MappingUVs PDF

Mapping UVs
Copyright Notice
© 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be
reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the
copyright holder.Portions relating to Graph Layout Toolkit © Copyright 1992-2003 Tom Sawyer Software, Berkeley, California. All rights reserved.
Portions relating to TIFF © Copyright 1988-1997 Sam Leffler. © Copyright 1991-1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. Permissions to
use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the
above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam
Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission
of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON
GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER
RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY
OF LIABIBITLY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Portions relating to OpenEXR v 1.2.2 Copyright © 2002, Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. Redistributions in
binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other
materials provided with the distribution. Neither the name of Industrial Light & Magic nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse
or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
Portions relating to JPEG © Copyright 1991-1998 Thomas G. Lane. All rights reserved. This software is based in part on the work of the Independent
JPEG Group.
Portions relating to GCC are Copyright © 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Portions relating to Animation Repurposing Technology, Copyright 1999-2003 House of Moves Motion Capture Studios, LLC.
Portions relating to Expat XML Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd. and Clarke Cooper. Copyright © 2001,
2002 Expat maintainers. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT
NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT
SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS
IN THE SOFTWARE.
Portions relating to XHTML Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge,
to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission
notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES
OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH
THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Portions relating to OpenVRML are Copyright © 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Portions relating to pysqlite Copyright © 2005-2007 Gerhard Häring, gh@ghaering.de.
Portions relating to Flex 2.5.4 are developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.
Portions relating to Doc ++ are copyright © 1996 Roland Wunderling, Malte Zoeckler copyright © 1999-2001 Dragos Acostachioaie.
Portions relating to the implementation of the Edge Detection and Image Segmentation (EDISON) System are provided "AS IS". More information
may be found at http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/riul/research/code.html.
Portions of the subdivision surface implementation technology are protected by U.S. patents 6,037,949, 6,222,553, 6,300,960, and 6,489,960
and used under license from Pixar.
Portions Copyrighted mental images GmbH 1989-2007.
Portions relating to Python 2.3.3 Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003 Python Software Foundation; All Rights Reserved.
Portions relating to Imconvert Copyright 1999-2007 ImageMagick Studio LLC, a non-profit organization dedicated to making software imaging
solutions freely available.
The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December,
3December.com, 3ds Max, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD
Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk
Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch,
AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civil 3D, Cleaner,
Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Create>what's>Next>
(design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio,
Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Web Format, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, Ecotect, Exposure,
Extending the Design Team, FBX, Filmbox, FMDesktop, Freewheel, GDX Driver, Gmax, Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK,
IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT, Incinerator, Inventor, Inventor LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LocationLogic,
Lustre, Matchmover, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, MotionBuilder, Movimento, Mudbox, NavisWorks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality,
Opticore, Opticore Opus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, Reactor,
RealDWG, Real-time Roto, REALVIZ, Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, SteeringWheels,
Stitcher, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, ViewCube, Visual, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Landscape, Visual Survey, Visual Toolbox,
Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, Vtour, Wiretap, and WiretapCentral.
The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and/or Canada and other countries: Backburner,
Discreet, Fire, Flame, Flint, Frost, Inferno, Multi-Master Editing, River, Smoke, Sparks, Stone, and Wire.
mental ray is a registered trademark of mental images GmbH licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. Adobe, Illustrator and Photoshop are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. The Ravix logo is a trademark
of Electric Rain, Inc. "Python" and the Python logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Python Software Foundation. All other brand
names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Disclaimer
THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS
ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.
Contents
Chapter 1 UV mapping overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction to UV mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Creating UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Viewing and evaluating UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
UV mapping tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
UV Texture Editor overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
UV sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2 Mapping UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Planar UV mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Cylindrical UV mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Spherical UV mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Automatic UV mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
User-defined UV mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Confirm UV placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Transfer UVs between meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 3 Editing UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Display UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Select UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Display a subset of UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Move, rotate, and scale UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Dolly or track within the UV Texture Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
v
Display a texture behind the UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Delete UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Update a texture image after UV modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Use the UV Texture Editor grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Save an image of the UV layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Modify UVs using the UV Lattice Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Modify UVs using the UV Smudge Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Separate and attach UV shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Display overlapping UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Display UV winding order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Layout UV shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Map border UVs to a square or circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Straighten border UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Relax and untangle UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Unfold a UV mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Example: Lay out a UV shell using unfold and relax . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Flip or rotate UV shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Copy UVs and color attributes between polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Chapter 4 UV sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Create UV sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Switch between UV sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Duplicate, rename, or delete a UV set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Assign a texture to a UV set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Copy UVs from one UV set to another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Working with per-instance UV sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Edit NURBS UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 5 UVs menu reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Create UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Create UVs > Planar Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Create UVs > Spherical Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Create UVs > Automatic Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Create UVs > Create UVs Based On Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Create UVs > Best Plane Texturing Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Create UVs > Assign Shader to Each Projection . . . . . . . . . . 107
Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Create UVs > Copy UVs to UV Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Create UVs > Set Current UV Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Create UVs > Rename Current UV Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Create UVs > Delete Current UV Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Create UVs > UV Set Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Create UVs > Per Instance Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Edit UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
vi | Contents
Edit UVs > Normalize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Edit UVs > Unitize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Edit UVs > Flip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Edit UVs > Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Edit UVs > Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Edit UVs > Align . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Edit UVs > Warp Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Edit UVs > Map UV Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Edit UVs > Relax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Edit UVs > Unfold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Edit UVs > Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Edit UVs > Cut UV Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Edit UVs > Split UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Edit UVs > Sew UV Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Edit UVs > Merge UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Edit UVs > Delete UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Chapter 6 UVs windows and editors reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

UV Texture Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
UV Texture Editor reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
UV Texture Editor menu bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
UV Texture Editor toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
UV Set Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Chapter 7 UVs tool reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Move tool (in UV texture editor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Contents | vii
viii
UV mapping overview
1
Introduction to UV mapping
UVs (pronounced U-VEEZ) are two-dimensional texture coordinates that reside
with the vertex component information for polygonal and subdivision surface
meshes. UVs exist to define a two-dimensional texture coordinate system, called
UV texture space. UV texture space uses the letters U and V to indicate the axes
in 2D. UV texture space facilitates the placement of image texture maps on a
3D surface.
UVs are essential in that they provide the connection between the surface mesh
and how the image texture gets mapped onto the surface mesh. That is, UVs
act as marker points that control which points (pixels) on the texture map
correspond to which points (vertices) on the mesh. Textures applied to polygon
or subdivision surfaces that do not possess UV texture coordinates will not
render.
Although Maya creates UVs by default for many primitive types, you’ll need to
rearrange the UVs in most cases, because the default arrangement will usually
not match any subsequent edits to the model you may make. In addition, the
location of the UV texture coordinates do not automatically update when you
edit a surface mesh.
In most cases, you map and arrange UVs after you have completed your modeling
and before you assign textures to the model. Otherwise, changing the model
will create a mismatch between the model and the UVs, and affect how any
textures appear on the model.
Understanding the concept of UVs and how to map them to a surface, and
subsequently lay them out accurately is essential for producing textures on
polygonal and subdivision surfaces when working in Maya. Understanding how
1
UVs work is also important when you need to paint textures, fur, or hair onto
a 3D model.
UVs and texture mapping
Texture mapping polygon and subdivision surfaces in Maya differs from how
you texture NURBS surfaces.
For NURBS surface types, each surface mesh is defined as a four-sided square
or rectangular patch that has specific U and V directions. For NURBS surface
types the texture coordinates (UVs) that control the placement of a texture
exist by default and are implicitly connected to the control vertices. When
the control vertices get repositioned, so do the positions of the corresponding
UV texture coordinates. Any textures mapped to the surface are also affected
as a result. That is, moving a CV will affect how the texture map appears on
the NURBS surface.
For polygon and subdivision surface types, the shape of surface meshes is
usually much more irregular compared to NURBS surface types. Texture
coordinates (UVs) associated with these surface types do not always exist by
default, and so must be explicitly created, and subsequently modified in most
cases, so that the surface mesh can accommodate a texture map.
UV mapping
The process of creating explicit UVs for a surface mesh is called UV mapping.
UV mapping is a process whereby you create, edit, and otherwise arrange the
UVs (that appear as a flattened, two-dimensional representation of the surface
mesh, over top of the two-dimensional image to be used as a texture as it
appears in the UV Texture Editor.
The UV mapping process results in a correlation between the image and how
it appears as a texture when mapped onto the three-dimensional surface mesh.
UV mapping is a critical skill to master for accurate and realistic textures on
polygonal surfaces.
■ You create UVs by mapping them onto your surface mesh using a variety
of options. For more information see the Related topics section below.
■ You view and edit UVs using the UV Texture Editor. You can display the
texture image as a background image to let you more easily correlate the
UVs to the texture. The UV Texture Editor provides many useful tools for
laying out and manipulating the 2D representation of UVs. For more
information see UV Texture Editor overview on page 8.
2 | Chapter 1 UV mapping overview

NOTE You only need to be concerned about UV texture coordinates when
you want to apply a texture map to polygons. UV mapping is not necessary
for creating and reshaping polygon and subdivision surfaces.
Related topics
■ Creating UVs on page 3
■ Viewing and evaluating UVs on page 4
■ UV Texture Editor overview on page 8
■ UV mapping tips on page 6
Creating UVs
In Maya, UV texture coordinates (UVs) can be created for polygon surface
meshes using the following UV mapping techniques:
■ Automatic UV mapping on page 22
■ Planar UV mapping on page 15
■ Cylindrical UV mapping on page 19
■ Spherical UV mapping on page 21
■ User-defined UV mapping on page 25
■ Camera UV mapping - see Planar UV mapping on page 15
Each UV mapping technique produces UV texture coordinates for the surface

mesh by projecting them onto the surface mesh based on its inherent
projection method. As a result, the UV texture coordinates have an initial 2D
spatial correlation to the vertex information in the 3D world space coordinate
system. It is this correlation between the texture map and the surface mesh
via the UVs that positions the texture on the surface.
The initial mapping produced via the above UV mapping techniques does not
usually produce the final UV arrangement that is required for a texture. As a
result, you will often need to perform further editing operations on the UVs
using the UV Texture Editor.
Creating UVs | 3
The polygon and subdivision surface primitive types in Maya have default UV
texture coordinates that can be used for texture mapping. However, if you
modify the default primitives in any way (that is, scale, extrude faces, insert
or delete edges) you will need to map a new set of UV texture coordinates
onto the modified object to suit your texture mapping requirements.
The best workflow is to map UVs onto a model only when the it is complete.
Related topics
■ Introduction to UV mapping on page 1
Viewing and evaluating UVs

Once you have mapped UVs onto a model you view and edit the resulting
UV texture coordinates using the UV Texture Editor. The UV Texture Editor
lets you view the two-dimensional UV mesh on its own or in relation to the
image texture. The UV Texture Editor lets you manipulate the components
of the UV mesh in the 2D view much like you work with other polygon
components in Maya.
In some instances the default UV projection may not appear in a manner you
expect or require. In these situations you must visually evaluate, then manually
edit the UV layout to rearrange the position of the UVs within the UV Texture
Editor to better suit the requirements of the texture.
In terms of production workflow, you typically map and edit (rearrange) the
UVs once you have completed your modeling and before you assign textures
to the model. How you edit the UVs for a particular polygon mesh depends
on the texture mapping requirements you have.
The following are some examples of situations where UVs need to be edited
to meet specific texturing requirements.
■ When the image for a texture map already exists, the UV mesh (and
possibly the surface mesh) will need to be modified to conform to the
requirements of the image. One example of this is when texture mapping
a games character and the artwork for the texture maps already exist for a
known film actor, athlete, or comic book character. In addition, the image
for the character's textures may be comprised of many smaller separate

images for the various components of the character on the same image
(For example, sub-images of the face or head, torso, legs etc.). This method
of laying out many images on a single image is commonly referred to as
a decal sheet and is very efficient in terms of texture and memory usage for
an interactive game application. When using a decal sheet approach the
UVs must be arranged so they match up with the corresponding images
on texture map as it appears in the UV Texture Editor.
■ When you want to reference the same image multiple times for a texture
map you will want the UVs to lay directly on top of each other when
viewed in the UV Texture Editor. This approach is useful and efficient in
situations when the UVs can share the same region of a texture image. For
example, if you had a brick texture that you wanted repeated on several
buildings in a scene you could lay each separate UV mesh in exactly the
same position within the UV Texture Editor. Otherwise overlapping UVs
are generally not desirable and will produce unexpected texture mapping
results. When UVs overlap you can lay them out to not overlap using Edit
UVs > Layout.
■ When you need to manually reassemble a UV mesh after using Automatic

mapping to create UVs for a surface mesh. Automatic mapping invariably
produces multiple projections for a surface mesh based on the shape of
the surface mesh. As a result, the UV projections appear as many separate
UV components in the UV Texture Editor. This can be problematic when
you need to have a UV mesh that is one contiguous piece to allow a texture
artist to paint directly on the 3D object. You can reposition and attach the
individual UV components using features in the UV Texture Editor such
as Polygons > Move and Sew UV Edges.
■ When the shape of the projected UVs are badly distorted compared to the
3D surface mesh the resulting texture map will be compressed, stretched
or otherwise distorted on the surface mesh in an undesirable fashion. There
are many options for correcting these situations using features in the UV
Texture Editor such features as Unfold and Relax.
NOTE To create a UV mapping arrangement that works best for your model,
you may need to try a variety of mapping techniques, until you find a mapping
arrangement that is suitable. For more information on laying out UVs see UV
mapping tips on page 6.
Related topics
Viewing and evaluating UVs | 5

UV mapping tips
Maya provides a number of features that let you easily create and edit UV
texture coordinates for texture mapping your polygon and subdivision surfaces.
The UV Texture Editor (Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor) is the primary tool for
arranging and laying out UVs for optimal textures.
Knowing how to arrange UV texture coordinates is an important skill to master
that depends on whether you are generating a new texture using the UVs as
a guide, or if you are adapting the UVs to optimally fit an existing image. The
best arrangement depends on the types of textures you will apply and also
upon whether you are creating rendered images or models for interactive
games. A full description of UV arrangement is out of the scope of this guide
but you should consider the following guidelines:
Keep UVs within the 0 to +1 texture coordinates
The UV Texture Editor displays a grid marking the texture space for UVs. The
working area of the grid begins at 0 and extends to 1. By default, the UV
mapping operations in Maya automatically fit UVs within the 0 to 1
coordinates. While it is possible to move or scale the UVs so they reside outside
of this 0 to 1 region, you should keep the UVs for a surface positioned within
these 0 to 1 coordinates, in the majority of situations.
When the UVs extend beyond the 0 to 1 range, the texture will appear to
repeat or wrap around the corresponding vertices when viewed in the 3D
scene or rendered image. The exception to this guideline is when you actually
want the texture to repeat on the surface, such as a brick texture along the
model of a wall.
Avoid overlapping UV shells
UV points have interconnecting lines that form a shape, called a UV shell. If

any of the UV shells overlap in the UV Texture Editor, the texture will appear
to repeat on the corresponding vertices. In general, you should avoid
overlapping UVs, unless you want the texture to repeat. For example, if you
want the arms of a character to share the same texture pattern, you can place

the UV shell corresponding to one arm on top of the piece corresponding to
the other arm, using the Move UV Shell Tool.
Some UV projection operations often result in overlapping UV shells, but you
can easily separate the shells using the Layout feature, as described in Layout
UV shells on page 58.
Spacing between UV shells
The spacing between UV shells is an important consideration. You’ll want to

have the UV shells as close together as possible to maximize the UV texture
space. However, if the shells are too close together, there is the possibility that
the textures may bleed between one surface to another.
Snapping UVs
You can use snapping in the UV Texture Editor to lock your transformations
to existing objects in the scene. This functionality is similar to the snapping
functionality in the scene view.
You can use the Preserve Component Spacing option in the Move Tool settings
when transforming multiple UVs to maintain their relative spacing.
To snap to... Hold Icon
Grid intersections x
(In the Status Line)
Other UVs (points) v
(In the Status Line)
Pixels
(In the UV Texture Editor toolbar)
UV mapping tips | 7
NOTE
■ If snapping is on and you drag an axis manipulator (as opposed to the
manipulator’s center), the manipulator snaps to the nearest point or grid
intersection restricted to that axis (depending on the snapping mode).
Alternatively, you can use Shift + x or Shift + v to snap to the nearest point
restricted by the U or V axis respectively.
■ Pixel Snapping is measured by monitor pixels. You can zoom in close to

the UVs to achieve better results. This setting also affects snapping for
rotating and scaling pivot locations.
Related topics
UV Texture Editor overview

Window > UV Texture Editor
Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor
In scene view: Panels > Panel > UV Texture Editor
The UV Texture Editor lets you view and interactively edit the UV texture
coordinates for polygon, NURBS, and subdivision surfaces within a 2D view.
You can select, move, scale, and generally modify the UV topology for a surface
very much like you work with other modeling tools within Maya. You can
also view the image associated with the assigned texture map as a backdrop
within the UV Texture Editor and modify the UV layout to match as required.

Maya lets you easily compare what you view in the 3D scene view and in the
UV Texture Editor’s 2D texture coordinate view by displaying the perspective
view and the UV Texture Editor simultaneously. For example, you can select
a UV within the 3D scene view and simultaneously see the same selected UV
coordinate in the 2D view of the UV Texture Editor and vice versa. This is
useful when you’re editing UVs and need to understand how an item in the
2D view relates to the 3D model in the scene view. For this reason, many Maya
users find it invaluable to have the Maya perspective view and the UV Texture
Editor displayed side-by-side when performing UV texture and layout work.
You select this layout from the layout shortcuts section of the Toolbox.
UV Texture Editor overview | 9

The UV Texture Editor contains tools that allow you to modify the UV texture
coordinates. For example, you can perform such actions as rotating and flipping
UVs as well as cutting and sewing UVs in order to achieve the UV layout you
require. You can also output a bitmap image of the final UV layout so it can
be used as a background for texture creation work.
There are separate menus for polygons and subdivision surfaces UV tasks.
Many of the items within the UV Texture Editor are also accessible from the
UV Texture Editor’s toolbar as icons. As well, some of the items that are
contained within the UV Texture Editor are also available in the Edit UVs
menu from the Polygons menu set.
Viewing items in the UV Texture Editor
When viewing UV texture coordinates in the UV Texture Editor you:
■ use the standard camera move keys (Alt + the middle mouse button and
Alt + the right mouse button) to track and dolly within the 2D texture
view.
■ press f in the UV Texture Editor to frame any selected items in the 2D view.
Marking menus in the UV Texture Editor
UV specific marking menus are available when you work in the UV Texture
Editor. This saves you time and streamlines your UV editing workflow. When

you Shift + right-click in the UV Texture Editor the marking menu shows
different items depending on what components are currently selected:
■ When UV texture coordinates are currently selected the marking menu shows
possible UV modification operations (for example, Relax, Unfold, Smudge
Tool, and Lattice Tool are available). While the marking menu is displayed,
simply drag your mouse to highlight the desired item in the menu; the
item is selected as if it were selected from the related UV Texture Editor
location in the menu or toolbar.
■ When a polygon edge is currently selected the marking menu shows possible
UV edge modification operations for the selected component (for example,
Cut UV Edges, Sew UV Edges, Move and Sew UV Edges, and others).
When a polygon face is currently selected the marking menu shows possible
UV modification operations for the selected UV type (for example,
Normalize,Unitize, Layout, and others).
Related topics
■ Flip or rotate UV shells on page 79
■ Display UVs on page 31
■ Select UVs on page 32
UV sets
You can create multiple arrangements of UV texture coordinates for a surface
mesh using UV sets. UV sets are useful when an object requires multiple UV
layouts for different textures (known as multi-texturing).
For example, if you create a brick wall and want to layer spray paint on top,
you can use one texture for the bricks and one texture for the paint using a
layered texture. If the brick texture repeats but the paint texture doesn’t, you
will want different UV layouts (UV sets) for each.
If you are planning to pre-light the surfaces in your scene (also referred to as
light baking), you’ll want to use UV sets to store the shading and lighting color
UV sets | 11
information from the rendered appearance of a polygon mesh directly on the
color per vertex information for the mesh.
The main steps to set up multi-texturing are:
■ Assign multiple textures to an object’s material.

These textures can be assigned to different material attributes, such as
Color and Incandescence, or assigned to a single attribute using a Layered
Texture node.
■ Create UV sets with different layouts.
■ Link each UV set to a given texture using the Relationship Editor.
Examples
The following examples show UV sets used to texture a brick wall. In both
examples, the UV sets are:
■ unitizedUVs—for the repeating brick texture.
■ planarUVs—for the non-repeating texture.

UV sets for Color and Transparency
In this example, the UV sets are connected to textures on different attributes

of the material—Color and Transparency.
UV sets for a Layered Texture
In this example, the UV sets are connected to layered textures.
UV sets | 13
Related topics
■ Create UV sets on page 83
■ Switch between UV sets on page 84
■ Duplicate, rename, or delete a UV set on page 84
■ Assign a texture to a UV set on page 85
■ Copy UVs from one UV set to another on page 86

Mapping UVs
2
Planar UV mapping
Planar mapping projects UVs onto a mesh through a plane. This projection is
best for objects that are relatively flat, or at least are completely visible from
one camera angle.
Planar mapping typically gives overlapping UV shells. The UV shells may be

perfectly superimposed and look like a single UV shell. You should use Edit UVs
> Layout after mapping to separate overlapping UVs.
The Best Plane Texturing Tool assigns UVs to the faces you select based on a
plane computed from vertices you specify.
You can select the faces you want to map before you choose the Best Plane
Texturing tool, or you can choose the tool and then click each face you want
to map.
To map based on the best fit plane of the selection
1 Select the faces you want to map UVs onto.
15
2 Select Create UVs > Best Plane Texturing Tool.
3 You click faces to add them to the selection.
4 Select one or more faces on which you want to map the texture. You
cannot marquee-select the faces—you must select the faces one by one,
or select the faces before using the operation.
5 Press Enter.
6 Select one or more vertices (press the right mouse button on the mesh
and choose Vertex to switch to selecting vertices).
7 Press Enter.
8 Use the UV Texture Editor to view and edit the resulting UVs.
To project from a plane defined by the view
1 Select the faces you want to project UVs onto.
2 Tumble the perspective view, or track an orthographic view to look at

the faces.
3 Select Create UVs > Create UVs Based On Camera.
16 | Chapter 2 Mapping UVs

To map based on a planar projection
2 Select Create UVs > Planar Mapping > .

