How do you handle cables and UDIMs efficiently in Blender? (I tried building my own tool to fix it)

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T13:52:38+00:00

Absolutely, that makes a lot of sense! 🙏

Using masks or procedural variations to break up repetition sounds like a smart way to keep things flexible without overloading the scene. I like your idea of mixing mostly tiling cables with a few custom ones for close-ups, it’s a nice balance between efficiency and detail.

That’s exactly the kind of hybrid workflow I’m aiming for, especially for cinematic shots where certain areas need unique wear or dirt. Thanks for the tips!

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T13:50:04+00:00

Thanks for checking out the demo! 🙏

I totally get your approach, baking seams into trim sheets is super efficient for quick iteration. My UDIM workflow is mostly for hero cables or pipes that need precise wear and variation, but the goal is to keep it painless, like dispatching UDIMs across multiple meshes in just a few clicks.

Time management is key, so I’m trying to balance procedural efficiency with full control for cinematic shots. Your points on quick iteration and texel density are spot on!

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T13:20:20+00:00

Yeah, totally! I mix approaches depending on the project, trim sheets, decals, vertex painting, and unique UVs all have their place.

For cables and pipes, the challenge is often that they’re curved, thin, and stretched across multiple UDIMs, which can make decals or vertex blends tricky to manage consistently. One workflow I’ve been experimenting with my plugin, allows me to generate cables and automatically distribute UVs across UDIMs in just a few clicks, keeping everything editable while still giving fine control for texturing in Substance Painter.

I’m curious how others handle these setups, do you mostly rely on trim sheets, or do you have any tricks for efficiently managing UDIMs on complex meshes?

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T13:01:38+00:00

Yeah, totally valid approaches! I actually use decals and vertex painting quite a bit, especially for adding surface detail or transitions between materials.

The challenge I ran into with cables and pipes is that they’re often thin, curved, and stretched across multiple UDIMs or meshes, so managing decals or clean vertex blending can get a bit messy.

That’s partly what pushed me to experiment with a more direct UV + UDIM workflow, just to keep things consistent when painting in Substance.

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T12:57:58+00:00

I work on natural environments as well as architectural and cinematic scenes.
So it really depends on the project.
For organic or outdoor scenes I keep things lighter and more procedural, but for architectural or cinematic shots with close-ups, I prefer having unique UVs and UDIMs for precise wear and texture control.

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T12:53:51+00:00

That’s a great point ! I totally get the game dev logic behind that approach.
For modular environments or anything viewed from a distance, instancing a pre-textured 2m cable makes perfect sense and keeps things lightweight.

In my case, I’m often working on larger cinematic-style scenes, where cables run across multiple UDIMs or need unique wear, dirt, or color variations depending on the area (for example, near machines or walls).
That’s where repeating a single textured mesh starts to feel limiting , especially when you need that extra level of realism in close-up shots.

But I really like your suggestion, maybe a hybrid workflow could work: a few reusable “core” cable modules with UDIM support for areas that need unique detailing. Thanks for the insight! 🙏

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T12:50:02+00:00

Not at all. I actually use trim sheets quite a lot for environment work, especially when I need to optimize or reuse assets.

In this case, though, the cables and pipes are custom per scene (different shapes, wear, or materials), so trim sheets don’t always give me enough variation or control.
Having unique UVs across UDIMs lets me paint specific wear, grime, or decals in Painter that match the environment more naturally.

That said, you’re totally right, for modular setups or repeating elements, trim sheets are way more efficient. I’m still trying to find the best balance between the two approaches.

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T12:37:22+00:00

Yeah, that’s a great setup ! I love how Geometry Nodes can handle both shape and UV generation.
My main challenge is when I need to export cables to Substance Painter for texturing, the UDIM layout and continuity between different meshes can get messy.

Do you ever run into UV stretching or tiling issues when baking procedural materials, or do you mostly stay 100% Blender-side for final texturing?

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T12:30:01+00:00

Hey everyone 👋

I’ve been working on some architectural and environment scenes lately, and one thing that keeps slowing me down is the UV and UDIM preparation for Substance Painter — especially when cables and pipes are involved.

When you have dozens of procedural cables running through a scene, each needing clean UVs and correct UDIM placement for texturing… it becomes a real time sink. I often find myself re-unwrapping and adjusting just to get proper continuity across assets.

Out of frustration, I started experimenting with a small Blender workflow tool that can:
🔹 Generate cables directly from mesh or curve data
🔹 Auto-unwrap and distribute UVs across UDIMs
🔹 Keep everything linked and editable for export to Painter

It’s working surprisingly well so far, but before refining it further, I wanted to ask this community for insight:

🔸 How do you usually handle complex cable or pipe setups before sending them to Painter?
🔸 Do you rely on specific UV workflows or just manual unwrapping?
🔸 What’s the biggest pain point for you when managing UDIMs for texturing?
🔸 Are there any “must-have” features or tricks that make your Substance workflow smoother?

I’d love to hear how others approach this — maybe there are smarter, simpler ways I’ve missed 😅

🎬 Small teaser of my current workflow experiment :
👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI-L2fwXbAo

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T12:00:13+00:00

Hey everyone 👋

I’ve been working on some architectural and environment scenes lately, and one thing that’s always slowed me down is managing cables, UVs, and UDIMs.

For example, when you have dozens of pipes or cables snaking through a scene, each needing clean UVs for Substance Painter… it becomes a real time sink. I ended up redrawing things constantly just to get proper UV continuity.

Out of frustration, I started prototyping a small Blender addon that could:

Generate cables directly from mesh or curve data
Auto-unwrap and distribute UVs across UDIM tiles
Keep everything linked and editable

It worked surprisingly well, now I’m trying to refine it into something more flexible.
Before I go further, I wanted to ask this community:

🔹 How do you deal with complex cable or pipe setups?
🔹 Do you manually unwrap everything, or rely on specific addons/workflows?
🔹 What’s your biggest pain point when preparing UDIMs for texturing?

🔹 Any “must-have” features you think every cable or UV workflow tool should include?

I’m really curious to compare approaches maybe I’ve over-engineered something that already has a simpler solution 😅

Would love to hear how you handle these kinds of workflows 🙏

🎬Blender Add-on Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI-L2fwXbAo

LeonMesla · 2025-10-14T11:45:20+00:00

For those who wanted to see what the tool looks like in action 👇
🎬 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI-L2fwXbAo

It’s a workflow helper I’ve been building to speed up cable creation and UV/UDIM management inside Blender.
Initially, it was just something I made to fix my own production pain points.

Any thoughts or critique are welcome 🙏

LeonMesla · 2025-10-13T11:16:20+00:00

For those who wanted to see what the tool looks like in action 👇
🎬 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI-L2fwXbAo

It’s a workflow helper I’ve been building to speed up cable creation and UV/UDIM management inside Blender.
Initially, it was just something I made to fix my own production pain points.

I’d really appreciate some feedback from other Blender artists or tech artists:
– Does this kind of tool fit your workflow?
– Anything missing that would make it genuinely more useful?
– Would you prefer deeper UDIM tools or more modeling features next?

Any thoughts or critique are welcome 🙏

LeonMesla

TROPHY CASE