U.V’s 

Creating U.Vs is like modelling in general. There are so many different ways to do it, it’s what the modeller is most comfortable with. Below are a few examples of how a good and bad texture map should look. Considering there are other ways to texture outside of Maya, like using polypaint techniques or photograph stretched faces in Z-Brush. Usually for these techniques the U.V’S need to be as similar to the model topology as you can get them, so they all line up perfectly.

Here is an example of an average texture map for a character face. The bottom U.Vs should have been sewn to the bottom of the face so that the skin could be cloned better and so the U.Vs were neater and flow more easily. There also a random patch of skin not attached to any part of the main face U.V. It is unclear by the map, what this part of the texture it is which is not very good.

 

This facial U.V and Texture is much better, it looks perfectly laid out so that the texture flows across the U.V and you can identify where about’s each part of the texture will lie on the model. The skin and hair are blended perfectly. Even the neck and Adams apple have clear definition, compared to the previous example.

 

In relation to the mesh’s body, try to stitch the U.Vs together like the face. It is good to avoid having random faces in different locations. We need to make sure that the U.V mesh is as simple as possible so that we can identify which parts are what on the texture.

Here is an example of the kind of U.V map that you should try to avoid. Although you can gather the body shape, the rest of the U.V’s thought are random and lack any form etc. There are several faces left alone in the top right of the map which have no place on the map. The body parts should be organised into clear sections. Usually, good practice is to map the characters head and face first and then map the other sections neatly together as the facial and head region requires sections for ears, neck, hair etc. and the torso can be combined into one U.V map.

Here is an example of a very good U.V map. All the pieces are sewn together and scaled properly. All sections are clearly marked and laid in separate sections, ready to be textured straight away. There are no loose U.V’s. The face is perfectly mapped and the entire map is well created! This is very good U.Ving practice.