The Planar Mapping Options window appears.
3 Set the following options as required:

■ Click Best Plane to position the manipulator based on the faces you
selected.
■ Click Bounding Box to position the manipulator based on the

bounding box of the mesh.
4 Click Project.
5 Use the projection manipulator to control how the plane distributes UVs.
Planar UV mapping | 17
You can also rotate the manipulator by clicking the red crossed lines,
which reveals the Show Manipulator tool. Click the light blue circle
around the Show Manipulator handle to activate the rotate handles.
Notes
■ Planar mapping can create shared, overlapping UVs that can look like
texture borders. Turn on texture border display (in Display > Polygons >
Texture Border Edges) to clearly show texture borders.
■ Shared, overlapping UVs can create seam problems if you paint over them
with the 3D Paint or Paint Fur Attributes Tools.
To avoid these problems, manually separate the UVs with Edit UVs > Layout
> . Set Separate shells to Folds and the Shell layout option to Along U
or Into Square.

■ Projection mapping only works properly on a single object at a time. If
you need to apply a projection to multiple polygonal objects in a single
step, combine the objects into one, apply the projection, and then separate
the parts back out. Otherwise, perform a projection on each object
separately.
■ When a model’s form is very organic, and you require a complete UV

representation of that model for texture mapping, a planar projection can
produce UVs that overlap and appear distorted. Unless you want this to
occur it is recommended you try another UV mapping technique.
Related topics
■ Create UVs > Assign Shader to Each Projection on page 107
■ Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set on page 107
Cylindrical UV mapping
Cylindrical mapping creates UVs for an object based on a cylindrical projection
shape that gets wrapped around the mesh. This projection is best for shapes
which can be completely enclosed and visible within a cylinder, without
projecting or hollow parts.
Cylindrical UV mapping | 19
2 Select Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping.
3 Use the manipulator to change the position and size of the projection
shape.
NOTE Projection mapping only works properly on a single object at a time.

If you need to apply a projection to multiple polygonal objects in a single
the parts back out. Otherwise, perform a projection on each object separately.

Related topics
■ Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping on page 99
Spherical UV mapping
Spherical mapping create UVs using a projection that is based on a spherical
shape wrapped around the mesh. This projection is best for shapes which can
be completely enclosed and visible within a sphere, without projecting or
hollow parts.
To create UVs using a spherical mapping technique
2 Select Create UVs > Spherical Mapping.
3 Use the manipulator to change the position and size of the projection
shape.
Spherical UV mapping | 21
the parts back out. Otherwise, perform a projection on each object separately.
Related topics
Automatic UV mapping
Automatic mapping creates UVs for a polygon mesh by attempting to find
the best UV placement by simultaneously projecting from multiple planes.
This method of UV mapping is useful on more complex shapes where the
basic planar, cylindrical, or spherical projections do not produce UVs that are
useful, especially on components that project outwards or are hollow in nature.

Automatic mapping creates several UV map pieces or shells in texture space.
This is fine if you are using tools that deal with UVs automatically for you,
such as standard (not combed) fur and the 3D Paint tool in projection mode.
If you need to work with the UVs manually, you will need to stitch the UV
shells back together in the UV Texture Editor using the Move and Sew UV
Edges feature.
You can also specify user-defined planes for the projection of UV texture
coordinates. The Load Projection option uses a polygon object you specify
from the current scene.
To facilitate more accurate UV projections a projection manipulator is displayed
when using the Automatic Mapping feature. The projection manipulator lets
you correlate the multiple planar UV projections that occur in the scene view
with how the resulting UVs appear in the UV Texture Editor.
Automatic UV mapping | 23
The projection manipulator appears centered about the selected object in the
scene view with blue planes that correspond to the number of planes set by
the Automatic Mapping’s Planes option. A light blue color indicates that the
projection plane is oriented facing away from the selected object, while a dark
blue plane indicates the side of the projection plane that is oriented facing
towards the selected object.
The manipulator’s planes are displayed semi-transparent at a scale of 50% of
the actual projection plane so they don’t fully occlude the object when using
the manipulator. Red and green lines appear along the edge of each plane to
indicate the corresponding U and V axes within the UV Texture Editor.
You can move, rotate, and scale the UV projection manipulator just like other
manipulators in Maya. Scaling the manipulator affects the resulting scale of
the projected UVs in the UV Texture Editor.
You can reset any transformations for the projection manipulator using the
Channel Box. When a custom projection object is specified using the Load
Projection option, the projection manipulator gets updated to reflect the
planes specified by the custom projection.
To map UVs for a polygon object using Automatic Mapping
1 Select a polygon object in the scene view that you want to project UVs
texture coordinates.
2 Select Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor to display the UV Texture Editor or
select the Persp/UV Texture Editor layout shortcut from the Toolbar to
view the perspective view and the UV Texture Editor side by side.
When you project the UVs they will appear in the UV Texture Editor’s
2D view.
3 From the Polygons menu set, select Create UVs > Automatic Mapping >
.
The Polygon Automatic Mapping Options window appears.
4 Set the following options depending on your requirements:

■ Set the Planes setting to the desired number of projections you require
and click Project. (The more planes you use, the less distortion in the
UV layout but the more shells are created).
The automatic mapping projection manipulator appears centered about

the object in the scene view with blue projection planes that correspond
to the Planes setting you specified. That is, if the Planes option was set
to 4, then 4 planes appear on the manipulator.

5 To move, rotate, or scale the projection manipulator do the following:
■ To move the projection manipulator in X, Y, Z, drag any of the three
colored arrow handles while moving your mouse.
■ To rotate the projection manipulator, click the light blue circular

rotate handle to make the X, Y, Z rotate handles appear. Dragging
any of the three circles rotates the manipulator about X, Y, or Z.
■ To non-proportionally scale the projection manipulator, drag any of

the three colored box handles on the manipulator.
■ To uniformly scale the projection manipulator, click any of the three

box handles on the tip of the manipulator so a 3D box appears. Drag
the box to scale the manipulator uniformly.

the parts again Otherwise, perform a projection on each object separately.
Related topics
User-defined UV mapping
You can map UV texture coordinates by specifying user-defined planes for UV
projection using the Load Projection option within the Automatic Mapping
feature.
The Load Projection option uses a polygon object that you specify from the
current Maya scene. The object can form a cage around the object or be
comprised of separate faces that intersect each other at its center. The
Automatic Mapping projection manipulator updates when a user-defined
object is specified for projection.
User-defined UV mapping | 25
Criteria for user-defined projection objects
■ The object used as a user-defined projection object must have UV texture

coordinates.
■ It is recommended that the projection object be comprised of separated

polygon faces. That is, a polygon primitive that gets used as a projection
object should first be separated into separate meshes using Mesh > Extract.
(NURBS and subdivision surfaces are not valid surface types for use with
Load Projection.)
In addition, it is useful to know that:
■ The UVs of the projection object determine the shape and location of the
final projection mapping that occurs.
■ You can translate any face from the Load Projection object along its normal
with no affect on the resulting projection.
■ Scaling or rotating any face from the Load Projection object will affect the
resulting orientation and scale of the final UV projection. The projection
manipulator updates when this occurs.
■ The maximum number of polygon faces that can be specified for a

projection object is 31.
To load a user-defined polygon object for use with Automatic Mapping
1 Select a polygon object in the scene view that you want to project UVs
onto.
2 Select Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor to open the UV Texture Editor.
The existing UVs for the object appear in the UV Texture Editor’s 2D
view.
3 From the Polygons menu set, select Create UVs > Automatic Mapping>
.
The Polygon Automatic Mapping Options window appears.
4 In the Polygon Automatic Mapping Options window, turn on the Load

Projection option, then do one of the following:
■ Specify the object in your current scene you want to have loaded as
the projection object by typing its name in the Projection Object box.

■ Select the object in your current scene that you want to have loaded
as the projection object, and then click Load Selected. The name of
the object appears in the Projection Object box. See Criteria for
user-defined projection objects on page 26 above.
5 Click Project or Apply to execute the Automatic Mapping feature.

The automatic mapping projection manipulator appears centered about
the object in the scene view with blue projection planes that correspond
in orientation to the planes of the Load Projection object you specified.
That is, if the Load Projection object has 8 planes in various angles of
orientation, the projection manipulator displays similarly.
NOTE In some instances, the Load Projection object may cause the planes
on the automatic mapping projection manipulator to appear unexpectedly
offset or skewed from the object you’re projecting on. This UV offset is based
on the original UVs for the Load Projection object and doesn’t affect the
quality of the projection.
You can unitize the UVs for the Load Projection object prior to projection
so its UVs reside in the 0 to 1 texture space. While this will make the
projection manipulator appear more centered about the polygon object
it may not provide the UV mapping results you were expecting as the
UVs will be projected similar to having explicitly specified the Overlap
feature.
6 Translate, rotate, or scale the manipulator as required to achieve the UV

projections you require. The projected UVs appear in the UV Texture
Editor. You can observe them update within the UV Texture Editor
whenever the manipulator is moved within the scene view.
Related topics
■ Create UVs > Spherical Mapping on page 100
User-defined UV mapping | 27
Confirm UV placement
Confirming that UVs are positioned correctly for a surface mesh is critical if
you want the textures to appear correctly on the surfaces of your mesh. One
method of confirming the UV placement is to assign a shader that contains
a texture with visual characteristics that help indicate how the UVs are
mapping the texture onto the surface.
When you turn on Create UVs > Assign Shader to Each Projection, Maya will
assign a checkerboard texture shader to the mesh as you project UVs. This
provides a quick visual indication of the UV placement.
You can use a different texture on the defaultPolygonShader. For example, if

you’re going to be mapping a stone texture to many objects, edit the
defaultPolygonShader to use a stone texture for previewing.
You can also create your own custom 2D image using a paint or 2D image
manipulation application.
If you do not need to pre-adjust your texture maps, turn off Assign Shader to
Each Projection. The option is off by default.
Related topics

Transfer UVs between meshes
You can map your UVs to a smoothed version of your polygon model, where
it may be easier to get good UVs (for example, you can smooth out wrinkles
which cause overlapping UVs). Then you can use the Transfer operation to
copy the mapped UVs back onto the complex original model.
To transfer smoothed UVs between polygon meshes
1 Duplicate your polygon mesh.
2 On the duplicate, select the vertices you want to smooth.
3 Select Mesh > Average Vertices > .
4 Enter a value for the Smoothing Amount then click Apply.

The higher the value the more smoothing. You can click Apply repeatedly
to smooth repeatedly.
5 Project UVs onto the smoothed duplicate model using any of the mapping
options in the Create UVs menu.
6 Use Mesh > Transfer Attributes to copy the UVs from the smoothed
duplicated back to the original mesh.
Related topics
■ Mesh > Average Vertices
■ Mesh > Transfer Attributes
Transfer UVs between meshes | 29

30
Editing UVs
3
Display UVs
UVs are viewed and edited in the 2D view of the UV Texture Editor (Edit UVs
> UV Texture Editor). UVs display whenever a polygonal or subdivision surface
mesh is selected in the scene view. When the 3D mesh is de-selected the UVs
are no longer displayed in the UV Texture Editor.
By default, all of the UVs for a selected object get displayed. You can display a
subset of UVs using the Isolate Select feature. For more information see Display
a subset of UVs on page 33.
NOTE The 2D representation of UVs cannot be displayed in the Maya scene views.
To display UVs in the UV Texture Editor
1 Select Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor to display the UV Texture Editor.
2 Do one of the following:
■ In the scene view, set the selection type to object using the marking menu
and then select the polygon or subdivision surface mesh.
The UVs for the selected mesh are displayed in the UV Texture Editor.
■ In the scene view, set the selection type to UV using the marking menu and
then select any vertices on the polygon or subdivision surface mesh.
The UVs associated with the vertices you selected on the mesh are displayed
in the UV Texture Editor.
31
Related topics
■ Display a subset of UVs on page 33
■ Dolly or track within the UV Texture Editor on page 41
■ Display a texture behind the UVs on page 42
Select UVs
Selecting UVs, UV components, and UV shells is critical to editing the layout
of UVs in the UV Texture Editor. You can select UVs in either the scene view
or in the UV Texture Editor but you can only view and edit the 2D
representation of UVs using the UV Texture Editor.
To select UVs in the scene view
1 Press the right mouse button over top of the polygon or subdivision
surface mesh and select UV from the marking menu.
UVs for the surface mesh display in exactly the same location as the
vertices so you can select them in the scene view.
2 Click on the UVs or drag a marquee selection to select the UVs.

The UVs are selected in the scene view. To view a 2D representation of
the UVs you must open the UV Texture Editor (Edit UVs > UV Texture
Editor).
To select UVs and UV shell components in the UV Texture Editor
1 Press the right mouse button on UVs in the UV Texture Editor to enter
different component selection modes.
This works in a similar fashion to how you select polygon components
with the marking menu in the scene view.
32 | Chapter 3 Editing UVs

To convert an existing UV selection to another type
1 Hold Ctrl and press the right mouse button to show items for converting
one type of selection to another.
For example, if you have faces selected, you can convert the selection to
UVs to use the Move tool, which only works with UVs. Use the items in
the UV Texture Editor’s Select menu to select various components:
■ Select Contained Faces: Selects the faces bordered the selected UVs or
edges.
■ Select Connected Faces: Selects the faces connected to the selected

UVs or edges.
■ Select Shell: Select all UVs in the shell containing the current selection.
This is useful to select the whole piece so you can move, scale, or
rotate it.
■ Select Shell Border: Expands your selection to all UVs along the border
of the UV piece.
■ Convert Selection to Faces, Edges, Vertices, UVs: Converts the selection

from one type of component to another connected type. For example,
if you have faces selected and convert selection to vertices, all vertices
connected to the faces are now selected.
Soft selecting UVs
You can use Soft Selection to smoothly transform textures on your models
without transforming each UV one at a time. Soft selection works by
transforming a falloff region around your selected region. For more information
see Soft Selection.
Display a subset of UVs

By default, when you select a surface mesh Maya displays all of the UVs for
that mesh in the UV Texture Editor.
You can switch the UV Texture Editor between displaying all of the UVs for
the current set and only showing a selected subset in isolation. This makes it
easier to work on part of the model without disturbing or accidentally selecting
other UVs.
Display a subset of UVs | 33

To isolate a specific subset of UVs
1 In the UV Texture Editor, if you already have a subset of UVs isolated,
click the Remove all button on the toolbar.

Alternatively, choose View > Isolate Select > Remove All.
2 Select the UVs you want to isolate.
3 Click the Toggle isolate select mode button on the toolbar, or choose
View > Isolate Select > View Set.
To switch back to showing all UVs, click Toggle isolation again, or turn
off the View > Isolate Select > View Set menu item.
To add to the isolated subset of UVs
1 In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle isolate select mode button on
the toolbar to switch back to showing all UVs.

Alternatively, choose View > Isolate Select > View Set.
2 Select the UVs you want to add to the isolated subset.
3 Click the Add selected button on the toolbar.

Alternatively, choose View > Isolate Select > Add Selected.
To remove UVs from the isolated subset
1 In the UV Texture Editor, select the UVs you want to remove from the
isolated subset.
2 Click the Remove selected from isolation button on the toolbar.

Alternatively, choose View > Isolate Select > Remove Selected.
To display only the UVs that have the current image assigned
1 Show the texture (in the UV Texture Editor, choose Image > Display
Image). If more than one texture is associated with the mesh, select the
texture you want to work on using the Textures menu.

When you are in component selection mode, the Textures menu lists
shading groups assigned to the selected components. In object selection
mode, the menu lists all shading groups assigned to the entire mesh.
2 To only show faces with the current image assigned, in the UV Texture
Editor turn on View > View Faces of Selected Images.
3 To show all faces again, turn off View > View Faces of Selected Images.
To display only the faces inside the selected UVs or edges
1 Select UVs or edges to define a border.
2 In the UV Texture Editor, turn on View > Contained Faces.
3 To show all faces again, turn off View > Contained Faces.
To display only the faces that share the selected UVs or edges
1 Select UVs or edges.
2 In the UV Texture Editor, turn on View > Connected Faces.
3 To show all faces again, turn off View > Connected Faces.
Move, rotate, and scale UVs

You can manually move, scale, or rotate UVs and UV shells in the UV Texture
Editor. For example, you may wish to move individual UVs or entire UV shells
to improve their layout, or scale UV shells to ensure they make optimal use
of the 0 to +1 texture space.
To... Do this:
Move, rotate, or scale UV positions. Use the appropriate tool.
1 Select the UVs you want to re-

position.
2 Select the Move, Rotate, and

Scale tools from the Toolbox.
Note: Scaling UVs of multiple polygonal

objects together in the UV Texture Editor
Move, rotate, and scale UVs | 35

To... Do this:
may produce unexpected results. Work on

the UVs of one object at a time.
Move a UV shell and ensure that it does Use the Move UV Shell Tool.
not overlap other shells.
1 From the UV Texture Editor
menu, select Tool > Move UV
Shell Tool > . (Or click the
Move UV Shell Tool icon on
the toolbar of the UV Texture
Editor.
2 Select the UV shell you want

to move by either clicking the
shell or dragging a bounding
box around it in the UV Tex-
ture Editor.
3 Drag the manipulator to move

the UV shell.
Note: To prevent the repositioned shell

from overlapping other shells, turn on the
Prevent overlap option. See Tool > Move
UV Shell Tool on page 150.
Rotate UVs by an exact number. Use the Rotate UVs options.
1 Select the UVs you want to ro-

tate.
2 Select Edit UVs > Rotate > .
3 Enter a number for the rotation

angle and click Rotate or Ap-
ply.
Flip UVs to flip the texture placement on Use the Flip UVs options.
the mesh.
1 Select the faces you want to flip
texture placement on.

To... Do this:
2 Select Edit UVs > Flip > .
3 Select the Direction and Co-

ordinate system on which to
flip and click Apply and Close
or Apply.
Scale UVs to fit within the 0 to +1 texture Use the Normalize UVs options.
range. 1 Select the faces whose UVs you
want scaled within the 0 to 1
range in the UV Texture Editor.
2 Edit UVs > Normalize > .
3 Select the method which you

wish to normalize with and
click Apply and Close or Apply.
Move UVs to (0,0), (1,1), (1,0), or (0,1) in Use the Unitize UVs options.
texture space.
1 Select the faces whose UVs you
want to have unitized.
2 Select Edit UVs > Unitize >

.
3 Adjust the settings as desired

and click Apply and Close or
Apply.
Discrete Rotate and Scale
You can use Discrete rotate and Discrete scale to rotate or scale your UVs by
fixed increments. You can modify these increments in the Step size field. This
is useful to restrict the rotation or scale amount to a specific factor.

Discrete rotate or Discrete scale can be found in the Tool Settings Editor when
the Rotate Tool or Scale Tool are selected respectively.
To use Discrete rotate or Discrete scale
1 Select the UVs you want to rotate or scale in the UV Texture Editor.
2 Double-click either the Rotate Tool or Scale Tool from the Toolbox.
The Tool Settings Editor appears.
3 Turn on Discrete rotate or Discrete scale.
4 Adjust the Step size.
5 Use the manipulators to rotate or scale your object.

The object rotates or scales in set increments.
UV Snapping
You can use snapping in the UV Texture Editor to transform UVs with great
precision the same way you can use it to transform components in the scene
view.
Related Topics
■ Snap to the grid, a curve, points, or a view plane
■ The pivot point
■ Rotate Tool
■ Scale Tool
Example 1: Snapping to projections
When Snap to Points is on, you can also snap to UV projections along the U
or V axis. A UV projection is a straight line in either the U or V direction from
a UV. This is useful if you don’t want to snap two UVs together, but want
them to line up in the UV Texture Editor.

You can use this functionality on multiple UVs at once to obtain different
results.
With the Retain Component Spacing option off, all the selected UVs snap to
the nearest UV projection. Notice below that the selected UVs line up with
the circled UV beneath them when translated right.
With the Retain Component Spacing option on, the center of the selected
UVs snaps to the nearest UV projection. The relative spacing of the selected
UVs is maintained. Notice below that the shape of the selected UVs is
maintained and only the center of the selection (the manipulator) lines up
with the circled UV beneath them when translated right.
The behavior of snapping to UVs and UV projections depends on the UV Snap

Tolerance setting in Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences in the
Snapping section under Settings.
Example 2: Pivot snapping
You can use snapping in the UV Texture Editor to position pivots for rotation
or scaling. This helps to reduce the number of steps in some workflows and
ensures that transformations along existing points are accurate.

For example, if you want to rotate the upper portion of a cube’s UV shell 90
degrees around its bottom left corner, you can rotate it first, then translate it
left.
However, it’s easier and more precise to move the pivot point to the bottom
left corner and rotate on that pivot.
To rotate around a UV
1 Select the UVs you want to rotate.
2 Select the Rotate Tool from the Toolbox.
3 Press Insert or Home.

The manipulator changes to the move pivot manipulator.

4 Hold v on your keyboard or select the Snap to Points option in the status
line.
5 Move the pivot to the UV you want to rotate around.

