scale in world space.

This software is provided without guarantee or warranty.