Mroreo123's Pepakura Unfolding Tutorial

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mroreo123

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This is my first attempt at a tutorial, so please be gentle in your comments. :) This is probably best viewed in HD since some of the details are a little hard to make out in the little preview window below.



Many have asked me how I do my smooth unfolds. Well, here you go. This was recorded at 3fps and played back at 15fps (5x normal speed), so some parts are going to go a little fast, but hopefully the information comes across well enough. Let me know if it's going a little too fast, and I'll see about slowing it down.



The model used is the Predator mask provided by Nintendude. Original modeller is Spartan857. I chose to do this model as opposed to one more Halo-related, because the geometry was interesting, but also simple enough to showcase the entire unfold process from start to finish without insane amounts of video, since unfolding can take a long time.





(Part 2 narration forthcoming)



Note:

It's not included in the video, but I swapped pages between the bottom jaw line and the left cheek. Makes no difference as far as the build goes, but it's more for aesthetics. ;)

th_PredatorPepakuraUnfold.jpg



Note 2:

In hindsight, it was a good thing I left some breathing room when I arranged the parts. I just went to go print this out, and it tells me that it's outside the print area. I go to check my settings, and lo-and-behold...it was still in A4! I always forget to check to make sure it's in letter format. That, and to turn on edge id again...which I nearly forgot to do as I type this. Lol.



Note 3:

Something experimental I'm doing with this unfold that isn't in the video (don't worry, it's not essential to unfolding) is a coloring scheme. I've already established for myself that green = valley fold. Now, I'm trying out gray = joining seam only, do not fold. Why, you ask? Some pieces are just too big to keep as one piece on the page. Others, like the split down the middle of the dome, are compound curves and don't need a hard folded edge (due to the tabs) and just need to be glued together as flat as possible. When I'm ready to release this model, it will include these color changes.
 
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thats cool as hell i always wondered how you did it. And i agree could you post that unfold, i was going to build the normal but had not gotten around to it
 
Could you add a cheat sheet to the tutorial for everyone?





Ctrl S Safe File

Ctrl Z Undo

Ctrl Y Redo



Ctrl M Move Piece

Ctrl R Rotate Piece

Ctrl N Join/Unjoin Faces

Ctrl K Check Corresponding face from 2d to 3d

Ctrl F Edit Flaps

Ctrl E Change edge color



Ctrl T Input text

Ctrl G Guide line



Ctrl O Open File



I put them in order as I primarily use them, but I an fairly new to the process.



The first group is basic editing, common to most programs. The down side is the the save as is the same as the save quick key so I recommend saving the file as a new file before you start editing. I save my files based on character_part_size.pdo sometimes I add in my name or 3d artist's name for credit.



Spacemarine_helm_6f_4i.pdo

Spacemarine_helm_Samuray_6f_4i.pdo

This way I can sort files as I used them.



The second group is the common editing tools I use in Pepakura. You will find that you will move and rotate nearly every piece, learn these quick keys and they will save you a lot of time. The next two I use the most are the join and piece reference keys. This helps break pieces apart and tell me where they are in reference to each other.



I don't really use the last two a lot because I do all of the other steps first and then come back to these after I arranged my pieces. (I didn't even know there was a quick key for these)



The last three I never use because I forget about them or don't really care to use them. I see the usefulness but my impatience gets the better of me and as long as the pieces fit on the page I usually don't care if they line up. And the text function is something that could really help find my pieces after cutting them out, but I forget that this feature is there. And I always remember it when I am staring at a pile of pieces looking for number 2697! That little bugger is so hard to find right side up or upside done, one beer or two... with green eggs and ham... you get the picture!



And I never use the Open quick key because I just click and drag from my explorer window into Pepakura.



I hope this helps everyone get better at Pepakura!



Oreo this is a great tutorial!
 
Very Awesome Hero... This really helps out alot (although I think I would still prefer your unfolds and Ral's unfolds to any of mine that I'll attempt)! Thank you for posting this! :)
 
Adam Anderson said:
wil you put the unfolded file up for download?

kasper said:
thats cool as hell i always wondered how you did it. And i agree could you post that unfold, i was going to build the normal but had not gotten around to it



I need to do the video simultaneously with the unfold process, so I'll post it when everything is complete. Right now, the progress is the same as where it left off on the video.



chwbcc

Looks like you already posted a cheat sheet. ;) Seriously though, I'll put together one along with some tips to include with the videos.
 
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Hey guys, just thought you'd like to know I posted part 2 of the tutorial. It's up in the first post. Narration is forthcoming. It was such a pain keeping up with the speed of the video last time, I thought I'd at least get the video itself up while I work on the narration. I'll go back and add annotations as time permits for anything that might've went by too fast in the two videos.
 
Nice tut, this will help a lot of people not familiar with the program, like myself.



Can I unfold only a certain part of the model? I'm trying to get the blank templates for the back detail on FS's HD torso, but every time I try it also unfolds all of the permutations and such, and it REALLY makes it a mess finding what I unfolded.
 
ImaGonnaGetYou said:
Can I unfold only a certain part of the model?

Yes. Leave the rest of the pieces of the model in the dark gray area off the page (I recommend dumping them in the upper left area where I temporarily staged the pieces as I arranged them one by one in the tut. Stuff that's not on the white pages won't print).



ImaGonnaGetYou said:
I'm trying to get the blank templates for the back detail on FS's HD torso, but every time I try it also unfolds all of the permutations and such, and it REALLY makes it a mess finding what I unfolded.

That's where Ctrl + K comes in (also known as "check corresponding face"). Click on the part in the 3d window you want to find, and the part you're looking for will be boxed in red (I use this many times in the videos). This also works in reverse if you're trying to figure out how the pep piece you're looking at relates to the 3d model. The rest of the 3d model will turn a lighter shade of gray, highlighting the piece you clicked on.
 
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Nice tut, Why dose it say there's an open edge in pep designer but when I check it in the 3D program there isn't.?



Is it because a front side edge is connected to a Backside edge?
 
Roadwarrior said:
Nice tut, Why dose it say there's an open edge in pep designer but when I check it in the 3D program there isn't.?



Is it because a front side edge is connected to a Backside edge?

Probably, since as far as Pep Designer is concerned, you can't share a common edge if the front of a face is on the opposite side of the other face. It probably thinks a situation like that would be impossible to build.
 
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Well, if you could put the video on Google Video for me that would make a nice little Christmas present. :)

(Youtube doesn't work on my PC)
 
landothespartan said:
Well, if you could put the video on Google Video for me that would make a nice little Christmas present. :)

(Youtube doesn't work on my PC)



Dose it say you need the latest flashplayer and stuff, but when you download it it still wont show? Well I had that happen to me, I had checked yes to some block ads/popups ,boxes in my firewall settings and that had messed up youtube. hope that helped :)
 
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