When you move the manipulator close to a UV, the pivot automatically
snaps to it. You can then move the pivot from UV to UV.
6 Press Insert or Home to return to the rotate manipulator
7 Rotate the UVs.
You can use a similar workflow to scale a set of UVs relative to a specific point.
Dolly or track within the UV Texture Editor

To... Do this
Change the view of the UVs. Use the camera move keys:
■ alt + the middle mouse button to track
■ alt + the right mouse button to dolly in and out
Zoom in/out to show all UVs. In the UV Texture Editor, choose View > Frame All.
Zoom in/out to show the selec- In the UV Texture Editor, choose View > Frame Selec-
ted UVs. tion.
Make texture borders look thick- In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle Texture
er. Borders button.
Related topics
■ Separate and attach UV shells on page 52
Dolly or track within the UV Texture Editor | 41

Display a texture behind the UVs
You can display the image associated with a texture in the UV Texture Editor.
The image appears behind the UVs so you can rearrange the UVs in relation
to the image.
To... Do this
Display the texture image be- In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle Image but-
hind the UVs. ton on the toolbar or select Image > Display Image.
Set the image ratio. In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle Image Ratio
button on the toolbar or select Image > Use Image
Ratio.
Switch between blended and In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle Filtered Pixels
sharp-edged pixels. button on the toolbar or select Image > Display Un-
filtered.

To... Do this
Switch between showing a Select the mesh object to show a mesh texture, or
mesh texture and a per-face faces to show per-face textures.
texture.
Choose a texture to display (if In the UV Texture Editor, select the texture you want
more than one texture is ap- to work on from the Textures menu.
plied to the mesh). When you are in component selection mode, the
Textures menu lists shading groups assigned to the
selected components.
In object selection mode, the sub-menu lists all shad-
ing groups assigned to the entire mesh.
Crop the image within UV co- In the UV Texture Editor, choose Image > Image Range
ordinates.
> .
If the texture quality is poor or if parts of the texture do not display correctly,
you can modify the display quality with the Hardware Texturing settings in
the Attribute Editor for the material node.
If you are using a file texture, the best display mode for the Texture resolution
setting is Default. (The other settings, such as High, are best for procedural
textures.)
If you experience resolution or cropping problems in the texture image display,
use Image > UV Texture Editor Baking to bake the texture. You must rebake
the texture (using UV Texture Editor toolbar on page 154) after making changes
to the texture (File node and place2dTexture node attributes) in order to see
the effect of those changes.
Related topics
Delete UVs
Delete UVs removes UV texture coordinates from the selected face(s). When
you select a face on the mesh that has an assigned texture and delete the UVs,
Delete UVs | 43
the assigned texture doesn’t appear any longer on the face(s) where the UVs
were deleted. You can re-create the UVs for the selected faces (or the entire
mesh) using the UV projection mapping operations.
Deleting UVs removes only the UV texture coordinate data on the mesh and
does not affect the vertices on the mesh.
To delete UV texture coordinates for a selected face
1 In the scene view, select the face(s) for which you want to delete the UVs.
2 Select Edit UVs > Delete UVs. (If you are working in the UV Texture Editor
you can select Polygons > Delete UVs.)
The UVs associated with the selected face(s) are deleted.
Because the selected faces have no UVs, textures cannot be applied to them
until UVs are re-created.
NOTE When you select one UV in the UV Texture Editor and select Polygons >
Delete UVs, all of the UVs for the face(s) associated with the UV you selected also
get deleted. For this reason, the Delete key on the keyboard does not delete UVs
because of the unique requirements of this operation.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Delete UVs on page 137

Update a texture image after UV modification

Warp Image modifies a texture image by comparing two UV sets on a single
polygonal mesh and produces a new bitmap image. To use this feature you
must specify a source image, as well as a source and destination UV set for the
model from which the UVs will be referenced for the image manipulation.
Warp Image produces a new target image as the result.
You choose Warp Image by selecting Edit UVs > Warp Image from within the
Polygons menu set or from the Polygons menu in the UV Texture Editor.
Warp Image is useful in the following situations:
■ When you don’t want to manually regenerate an image for an existing

texture map when the UVs for the texture have been changed. Warp Image
will calculate where the pixels should be relocated and update the texture
for you. This is helpful when the UVs on a polygonal mesh have been
refined in some way. For example, if it were necessary to cut, merge, or
optimize the UVs for some reason, the way an associated texture map was
displayed on the polygon object would be affected as a result.
■ Creating more texture space for key areas in a texture map. For example,
when texture mapping a face, the UVs surrounding the eyes and mouth
can be scaled larger so there are more pixels assigned to these areas in the
final texture map. If you scaled the UVs within the UV Texture Editor to
optimize the texture space, you can warp the associated image to account
for the modified UVs.
NOTE Warp Image may not produce as high quality an image as you expect.
It may be necessary to perform additional post processing work on the image.
Warp Image requires two UV sets in order to produce a new image (in addition
to the original image). Unless you have previously created a UV set for the
polygonal mesh it is highly recommended that prior to doing any UV editing
within the UV Texture Editor, you explicitly save a copy of the original UVs
for the textured polygonal mesh as a UV set by selecting Polygons > Copy
UVs to UV Set > Copy into New UV Set. In that way you’ll have the original
UV set to revert back to should you require it.
Update a texture image after UV modification | 45

Prior to warping an image, two UV sets must exist for the polygonal mesh:
the existing UV set from which the original texture is assigned, and a second
UV set that will be referenced for modifying or warping the image. The two
UV sets will be referenced as the Source and Destination UV sets.
To warp an image based on updated UVs
■ From the Polygons menu set, select Edit UVs > Warp Image > .
■ In the UV Texture Editor, select Polygons > Warp Image > .
The Warp Image Options window appears.
2 Type the file name for the source image you want to warp in the Source
Image Name field or browse to the location and select the file name.
3 Type the file name for the new image you want created by Warp Image
in the New Image Name field or browse to select a location and image
name.
4 Type the names of the Source and Destination UV sets that you want the
Warp Image feature to reference. If you forget the names of the UV sets,
they can be viewed in the UV Texture Editor by selecting the UV Sets
menu and viewing the UV set names in the drop-down list.
5 Set any remaining options that you want and then click Warp Image.
6 Warp Image calculates the new pixel positions for the new image and
outputs the image to the location you specified.
To view the new texture on your surface mesh you must edit the currently
assigned shader to use the new image. Ensure that you have the correct
UV set applied to the mesh so you see the results you expect.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Warp Image on page 115

Use the UV Texture Editor grid
The UV Texture Editor has a grid feature that lets you accurately control the
position and spacing of UVs when you move, rotate, or scale them.
To... Do this
Show or hide the grid. In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle
Grid button on the toolbar or choose View
> Grid.
Change the grid. In the UV Texture Editor, right click the

Toggle Grid button on the toolbar or
choose View > Grid > .
Snap UVs to the grid. Use grid snapping (hold x).
Change how UVs snap. Double-click the Move tool to open its
options panel.
Use the Retain Component Spacing option
to control how UVs snap:
When off, all selected UVs will snap to the
same point.
When on, selected UVs will keep their pos-
itions relative to each other as they move.
Snap UVs to pixels. In the UV Texture Editor, click the Toggle

Snap to Pixel button in the toolbar, or
choose Image > Pixel Snap.
Use the UV Texture Editor grid | 47

To... Do this
To control whether snapping is to pixel

corners or centers, display the Move Tool
options, (make sure focus is on the UV
Texture Editor) and set Placement to Snap
Corner or Snap Center.
Related topics
Save an image of the UV layout

After you create a final layout of your UVs in the UV Texture Editor, you can
export an image of the UV shells using UV Snapshot. UV Snapshot saves a
bitmap image of the UV Texture Editor’s 2D view at a user defined resolution.
You can use the image in the Maya® Paint EffectsTM canvas or image editing
application such as Adobe® Photoshop®, and paint a texture to match the
UVs.
UV Snapshot works with multiple selected objects and has the ability to extend
the region of the snapshot area to encompass the entire range of the selected
UV texture coordinates, regardless of whether the UVs belong to a polygonal
or subdivision surface type. UV Range options let you specify the region of
the UV Texture Editor’s view you want to have captured for the output image.
UV Snapshot is also available from the Subdivs menu in the UV Texture Editor
to facilitate an easier workflow when working with subdivision surfaces.
To save an image using UV Snapshot
1 In the scene view, select the mesh or components so their UVs appear in
the UV Texture Editor.
2 In the UV Texture Editor, choose Polygons > UV Snapshot.

(You can also select UV Snapshot from the Subdivs menu in the UV
Texture Editor)
3 Enter a name in the File name field that you want to export to.

4 Set the size of the image using the Size X and Size Y fields.
5 Choose a Color value for the UV edges.

Unless specified, the background color for the image will be black.
6 Choose an Image format.
7 Set the UV Range Options.
8 Click OK.
Related topics
■ UV Texture Editor reference on page 139
■ UV Texture Editor menu bar on page 140
■ UV Texture Editor toolbar on page 154
Modify UVs using the UV Lattice Tool

You can modify the layout of multiple UVs at once on polygonal or subdivision
surface geometry using the UV Lattice Tool in the UV Texture Editor.
The UV Lattice Tool gives you a high level of control over your UVs by letting
you edit the layout of numerous UVs at a time with a 2D lattice deformer.
To edit the layout of your UVs using the lattice manipulator
1 In the scene view, select the polygonal or subdivision surface object whose
UVs you want to manipulate.
2 Select Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor.

The UV Texture Editor appears.
3 In the UV Texture Editor’s view, switch to UV mode.

Right-click in the view and select UV from the marking menu that appears.
4 In the UV Texture Editor menu bar, select Tool > UV Lattice Tool > .
The UV Lattice Tool Options window appears.
5 Set the UV Lattice Tool options and then click Apply and Close.
Modify UVs using the UV Lattice Tool | 49

6 Select Tool > UV Lattice Tool or click the UV Lattice Tool button
in the UV Texture Editor toolbar.
7 In the UV Texture Editor view, drag around the UVs you want to
manipulate. This selects the target UVs for the lattice.
A UV lattice manipulator appears over and surrounding the target UVs.
8 Select the lattice edges or control points that affect the region of UVs you
want to manipulate by clicking them.
Shift-click lattice edges or control points to include them or remove them
from your selection.
9 Drag the selected lattice edges or control points to deform the layout of
the target UVs.
Related topics

Modify UVs using the UV Smudge Tool

You can drag or smudge the layout of UVs on your polygonal or subdivision
surface geometry using the UV Smudge Tool in the UV Texture Editor.
The Smudge Tool gives you a high level of control over your UVs, providing
a more free-form approach to manipulating the layout of your UVs.
To smudge the layout of your UVs
1 Select the geometry whose UVs you want to manipulate.
2 Select Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor.

The UV Texture Editor appears.
3 In the UV Texture Editor menu bar, select Tool > UV Smudge Tool >
.
The UV Smudge Tool Options window appears.
4 Set the UV Smudge Tool options as required and then click Apply and
Close.
5 Select Tool > UV Smudge Tool or click the UV Smudge Tool button
in the UV Texture Editor toolbar. The following occurs:
■ The UV Texture Editor’s view switches to UV mode.
■ All the UVs of the current geometry become selected.
■ The UV Smudge Tool brush appears in the UV Texture Editor’s view.
6 If the Middle Mouse Initiates tool setting is off, do one of the following:
■ In the UV Texture Editor’s view, drag to smudge the layout of all your
UVs.
■ In the UV Texture Editor’s view, Shift-drag around the UVs you want
to select and then drag to smudge the layout of the selected UVs.
Modify UVs using the UV Smudge Tool | 51

If the Middle Mouse Initiates tool setting is on, do one of the following:
■ In the UV Texture Editor’s view, middle-drag to smudge the layout
of all your UVs.
■ In the UV Texture Editor’s view, drag around the UVs you want to
select and then middle-drag to smudge the layout of the selected UVs.
Related topics
Separate and attach UV shells

Maya provides several features for separating, merging, and attaching UVs.
These features can be particularly useful when working with UVs that were
generated using the Automatic Mapping feature.
To... Do this
Separate a UV shell along the selected Select Edit UVs > Cut UV Edges.
edges.
Attach UV shells along the selected edges. Select Edit UVs > Sew UV Edges.

To... Do this
Attach UV shells along the selected edges Select Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges
and move the shells together.
> . Turn off Limit Shell Size and click
Apply.
Merge the selected UVs. Select Edit UVs > Merge UVs.
Merge UVs only merges the UVs that share
the same vertex. You can specify an option
for the maximum distance Maya will move
UVs to merge them.
Automatically attach and move small shells. Select all the shells and choose Edit UVs >
Move and Sew UV Edges > .

Turn on Limit Shell Size and set the maxim-
um size (in number of faces) for UV shells.
Shells larger than this number will not
move.
Click Apply.
After performing a Move and Sew UV Edges operation, you can select the node
(polyMapSewMove) and edit it in the Attribute Editor or Channel Box to adjust
the Number Faces.
Separate and attach UV shells | 53

Notes
■ A single edge cannot be cut unless it touches a border.
■ Use the Select > Select Shell in the UV Texture Editor to select a UV piece
after cutting.
Related topics
■ Display overlapping UVs on page 54
Display overlapping UVs

The Shade UVs feature lets you see whether any UVs or UV shells overlap
when viewed in the UV Texture Editor. You can also see the UV winding order
on the selected UV shells. For more information on UV winding order see
Display UV winding order on page 55.
When Shade UVs is turned on any selected UV shells appear shaded in a
semitransparent way. Areas where shading appears more opaque indicate the
regions of overlap. Overlapping UVs are often undesirable because any
associated texture maps will also overlap on the related surface meshes.

To display overlapping UVs in the UV Texture Editor
1 In the UV Texture Editor, select any UVs or UV shells whose display you
want to appear as shaded.
■ In the UV Texture Editor menu, select Image > Shade UVs > .
The UV Map Shading Options window appears to let you modify the
default settings for color and opacity. For more information see Image >
Shade UVs on page 151.
■ Click the Shade UVs icon ( )located on the toolbar of the UV

Texture Editor.
The selected UV shells update to a semitransparent shaded display. Areas

where the UVs or UV shells overlap are visually apparent by the increased
opacity of the shading in the overlapping regions.
TIP You can correct overlapping UVs and UV shells using the Unfold and the
Layout features. For more information see Layout UV shells on page 58.
You can also view the texture borders for a UV shell by selecting Display
> Polygons > Texture Border Edges.
Related topics
■ Unfold a UV mesh on page 65
■ Layout UV shells on page 58
Display UV winding order

You can visually determine the winding order on UV shells when you work
in the UV Texture Editor using the Shade UVs feature.
Display UV winding order | 55

When the Shade UVs feature is turned on, selected UV shells whose UV
winding order is clockwise will appear shaded with a semi-transparent blue
color. UV shells whose UV winding order is counterclockwise will appear
shaded with a semi-transparent red color.
The UV winding order refers to the direction in which UV texture coordinates
are stored on the surface mesh for a particular face. This direction can be either
clockwise or counter-clockwise and is important to know when texture
mapping polygon meshes because it can affect whether a texture maps correctly
or not.
Texture maps can appear flipped or reversed on a polygon mesh depending

on how the UV shell is wound. The UV winding order can be reversed for the
following reasons:
■ The original UV mapping used to create UV texture coordinates may have

produced an incorrect UV winding order. For example, if you map a cube
using planar UVs, the UV winding will be clockwise on the UV shell closest
to the projection plane and counterclockwise on the UV shell on the face
on the opposite side of the cube.
■ When the normals are flipped on a face of a polygon mesh, the UV winding
order on the face is reversed.

To display the winding order on UVs in the UV Texture Editor
1 In the UV Texture Editor, select any UVs or UV shells whose winding

order you want to determine.

■ In the UV Texture Editor menu, select Image > Shade UVs.
■ Click the Shade UVs icon located on the toolbar of the UV Texture
Editor.
The selected UV shells appear shaded and semitransparent. Shells with

a clockwise winding order (front facing) appear shaded in blue. Shells
with a counter-clockwise winding order (back facing) appear shaded in
red. Areas where the UV shells overlap are visually apparent by the
increased opacity of the shading in the overlapping regions.
3 Any UV shells that display with incorrect UV winding can be modified

using the Flip UVs feature. For more information see Flip or rotate UV
shells on page 79.
NOTE You can modify the default settings for color and opacity for the Shade
UVs feature by selecting Image > Shade UVs > . For more information see
Image > Shade UVs on page 151.
Display UV winding order | 57

Related topics
■ Image > Shade UVs on page 151
■ Tangent Space
Layout UV shells
The Layout feature automatically repositions UV shells so they don’t overlap
in UV texture space and maximizes the spacing and fit between them. This is
useful for ensuring that the UV shells occupy their own separate UV texture
space. For example, if you are applying Fur to a surface, the UV texture
coordinates on a given shell must not overlap.
In general, you should keep UV shells separated for convenience and clarity.
It is not absolutely necessary to keep UV shells separate. For example, you
may want the UV shells to overlap so different faces use the same region of a
texture.
You can also use the Layout feature to:
■ Scale or stretch the UV shells to fit within the 0 to 1 coordinates of the UV

Texture Editor. This is useful if you need to maximize the texture space
used when creating a texture map. For example, when using 3D Paint.
■ Flip UV shells that correspond to opposite sides of a model. This

automatically corrects the orientation of the UV shell if the UV winding
order is incorrect. See Display UV winding order on page 55.

■ Arrange the UV layout of multiple selected objects simultaneously. This
improves your efficiency when you need to quickly sort the UVs for
multiple objects within the UV Texture Editor, or when multiple objects
need to share different parts of the same texture.
By default, when Layout is used with multiple objects, the UVs for each
object are placed individually. As a result, they overlap each other within
the UV Texture Editor. This saves you the work of having to lay out each
UV set individually. When the Layout Multiple Objects option is set to
Non-Overlapping, the UVs are laid out as if all of the objects were combined
as one.
The Layout feature is also available from within the UV Texture Editor by
selecting Polygons > Layout from the UV Texture Editor’s menu bar.
NOTE Before using Layout you should already have performed the necessary
UV projection mapping or Automatic Mapping. That is, the Layout feature will
only arrange existing UV texture coordinates, it will not create them.
To lay out UVs for multiple objects simultaneously
1 Select the objects or faces whose UVs you want to lay out.
2 Select Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor to display the UV Texture Editor.
3 In the UV Texture Editor, select Edit UVs > Layout> .

The Polygon Layout Options window appears.
4 In the Layout UVs Options window set the following options depending
on your required outcomes:
■ Set Layout objects to Per Object (overlapping) (default) when you
require multiple object’s UVs to overlap within the UV texture space.
■ Set Layout objects to Single or Multiple Objects (non-overlapping)

when you require the UVs to be separated. This is useful when you
need each UV set to be separate and distinct from each other.
■ Set Prescale to Object to maximize the spacing and fit between the
UV shells.
■ Set the Shell Stacking option to adjust the spacing between UV shells
by specifying how the bounding shape for the UV shells will be
described. In general, the UV layout will have more space when the
Bounding Box option is set, and less space when the Shape option is
Layout UV shells | 59
set. When the Scale Mode is set to Uniform the shells are scaled to
make optimal use of the UV texture space.
5 Click Apply to perform the layout operation or Layout UVs if you want
to perform the operation and close the Layout UVs Options window.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Layout on page 129
Map border UVs to a square or circle

Prior to relaxing any interior UVs on a shell you should attempt to untangle
the border UVs on the exterior of the UV shell. You can do this using the Map
UV Border feature and with the Straighten UV Border feature.
When you use Map UV Border you can move the UVs on the border of a UV
shell out to the edges of the 0 to 1 texture space range (square), or in a circle
inscribed within the 0 to 1 range. Mapping UVs so they use the entire 0 to 1
texture range is useful when you need to maximize the texture space required
for a texture map.
You can optionally scale the edges proportionally as you move the border
UVs. This is useful for untangling borders before you use Relax UVs to untangle
interior UVs.

To map border UVs to a square or circle
1 Select one UV on the shell whose border UVs you wish to map. The UV
you select will represent the lower left corner of the square or circle border
map you wish to make.
The UV you select is important as it will determine where the UV shell
will be mapped to the 0,0 origin of the UV texture space. If the resulting
UV border mapping appears skewed, you may wish to undo it, and select
another UV and map again.
2 Select Edit UVs > Map UV Border > .
Map border UVs to a square or circle | 61

If you are using the UV Texture Editor, you can select Polygons > Map
UV Border > .
3 Set the options, then click Map or Apply.

The border UVs are mapped based on the settings you made. The interior
UVs will remain unchanged. You can untangle the interior UVs using
the Relax UVs feature.
4 If the UV mapping appears correct, you can use the Relax UVs feature to
untangle the interior UVs on the shell.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Layout on page 129
■ Straighten border UVs on page 62
■ Relax and untangle UVs on page 63
Straighten border UVs

Straighten UV Border is useful when you want to untangle the border of a UV
shell, such when the border edge loops around itself. Straighten UV Border
provides more control than the Map UV Border operation.
To straighten border UVs
1 In the UV Texture Editor right-click and select UV from the marking

menu.
2 Select the UVs around the tangled UV border.

It doesn’t matter if you select interior UVs along with border UVs.
Straighten UV Border only acts on the borders.
In some cases, it is difficult to select the UVs you want to straighten
without selecting other UVs you want to leave unaffected. In these cases,
you can leave a gap in your selection and use the Fill Gaps in Selection
option to straighten the UVs you could not select.
3 Select Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border.

If you are using the UV Texture Editor, you can select Polygons >
Straighten UV Border > .
4 Select the polyStraightenUVBorder node and edit the attributes in the

Attribute Editor or Channel Box.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border on page 120
Relax and untangle UVs
Relax a UVs to untangle and even out the spacing between UV coordinates
on a shell. Relax is useful for untangling interior UVs in combination with
the Map UV Border feature. You can begin by mapping the UVs to a border
(either a square or a circle) then relax the UVs to even out the spacing of the
UVs.
You can relax UVs using the Smooth UV Tool or the Relax feature, each with
their own applications.
The Smooth UV Tool allows you to view the affected UVs as you relax them.
This is useful for making precise visual adjustments. You can also use this tool
to relax either the entire UV shell or only a subset of UVs on it.
While both the Smooth UV Tool and the Relax feature allow you to pin the
borders of your UV shell so they don’t move, the Relax feature has additional
options that let you pin selected or unselected UVs while relaxing all the
others. The Relax feature always applies to the entire shell.
Relax and untangle UVs | 63

To relax UVs on a shell
1 From the UV Texture Editor, select a set of UVs.
2 Select Tool > Smooth UV Tool or select from the UV Texture Editor
toolbar.
Two small controls appear at the bottom-left of the selected UVs.
3 Click the box labelled Relax and drag the mouse right. The further you
drag, the more the selected UVs relax.
NOTE You can move the Unfold and Relax controls by dragging the yellow target
icon at the top left of the controls.
With the Smooth UV tool you can choose to relax the entire mesh or only
part of it. However, you cannot use it to relax multiple UV shells at once.
Additionally, there may be instances when you need more control over some
aspects of the relax process. For example, when relaxing UVs you may want
to pin specific UVs. You can do this with the Relax option.
To relax UVs using the Relax feature
1 Select one UV on the shell whose UVs you want to untangle (relax).
2 Select Edit UVs > Relax > .
If you are using the UV Texture Editor, select Polygons > Relax > .

