Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Look at your Perspective view after
you've run the Unfold Mapping tool. At
this point you may have noticed some
green lines over the edge of your model.
These are UVW seams. The best way to
think of this is like the final clothing and
the pattern used to make that clothing.
The pieces in this pattern could be
sewn together to make a shirt. The edge
that has to be sewn would be your UVW
seam, and this seam would appear to be a
straight line on your final shirt. Typically,
having as few UVW seams as possible is
common practice. Matching up a texture
across these seams perfectly is nearly impossible without
spending some serious time on it. Another technique that is
used is placing the seams where actual clothing seams would
be placed. This gives a valid reason why a seam is there in the
texture too, not to mention that clothing seams are typically
put in places that are out of the way.
The Pelt Map modifier was a huge hit when it first came
out. The idea of clicking a button and having something
unwrapped for you made many modelers giggle like little
schoolgirls. I was one of those, but after using pelt for a while
I realized that it had its ups and downs. This is an awesome
tool for unwrapping clothing or anything you'll be unwrapping
that won't have specific detail in the texture.
Why only non-specific detail areas? you may ask. Well, the
pelt modifier has a horrible habit of destroying any resem-
blance to your actual model. Sure, it gives a nice minimally
stretched UVW layout, but if you can't tell what you're textur-
ing, what's the point? If you were to paint a circle on the
texture, it would come out all warped. That's no good!
Figure 17-27: A shirt
pattern
