Cfrtjryk

Hello, I am a beginner in Blender and I have tried to make a ladybug for my project. I managed to model it, but now I have to add a ladybug texture to it. I heard that by using the "Smart UV Project" function, I can easily add my Ladybug pattern to it. However, after doing this, my image started to distort. Now as you can see, the ladybug's patterns has gone really wrong and I don't know how to fix it, so is there any way I can fix this problem and make my ladybug work?

Use the primitive's default UV map

It looks like it might not take too long to remodel your bug...

When a new primitive is added there is the option to create the default UV map.

Then tab into edit mode and selecting all, switching to UV editor layout

This was a really quick effort, with all the UV selected and scaled by eye to match the texture image as in question. (eg without rotating image lol)

The nature of the default mapping is equirectangular 360 degrees longitude "U" by 180 degrees latitude (2 x 1) "V". Will be best at the equator and worst at the poles.

Image from the wiki Equirectangular Projection. showing how dots are distorted toward the pole.

A black line across top of image would translate to black dot on pole, similarly to how (ant)arctic circles appear across the top and bottom of world map

For half a sphere, delete a half of sphere.

It will be hard to have perfect circles on your ladybug this way. You could do it several other ways, but here are 3 ways to do it:

1) DIRECT PAINTING

• Unwrap your semi-sphere in Blender.


• Prepare a red image texture in the UV/Image Editor
  


• Plug the Image Texture node with your image in a Diffuse (and plug the Diffuse in the Output).


• In the 3D View window, switch to Texture Paint mode and paint your black dots with a very steep curve brush

2) TEXTURE BRUSH

• In Photoshop, prepare a black circle on a 0% alpha background, and save it as "dot.png".


• Unwrap your semi-sphere in Blender.


• Create a 100% white texture and plug it in a Diffuse (and plug the Diffuse in the Output).


• Switch your 3D View into Texture Paint mode.


• Use your dot.png as a Texture Brush / Stencil mode in your 3D View and paint on the surface of your ladybug. In Stencil mode you can use cmd shift to zoom, cmd ctrl to rotate and cmd fn to move.


• Now change your node organization and use your texture as a factor in a mix between 2 Diffuse nodes: one black and one red.

3) TRANSFORM A PLANE INTO A SPHERE

You could also create a plane, map your pattern on it, transform it into a sphere with some Simple Deform modifiers / Bend mode, then cut the sphere in half: How to animate morphing a rectangular plane into a sphere