3 Select the options, then click Relax or Apply.
You can apply Relax multiple times to move the UVs more.
Related topics
■ Map border UVs to a square or circle on page 60
■ Edit UVs > Relax on page 121
Unfold a UV mesh
The Unfold feature lets you unwrap the UV mesh for a polygonal object while
attempting to ensure that the UVs do not overlap. Unfold helps to minimize
the distortion of texture maps on organic polygon meshes by optimizing the
position of the UV coordinates so they more closely reflect the original polygon
mesh. For example, if the initial shape of the UVs cause a patterned texture
to distort, you can use the Unfold feature to minimize the distortion because
it attempts to maintain the UV’s relationship relative to the original polygon
mesh.
You can access Unfold by:
■ selecting the Smooth UV Tool (Tool > Smooth UV Tool in the UV Texture
Editor).
Unfold a UV mesh | 65
■ selecting Edit UVs > Unfold from within the Polygons menu set or from
within the UV Texture Editor by selecting Polygons > Unfold
Unfold works well in situations where UV meshes need to be created from

polygonal models that have complex organic shapes. In these situations, other
projection methods may not be as successful and automatic mapping would
produce too many individual UV shells that would necessitate many move
and sew operations afterwards. For example, polygon models that are prone
to overlap via other projection methods would be well suited for the Unfold
feature.
When compared to Automatic Mapping, Unfold produces good UVs on larger
UV shell areas because it keeps neighboring faces together (by contrast,
Automatic Mapping produces many separate UV shells).
Unfold is not needed when working with simple, non-organic poly mesh
forms. In these cases, other projection techniques or automatic mapping would
be better suited and more straightforward. For example, a wall can be
planar-projected or a bottle can be cylindrically projected.
Unfold setup
Prior to using the Unfold feature you should consider the following:
■ The polygon mesh must have UV texture coordinates.

The mesh must first have UVs to unfold. You can create UVs using almost
any mapping technique (for example, cylindrical mapping, spherical
mapping, and so on). In general, the initial shape of the UVs doesn’t affect
the final unfolded result. However, their initial shape should be as
distortion free as possible to avoid long computations when unfolding
and to facilitate UV edge selection for cuts.
■ The UV mesh must be cut in a manner that allows the Unfold feature to
freely unwrap the UV mesh.

When unfolded, the polygon mesh should be able to lay relatively flat
without overlapping. Imagine cutting a shirt along its sides so that its
pattern lies flat over a table. Like this example, in Maya you must cut edges
from the original shell to unfold a UV texture.
Locating the edge cuts requires some planning, in advance of the actual
cuts, to obtain the best unfolded result. The better the edge cuts, the better
the correlation between the original polygons and their corresponding UV
mesh. In addition, you should anticipate that the polygon edge cuts will
result in texture mismatches along edges, and locate edges on the model
where they are least visible. For example, make edge cuts under the arms
or on the back of the legs of a character.
■ Consider the UVs you want to pin.

When unfolding a UV shell, it is important to consider where you are
unfolding relative to. A pinned UV provides an anchor around which other
UVs can be unfolded. Often, if you do not pin at least one point when
unfolding a UV shell, the shell will unfold into a very tiny mesh or into
an undesirable shape. For symmetrical meshes, you often want to pin a
UV along the line of symmetry.
For more information about pinning, see Pinning on page 71.
When using the Smooth UV Tool, any unselected UVs are automatically
pinned. Conversely, when using the Unfold command, you can choose
to pin any selected UVs or unselected UVs.
To prepare a UV shell for unfolding
1 Ensure the polygon model you are working with has UVs. To do this,
perform an initial UV mapping operation on the mesh to produce a UV
texture mesh (for example, using Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping).
NOTE The shape of the UV texture mesh is not critical at this stage because
the Unfold feature will modify it.
2 In the scene view, determine the locations where you will perform edge
cuts on the UV texture mesh using the 3D polygonal model as a reference.
Dollying and tumbling the scene view helps you with this task.
For additional tips on determining edge cuts, see UV unfolding workflow
tips on page 70.
TIP When editing UVs you can use the perspective view and the UV Texture
Editor, side by side, to locate and select or deselect the polygon vertices,
edges, and UVs. To do this, right-click on any layout shortcut in the Toolbox
and select Persp/UV Texture Editor from the drop-down list.
3 In the scene view you can select vertex edges that lie in a contiguous line
by double-clicking one of the edges on the line. You can also select a path

of edges between two points using the Select > Select Shortest Edge Path
Tool.
4 Using both the 3D view and UV Texture Editor as required, continue to

select and cut the edges of the UV mesh in the locations you
predetermined earlier using Polygons > Cut UV Edges in the UV Texture
Editor.
5 Find and make note of the UVs you want to pin.
Once you are satisfied with the cuts you’ve made, you are ready to unfold the
UV shell.
To unfold a set of UVs
1 From the UV Texture Editor, select a set of UVs. Any UVs you leave
unselected will be pinned when you unfold the mesh.
2 Select Tool > Smooth UV Tool or select from the UV Texture Editor
toolbar.
Two small controls appear at the bottom-left of the selected UVs.
3 Click the box labelled Unfold and drag the mouse right. The further you
drag, the more the selected UVs unfold.
NOTE You can move the Unfold and Relax controls by dragging the yellow target
icon at the top left of the controls.
With the Smooth UV tool you can choose to unfold the entire mesh or only
part of it. However, you cannot use it to unfold multiple UV shells at once.
You may also want to control specific aspects of the Unfold operation. You
can do this with the Unfold option.
To unfold a polygon UV texture mesh using the Unfold feature
1 In the UV Texture Editor, select the polygon UV mesh, and then selecting
Polygons > Unfold > .
2 Select the options you want and then click Apply and Close.
3 When you want to stop the Unfold operation, press Esc.

In general, the Unfold operation requires several iterations to achieve
the desired final result. It may often be necessary to refine your cuts, add
new ones, move and sew UV edges, or add/change pinned UVs between
iterations.
When you are satisfied with your final unfolded result, use Polygons > Layout
as a final step to ensure the UVs are laid out as you require.
The following workflow tips can be useful in helping you achieve your desired
final unfolded result.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Unfold on page 123
UV unfolding workflow tips
Single vs. multiple meshes
While it is possible to unfold a complete UV mesh for one model in one piece,
an alternate approach might be to cut the UV mesh into smaller sections and
unfold portions of the mesh separately. With this strategy you can more easily
control regions of the unfold by pinning and so on. You’ll need to determine
where you can safely cut the mesh, and later re-sew the UVs if required after
the unfold operations are complete. Which approach you take will be
determined by the complexity of the mesh and your individual production
requirements.

Determining and selecting edge cut locations
The edge cuts should be located on the UV mesh in such a way that the UV
mesh would lay flat if it were unfolded. Edge cuts are important because they
allow the UV texture coordinates to freely unfold with as little distortion as
possible during the Unfold operation.
The edge cuts should also be located in areas of the UV mesh where they will
stay mostly unseen in the final rendered images. This reduces the possibility
of the viewer seeing the texturing artifacts that can result along texture edges.
You can quickly select a path of edges using the Select Shortest Edge Path Tool
(Select > Select Shortest Edge Path Tool).
The Edge Loop tools can be useful for quickly inserting edges into the mesh
in locations that are not obvious to the viewer.
Quick Select sets
Whenever you need to make complex edge, vertex, or UV selections repeatedly,

you can create selection sets for these components (called Quick Select sets)
to easily select these components later on. To create Quick Select sets, select
the components you want in the set and then select Create > Sets > Quick
Select Set. This can be particularly useful when you need to repeatedly select
UVs for pinning during the unfold operations.
Highlighting texture borders
It is critical to view and select border edges in both the scene view and the
UV Texture Editor. Turn on the display of texture borders by selecting Display
> Polygons > Texture Border Edges. This displays the UV borders on the
polygon mesh as thicker lines so you can see your progress as you cut the UV
edges.
Pinning
Depending on where you initially cut the edges of the UV texture mesh, you
can pin specific locations or regions of the UV texture mesh to create temporary
anchor points to use with the Unfold feature. For example, with a polygon
mesh of a quadruped, you can select the vertices along its spine beginning at
the tip of the nose and ending at the tip of its tail (assuming this has not been
cut), then align these vertices to a vertical axis or horizontal axis within the
UV Texture Editor. When you perform the next Unfold iteration, turn on the
Pin Selected UVs option in the Unfold UVs Options window so the selected
UVs remain anchored while the Unfold operation proceeds. The UVs will then
unfold in relation to the area you pinned. If you create QuickSets of the UV
components involved, your pinning operations will proceed more quickly.
Pinning is useful for ensuring areas don’t move during the unfold. It’s also
useful when you have some regions unfolded to your satisfaction, and need
to maintain those regions while performing additional unfold iterations. When
necessary you can pin a shell’s border edges. In this way you can use the
Unfold feature while the shell border is pinned to unfold the shells’ interior
UVs.
In general, you get better results when pinning extreme points on the mesh
and respecting the polygon object’s symmetry whenever possible.
When using the Smooth UV tool to unfold, any unselected UVs are
automatically pinned.
Constraining the unfold to either a horizontal or vertical direction
By default, the Unfold feature unfolds the UVs in all directions in an

unrestricted manner. You can constrain the unfold process so the UVs are
constrained to unfold in either the vertical or horizontal direction as they
appear in the 2D view of the UV Texture Editor.
This can be useful when the appearance of the UVs is fine in one direction,
but needs refinement in another.
When using the Smooth UV Tool, you can constrain the direction of the
unfold operation by holding the Shift button while dragging the mouse.
When using the Unfold option, you can set the Unfold constraint to either
Vertical or Horizontal to constrain the direction of the unfold. The Unfold
constraint setting also respects any pinning settings you may have set for the
unfold operation.
Aligning UVs
Use Edit UVs > Align to snap UVs to match any vertical or horizontal lines
that would naturally occur on the texture.
Aligning UV edges that run down the axis of symmetry can be used to your
advantage. For example, the line of UVs that run down the spine of a
symmetrical four-legged animal. You can select and align these UVs and then
pin them so they act as a benchmark for further unfold operations.

UV Lattice Tool
The UV Lattice Tool in the UV Texture Editor can be used to modify a region
of a UV shell before performing further Unfold operations.
Example: Lay out a UV shell using unfold and

relax
You can use the Smooth UV Tool to relax or unfold an entire UV shell into
the UV space. You can then use the same tool to fix small imperfections in
the shell.
The following workflow provides the following benefits:
■ It is easier to assign a texture to a square area.
■ Ensures the texture is spread evenly.
To map a shell to the UV space
1 Create a mapping for your object by selecting Create UVs > Planar
Mapping from the Polygons menu set.
In this case, a planar projection from the front (the Z Axis) is appropriate.
In other cases you must determine the best projection to start with.
2 Open the UV Texture Editor (Window > UV Texture Editor).
Example: Lay out a UV shell using unfold and relax | 73

3 In the perspective view, select a path of edges along the back of the head
starting at the top of the forehead and ending at the bottom of the neck.
4 In the UV Texture Editor, select Polygons > Cut UV Edges.
5 Select the central UV at the top of the forehead and in the UV Texture
Editor, select Polygons > Unfold > .
The Unfold Options window appears.
6 Turn on Pin UVs and Pin selected UVs.
7 Set the Unfold constraint to Horizontal.
8 Click Apply and Close.

The UV shell unfolds relative to the selected UV on the forehead so that
the previously cut edges are spread out horizontally.

NOTE Rather than using the Unfold option, you can also use the Smooth
UV Tool to unfold the entire UV shell. In this case, you would select all the
UVs except for the one at the top of the forehead and then Shift + drag the
Unfold icon to the right.
9 Use the Scale Tool to scale the UV shell into the 0,1 texture space.
10 Select the edges on one side of the mesh.
11 Select Polygons > Straighten UV Border.

The UV border straightens.
12 Repeat steps 10 and 11 for each side of the UV shell.

13 Turn on the Snap to grids option.
14 Select the Move Tool and move the border UVs to the edge of the 0,1
texture space.
The Snap to grids option ensures that the UVs snap to the border precisely.

15 Select all the UVs.
16 Select Tool > Smooth UV Tool > .

The Smooth UV Options window appears.
17 Turn on Pin Borders.

This ensures that the UV border aren’t distorted.
18 Set Space to UV Space.
19 Click Apply and Close.

Two controls named Unfold and Relax appear.
20 Drag the Relax control to the right.

The entire UV shell, except for the borders, relaxes evenly.
With the Smooth UV Tool you can use your eye to judge how much the UV
shell should relax. However, whether you use this method or the Relax option
(Polygons > Relax), it is unlikely that the UV shell will be perfect.
If you turn on the Shaded UV Display , you can see small imperfections
in your relaxed shell. For example, the UV shell around the eyes and corners
of the mouth for this model cause the shell to overlap itself.

You can use the Smooth UV Tool to smooth out these problem areas.
To smooth imperfections in a relaxed shell
1 Select Tool > Smooth UV Tool > .

The Smooth UV Options window appears.
2 Turn off Pin Borders and then select Apply and Close.
3 Select a set of UVs around the eye.
4 Drag the Unfold control to the right until the UV shell no longer overlaps
itself.
5 Repeat for the mouth.

6 You can select smaller or larger sets of UVs and use the Smooth UV Tool
in conjunction with the transformation tools to quickly clean up your
UV shell.
Flip or rotate UV shells

The Flip and Rotate features let you easily change the orientation of UV shells
within the UV Texture Editor. Flipping a UV shell is useful if you need to
correct a UV shell that is reversed or reverse wound (see Display UV winding
order on page 55).
Flip or rotate UV shells | 79

To flip UVs on a texture shell
1 Select the faces you want to flip the texture on.
2 Select Edit UVs > Flip.

In the UV Texture Editor, you can select Polygons > Flip.
or
Select Edit UVs > Rotate.
3 Choose the direction to flip, and whether to flip within the bounding
box of the selection (local) or across the texture space axes (global).
4 Click Apply.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Flip on page 111
■ Edit UVs > Rotate on page 113
Copy UVs and color attributes between

polygons
You can copy UV, shader, and color per vertex attributes between faces of
different polygon meshes using the Mesh > Clipboard Actions features. The
ability to copy UV attributes between meshes is useful when a polygon mesh
has been modified and you cannot further modify the UVs. It is also useful
for copying attributes between meshes that have differing topologies.
You can only copy attributes between polygon faces that have similar vertex
counts. The copied UV attributes are placed in a separate shell.
To copy UVs, shaders, or color per vertex data between polygons
1 Select the polygon face whose attributes you want to copy and choose
Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Copy Attributes > .
2 In the Copy Clipboard Options window, set the attributes you want to
copy (UV, Shader, and Color) and click Apply and Close.
NOTE You can set the options so that one or more attributes get copied to
the clipboard.

3 Select the polygon face you want to copy the attributes to and choose
Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Paste Attributes.
The previously copied attributes are pasted onto the selected face.
NOTE You can also clear the attributes contained on the clipboard by
choosing Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Clear Clipboard.
Related Topics
■ Make a hole in a polygon face
■ Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Copy Attributes
■ Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Paste Attributes
■ Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Clear Clipboard
Copy UVs and color attributes between polygons | 81

82
UV sets
4
Create UV sets
The quickest way to create UV sets is while you map UVs. When you map UVs,
open the options window, turn on Create New UV Set, and type a name in the
UV Set Name box. For example, if you create two planar mappings, one from
the top and one from the side, type a new UV set name each time you map.
Alternatively, you can start with an empty UV set and then create UVs.
To create an empty UV set
1 Select the object, then select Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set > .
2 In the Create UV Set Name box, type the name of the empty set and click
Create.
3 Select the new UV set (see Switch between UV sets on page 84).
4 Create UVs with one of the mapping operations or by copying.
Related topics
■ UV sets on page 11
■ Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set on page 107
83
Switch between UV sets
You can easily switch the UV sets that get applied to your polygon model.
To switch between UV sets
■ In the UV Texture Editor, select UV Sets > UVsetName.

UVsetName indicates the list of UV sets.
■ In the scene view, press the right mouse button on a mesh and choose UV
Sets > UVsetName.
UVsetName indicates the list of UV sets.
■ Select Create UVs > Set Current UV Set. In the window, type the name of
the UV set you want.
Related topics
Duplicate, rename, or delete a UV set

Select the UV set you want to rename, copy from, or delete.
Do one of the following:
■ Select Create UVs > Copy UVs to UV Set

This copies the current UV set to a new UV set.
■ Select Create UVs > Rename Current UV Set

Type a new UV set name in the window that appears.
■ Select Create UVs > Delete Current UV Set
Related topics
84 | Chapter 4 UV sets
■ Create UVs > Copy UVs to UV Set on page 108
Assign a texture to a UV set

You assign textures to UV sets using the Relationship Editor.
Select Window > Relationship Editors > UV Linking > UV-Centric to open the
Relationship Editor’s UV set editing view.
To... Do this
To assign a texture to a UV set. Click the UV Set in the left column, then
click the texture in the right column so it’s
highlighted.
To remove a texture from a UV set. Click the UV Set in the left column, then
click the texture in the right column so it’s
not highlighted.
Temporarily keep textures from appearing From the Edit menu above the list of tex-
in software renders. tures, choose one of the following:
■ Ignore Texture: hides the selected
texture.
■ Use Texture When Rendering: uses the
selected texture.
■ Isolate Texture: hides all textures but
the selected one.
■ Use All Textures When Rendering.7
Assign a texture to a UV set | 85

The Relationship Editor also provides easy access to several of the UV set
editing operations in its Edit menu.
Related topics
Copy UVs from one UV set to another

To copy UVs from one existing UV set to another
1 In the UV Texture Editor, select the UVs you want to copy.
2 In the UV Texture Editor, open the Polygons > Copy UVs to UV Set
sub-menu and choose a UV set.
Notes
■ When polygon UV sets are copied with history, the source UV set is linked
with the destination. Any changes made to the source UV set by using
construction history, will influence the copied UV set. To avoid this issue,
delete construction history after copying the UV set.
Related topics
Working with per-instance UV sets

While you could always associate different instances of a particular shape with
different materials, you can now associate different UV sets with different
instances. This is very useful when baking shadows on instances of an object
(for example, lighting a game level), or creating instances of a single shape
with different textures (for example, a pile of boxes, some with holes in
different locations, and so on).
When the UV sets are per-instance, the term UV set family refers to the
associated UV sets which apply to different instances. Within a given family,
a single UV set may be applied to one or more instances.
To create a per-instance UV map
1 Select a shape.
2 Select Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set > .

You can choose to share this UV set (every instance has the UV set), Per
Instance Shared (all selected instances share the new UV set), or Per
Instance Unshared (all selected instances get a unique UV set).
3 Name your UV set as required.
4 Select another instance of the shape.
5 Right-click on the instance, select UV sets and make the per-instance UV

set that you created the selected set.
Working with per-instance UV sets | 87

6 Select a UV mapping type under the Create UVs menu (such as Planar,
Cylindrical or Spherical). Make sure that Create New UV Set is disabled
in the mapping’s option window.
A new UV map is create for the selected instance that shares the name
of the current set.
7 Assign a shader to all instances of the mesh.
8 Right-click on an instance and select the UV Sets > UV Linking... Use the
Relationship Editor to connect any of the per-instance sets to the color
of the shader.
Different (per-instance) UV mappings should now be displayed on your

instanced objects when you render them or display them in the Scene view
with Hardware texturing.
Example: Baking a single shadow map with per-instance UV sets
In the following example, we’ll bake shadows to a single map using

per-instance UV sets. At that point, we can delete lights in the scene. This
workflow is useful for creating texture maps on objects for game levels.
For more details about baking, see Lighting/shading > Batch Bake (mental ray)
of the Shading guide.
In this simple scene, there is a long cylinder to cast shadows, a directional
light, a small plane with 16 x 16 subdivisions, and two additional instances
of the plane.
Setting up your scene
1 Create a long, skinny polygonal cylinder whose base is on the ground

plane.
2 Create a small polygonal plane on the ground plane and from the
polyPlane node, set Subdivisions Width and Subdivisions Height to 16
each.
3 Select the polygon plane and select Edit > Duplicate Special > .
4 Set Geometry Type to Instance and select Apply twice to create two
instances of the small polygonal plane (the instances will appear overtop
of the original).
5 Position the planes one after another like a sidewalk.
6 Create a directional light (Create > Lights > Directional Light) and position
it pointing slightly down and towards the cylinder and planes.
7 In the Attribute editor, change the Intensity of the light to 4.5.
8 Open the Shadows section and turn on Use Depth Map Shadows.
9 Change the shadow color to blue.
10 Render the scene using the mental ray renderer. Your render should look
something like this:

You may need to adjust the direction of the light and re-render so that the
shadow falls on each polygonal instance in a different location, as in the above
render.
Now we can create UV sets per instance on the planes.
Creating per-instance UV sets
1 Select the three polygonal plane instances and in the Polygons menu set,
select Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set > .
2 In the Create UV Set Options dialog box, create a UV set named Sidewalk
and select Per Instance Unshared. Then click Create.
3 Right-click on one of the polygonal plane instances and make Sidewalk

the selected UV set by selecting UV Sets > Sidewalk (n).
4 Select all the polygonal plane instances, and create UVs by selecting
Create UVs > Planar Mapping > and selecting:
■ Fit Projection to: Bounding Box
■ Project from: Y axis
Make sure that Create new UV Set is turned off.
5 Click Project.
You’ve now created a per-instances UV set whose UVs don’t overlap in UV
space. (You can use the UV Texture Editor to confirm this and move UVs if
necessary.)
Now we’ll bake the shadows to a single UV map.
Baking to per-instance UV sets
1 Select the three polygonal plane instances.
2 In the Rendering menu set, select Lighting/shading > Batch Bake (mental
ray) > .
3 Set the following:

■ Objects to bake: Selected
■ Bake to: Texture
■ Bake shadows: on
■ Use bake set override: on
■ Color mode: Only light
■ Bake to one map: on
4 Click Convert and Close.

