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Share UV maps between objects
I saw this: http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/187809/how-to-share-one-uv-texture-map-for-multiple-meshe.html
But I need a concrete answer. Can I share UV between say different swords, or armor pieces, or potions, etc.
Answer by Fabkins · Apr 23, 2012 at 05:50 PM
As long different objects didnt unwrap themselves at the same location I can see no reason why you cant share the texture file.
So when you do your unwrap, make sure each object is located on a different place on the bitmap. You should then be able to share a texture for multiple objects.
The UV map itself though belongs to each object alongside the mesh.
So is there any benefit to doing this then? if the UV map belongs to each object? I thought it increased the performance. I know the drawback is that I cant use shaders without affecting each of the objects using the texture.
Can't see any issues with having different shaders on different object but using the same texture.
If got small object just have small texture files rather than trying to share a large texture between object. The exception I suppose if the objects are oddly shapped when unwrapped and don't make good use of a square surface. From a packaging point of view , like you have a pack of weapons, it's kind of neat to provide the meshes and a single texture file.
But I person ally think messing about trying to make sure they are unwrappped in different places is a lot of bother,
By the way, I should have written "UV map is part of the object alongside the mesh".
Note the UV $$anonymous$$ap (which says where each polygon is on the texture) is distinct from the Texture.
It is useful to use one texture(-atlas) for multiple objects, if these objects are always (or mostly) encountered together. For example different (but similar) buildings in a city. Each texture is a draw call, so if multiple objects use the same texture, you can increase the performance. It is better to use one 2k texture for 4 buildings, than one 1k for each. If you share UVs (i.e. parts of different buildings use the same part of the texture), you can even increase the resolution, while increasing the performance.
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