Sparseal releases Uniform 1.2
Originally posted on 25 July 2024. Scroll down for news of the Uniform 1.2 update.
Sparseal has updated Uniform, its unconventional all-in-one iPad app for creating textured 3D assets for games and concept art.
The modular, GPU-accelerated app is intended for high-resolution digital sculpting, low-poly 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, retopology and PBR texture painting work.
Uniform 1.1 introduces a new GeoCurve object for sculpting stylized hair, support for surface transparency, and the option to sculpt and paint simultaneously.
Uniform 1.2 adds a real-time simulation system for deforming geometry, a new Surface Transfer tool, and a new unified scene exporter.
Work directly on sculpts, low-poly meshes or 2D textures with the same set of tools
When it was announced last year, Uniform generated a lot of interest among CG artists – partly because, while it looks cool, it’s quite hard to describe.
The official description is a “multi-purpose, art-focused data editor”, but a more tangible description might be ‘an all-in-one tool for creating game-ready assets’.
It is intended to make it possible to create high-poly sculpts, low-poly models, PBR textures and 2D images using a single unified set of tools.
We covered its core features when it was released earlier this year, so check out our story on Uniform 1.0 for more technical details.
Uniform 1.1 will introduce GeoCurve, a new object type and toolset for creating stylized hair and other effects based on high resolution splines. Now in beta. pic.twitter.com/KBgoKqRMXK
— Sparseal (@sparseal) July 5, 2024
Uniform 1.1: new GeoCurve object type creates stylized hair
The major change in Uniform 1.1 is the introduction of GeoCurves: a new object type that can be used for creating forms based around spline curves, like stylized hair.
You can see it in action in the tweet above, where it is used to draw out hair strands across a character’s scalp.
New rope solver and support for transparency painting
Other new features include a physical rope solver – which presumably can also be used to generate rope-like organic forms, like tails and tentacles.
In addition, support for surface transparency makes it possible to paint transparency into textures, as shown in the video at the top of this story.
Workflow and UI improvements
Workflow improvements include support for multiple consecutive operations per brush, making it possible to sculpt and paint simultaneously with the same brush stroke.
There are also some key changes to the UI, including a new Outliner and Object Inspector, helping to keep complex projects organized.
Updated 22 August 2024: Sparseal has released Uniform 1.2.
The update adds a simulation component for cloth and ropes – which, as well as creating actual cloth and ropes, makes it possible to deform models in a cloth-like way, as shown above.
Any deformation tool can be used to interact with the simulation in real time, and the system supports force fields, damping, self-collision, and collisions with other objects in the scene.
New Surface Transfer tool and Curvature Surface Influence brush
Other new features include the Surface Transfer tool (above), for baking high-poly geometry to texture maps. It is possible to keep using the sculpting tools to refine the resulting normal map.
The update also introduces a new Curvature Surface Influence brush system, which can be used on both high-poly meshes and normal maps.
New combined scene exporter unifies meshes and textures
For exporting assets, Uniform introduces a new combined scene exporter.
It can take a scene with multiple objects, UVs and textures at different resolutions, and merge them into a single mesh and texture set with a fixed texel density.
You can find a full list of changes via the link at the foot of the story.
Price and system requirements
Uniform is compatible with iPadOS 17.4 is later, although the software is optimized for the latest iPads, rather than models from 2018 or earlier.
It is designed for use with the Apple Pencil, so some features may not be accessible through touch gestures alone. It costs $49.99.
Read a full list of new features in Uniform in the changelog on the App Store
Read more about Uniform on Sparseal’s website
(Includes tutorials on the key features)
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