While the shadows are baked, you now have to connect the bake set to
the UV map.
5 Right-click one of the instances and select UV Sets > UV Linking.
6 In the Relationship editor, link the Sidewalk(0) map to baked_inBake1.

The shadows are baked and properly linked. You can see this in the Scene
view if you’re in Shaded mode (Hotkey: 6) or High-Quality rendering
mode.
7 At this point, you can delete the light in your scene since its shadows
have been baked to the UV textures on your polygonal instances.
Deleting per-instance UV sets
Deleting UV sets works slightly differently now that there can be UV set
families shared between instances.
For example, a per-instance set family named myMap has two child sets. One
is applied to multiple instances (instances a, b, and c) and one is applied only
to instance d. It is the current UV set. If you select instance d, and select Delete
Current UV Set, only the map on instance d is deleted. (The other UV map is
used by unselected instances and is not deleted.)
If you then select instance a and select Delete Current UV Set, the UV set is
unshared from instance a, but still exists on instances b and c. To delete it
altogether, you can then select instances b and c and select Delete Current
UV Set.
Limitations
Per-instance UV sets do not support color sets or paint effects.
Edit NURBS UVs

Maya provides limited support for editing the UV texture coordinates of NURBS
surfaces within the UV Texture Editor. Edit NURBS UV mode is useful for games
developers who use NURBS surface types in games applications and require
the ability to modify an explicit UV set for subsequent export to a games
engine. This feature does not provide support for editing NURBS UVs for use
with texture mapping or image rendering features within Maya.
Edit NURBS UV mode creates an explicit and unique UV set for the NURBS
surface. The user switches between the implicit UVs for the NURBS surface
and the explicitly created UV set. It is then possible to edit the explicit NURBS
UVs on a limited basis.
It is recommended that you create and edit the explicit NURBS UVs only when
all editing and modification of the NURBS surface model is complete. See the
Notes on page 94 and Edit NURBS UVs Limitations on page 94 below.
For more information on the MELTM commands and flags that provide this
functionality, see the nurbsUVSet, nurbsEditUV commands in the MEL guide.
To edit UVs for a NURBS surface in the UV Texture Editor
1 In the scene view, select the NURBS surface that you want to create and
edit explicit UVs for texturing.
2 Ensure that the construction history for the NURBS surface is deleted by
selecting Edit > Delete All by Type > History.
Deleting construction history prior to making any UV edits ensures that
subsequent updates to the node dependency graph do not remove the
UV edits you make to the explicit NURBS UV set. Do this only when you
are sure you will no longer be required to edit the model (Save a copy of
the model that contains construction history in case you need to revert
back for any reason).
3 Turn off construction history while you work on the NURBS UVs using
the Construction History on/off icon on the Status Line.
Edit NURBS UVs | 93

4 Open the UV Texture Editor by selecting Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor.
The NURBS UVs that are implicitly created with the NURBS surface appear
in the 2D view of the UV Texture Editor.
5 In the UV Texture Editor, right + click in the 2D view, and select Edit
NURBS UV mode from the marking menu that appears.
A UV set for the NURBS surface is explicitly created and displayed in the
2D view of the UV Texture Editor. The NURBS UV set created is based on
the topology of the NURBS surface.
6 Change the selection method to UVs by doing one of the following:

■ Right + click in the scene view and select Surface UV from the marking
menu.
■ Right + click in the 2D view of the UV Texture Editor, and select UV

from the marking menu.
7 Select the UVs you want to modify in either the scene view or in the 2D
view of the UV Texture Editor.
8 Using the transformation tools from the Toolbox (Move Tool, Rotate
Tool, or Scale Tool), edit the position of the NURBS UVs in the UV Texture
Editor.
Notes
■ Deleting the construction history on the NURBS surface is a requirement

prior to creating and editing the explicit NURBS UVs. This ensures that
updates to the dependency graph do not overwrite UV edits.
■ Modifying the NURBS surface topology in any way (that is, inserting an
isoparm on the NURBS surface) after the explicit UV set has been modified
will overwrite the unique NURBS UV set. The explicit NURBS UV set will
be updated to take into account the changes to the topology, but any UV
modifications will be lost.
Edit NURBS UVs Limitations
■ The explicit UV set created with this feature is unique for each NURBS
surface. That is, unlike polygon and subdivision surface types, it is not
possible to create multiple NURBS UV sets for a given NURBS surface.
■ The Maya renderers (software, hardware, mental ray for Maya, and so on)
do not support explicit NURBS UVs. They are only capable of rendering
the implicit UVs for NURBS.
■ Construction history is not supported. That is, a user should plan their
texturing workflow to occur after all edits and modifications to the model
are complete. Changing the topology of the model after the NURBS UV
set has been edited will overwrite the UV edits whenever the node
dependency graph updates.
■ UV modification is limited to UV selection and transformation only (that

is, move, rotate, and scale). It is not possible to select and modify the
explicit NURBS UVs by patch or isoparm. The polygon and subdivision
surface UV modification features do not work with the explicit NURBS
UVs.
■ UV sharing is not supported. With explicit NURBS UVs a UV texture

coordinate exists for each patch corner on the surface. A bounding box
selection can be used to move interior NURBS UVs simultaneously.
Edit NURBS UVs | 95

96
UVs menu reference
5
Create UVs
Create UVs > Planar Mapping

Maps UV texture coordinates onto the selected surface mesh by projecting them
along one direction from an imaginary plane.
Related topics
Create UVs > Planar Mapping >
Fit projection to:

By default, the projection manipulator is automatically positioned based on
one of two settings:
Best plane If you want to map UVs for a portion of the object’s faces, you can
select Best plane and the projection manipulator snaps to an angle and rotation
aimed directly at the selected faces.
Bounding box This option works best when you are mapping UVs to all or
most of an object’s faces. It snaps the projection manipulator to fit within the
object’s bounding box. With this option on, you must choose one of the Project
from directions to establish the orientation of the projection manipulator.
Project from Choose an axis (X, Y, Z) so that the projection manipulator is

aimed at the majority of the object’s faces. For example, a turtle model sitting
97
on the grid would have most of its faces pointing along the Y axis, while a
horse model standing on the grid would have most of its faces pointing along
the X or Z axis.
Choose the Camera option if most of the model’s faces point somewhere that
is not directly along the X, Y, or Z axis. This option positions the projection
manipulator based on the current active view.
Keep image width/height ratio Turn this option on to retain the width to
height ratio of the image so that the image does not distort. Turn it off so that
the mapped UVs fill the 0 to 1 coordinates in the UV Texture Editor.
Insert projection before deformers The Insert projection before deformers

option is relevant when the polygonal object has a deformation applied to it.
If the option is turned off and the deformation is animated, the texture
placement is affected by the change in vertex positions. This leads to
“swimming” textures.
Turning this option on applies the texture placement to the polygonal object
before the deformation is applied to it. That is, the texture placement
dependency graph node is inserted before the deformer dependency graph
nodes and the texture “sticks” to the geometry even after the deformation.
Create new UV set Turn this option on to create a new UV set and place the
UVs created by the projection in that set. Type the name of your UV set in
the UV Set name box.
Manually adjusting the projection manipulator
You can use the manipulator handles to interactively adjust the UV map that
gets projected or enter values to change the Projection Center, Rotation and
Scale using either the Channel Box or the Attribute Editor. These values
correspond to the manipulator handles that display when you map your
texture onto the polygon.
Projection Center The projection center defines the point of origin in the X,
Y, or Z axis from where you can project a texture map. By default, this is the
center of the selected faces in the X, Y, or Z axis.
Rotate Type a value to rotate the projection in the 3D view around the X, Y,
or Z axis which subsequently rotates the texture.
Projection Width Sets the width (U) of the projection relative to the 3D
projection axis.
Projection Height Sets the height (V) of the projection relative to the 3D
projection axis.
98 | Chapter 5 UVs menu reference

Image Center This value represents the center of the projected UVs. Changing
this value translates the center accordingly.
Rotation Angle This value changes the angle at which UVs are rotated in the
2D window. Drag the slider or enter a value to rotate the image.
Image Scale This value represents the width (U) or the height (V) of the 2D
map relative to the 2D center point.
Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping

Maps UV texture coordinates onto the selected objects by projecting them
inward from an imaginary cylinder.
Related topics
Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping >
Insert projection before deformers This option is turned on by default. The

Insert projection before deformers option is relevant when the polygonal
object has a deformation applied to it. If the option is turned off and the
deformation is animated, the texture placement is affected by the change in
vertex positions. This leads to “swimming” textures.
before the deformation is applied to it. Basically, the texture placement
Sweep using either the Channel Box or the Attribute Editor. These values
Create UVs > Cylindrical Mapping | 99

Horizontal Sweep Use the slider or type a value to scale the projection around
the polygonal object in the horizontal direction. This value corresponds to
the Projection Scale Aperture handles on the manipulator. For instance, pull
the Projection Scale Aperture handles all the way around the object until they
meet. This is equivalent to entering 360 in the box.
Vertical Sweep Use the slider or type a value to scale the projection around
the polygonal object in the vertical direction. This value corresponds to the
Projection Scale Aperture handles on the manipulator. For instance, pull the
Projection Scale Aperture handles all the way around the object until they
Projection Height Scaling a projection enlarges or reduces the height (V) of

a map relative to the 3D projection axis.
Create UVs > Spherical Mapping

Maps UVs onto the selected objects by projecting them inward from an
imaginary sphere.
Related topics
Create UVs > Spherical Mapping >
Insert projection before deformers This option is turned on by default. The

Insert projection before deformers option is relevant when the polygonal

object has deformation applied to it. If the option is turned off and the
deformation is animated, the texture placement is affected by the change in
vertex positions. This leads to “swimming” textures.
Sweep using either the Channel Box or the Attribute Editor. These values
Horizontal Sweep Use the slider or type a value to scale the projection
horizontally around the polygonal object. This value corresponds to the
Projection Scale Aperture handles on the manipulator. For instance, pull the
Projection Scale Aperture handles all the way around the object until they
Vertical Sweep Use the slider or type a value to scale the projection vertically
around the polygonal object. This value corresponds to the Projection Scale
Aperture handles on the manipulator. For instance, pull the Projection Scale
Aperture handles all the way around the object until they meet. This is
equivalent to entering 360 in the box.
Create UVs > Spherical Mapping | 101

Create UVs > Automatic Mapping

Projects UV texture coordinates onto the selected object from multiple angles
simultaneously. An Automatic Mapping Projection Manipulator is displayed
around the selected object to facilitate more accurate UV projection.
Related topics
Create UVs > Automatic Mapping >
Planes Selects the number of planes for the Automatic Mapping projection.
You can choose a projection mapping based on shapes with 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or 12
planes. The more planes used, the less distortion occurs and the more UV
shells created in the UV Texture Editor. The number of planes that appear on
the Automatic Mapping Projection manipulator directly relates to the number
of planes set in this option.
Optimize for:
Sets the optimization type for the automatic projection.
Less distortion Projects all planes equally. While this method provides the
best projection for any face, you may end up with more shells. It is particularly
useful if you have a symmetrical model and you want the shells of the
projection to be symmetrical.
Fewer pieces Projects each plane until the projection encounters a projection
angle that is not ideal. This can result in larger shells, and fewer of them. This
is the default.

NOTE In some cases, setting the Optimize for setting to Less Distortion can produce
a slightly different UV layout when you open the same file on another operating
system. If this happens you can either:
■ Set Optimize for to Fewer pieces.
■ Keep the Less Distortion setting but delete history on the object (Edit >
Delete by Type > History). This action assigns UVs directly to the surface.
Insert projection before deformers The Insert projection before deformers

option is relevant when the polygonal object has a deformation applied to it.
If the option is turned off and the deformation is animated, the texture
placement is affected by the change in vertex positions. This leads to
“swimming” textures.
Load projection
Lets you specify a custom polygon object to be the projection object for
automatic mapping. You must initially create the polygon object in object
space (X, Y, Z). The Load Projection object must exist in the current scene.
The projection object can form a cage around the object or be comprised of
separate faces that intersect each other at its center. The faces of the projection
object must have UV texture coordinates. It is recommended that you use
separated faces. You can separate the faces for a polygon primitive using the
Mesh > Extractfeature. NURBS and subdivision surfaces are not valid surface
types for use with Load Projection. The maximum number of polygon faces
that can be specified for a projection object is 31.
You can translate any face from the Load Projection object along its normal
with no affect on the resulting projection. However, scaling or rotating any
face from the Load Projection object affects the resulting orientation and scale
of the final UV projection. Changing the UV texture coordinates on the
projection object also affects the resulting UV projection mapping that occurs.
The Automatic Mapping projection manipulator updates to reflect the change
in orientation whenever this occurs.
Projection object Identifies the currently loaded projection object in the
scene. You specify the projection object by typing the name of the projection
object in this field. Alternatively, the name of the projection object will appear
in this field when the desired object in the scene is selected and the Load
Selected button is selected.
Create UVs > Automatic Mapping | 103

Load selected Loads polygon faces that are currently selected in the scene as
the specified projection object. The specified faces are used to update the
automatic projection manipulator. While the maximum number of polygon
faces that can be specified for a projection object is 31, the recommended
range is between 3 and 8.
Project both directions When Project both directions is off (default), Load
projection projects UVs on polygon objects whose normals point in roughly
the same direction as the projecting plane of the Load Projection object. When
Project both directions is turned on, the alignment of normals on both sides
of the projection faces determines which objects will receive a projection from
a particular projection plane. That is, the normals are projected outwards from
both sides of the Load Projection object and the surfaces whose normals align
are evaluated accordingly.
Shell layout
Sets where the laid out UV shells will lie in UV texture space.
Overlap Overlaps the resulting projection within the 0 to 1 UV texture space
in the UV Texture Editor. Overlap is useful when the UV texture shells need
to share the same texture. When the Load Projection option is turned on,
Overlap becomes the default layout.
Along U Positions the shells along the U axis.
Into Square Positions the shells within the 0 to 1 texture space. This is the
default.
Tile Separates the resulting UV projections so they reside in a separate 0 to 1

UV space. Tile is useful when you anticipate additional editing or manipulation
for the UV projections and need them to remain separated.
Scale mode
Sets how the UV shells will be scaled within UV texture space.
None Performs no scaling.

Uniform Scales the shells to fit the 0 to 1 texture space without changing the
aspect ratio. This is the default.
Stretch to Square Stretches the shells to fit the 0 to 1 texture space. The shells
may become distorted.
Shell stacking
Determines how the UV shells get stacked in relation to each other when laid
out in the UV Texture Editor.
Bounding Box Creates a rectangular bounding box around each UV shell,
then stacks the shells based on the borders of the bounding boxes. The UV
shells will have more space between them when this option is set.
Shape Stacks the UV shells based on the boundaries of each individual shell.
The UV shells can be more tightly arranged to fit into any available spaces
when this option is set.
Spacing presets Maya puts a bounding box around each piece and lays out
the shells so that the bounding boxes are very close together. If the shells end
up positioned exactly next to each other, two UVs on different shells can share
the same pixel and when painting with the 3D Paint Tool, overscanning can
also cause the paint to spill onto the adjacent shell.
Create UVs > Automatic Mapping | 105

To avoid this situation, ensure that there is at least a pixel between the
bounding boxes by selecting a spacing preset from this menu. Select a preset
that corresponds to your texture map size. If you don’t know the size, select
a smaller map, which will result in a larger spacing between adjacent shells
in UV space. (The smaller your map in pixels, the bigger the UV spacing must
be between bounding boxes.)
Select Custom to set the size of the space as a percentage of the map size (in
the Percentage Space box).
Percentage space If you select Custom beside Spacing Presets, enter the size
of the space between bounding boxes as a percentage of the map size.
newly created UVs in that set. Type the name of the UV set in the UV Set
Name box.
Create UVs > Create UVs Based On Camera

Creates UV texture coordinates for the selected object based on the current
camera view as a planar projection. That is, the camera view becomes the
plane of projection.
Create UVs > Create UVs Based On Camera >
newly created UVs in that set. Type the name of the UV set in the UV Set
Name box.
Related topics

Create UVs > Best Plane Texturing Tool
Assigns UVs to the faces you select based on a plane computed from vertices
you specify.
NOTE It is important that you either select all faces before invoking the tool, or
set the selection mask explicitly to Polygon. Otherwise selection problems can
occur. Use the Best Plane Texturing Tool on on shape at a time. You can still use
vertices from a different shape to define the plane.
Related topics
Create UVs > Assign Shader to Each Projection

When Assign Shader to Each Projection is turned on, a shader with a
checkerboard texture is assigned to the selected mesh as you project UV texture
coordinates. This aids in determining the alignment of the UVs by providing
a known visual reference. The default setting is off.
Related topics
Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set

Creates a new, empty UV set on the current object. You can then create the
UVs in the set using one of the mapping/projection methods. This feature is
also available for use from the Polygons menu in the UV Texture Editor.
Related topics
Create UVs > Best Plane Texturing Tool | 107

Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set >
Create UV Set name Type a name for the new UV set in the text field.
UV Set Sharing You can choose to share this UV set (every instance has the
UV set), Per Instance Shared (all selected instances share the new UV set), or
Per Instance Unshared (all selected instances get a unique UV set).
Create UVs > Copy UVs to UV Set

Creates a new UV set based on an existing UV layout or transfers a UV layout
from one set to another. This feature is also available for use from the Polygons
menu in the UV Texture Editor.
Related topics
Create UVs > Set Current UV Set

Lets you specify which UV set you want to use for a particular polygon mesh.
You specify which set you want by typing the name of the UV set in the text
field that appears. This feature is also available for use from the Polygons menu
Create UVs > Set Current UV Set...
UV set name Type the name of the UV set you want to switch to in this text
field.
Related topics

Create UVs > Rename Current UV Set
Lets you rename the currently selected UV set. This feature is also available
for use from the Polygons menu in the UV Texture Editor.
Create UVs > Rename Current UV Set...
New UV set name Type the name of the UV set you want to switch to in this
text field.
Related topics
Create UVs > Delete Current UV Set

Deletes the currently selected UV set. This feature is also available for use from
the Polygons menu in the UV Texture Editor.
Related topics
Create UVs > UV Set Editor

The UV Set Editor lets you create and edit UV sets for multiple polygon meshes
simultaneously. For more information see UV Set Editor on page 160.
Create UVs > Per Instance Sharing

You can select shared instances, share instances, or make the selected instance
curent.
Create UVs > Rename Current UV Set | 109

Edit UVs
Edit UVs > Normalize

Scales the UVs of the selected faces to within the 0 to 1 range of the UV texture
space.
Related topics
■ Move, rotate, and scale UVs on page 35
■ Edit UVs > Unitize on page 111
Edit UVs > Normalize >
Use the following options as required to Normalize the UV texture coordinates.
Collectively Select Collectively to normalize the UVs for all selected faces
collectively. That means the texture coordinates for all selected faces are
“collectively” fit to the 0 to 1 texture space. This is the default.
Each face separately Select Each face separately to normalize the UVs for
each selected face separately. That means the texture coordinates for each
selected face are fit to a boundary of 0 to 1.

Preserve aspect ratio Turn this option on to scale the UVs uniformly along
U and V.
Turn this option off (the default setting) to stretch the texture to fit by scaling
U and V non-uniformly.
When you normalize texture coordinates, you scale the UVs of the selected
faces. If Preserve Aspect Ratio is on, the scaling is guaranteed to be uniform
on both the U and V axes. If turned off, the scaling will be different for the U
and V axes.
Edit UVs > Unitize

Repositions the UVs of the selected faces on the boundary of the 0 to 1 UV
texture space as they appear in the UV Texture Editor.
Related topics
■ Layout UV shells on page 58
Edit UVs > Unitize >
Create new UV set Turn this option on to automatically create a new UV set
on the object to hold the unitized UVs. Enter a name for the new UV set in
Edit UVs > Flip

Flips the positions of the selected UV shells either horizontally or vertically.
Edit UVs > Unitize | 111

Related topics
Edit UVs > Flip >
Direction Set the direction to flip the UVs of the selected shells: Horizontal
or Vertical. The default is Horizontal.
Coordinate Set Global as required to flip the UV shells in global UV space in

the 0 to 1 texture space axis. Select Local to flip the UVs within the bounding
box of the selected shells. The default is Local.

Edit UVs > Rotate
Rotates the positions of the selected UVs.
Related topics
Edit UVs > Rotate | 113

Edit UVs > Rotate >
Rotation angle The angle by which the UVs are rotated. The UVs rotate about
their average center.
Edit UVs > Grid

Repositions any currently selected UV to its nearest grid intersection in UV
texture space.
Related topics
Edit UVs > Grid >
Map size presets Sets the Grid U and Grid V options to common square texture
sizes.
Change the Grid U and Grid V sliders or enter values to use a different or
non-square size.
Grid U The number of grid lines horizontally (in the U dimension of texture
space).
Grid V The number of grid lines vertically (in the V dimension of texture
space).
Move UVs to
The options available are:
Pixel border Snaps UVs to the nearest grid intersection.
Pixel center Snaps UVs to the nearest midpoint between grid lines.
Edit UVs > Align

Repositions any selected UVs so they are aligned to a particular U or V value
based on the options setting.

Related topics
Edit UVs > Align >
Align selected UVs to Sets whether the selected UVs are aligned to the left
(minimum U), right (maximum U), bottom (minimum V), or top (maximum
V).
Edit UVs > Warp Image

Modifies a texture image by comparing two UV sets on a single polygonal
mesh and produces a new bitmap image. To use this feature you must specify
a source image, as well as a source and destination UV set for the model from
which the UVs will be referenced for the image manipulation. Warp Image
produces a new target image as the result.
Related topics
■ Copy UVs and color attributes between polygons on page 80
Edit UVs > Warp Image >
These are the descriptions for the options in the Warp Image Options window.
Source image name Specifies the name and file path of the image that is
input for warp modifications.
New image name Specifies the name and file path of the final image that is
output from the warp calculations.
Background mode
Background mode determines how colors are interpolated at the texture edges.
When warping an image, occasionally some of the pixels along texture edges
are missed. As a result, areas of the polygon mesh may not be properly covered
as the background color shows through. The Background mode and
Background color options helps manage this situation by allowing you to
Edit UVs > Warp Image | 115

specify a color to apply to the background. You can specify a fixed color that
contrasts with the original source image so you can easily determine the
locations of the pixel gaps or attempt to hide the gap using a color that is
determined from the texture map.
Automatic Extrapolates colors from the pixels on the related texture map to
automatically minimize colors showing through. The results depend on the
texture map.
Fixed color Uses the color specified in the Background Color setting.
Background color Specifies the color used for the Background mode. This
can also be useful if you want to import the file texture into an image editing
software application, and want a special key (color) to select the background
for processing.
File format Specifies the image file format for the new image that is created
as a result of the Warp Image modifications. File formats include PIX, ALS,
IFF, TIFF, CINEON, EPS, GIF, JPG, YUV, RLA, SGI, TGA, and BMP.
Source UV set Specifies the polygon UV set that is referenced for warp
modification.
Destination UV set Specifies the polygon UV set that is used as a target when
determining where to modify the final warped image.
X resolution Specifies the X-axis resolution for the resulting warped image
in pixels. The default X resolution is 256.
Y resolution Specifies the Y-axis resolution for the resulting warped image in
pixels. The default Y resolution is 256.
Overwrite existing file When Overwrite Existing File is turned on (default),

the target image overwrites a file of the same name if it exists in that location.
When Overwrite Existing File is turned off and a file exists of the same name
as specified in the New Image Name option, the Warp Image operation will
quit without producing an image.
Bilinear filtering When Bilinear Filtering is turned on (default), the target

image is anti-aliased by averaging the colors of adjacent pixels. When Bilinear
Filtering is used the resulting new image may be softer with less contrast as a
result of the anti-aliasing that occurs. When Bilinear Filtering is off, a point
sampling method for anti-aliasing is used that produces a sharper image with
more contrast. Additional post-processing of the image may be necessary.
Include alpha Specifies whether the alpha channel is incorporated into the
Warp Image calculations. When the option is turned off the Alpha channel
information is discarded.

Tiled When the Tiled option is turned on (default) the source image is repeated
in U and V directions. For example, the UVs that extend beyond the UV range
wrap to the other side. When Tiled is turned off, pixels that reside outside of
the 0 to 1 UV range are ignored by the Warp Image feature.
NOTE Tiling a warped image has implications if the wrapped UVs overlap with
other UVs as a result. The Warp Image feature will have trouble determining where
the pixel should be assigned in the areas of overlap and unpredictable results will
occur in the final image. For that reason, UVs should be laid out so they do not
tile. If they must tile, they should tile without overlapping.
Edit UVs > Map UV Border

Repositions border UVs on a selected UV shell to a square or circle within the
0 to 1 range of the UV texture space.
You can move the UVs on the border of a UV shell out to the edges of the 0
to 1 texture space (square), or to a circle inscribed within the 0 to 1 range.
You can optionally scale the edges proportionally as you move the border
UVs.
Map UV Border is useful for untangling borders before you use Relax UVs to
untangle interior UVs.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border on page 120
Edit UVs > Map UV Border >
Border target shape

Select the shape type that you want to map the UV border to (Square or Circle).
Square The Square option maps the border UVs along the axes of the 0 to +1
texture range so the UV shell borders appear in a square shape. Square makes
best use of texture space but can result in faces having zero or very little texture
space around the UV border.
Edit UVs > Map UV Border | 117

Circle The Circle option maps the border UVs about a circle that is inscribed
within the 0 to +1 region. Circle uses texture space less efficiently because of
the unused corner regions.
Automatic Turn on Automatic to map the UV border automatically in a shape

that approximates the best use the texture space while maintaining the
world-space relationships between edges.
Preserve original shape Determines how closely the border mapping will
match the selected Border Target Shape. Use the slider or enter a value between
0 and 1 to control the blend of the existing UV border with the specified
Border Target Shape. A value of 0 produces a UV border mapping that is closest
to the specified target shape (Square or Circle). A value of 1 produces a border
that closely represents the world-space relationships between edges, but can
result in concave areas along the border—these will produce overlapping
interior UVs once relaxed.

NOTE Map UV Border may not be able to find a unique border with non-manifold
geometry.
If you have a piece of non-manifold geometry, any particular UV may be in
more than one border/shell, so it does not uniquely determine a flat piece of
mesh to relax. Map UV Border will find a boundary and map it, but you can't
control which one it will get.
To work around this you can cut the UVs along the non-manifold edges to
make sure that they're “flat”, or use Cleanup to eliminate the non-manifold
areas first.
Edit UVs > Map UV Border | 119

Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border
Untangles the border of the currently selected UV shell, such as an edge that
loops around itself. Straighten UV Border provides more control than the Map
UV Border operation in these circumstances.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Map UV Border on page 117
Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border >
Curvature Pushes the selected border area outward or inward by the specified
amount. A value of zero forces the edge to be straight. Each Curvature unit is
.01 on the UV coordinate scale.
Maya curves the border outward or inward depending on whether the value
is positive or negative. However, you cannot tell in advance whether to use
positive or negative. With the polyStraightenUVBorder node opened in the
Channel Box or Attribute Editor, try positive and negative values and check
the results in the UV Texture Editor.
Preserve length ratio Controls the size of UV texture edges when straightened.
Set to one, Maya preserves the original edge lengths. Set to zero, Maya averages
the lengths. Values between zero and one change the length proportionally.
Blend original shape Affects the shape of the straightened border by blending
it with the original border shape. You can use this setting to constrain the
effect of the above two settings. Set to one, Maya keeps the original shape and
overrides the other settings. Set to zero, Maya does not consider the original
shape when straightening. Values between zero and one proportionally blend
the original shape with the curvature created by the other settings.
Fill gaps in selection

The Fill gaps in selection options helps you straighten UVs that are missing
from your selection because they are difficult to select.
UV gap tolerance The UV Gap Tolerance setting is the threshold of when
Maya selects and straightens the unselected UVs. For example, if there are
three unselected UVs in the middle of two selected UVs, UV Gap Tolerance
must be 3 or higher in order for Maya to select and straighten the middle UVs.
The following illustration shows an example.

Edit UVs > Relax
Automatically untangles and evens out the spacing between UV texture
coordinates. You can choose to pin the border UVs so they remain in the same
position while relaxing other UVs, or pin the selected or unselected UVs while
relaxing any other UVs.
Related topics
Edit UVs > Relax >
Pinning
Use the following options to relax only selected portions of the UV shell.
Pin UV border Turn this option on to maintain the position of the border
UVs. This is the default.
Edit UVs > Relax | 121

Pin UVs
Selet which UVs to pin.
Pin selected UVs Turn this option on to maintain the position of selected
UVs. For example, if you want more texture space for an area on a face with
very dense UVs, you could select these UVs, scale them up, pin them, then
relax the rest of the UVs to eliminate any overlapping you may have introduced
during the scale.
Pin unselected UVs Turn this option on to maintain the position of the
unselected UVs. This option is useful for relaxing only the selected UVs.
Edge weights
Select how the UV relax operation affects edges.
Uniform Attempts to make all of the edges the same length. This is the default.

World space Attempts to retain the original world-space angles (subject to
the restrictions of the pinned border).
Maximum iterations Enter the number of relaxation iterations that will be

performed on the UVs—ideal UV relaxation is subjective and iterative.
Edit UVs > Unfold

The Unfold feature lets you unwrap the UV mesh for a polygonal object while
trying to ensure that the UVs do not overlap. Unfolding UVs helps to minimize
the distortion of texture maps on organic polygon meshes by optimizing the
position of the UV coordinates so they more closely reflect the original polygon
mesh.
For example, if the initial shape of the UVs results in a distorted texture pattern
on the surface mesh, you can use the Unfold feature to minimize the distortion
because it attempts to maintain the UV’s relationship relative to the original
surface mesh.
Related topics
■ Unfold a UV mesh on page 65
■ UV unfolding workflow tips on page 70
Edit UVs > Unfold >
These are descriptions for the options in the Unfold Options window.
Weight solver towards A bias setting that determines the weighting between
two unfold solver types: local and global.
When Weight Solver towards is set to 0 (default) a local solver is used for the
unfolding calculations.
When the Weight solver towards is set to 1 a global solver is used for the
unfolding calculations.
When the Weight solver towards is set anywhere between 0 and 1, the
unfolding results are based on the combined solver calculations.
A Weight Solver towards setting of 0 is recommended for the majority of
unfolding operations and provides the quickest results.
Some polygon configurations can cause the Unfold feature to produce an
undesired tapering effect on the unwrapped result. For example, the tapered
Edit UVs > Unfold | 123

shape from the thigh towards the ankle on a character’s pant leg may result
in a more exaggerated tapering as a result of how the local solver works when
it unfolds the UVs. When this occurs, the results can usually be improved by
performing additional unfold operations with the Weight solver towards
setting set to a value above 0 so that the global solver is taken into account.
The unfold operation will take substantially longer, but the tapering effect
will be reduced. Once the scale is more uniform, you can carefully pin UVs
to control areas that were previously at different scales to ensure they don’t
revert back. Once the UVs are pinned, you can perform subsequent unfold
operations with the Weight solver towards setting at 0.
For an example of how this works see Solver weighting example on page 126.
Optimize to original
Specifies which polygon comparison method is used for the unfolding
operation. This setting is only available when the Weight solver towards setting
is greater than 0 and can be biased towards two comparison methods:
Face area Compares polygons by comparing the area of individual UVs to the
original faces of the polygon mesh.
Edge length Uses a method that compares the length of the edges of the UVs
to the face edges of the original polygons.
When the Face area/Edge length bias setting is set to 0.5 (the default) both
methods of comparison have equal weighting in determining the final result.
In general, this is a good starting point for the majority of unfold calculations.
Polygon meshes with high areas of curvature can have better unfold results
when the bias is set towards Face area. This setting minimizes the buckling of
the texture map in the areas of curvature. However, if the bias setting is set
fully towards Face area, a shearing effect on the texture can occur as a result
of the calculations attempting to work within the constraints specified by the
Face area bias.
Pinning
Use the following options to unfold only selected portions of the UV shell.
Pin UV border Maintains the position of the UVs along the poly shell’s border
edge during the unfold operation. Use this option when you want the shell’s
border edge to be unaffected by the unfold operation.
Pin UVs
Lets you perform the Unfold operation but pin specific UV combinations.
Pin selected UVs Maintains the position of only the selected UVs during the
unfold operation.

By default, Unfold repositions all of the selected UVs during the unfold
operation and the unselected UVs remain pinned. This option reverses that
default behavior. This option can be useful when specific UVs are already in
a desired pattern when unfolded and you need some of the UVs to remain
unaffected by subsequent unfold operations.
Pin unselected UVs Maintains the position of only the unselected UVs during
the unfold operation. This is the default setting.
When this option is on, Unfold repositions all of the selected UVs during the
unfold operation and the unselected UVs remain pinned.
Unfold constraint
Specifies how the unfolding of the UVs will be constrained as they are
unfolded.
None The UVs will unfold freely in any direction during the unfold operation.
Vertical The UVs will be constrained in the vertical direction as they appear
Horizontal The UVs will be constrained in the horizontal direction as they

appear in the UV Texture Editor.
Maximum iterations Specifies the maximum number of repeated calculations

allowed for the unfold solver when calculating the final unfolded result if the
Stopping threshold value has not been reached. When this maximum occurs,
the unfold calculations will stop.
TIP You can stop the unfold calculations at any time by pressing Esc.
If the calculations appear to stop prematurely, it simply means that the

Stopping threshold has been reached. The default is 5000. Setting the
Maximum iterations higher than 5000 causes the Unfold feature to calculate
further towards the Stopping threshold and lengthens the time for the unfold
calculation.
If the Weight solver towards setting is any value above 0, you may wish to
initially set Maximum iterations to a smaller value such as 50 for your initial
unfold iteration.
Stopping threshold Specifies a mathematical threshold to stop the unfold

calculations. The value is based on an internally computed relative percentage
of overall improvement when comparing the angles, distances, and areas
between the original polygon mesh and the unfolded result. The unfold
calculations will progress until this percentage threshold is reached or until
the maximum number of iterations specified by the Maximum iterations
setting is reached.

Setting the value smaller than 0.001 will result in longer times when unfolding.
If time is not of concern, you can also set the Stopping threshold to 0 and
allow the Unfold feature to calculate the best result.
Rescale Resizes each final unfolded UV shell to match the Scale Factor once
the unfold calculations are complete. It accomplishes this by first determining
the surface area of the polygon mesh in object space (XYZ), comparing it to
the unfolded UV meshes' surface area, and then scaling the UV mesh by that
value.
This option is useful when multiple shells are unfolded and you require them
to have a similar scale between them.
Scale factor A ratio value that determines the amount of Rescale. A Scale
Factor greater than 1 results in the UV mesh being scaled larger, whereas a
Scale factor less than 1 results in the UV mesh being scaled smaller.
For example, if a polygon mesh had a unit size of 1 in the scene view, a Scale
factor setting of 0.02 would result in the corresponding UV mesh having a
unit size of 0.02 in the UV Texture Editor.
Keep history When Keep History is turned on, the Unfold feature
automatically recalculates the UV texture coordinate positions for the shell
whenever the polygon model’s mesh is changed. This provides an effect where
the texture appears to be distorted inwards or outwards along the surface when
the mesh is deformed.
Turning Keep History on can result in long computation times when the
polygon object is animated thereby affecting interactive performance. It should
be turned on only when you specifically want this special effect to occur and
are aware of the impact on interactive performance in your scene as a result.
The default setting is off.
Solver weighting example
The following example demonstrates how changing the Weight solver towards
option in combination with pinning and aligning UVs helps to control the
unfolded UV layout and the texture mapping that results.
■ A barrel shaped polygonal object is texture-mapped with a checker texture.

Using the Unfold feature and performing an initial unfold with the Weight
solver towards option set to 0 (the default) initially produces a tapered UV
layout in the UV Texture Editor. The resulting texture map is skewed and
distorted on the object.

■ A second unfold operation is performed with the Weight solver towards
option at 0.6. This unfolds the UVs in a more global manner and reduces
the tapering that previously occurred. The UV layout is more predictable,
but there is some overlap of UVs in the lower left corner of the UV mesh
resulting in overlap on the texture.

■ Repositioning and pinning the corners of the UV mesh and performing
another unfold with the Weight solver towards set to 0 further relaxes the
UVs and removes the overlapping region.
■ The top and bottom rows of UVs are aligned and a final unfold operation
is performed with the Weight solver towards option set to 0 with the
borders pinned.

Edit UVs > Layout
Repositions the UV shells for selected objects so their arrangement is improved.
The desired workflow is generally to lay out UV shells so they are not
overlapping.
Related topics
■ World space, object space, and local space
Edit UVs > Layout >
The default settings give the best results in most situations.

Layout Objects
Select the manner in which you want to layout the UV shells.
Edit UVs > Layout | 129

Per object (overlapping) When multiple objects are selected in the scene this
option specifies to lay out the UV shells for each object individually within
Single object or multiple objects (non-overlapping) Specifies the multiple

UVs to be positioned in the UV Texture Editor as if it were one single object.
Prescale
Scales the area of the UV Shell proportional to either the surface area of the
selected objects in object space or world space before laying out the UVs.
Prescale is usually combined with Uniform Scale mode to scale UVs from
multiple objects into a single UV region.
Prescale is only available when Layout Objects is set to Single or Multiple
Objects (non-overlapping).
None No prescaling occurs.
Object Automatically scales the UV shell to accommodate the selected objects’

surface areas in object space.
For example, the UV Shells for a scene consisting of 5 spheres of radius 1 will
appear equal in size using the Object setting regardless of their individual
scaling. Scaling only affects the objects’ size in world space.
World Automatically scales the UV shell to accommodate the selected objects’

surface areas in world space.
For example, the UV shells for a scene consisting of 5 spheres of radius 1, will
appear according to their individual scale sizes.

Separate shells
Specifies how you want to cut and separate overlapping UV shells.
Off Does not separate overlapping UV shells. Only the Scale option has an
effect.
Folds Separates only shells where the surface normals of overlapping shells
point in opposite directions. This method is faster, especially for larger models.
However, you may be left with overlapping UVs.
All intersecting Separates all shells where the UVs overlap. This is the default.
Flip reversed Flips UV shells that have normals pointing in opposite UV

winding order.
TIP If your model is symmetrical (for example, a character’s face), you can save
texture space by turning this option off and superimposing the UV shells so they
occupy the same texture space.
Shell Layout
Specifies where the UV shells will lie in UV texture space.
None Does not lay out UV shells after they have been cut. Some shells may
lie on top of others.

Along U Positions the UV shells along the U axis.
Into Region Positions the UV shells to lie within the 0 to 1 texture space. This
is the default setting.
Scale mode
Select how you want the UV shells scaled within the UV texture space.
None Performs no scaling.
Uniform Scales the shells to fit the 0 to 1 texture space without changing the
aspect ratio. This is the default.
Stretch to region Stretches the UV shells to fit within the 0 to 1 texture space.
The UV shells may become distorted as a result.
Shell stacking
Determines how the UV shells get stacked in relation to each other when laid
out in the UV Texture Editor.
Bounding box Creates a rectangular bounding box around each UV shell,
then stacks the shells based on the borders of the bounding boxes. The UV
shells will have more space between them when this option is set.
Shape Stacks the UV shells based on the boundaries of each individual shell.
The UV shells can be more tightly arranged to fit into any available spaces
when this option is set.
Rotate
Allows the UV texture shells to be rotated in order to better fit the UV texture
space.
None Specifies that the UV shells will not be rotated.
90 degrees Specifies that some UV shells can be rotated by 90 degrees to

maximize the space within the 0 to 1 UV texture space.

Free Rotates the UV shells so they are oriented vertically in the UV Texture
Editor based on their longest axis. This aids the Layout feature in packing the
shells more densely, thereby maximizing UV texture space.
Spacing presets Layout UVs creates a bounding box around each UV shell
and then lays out the UVs so that the individual bounding boxes are positioned
close together. Sometimes when the borders of two UV shells are positioned
very close to each other, the two UV shells may end up sharing the same pixels
on a texture map.
When this situation occurs, a portion of one texture may bleed onto another
or may wrap incorrectly on the surface, resulting in visual artifacts. When
painting a texture, overscanning can also cause the paint to spill onto the
adjacent piece.
To avoid this situation, you’ll want to specify a spacing preset to ensure that
there is at least one pixel separating the individual UV bounding boxes. Select
a preset that corresponds to your texture map size. If you don’t know the size,
select a smaller map, which will result in a larger spacing between adjacent
shells in the UV space. (The smaller the map in pixels, the bigger the UV
spacing must be between bounding boxes.)
Select Custom to set the size of the space as a percentage of the map size (in
the Percentage space box) and enter a distance value that is appropriate for
your texture map.
Percentage space When the Spacing presets is set to Custom you can specify
a distance measurement to specify the space between bounding boxes as a
percentage of the map size.
Region Preset A set of common settings for Scale U, Scale V, Offset U and
Offset V. The following table outlines the presets.
Label Scale U Scale V Offset U Offset V
Bottom Half 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0
Top Half 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.5
Left Half 0.5 1.0 0.0 0.0

Label Scale U Scale V Offset U Offset V
Right Half 0.5 1.0 0.5 0.0
Bottom Left 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0
Bottom Right 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.0
Top Left 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.5
Top Right 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Full Square 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0
Scale U Lets you set the scale of the UV mapping in the U direction. You can
use the Offset in conjunction with the Scale to define the area on your model
upon which your texture is laid out.
Scale V Lets you set the scale of the UV mapping in the V direction. You can
use the Offset in conjunction with the Scale to define the area on your model
upon which your texture is laid out.
Offset U Lets you set the UV mapping so that each UV is a specific distance
in the U direction from its default position at the lower left corner of the UV
layout region. You can use the Offset in conjunction with the Scale to define
the area on your model upon which your texture is laid out.
Offset V Lets you set the UV mapping so that each UV is a specific distance
in the V direction from its default position at the lower left corner of the UV
layout region. You can use the Offset in conjunction with the Scale to define
the area on your model upon which your texture is laid out.
Edit UVs > Cut UV Edges

Splits UVs along the selected edges creating new texture borders as a result.
This feature is also available from the toolbar of the UV Texture Editor.

Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Merge UVs on page 136
Edit UVs > Split UVs

Separates UVs from each other along the edges connected to the selected UV
points, creating borders. This feature is also available from the toolbar of the
UV Texture Editor.
Edit UVs > Sew UV Edges

Attaches UVs along the selected borders, but does not move them together in
the UV Texture Editor view. This feature is also available from the toolbar of
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges on page 135
Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges

Move and Sew UV Edges combines separate UV shells along their selected
border edges by moving one selected UV shell (the smaller one) to the other
selected UV shell (the larger one) and merging the selected edges together so
that one UV shell results. Move and Sew UV Edges is useful for quickly joining
together separate UV shells produced by Automatic Mapping or the Layout
Edit UVs > Split UVs | 135

UVs features. This feature is also available from the toolbar of the UV Texture
Editor.
There are two options for moving and sewing UV shells: manually or
automatic. The default Move and Sew UV Edges behavior is to manually select
the edges you want to join and then execute the feature. When the Limit shell
size option is turned on, smaller shells are moved and sewn automatically to
the larger ones based on the Number of faces setting value.
Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Merge UVs on page 136
Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges >
Limit shell size When this option is off, Move and Sew UVs only moves and
sews the selected edges.
When this option is on, Move and Sew UVs automatically moves and sews
together any selected shells below the size set in Number of Faces.
Number of faces When Limit shell size is on, this setting specifies the
maximum number of faces in each shell. Larger numbers result in fewer shells.
After performing a Move and Sew operation, you can select the history node
(polyMapSewMove) in the Channel Box and adjust the Number of Faces until
you achieve the results you want.
Edit UVs > Merge UVs

Use Merge UVs to merge together separate UV shells. Merge UVs has a similar
effect to Sew UVs. However, Merge UVs is better suited to merging shells when
the polygon has non-manifold geometry.
For example, when you have three UV shells that all share an edge because
the geometry is nonmanifold, Merge UVs can combine two of the UV shells
without affecting the other. If you used Sew UVs in this example, all shells
would be combined because they all share an edge.

Related topics
■ Edit UVs > Cut UV Edges on page 134
Edit UVs > Merge UVs >
Threshold Set the Threshold value to set the maximum distance within which
selected UVs will be merged. Any UVs in the selection that exceed this distance
will not be merged.
Edit UVs > Delete UVs

Removes the UVs from the selected face(s) on a mesh. If you want to map
textures onto the areas of the surface mesh where the UVs have been deleted,
you will need to re-map or re-project the UVs using the UV projection mapping
features.
Related topics
■ Delete UVs on page 43
Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor

Displays the UV Texture Editor. For more information see UV Texture Editor
reference on page 139.
Related topics
Edit UVs > Delete UVs | 137

138
UVs windows and editors
reference 6
UV Texture Editor
UV Texture Editor reference

The UV Texture Editor (Window > UV Texture Editor or Edit UVs > UV Texture
Editor) lets you view and interactively edit UV texture coordinates for polygons
and subdivision surfaces.
You can select, move, scale, and generally modify the UV topology for a surface
very much like you work with other modeling tools within Maya. You can also
view the image associated with the assigned texture map as a backdrop within
the UV Texture Editor and modify the UV layout to match as required.
Items in the UV Texture Editor can be selected from either the menu bar or
from the graphical toolbar. For more information on the UV Texture Editor
options see:
Related topics
139
■ Delete UVs on page 43
■ Move tool (in UV texture editor) on page 163
UV Texture Editor menu bar

These are descriptions of the menu items in the UV Texture Editor.
Polygons menu
Polygons > Copy UVs
Copies the selected UVs for a selected face to the clipboard so they can be
copied (pasted) to another face. See Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Copy
Attributes.
Polygons > Paste UVs
Pastes UVs that were previously copied to the selected face. See Mesh >
Clipboard Actions > Paste Attributes.
Polygons > Create Empty UV Set
Creates a new, empty UV set on the current object. You can then create the
UVs in the set using one of the mapping/projection methods. See Create UVs
> Create Empty UV Set on page 107.
Polygons > Copy UVs to UV Set
Use the items in this submenu to create a UV set based on an existing UV

layout or transfer a UV layout from one set to another. See Create UVs > Copy
UVs to UV Set on page 108.
140 | Chapter 6 UVs windows and editors reference

Polygons > Set Current UV Set
Lets you select a specific UV set. See Create UVs > Set Current UV Set on page
108.
Polygons > Rename Current UV Set
Lets you rename the currently selected UV set. See Create UVs > Rename
Current UV Set on page 109.
Polygons > Delete Current UV Set
Deletes the currently selected UV set. See Create UVs > Delete Current UV Set
on page 109.
Polygons > Normalize
Scales the UVs of the selected faces to within the 0 to 1 texture space. See Edit
UVs > Normalize on page 110.
Polygons > Unitize
Places the UVs of the selected faces on the boundary of the 0 to 1 texture
space. See Edit UVs > Unitize on page 111.
Polygons > Flip
Flips the positions of the selected UVs. See Edit UVs > Flip on page 111.
This item is also found on the UV Texture Editor toolbar for quick access. See
UV Texture Editor toolbar on page 154.
Polygons > Rotate
Rotates the positions of the selected UVs by a specified number of degrees.

See Edit UVs > Rotate on page 113.
Polygons > Cycle UVs
Rotates the U and V values of the selected polygon.
UV Texture Editor menu bar | 141

Polygons > Best Plane Texturing Tool
Assigns UVs to the faces you select based on a plane computed from vertices
you specify. See Create UVs > Best Plane Texturing Tool on page 107.
Polygons > Grid
Moves every selected UV to its nearest grid intersection in texture space. See
Edit UVs > Grid on page 114.
Polygons > Align
Aligns the positions of the selected UVs. See Edit UVs > Align on page 114.
Polygons > Warp Image
Modifies a texture image by comparing two UV sets on a single polygonal

mesh and produces a new bitmap image. See Edit UVs > Warp Image on page
115.
Polygons > Map UV Border
Moves UV borders to the edges of 0 to +1 texture space. See Edit UVs > Map
UV Border on page 117.
Polygons > Straighten UV Border
Untangles the border of a UV texture shell, such as an edge that loops around
itself. See Edit UVs > Straighten UV Border on page 120.
Polygons > Relax
Spreads out all UVs to make them easier to work with. See Edit UVs > Relax
on page 121.

Polygons > Unfold
Lets you unwrap the UV mesh for a polygonal object while the feature attempts
to ensure that the UVs do not overlap. See Edit UVs > Unfold on page 123.
Polygons > Layout
Attempts to rearrange the UV shells into a cleaner layout, based on the settings
in the Layout UVs option box. See Edit UVs > Layout on page 129.
Polygons > Cut UV Edges
Separates UVs along the selected edges, creating borders. See Edit UVs > Cut
UV Edges on page 134.
Polygons > Split UVs
Separates UVs from each other along the edges connected to the selected UV
points, creating borders. Shortcut for the texture editor’s Edit UVs > Split UVs.
Polygons > Sew UV Edges
Attaches UVs along the selected borders, but does not move them together in
the texture editor view. See Edit UVs > Sew UV Edges on page 135.
Polygons > Move and Sew UV Edges
Attaches UVs along the selected borders, and moves them together in the
texture editor view. See Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges on page 135.

Polygons > Merge UVs
Merges together separate UV shells. See Edit UVs > Merge UVs on page 136.
Polygons > Delete UVs
Removes the selected UVs from the mesh. You will need to re-map or re-project
the UVs in order to map textures onto the affected areas. See Edit UVs > Delete
UVs on page 137.
Polygons > UV Snapshot
Saves an image file of the current UV layout. You can then paint on this image
in a painting program or use this image as a background reference layer for
texture work in an image editor such as Adobe® Photoshop®. See Save an
image of the UV layout on page 48. An option window appears with the
following controls:
File Name You can save the file anywhere inside or outside of your project.
Maya automatically assigns the file extension based on the image format you
select.
Size X, Size Y Sets the dimensions of the exported image. Use the same
dimensions you want for the file texture you are about to create. If you are
not sure, use the default size; you can scale the exported image later in your
paint program.
Keep Aspect Ratio The aspect ratio is the ratio of Size X to Size Y. With it
turned on, you can change one size slider and Maya automatically adjusts the
other size value to keep the same ratio. If you need to change the aspect ratio,
turn off this option temporarily and adjust one of the sizes.
Color Value Sets the color of the UV patches in the exported image. The
background of the snapshot is black; therefore, the Color Value should be
white or another contrasting color. You can click the box to open the Color
Chooser.
Anti-alias Lines Controls whether lines in the output image have anti-aliasing.
Image Format Use an image format that your paint program can read. If you
require an alpha channel while painting, use TIFF or a similar format.
UV Range Normal (0 to 1) specifies the range between 0 and 1. When this

option is set (default), only the UVs appearing in the 0 to 1 area are included
in the 2D image that gets output. (This was the option previous to Maya
version 7.)

Entire Range specifies that a 2D image will be output that covers all displayed
UVs regardless of their position within UV space. That is, if the UVs lie outside
the 0 to 1 range, they will still be included in the UV snapshot image.
User Specified allows you to customize the UV range that will be output by
specifying minimum and maximum values for U and V. This is useful when
you need to output an image of a specific UV shell or a specific region within
Subdivs menu
The items in this menu are used for editing UVs on subdivision surfaces.
Subdivs > Cut UV Edges
Separates UVs along the selected edges, creating borders. See Edit UVs > Cut
UV Edges on page 134.
Subdivs > Layout
Tries to move the UVs into a cleaner layout. See Edit UVs > Layout on page
129.
Subdivs > Move and Sew UV Edges
Attaches UVs along the selected borders, and moves them together in the
texture editor view. See Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges on page 135.
Subdivs > UV Snapshot
Saves an image file of the current UV layout. For more information see
Polygons > UV Snapshot on page 144.
View menu
View > View Contained Faces
A UV selection filter that displays only the UV faces associated with the
currently selected UVs in the UV Texture Editor.
View > View Connected Faces
A UV selection filter that displays the UV faces associated with the currently
selected UVs as well as the UV faces immediately connected to those UV faces.

View > View Faces of Selected Images
A UV selection filter that displays the UV faces associated with the currently
selected texture image in the UV Texture Editor (Textures > filename).
View > Isolate Select submenu
Lets you show only a subset of all UVs, with the ability to add to and subtract
from the isolated subset. See Display a subset of UVs on page 33
View > Grid
Shows or hides the texture coordinate grid. Choose View > Grid > to set
the grid options. See Use the UV Texture Editor grid on page 47
Length and Width Controls the overall size of the grid, measured in UV
coordinates. The Length and Width is set to 1 (one) by default, because you
typically want UVs to fit within the 0 to 1 range and this setting clearly shows
the 0 to 1 range.
Grid Lines Every Sets the spacing between grid lines. Grid lines appear in
increments based on the decimal value you specify. This setting affects where
UVs snap if you use the Snap to Grid feature.
Subdivisions Sets the number of lines between each grid line. By default,
subdivision lines do not show; you must turn on Subdivision Lines for them
to appear.
Display Axes, Grid Lines, Subdivision Lines, Grid Numbers Displays or

hides items within the grid.
View > Toolbar
Shows or hides the texture editor toolbar. See the toolbar section below.
View > Frame All
Pans and zooms the texture editor view to show the entire UV set.
View > Frame Selection
Pans and zooms the texture editor to show the selected UVs.

Select menu
The items in this menu are also available on a marking menu when you are
working in the UV Texture Editor. Press ctrl + the right mouse button to access
them.
Select > Select Contained Faces
Selects the faces contained by the current selection of UVs, edges, or vertices.
Select > Select Connected Faces
Selects all faces that share the currently selected UVs, edges, or vertices.
Select > Select Shell
Selects the entire UV shell containing the current selection.
Select > Select Shell Border
Selects the UVs along the border of the UV shell containing the current
selection.
Select > Select Shortest Edge Path Tool
Selects the shortest path of edges between two or more selection points (vertices
or UVs). The Select Shortest Edge Path Tool determines the most direct path
between any two selection points and selects the edges in between.
The Select Shortest Edge Path Tool is particularly well suited to selecting a
long and possibly winding path of edges on a mesh when you need to
subsequently perform a Cut UV Edges operation.
Select > Convert Selection to Faces, Edges, Vertices, UVs
Selects the component type connected to the current selection. For example,
if you have faces selected and choose Convert to UVs, Maya will select all UVs
connected to the selected faces.
Tool menu
The items in this menu are also available from the toolbar.

Tool > UV Lattice Tool
Manipulates the layout of UVs as a group by letting you create a lattice around
the UVs for deformation purposes.
Lattice Settings
Columns Specifies the number of columns for the current lattice manipulator.
The minimum number of columns is 3 and maximum number is 8.
Rows Specifies the number of rows for the current lattice manipulator. The
minimum number of rows is 3 and the maximum number is 8.
Falloff Specifies the lattice manipulator's level of influence or falloff value.
Use Bounding Rectangle When on, the current lattice manipulator cannot
extend past the outer edge or boundary of the target geometry.
Snap Settings
The lattice snap settings are relative to each UV affected by the lattice. Pixel
Snap (Image > Pixel Snap) needs to be on in the UV Texture Editor for the UV
Lattice Tool Snap Settings to have any effect.
Placement
Select where control points snap to.
Snap Corner When on, the UV lattice deformer’s control points snap to the
corners of each UV.
Snap Center When on, the UV lattice deformer’s control points snap to the
centers of each UV.

Tool > UV Smudge Tool
Moves the position of selected UVs and their neighboring UVs to a diminishing
extent that is user defined.
Smudge Settings
Effect Type
Select the way the UVs follow the brush tool.
Fixed Moves the selected UVs in the direction of the UV Smudge Tool brush’s
movements. UVs appear to follow or move with the brush. This setting moves
UVs similar to the way the Soft Modification Tool moves vertices.
Smudge Drags or smudges UVs in the direction of the UV Smudge Tool brush’s
movements.
Falloff Type
Select the way that the UV movement falls off as the brush moves.
Exponential Moves UVs based on the distance they are from the UV Smudge
Tool brush. A UV moves exponentially more the closer it is to the brush.
Linear Moves UVs based on the distance they are from the UV Smudge Tool
brush. A UV moves linearly more the closer it is to the brush.
Constant Moves all UVs the same amount in the direction of the UV Smudge
Tool brush’s movements.
Smudge Size Sets the size of the UV Smudge Tool brush.

In the UV Texture Editor’s view, you can also press b + drag to resize the
Smudge Tool brush.

Pressure Sets the magnitude of the smudge and specifies how much the UV
Smudge Tool brush affects the selected UVs.
This is only available when the selected Effect Type is Smudge.
Middle Mouse Initiates When on, middle-drag to smudge the layout of your
UVs. When off, drag to smudge the layout of your UVs.
Tool > Move UV Shell Tool
Lets you select and reposition a UV shell in the 2D view of the UV Texture
Editor by selecting a single UV on the shell. You can automatically prevent
the repositioned UV shell from overlapping other UV shells. See also UV
Texture Editor toolbar on page 154.
Prevent Overlap The Prevent Overlap setting restricts a UV shell from being
accidentally moved to a position where it would overlap existing UV shells
in the UV Texture Editor view. It is on by default. For example, if you select
and move a UV shell and reposition it to an area that is already occupied by
an existing UV shell, the selected shell will do one of the following:
■ Snap back to its previous location (when the overlap is large).
■ Snap to the closest location possible based on the direction you dragged
the UV shell (when the overlap is small).
Shell Spacing
Specifies the distance the repositioned UV shell will be separated from
other existing UV shells as a percentage of the map size when Prevent
overlap is turned on.
Placement iterations
Specifies the number of times the tool checks between the start and end
positions when translating one or more UV shells in order to optimally
achieve the Shell Spacing distance without snapping back to the original
location. A higher number produces the closest result possible, but takes
longer to complete the move. The number of selected UV shells also affects
the time to complete the move. The default setting is 16.
Tool > Smooth UV Tool
Let’s you interactively unfold or relax UVs. To use this tool, you must first
select a set of UVs. Then, you can adjust the unfold or relax of the UVs by the
respective control to the right. For more information, see Relax and untangle
UVs on page 63 or Unfold a UV mesh on page 65.

Pin Borders When on, the border UVs of the selected UV set will not move
when the Unfold or Relax controls are moved.
Space Allows you to adjust whether you Unfold or Relax the UVs in UV space
or World space.
Image menu
For more information on using the features in this menu see Display a texture
behind the UVs on page 42.
Image > Display Image
Shows or hides the texture image. This item can also be found in the UV
Texture Editor toolbar for quick access. See UV Texture Editor toolbar on page
154.
Image > Dim Image
Reduces the brightness of the currently displayed background image. Dimming

the background image lets you more easily view and select components in
the UV Texture Editor’s view. Selecting the item toggles it on or off depending
on its current state.
Image > Display Unfiltered
Turns off pixel blurring to show exact pixel boundaries. This item can also be
found in the UV Texture Editor toolbar for quick access. See UV Texture Editor
toolbar on page 154.
Image > Shade UVs
Shades active UV shells in a semitransparent way.

Using Shade UVs you can:
■ Display areas where UVs and UV shells overlap within the 2D view of the
UV Texture Editor. Regions where UVs and UV shells overlap are shaded
with more opacity when compared to the default shading. See also Display
overlapping UVs on page 54.
■ Displays the UV winding order for UV shells as they appear within the 2D
view of the UV Texture Editor. UV shells that are front facing (that is have
a clockwise winding order), are shaded blue. UV shells that are back facing

(that is have a counterclockwise winding order), are shaded red. See also
Display UV winding order on page 55.
Front facing color
Specifies the shaded color for UV shells with a clockwise winding order.
The default color is blue.
Front facing alpha

Specifies the transparency value for the front-facing shaded UV shells. A
value of 0 is fully transparent while a value of 1 is fully opaque. The default
is 0.25.
Back facing color

Specifies the shaded color for UV shells with a counterclockwise winding
order. The default color is red.
Back facing alpha

Specifies the transparency value for the back-facing shaded UV shells. A
value of 0 is fully transparent while a value of 1 is fully opaque. The default
is 0.25.
Image > Display RGB Channels, Display Alpha Channel
Switch between displaying the texture image and its alpha (transparency)
channel. These items can also be found in the UV Texture Editor toolbar for
quick access. See UV Texture Editor toolbar on page 154.
Image > Pixel Snap
Determines whether or not to automatically snap UVs to pixels. Snapping is

to pixel corners or centers. This item can also be found in the UV Texture
Editor toolbar for quick access. See UV Texture Editor toolbar on page 154.
Placement
Select where Pixels snap to.
Snap Corner When on, the selected UVs snap to the corners of other UVs.
Snap to Center When on, the selected UVs snap to the centers of other UVs.
Image > Image Range
Use these settings to change how much of the texture appears in the texture
editor.
Minimum U/V and Maximum U/V You can explicitly set the size of the
image by setting these options, or you can select one of the presets.

Presets
Select one of the preset image ranges and click Apply.
None The texture space is defined by the Minimum and Maximum U and V
values.
Grid Size The texture fills the extent of the grid (defined in the Grid Options
window).
Unit Size The texture fills the 0 to 1 (or unit) texture space.
Image > Use Image Ratio
Switches between showing square texture space and texture space with the
same ratio of width to height as the image. This item can also be found in the
UV Texture Editor toolbar for quick access. See UV Texture Editor toolbar on
page 154.
Image > UV Texture Editor Baking
Bakes the texture and stores it in memory. See also UV Texture Editor toolbar
on page 154.
Baked Texture Resolution The resolution used when baking the texture.
Image > Create PSD Network
Creates an Adobe® Photoshop® texture you can use as a texture map. When
this feature is used, a PSD layer of the UVs can be explicitly created to aid
painting of the texture. For more information, see Use PSD Networks as textures
in Maya and Create a PSD file with layer sets from within Maya in the Shading
guide.
Image > Update PSD Networks
When you modify a PSD file in Adobe® Photoshop® that is connected to a

Maya PSD node, you can update (refresh) the image in Maya to show the
modifications immediately. All PSD networks in the scene are updated. See
Update PSD Networks in the Shading guide.
Textures menu
Select which image texture to show in the UV Texture Editor. Select an image
from the drop-down list that appears. If no texture images are assigned the
list appears empty.

UV Sets menu
Select the UV set you want to edit in the UV Texture Editor by selecting the
name of the UV set from the drop-down list that appears. See UV sets on page
11.
UV Texture Editor toolbar
These are descriptions of the items in the UV Texture Editor toolbar. The UV
Texture Editor toolbar lets you readily access many of the frequently used
items that exist within the UV Texture Editor menus. For the features that
have options, you can right-click a button to display its options.
UV Tool buttons
UV Lattice Tool Manipulates the layout of UVs as a group by let-

ting you create a lattice around the UVs for de-
formation purposes. Shortcut for Tool > UV Lat-
tice Tool in the UV Texture Editor menu.
Move UV Shell Tool Lets you select and reposition a UV shell by select-
ing a single UV on the shell. You can automatic-
ally prevent the repositioned UV shell from over-
lapping other UV shells in the 2D view. Shortcut
for Tool > Move UV Shell Tool in the UV Texture
Editor menu.
UV Smudge Tool Moves the position of selected UVs and their

neighboring UVs to a diminishing extent that is
user defined. Shortcut for Tool > UV Smudge
Tool in the UV Texture Editor menu.

Select Shortest Edge Path Lets you select a path of edges between two
Tool vertices on a surface mesh. The Select Shortest
Edge Path Tool determines the most direct path
between any two selection points and selects the
polygon edges in between.
Interactive Unfold/Relax Let’s you control the amount of unfold or relax

Tool applied to a selection of UVs by dragging the
mouse across the screen.
UV orientation buttons
These items let you edit the orientation and rotation of UVs.
Flip U Flips the positions of the selected UVs in the U

direction. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Flip.
Flip V Flips the positions of the selected UVs in the V

direction. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Flip.
Rotate UVs counterclock- Rotates the positions of the selected UVs by 45

wise degrees in a counterclockwise direction. Shortcut
for Edit UVs > Rotate.
Rotate UVs clockwise Rotates the positions of the selected UVs by 45

degrees in a clockwise direction. Shortcut for Edit
UVs > Rotate.
Cut and sew UV buttons
These items let you cut and sew UV shells.
Cut UVs along selection Separates UVs along the selected edges, creating
borders. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Cut UV Edges.
Split UVs Separates UVs from each other along the edges
connected to the selected UV points, creating
borders. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Split UVs.
UV Texture Editor toolbar | 155

Sew UVs Attaches UVs along the selected borders, but
does not move them together in the texture
editor view. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Sew UV
Edges.
Move and Sew UVs Attaches UVs along the selected borders, and
moves them together in the texture editor view.
Shortcut for Edit UVs > Move and Sew UV Edges.
UV layout buttons
Layout Attempts to arrange the UVs into a cleaner lay-

out, based on the settings in the Layout UVs
option box. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Layout.
Grid UVs Moves every selected UV to its nearest grid in-

tersection in texture space. Shortcut for Edit UVs
> Grid.
To change the grid, right-click the View Grid
button on the toolbar.
Unfold Unwraps the selected UV mesh while attempting

to ensure that the UVs do not overlap. Shortcut
for Edit UVs > Unfold.
Relax Spreads out the selected UV mesh to make it

easier to work with. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Re-
lax.
UV alignment buttons
Align Min U Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the

minimum U value. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Align.
Align Max U Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the

maximum U value. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Align.

Align Min V Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the
minimum V value. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Align.
Align Max V Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the

maximum V value. Shortcut for Edit UVs > Align.
Isolate selection buttons
These items let you work on a subset of UV faces while hiding the rest.
Toggle Isolate Select Mode Switches between showing all UVs and only the
isolated UVs. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select
> View Set.
Add selected to isolation Adds the selected UVs to the isolated subset.
When you click the Toggle isolation button the
selected UVs will be visible. Shortcut for View >
Isolate Select > Add Selected.
Remove selected from isola- Removes the selected UVs from the isolated
tion subset. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select > Re-
move Selected.
Remove all Clears the isolated subset. You can then select
a new set of UVs and click Toggle isolation to
isolate them. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select
> Remove All.
Image and texture buttons
These items let you control the display of images and textures in the UV
Texture Editor.
Display Image Shows or hides the texture image. Shortcut for

Image > Display Image.

Toggle Filtered Image Switches the background image between
hardware texture filtering and sharply defined
pixels. Shortcut for Image > Display Unfiltered.
Dim Image Reduces the brightness of the currently dis-

played background image. Shortcut for Image
> Dim Image.
View Grid Shows or hides the grid. Shortcut for View > Grid.
Pixel Snap Chooses whether to automatically snap UVs to

pixel boundaries. Shortcut for Image > Pixel Snap.
Shade UVs Shades selected UV shells in a semi-transparent

fashion so you can determine areas of overlap or
UV winding order.
Toggle Texture Borders Toggles the display of texture borders on UV

shells. Texture borders appear with a thick line.
Display RGB Channels Displays the RGB (color) channels of the selected
texture image. Shortcut for Image > Display RGB
Channels.
Display Alpha Channel Displays the Alpha (transparency) channel of the

selected texture image. Shortcut for Image >
Display Alpha Channels.
UV texturing buttons
UV Texture Editor Baking Bakes the texture and stores it in memory. See
Image > Dim Image on page 151. Shortcut for
Image > UV Texture Editor Baking.

Update PSD Networks Refreshes the PSD textures currently in use for
the scene. When you modify a PSD file (in Pho-
toshop) that is connected to a Maya PSD node
(in Maya), you can update (refresh) the image
in Maya to show the modifications immediately.
See Image > Update PSD Networks.
Force editor texture rebake Rebakes the texture. If you turn on Image > UV
Texture Editor Baking, you must rebake the tex-
ture (using Force Editor Texture Rebake) after
making changes to the texture (File node and
place2dTexture node attributes) in order to see
the effect of those changes.
Use Image Ratio Switches between showing square texture space

and texture space with the same ratio of width
to height as the image. Shortcut for Image > Use
Image Ratio.
UV edit buttons
U coordinate, V coordinate Shows the coordinates of the se-

lected UVs. Edit the text boxes
and press Enter to move the
points.
Refresh UV values The UV coordinates in the text

boxes on the toolbar do not up-
date automatically as you move
the selected UV point. Click the
refresh button to update the val-
ues in the text boxes.
UV Transformation Entry Changes the UV coordinate entry

mode between absolute and rel-
ative values. Also provides entry
of UV rotation values.

Copy Copies the selected UV points or
faces (depending on the
Copy/paste faces or UVs button)
to the clipboard.
Paste Pastes UV points or faces (depend-

ing on the Copy/paste faces or
UVs button) from the clipboard.
Paste U to selected UVs Pastes only the U values on the

clipboard onto the selected UV
points.
Paste V to selected UVs Pastes only the V values on the

clipboard onto the selected UV
points.
Copy/paste faces or UVs Switches the Copy and Paste

buttons on the toolbar between
working on UVs and UV faces.
Cycle UVs Rotates the U and V values of the

selected polygon.
UV Set Editor
Create UVs > UV Set Editor
The UV Set Editor lets you create and edit UV sets for multiple polygon meshes
simultaneously.
The UV Set Editor lists only the UV sets for the currently selected polygon
meshes. You must first select the polygon meshes in order to edit the UV sets.
New Creates a new, empty UV set on the currently selected objects. You can
then create the UVs in the set using one of the mapping/projection methods.
This feature is the same as Create UVs > Create Empty UV Set.
Rename Lets you rename the currently selected UV set.

Delete Deletes the currently selected UV set. This feature is the same as Create
UVs > Delete Current UV Set.
Copy Creates a new UV set based on an existing UV layout or transfers a UV

layout from one set to another. This feature is the same as Copy UVs to UV
Set.
Propagate Assigns the selected UV set from the UV Set Editor list to the selected
objects in the scene. The selected UV set becomes the active UV set for those
objects.
Unmapped Selects unmapped faces on any selected objects in the scene. This
aids in visually determining any areas where texture maps do not appear or
appear incorrectly.
UV Set Editor | 161

162
UVs tool reference
7
Move tool (in UV texture editor)
The Move tool has different options when you work in the UV texture editor
panel.
Retain Component Spacing When this option is off, if you snap to a point
(with grid snapping, point snapping, or pixel snapping), all selected UVs snap
to the same point, bunching them up.
When this option is on, if you snap to a point, the selected UVs keep their
positions relative to each other.
163
164
Index
A Bounding box (Planar Mapping
option) 97
Add selected to isolation (UV tool
button) 157
Adobe Photoshop texture, using as texture
C
map 153 camera view, use as planar
align UVs 114 projection 106
tool buttons 156 circle
alpha channel mapping UV border to 118
adjust for UV shells 151 mapping UVs to 60
display 152 Clipboard Actions
include (Warp image option) 116 Mesh menu 80
artwork, mapping onto character 4 Collectively (Normalize UVs option) 110
aspect ratio, preserve when normalizing colors
UVs 111 adding for UV shells 151
assign shader to projection 28 copying between polygons 80
attaching UV shells 52 UV sets for 13
automatic UV mapping 22 components
options 102 UVs, selecting 32
projection manipulator 23 confirming UV placement 28
separating, merging, attaching UV Constrain UVs (Unfold option) 125
shells 52 converting UV selection 33
user-defined projection 25 Copy (UV tool button) 160
Copy UVs to UV Set 84, 108
B Copy/paste faces or UVs (UV tool
button) 160
backdrop image, arranging UVs to 42 Create Empty UV Set 83, 107
Background color (Warp image Create PSD Network (UV Texture
option) 116 Editor) 153
background image, dimming 151 Create UVs Based On Camera 106
Background mode (Warp image creating
option) 115 per-instance UV sets 90
baking Cut UV Edges 134
per-instance UV sets 91 Cut UV Edges (Edit UVs menu) 134
UV texture 153 Cut UVs along selection (UV tool
Best plane (Planar Mapping option) 97 button) 155
Best Plane Texturing Tool 107 Cycle UVs (UV tool button) 160
Bilinear Filtering (Warp image Cylindrical Mapping 99
option) 116 cylindrical UV mapping 19
borders (see UV borders) 122 options 99
boundaries (see UV borders) 63
165 | Index
D Flip
UVs 111
decal sheet, UV mapping 4 flipping
Delete Current UV Set 84, 109 reversed UV shells (Layout
Delete UVs 43, 137 option) 131
deleting selected UV shells 111
UVs 137 UV faces 36
Dim Image (UV tool button) 158 UV shells 79
Display Alpha Channel (UV tool UV tool buttons 155
button) 158
Display Image (UV tool button) 157
Display RGB Channels (UV tool
G
button) 158 grid
displaying in UV Texture Editor 47
UVs 31 reposition UVs to 114
distortion UV tool button 156
of texture maps, minimize with Grid
Unfold 65 UVs 114
E H
edge path, selecting shortest 147 history, keep (Unfold option) 126
edges (see UV borders) 122
Edit NURBS UV mode 93
examples I
brick wall with spray paint on
top 12 Image menu
mapping artwork on games UV Texture Editor 151
character 4 Image Range (UV Texture Editor) 152
UVs needing editing 4 image ratio
warp image applications 45 change in UV Texture Editor 153
weight solver while unfolding images
UVs 126 assigned, viewing UVs with 34
background, dimming 151
creating by comparing UV sets 115
F keeping width/height ratio (Planar
Mapping option) 98
faces minimizing distortion with
selecting 147 Unfold 65
selecting from UV components 33 tile (Warp image option) 117
showing those inside selected UVs or using to arrange UVs 42
edges 35 warping 45
falloff Interactive Unfold/Relax Tool (UV Texture
UV Smudge tool 149 Editor)
file format tool button 155
Warp image option 116 isolating UVs 33
166 | Index
L normalize UVs 110
NURBS surfaces
lattice tool for UVs 49 assigning textures 2
options 148 editing UV texture coordinates 93
layered texture, UV sets 13
Layout
UVs 129
O
layout of UVs (see UV layout) 129 objects, defining for UV projection 26
light baking 11 orientation of UVs, buttons 155
lighting overlapping
information in UV sets 11 UV shells 6
limitations UVs 5
per-instance UV sets 93 UVs, viewing 54
Overwrite existing file (Warp image
M option) 116
manipulator
projection, for automatic
P
mapping 23 Paste (UV tool buttons) 160
Map UV Border 61, 117 Per Instance Shared 87
mapping UVs 6 Per Instance Unshared 87
to a square or circle 60 per-instance UV sets 87
marking menus baking 91
UV Texture Editor 10 creating 90
Merge UVs 136 example 88
Merge UVs (Edit UVs menu) 136 limitations 93
merging Percentage Space (Automatic mapping
UV shells 52 option) 106
meshes (see surface meshes) 29 perspective view
Move and Sew UV Edges 135 displaying with UV Texture Editor 9
Move and Sew UVs (UV tool button) 156 Photoshop texture, using as texture
Move UV Shell Tool (UV Texture map 153
Editor) 150 pinning UVs on border 63
tool button 154 Relax option 121
moving Unfold option 124
UVs 35 Pixel Snap (UV tool button) 158
multi-texturing with multiple UV pixels
layouts 11 blurring, turning off 151
snap UVs to 152
N switching between blended and
sharp-edged 42
New Image Name (Warp Image Planar Mapping 97
option) 115 planar UV mapping 15
non-manifold geometry planes
merging polygons 136 creating from vertices for
Normalize 110 projection 107
Index | 167
defining for projected UV Relax
mapping 25 UVs 63
mapping UVs 15 Relax (Edit UVs menu) 121
polygon meshes description 63
techniques for UV mapping 3 untangling UVs first 117
transfer UVs between 29 UV tool button 156
unfold 65 Rename Current UV Set 84, 109
unfold and relax example 73 resolution
unfold setup 66 warp image options 116
polygons reversing
assigning textures 2 UV shell 79
copying UVs, colors, shaders UV wounds 79
between 80 RGB channels, display 152
surface meshes, creating UVs 3 Rotate
tasks in UV Texture Editor 10 UVs 113
Polygons menu (UV Texture Editor) 140 UVs diescreetly 37
Delete UVs 44 Rotate UVs (UV tool buttons) 155
Unfold 65 rotating
pre-lighting surfaces 11 UV shells 79
projecting UVs UV shells for best fit (Layout
assign shader 107 option) 132
automatically from multiple UVs, description 35
planes 22 UVs, tool buttons 113
criteria for user-defined objects 26
cylindrical 19
defining planes 25
S
from specified plane 107 Scale mode
insert before deformers (Automatic automatic mapping option 104
mapping option) 103 scaling
insert before deformers (Cylindrical UVs 35
mapping option) 99 scene view
insert before deformers (Image selecting UVs 32
Mapping option) 98 Select menu (UV Texture Editor) 33, 147
planar (one plane) 15 Select Shortest Edge Path Tool (UV Texture
spherical 21 Editor) 147
use camera view 106 tool button 155
projection manipulator selection
Best plane option 97 converting to faces, edges, vertices,
Bounding box option 97 UVs 147
manually adjusting 98 UVs, UV components, UV shells 32
semitransparent display of UVs 54
R separating UV shells 52
Set Current UV Set 108
rectangle Sew UV Edges 135
place around UVs (lattice) 148 UV tool button 156
Refresh UV values (UV tool button) 159
168 | Index
Shade UVs 54 Subdivs menu (UV Texture Editor) 145
description 54 UV Snapshot 48
using¶ 55 subset of UVs, displaying 33
UV tool button 158 surface meshes
UV winding order 55 creating UVs for 2
shaders NURBs 2
assign to projection 107 polygons 2
copying between polygons 80 subdivision surfaces 2
shading techniques for UV mapping 3
storing information in UV sets 11 surfaces
sharing pre-lighting 11
UV sets 87
Shell stacking (Automatic mapping
option) 105
T
shells (see UV shells) 6 texture coordinates (see UVs) 1
shortest edge path, selecting 147 texture image
smudge tool (UVs) 51 modify using UV sets 115
settings 149 texture maps 1
snap UVs to grid 47 distorted 5
snapping for surface types 2
UVs 38 minimize distortion with Unfold 65
Source image name (Warp Image placement on 3D surfaces 1
option) 115 use Adobe Photoshop texture 153
spacing between UV shells 7 texture space, UV 1
Spacing presets textures
Automatic Mapping option 105 assigning to a UV set 85
Layout option 133 flipping 36
Spherical Mapping 100 repeating with UV range 6
spherical UV mapping 21 thicken borders 41
options 100 Textures menu (UV Texture Editor) 153
Split UVs 135 Tiled (Warp image option) 117
Split UVs (Edit UVs menu) 135 Toggle Filtered Image (UV tool
tool button 155 button) 158
square Toggle Isolate Select Mode (UV tool
mapping UV border to 117 button) 157
mapping UVs to 60 Toggle Texture Borders button (UV Texture
stacking UV shells (Layout option) 132 Editor button) 41
Straighten UV Border 63, 120 tool buttons, UV Texture Editor 154
straightening border UVs 62 Tool menu
options 120 UV Texture Editor 147
subdivision surfaces transparency
assigning textures 2 UV sets for 13
editing 145
exporting image of UVs 48
tasks in UV Texture Editor 10 U
U coordinate (UV tool button) 159
Index | 169
Unfold tool button 154
UVs 123 UV layout
Unfold UVs 65 modify 49
unfolding 65 options 129
description 65 UV shells 58
polygon UV texture mesh 70 UV tool button 156
preparing 68 UV mapping
tips 70 automatic (for best placement) 22
tool button 156 cylindrical 19
UV mesh 123 definition 2
Unitize planar 15
UVs 111 production workflow 4
unitizing UVs 111 spherical 21
untangling UVs user-defined 25
at borders 117 UV meshes 4
before mapping 60 reassembling 5
interior 63 transfer UVs between 29
unwrapping unfold and relax example 73
UV meshes with minimal unfold setup 66
distortion 65 unfolding 65
Update PSD Networks (UV tool unwrapping 123
button) 159 unwrapping with minimal
Use Image Ratio (UV tool button) 159 distortion 65
user-defined UV mapping 25 UV sets 11
criteria for projection objects 26 assigning textures to 85
UV borders compare to produce image 115
creating by splitting along selected comparing to create warp image 45
UVs 135 copying UVs to another 86
creating by splitting UV edges 134 creating 83
moving and sewing together 135 deleting 84
pinning to untangle interior 63 deleting current 109
pinning UVs on (Relax option) 121 duplicating 84
pinning UVs on (Unfold empty, creating 107
option) 124 for a layered texture 13
positioning 117 for color and transparency 13
selecting 147 menu (UV Texture Editor) 154
sewing 135 overview 11
straightening 62 per-instance 87
straightening, options 120 polygon mesh, specifying for 108
unitizing 111 renaming 84
untangling 60 renaming current 109
weighting 122 sharing 87
UV components source and destination, warp image
selecting 32 options 116
UV Lattice Tool 49 storing shading and lighting
description 148 information 11
170 | Index
switching between 84 copying UVs from one UV set to
UV shells 6 another 86
automatic mapping 23 Create PSD Network 153
avoid overlapping 6 displaying a subset of UVs 33
changing orientation 79 displaying with perspective view 9
components, selecting 32 dollying and tracking 41
exporting image of 48 editing UV texture coordinates
flipping 111 (NURBS) 93
flipping reversed (Layout grid 6, 47
option) 131 Image menu 151
laying out automatically 58 marking menus 10
layout options 104 menu items 140
merge together 136 overview 8
moving 36, 150 Polygons menu 140
positioning UVs on border 117 Select menu 33, 147
rearrange layout 129 selecting UVs 32
scaling options (automatic separate menus for UV tasks 10
mapping) 104 Shade UVs 55
scaling, stretching, flipping, smudge UV layout 51
arranging 58 Subdivs menu 145
selecting 147 switching between UV sets 84
selecting from UV components 33 Textures menu 153
selecting UVs 32 thicken texture borders 41
separating (Layout option) 131 tool buttons 154
separating, merging and Tool menu 147
attaching 52 toolbar options 154
shading 151 using image to arrange UVs 42
spacing between 7 UV Lattice Tool 49
spacing presets option 105 UV Sets menu 154
stacking options 105 UV snapshot of subdivision
straightening border UVs 62 surfaces 48
untangling border UVs 60 View menu 145
untangling interior UVs 63 viewing items 10
UV Smudge Tool 51 viewing overlapping UVs 54
description 149 viewing UVs 31
tool button 154 Warp Image 45
UV Snapshot 48 UV tool buttons, UV Texture Editor 154
description 48 UV Transformation Entry (UV tool
options 144 button) 159
Subdivs menu 48 UVs 1
UV Texture Editor 8 aligning 114
adjust size of image 152 aligning to grid 114
Align UV buttons 156 aligning, buttons 156
baking 153 arranging 6
Baking (UV tool button) 158 arranging using an image
changing UV shell orientation 79 backdrop 42
Index | 171
automatic mapping 22 snapping 38
best placement 22 snapping example 38
confirming placement 28 snapping to grid 47
constrain (Unfold option) 125 snapping to pixels 152
converting selection 33 splitting along edges 134
copying between polygons 80 splitting along selected path 135
copying to new UV set 108 straightening borders 62
creating 3 tasks in UV Texture Editor 10
definition 1 tips 4
deleting 43 transferring between meshes 29
discrete rotate and scale 37 unitizing 111
displaying 2D texture coordinates untangling at borders 60
with 3D scene view 9 untangling interior 63
displaying a subset 33 viewing in UV Texture Editor 31
displaying if texture image winding order 55
assigned 34 zooming in or out to see 41
distorted projection 5
editing for NURBS surfaces 93
evaluating 4
V
image of shell layout 48 V coordinate (UV tool button) 159
lattice, placing around 148 vertices, create projection plane
layout of shells 58 from 107
mapping techniques 3 View Grid (UV tool button) 158
mapping tips 6 View menu (UV Texture Editor) 145
menu reference 97 viewing UVs 31
moving, rotating, scaling 35
multiple layouts 11
normalizing 110 W
orientation, changing 155
overlapped, viewing 54 warp image 45
overlapped, why not desirable 5 applications 45
overlapping shells 6 description 45
overview 1 options 115
pin (Unfold option) 124 Warp Image
positioning on border of UV UVs 45, 115
shell 117 weight solver
repeating texture 6 Unfold UVs 123
rotating 113 workflow example 126
selecting components 32 winding order of UVs 55
separating, merging and attaching
shells 52 Z
sets, creating 83
sewing along edges 135 zooming
smudge layout 51 to show all UVs 41
172 | Index

MappingUVs PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

MappingUVs PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mapping UVs

Chapter 1 UV mapping overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2 Mapping UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 3 Editing UVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chapter 5 UVs menu reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 6 UVs windows and editors reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Chapter 7 UVs tool reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

UVs and texture mapping

2 | Chapter 1 UV mapping overview

■ Creating UVs on page 3

■ Viewing and evaluating UVs on page 4

■ UV Texture Editor overview on page 8

■ UV mapping tips on page 6

■ Automatic UV mapping on page 22

■ Planar UV mapping on page 15

■ Cylindrical UV mapping on page 19

■ Spherical UV mapping on page 21

■ User-defined UV mapping on page 25

■ Camera UV mapping - see Planar UV mapping on page 15

Each UV mapping technique produces UV texture coordinates for the surface

■ Introduction to UV mapping on page 1

■ Viewing and evaluating UVs on page 4

■ UV Texture Editor overview on page 8

Viewing and evaluating UVs

4 | Chapter 1 UV mapping overview

■ When you need to manually reassemble a UV mesh after using Automatic

■ Introduction to UV mapping on page 1

Viewing and evaluating UVs | 5

■ UV mapping tips on page 6

■ UV Texture Editor overview on page 8

Keep UVs within the 0 to +1 texture coordinates

Avoid overlapping UV shells

UV points have interconnecting lines that form a shape, called a UV shell. If

6 | Chapter 1 UV mapping overview

Spacing between UV shells

The spacing between UV shells is an important consideration. You’ll want to

To snap to... Hold Icon

(In the Status Line)

Other UVs (points) v

(In the Status Line)

(In the UV Texture Editor toolbar)

■ Pixel Snapping is measured by monitor pixels. You can zoom in close to

■ Introduction to UV mapping on page 1

■ Creating UVs on page 3

■ Viewing and evaluating UVs on page 4

■ UV Texture Editor overview on page 8

UV Texture Editor overview

8 | Chapter 1 UV mapping overview

UV Texture Editor overview | 9

Viewing items in the UV Texture Editor

When viewing UV texture coordinates in the UV Texture Editor you:

Marking menus in the UV Texture Editor

10 | Chapter 1 UV mapping overview

■ Introduction to UV mapping on page 1

■ Creating UVs on page 3

■ Viewing and evaluating UVs on page 4

■ Flip or rotate UV shells on page 79

■ Display UVs on page 31

■ Select UVs on page 32

The main steps to set up multi-texturing are:

■ Assign multiple textures to an object’s material.

■ Create UV sets with different layouts.

■ Link each UV set to a given texture using the Relationship Editor.