Unwrapping Options
Options
The Unwrella-IO “Unwrap” Tab contain the most important options for UV unwrapping process, focusing on ease of use with its main header containing key settings and lower part containing extra options.
For a detailed explanation of UV packing Tab options, please refer to the “Pack Settings” section of this manual.
The workflow is a simple, four-step process, making UV unwrapping and packing intuitive and efficient. This approach allows for a smooth experience, enabling you to focus on creativity while achieving optimal results with minimal effort.
Simple & Fast UV Unwrapping
Selecting the “Unwrap” Tab
Navigate to the “Unwrap” tab located at the top of the widget to access unwrapping and packing options.
Choose the Unwrap Method
Select the unwrap method that best suits your 3D object or scene topology. For structured and angular models, such as architectural buildings, the “Hard Surface” method is the most effective. In contrast, for organic models like handcrafted creatures or rounded assets with clean topology, the “Organic” method provides better results.
For more details on each method’s functionality, refer to the descriptions below.
Unwrap the Object(s)
In most cases, simply pressing the “Unwrap” button will automatically generate and pack the UVs.
Using UV Channels for Organization
To organize UV packing results across different UV Channels, first, identify the source UV channel where your current UVs are stored. Next, select the target (destination) UV channel, where the packed UVs will be placed.
In most basic scenarios, both the source and destination channels are set to Channel 0 by default. However, using an empty UV slot in the right side-bar allows you to preserve the original UV layout while storing the packed version in a separate, available channel. This approach helps maintain flexibility and prevents unwanted modifications to the original UVs.
Preview the Result
After starting the calculation, wait for the process to complete. Once finished, the main viewport will display the updated UV layout. Review the results carefully and, if necessary, adjust the settings to achieve a more optimal outcome.
Unwraping Types
Unwrella-IO offers three types of UV unwrapping and two UV packing methods.
Hard Surface Unwrapping Mode
This mode is ideal for geometry that is predominantly sharp, well-defined, and angular. Often referred to as Mechanical Forms, Geometric Hard-Surface, Low-Curvature Geometry, or Technical Modeling, it is commonly used in architecture, technology, and industrial design. Typical examples include buildings, office desks, bookshelves, and sci-fi panelized designs. The Hard Surface unwrapping method, based on angle detection, is highly efficient, offering extremely fast calculations while minimizing UV stretching, making it an optimal choice for structured, rigid objects.
Organic Unwrapping Mode
The Organic mode is best suited for geometry that features smooth, flowing shapes with a clean quad-based topology and logical edge flow. This method is ideal for characters, creatures, and natural objects, where seamless UV mapping is essential. Unwrella-IO applies an intelligent approach by analyzing curvature, automatically placing UV seams along natural transitions. It then unfolds and relaxes the UVs to generate optimal pelted UV charts, ensuring minimal distortion and efficient texture space usage.
Mosaic Unwrapping Mode
The Mosaic mode is designed for irregular and complex surfaces that do not fit well into either the Hard or Organic unwrapping methods. Using Hard mode on such surfaces would result in overly fragmented UV maps, while Organic mode could lead to long calculation times and excessive UV stretching. This mode is particularly useful for highly triangulated, bent, or faceted topologies, such as photogrammetry scans or rough, uneven 3D models. Mosaic aims to minimize UV stretching while keeping the number of UV charts as low as possible, ensuring an efficient and well-balanced UV layout.
Pack
When you choose the “Pack” option in Unwrella-IO, it automatically organizes all the UV data in your project. This includes all objects or any selected sub-objects. This default setting is designed to ensure a comprehensive and orderly arrangement of all your UV elements, leaving none unattended. Keep in mind that the “Pack” option is configured to manage all active UV data as a standard.
Keep
“Keep” (Keep Existing") - All existing UV data remains unchanged. Charts are just merged together but no changes tu the UV layout are made. UV charts are simply merged without any alteration to their layout. This mode is ideal when UV isles are already finalized. It’s important for users to ensure there are no overlaps in the UV charts, as Unwrella-IO will not adjust or move them.
UV Channels Usage
In Unwrella-IO, UV Channels are conveniently located on the right sidebar. The software currently supports up to 8 UV Channels. These channels are displayed in a row and offer functionalities such as filling with UV data, copying, swapping, or deleting. This positions Unwrella-IO as an exceptionally efficient tool for organizing UV Channels in the market.
The core concept of the Source->Target UV Channel feature is to provide users with the flexibility to maintain original UV data, typically in UV Channel Source “0”. Users can then pack this data into UV Channel Target “1” or any other available channel. This approach ensures that the new packed UVs are stored in a separate channel, preserving the original data. Once the packing yields satisfactory results, the newly packed data can be transferred to overwrite the original source channel. This method allows for a non-destructive workflow, where UV Channels serve as temporary data containers for experimentation and testing. Another productive application of this feature is the ability for artists to create different UV Sets tailored for specific purposes in subsequent 3D applications. For instance, UV Channel 0 might contain the base UV set with proportionally packed UV islands. UV Channel 1 could be used to pack all UV data with larger padding, optimizing it for light map calculations. Meanwhile, UV Channel 3 might be dedicated to a subset of UV data, maximizing UV space utilization for higher texture pixel density. Once configured in Unwrella-IO, these UV Channels can be accessed and utilized as needed in the 3D application, depending on the specific requirements of the project.
In 3D software, UV channels are essentially layers of UV maps for a single 3D model. Each channel can contain a unique UV map, allowing different textures to be applied to the model in various ways.
UV channels are used when a single model requires multiple textures applied in different ways. For example, one UV channel might be used for color textures, while another could be for bump mapping or specular maps. This allows for greater flexibility and complexity in texturing.
Most 3D software supports the use of multiple UV channels for each model, allowing for diverse and complex texturing techniques. Each channel can host its own unique UV layout, tailored to specific types of textures or mapping needs. This feature is particularly beneficial in advanced texturing, where different texture aspects require distinct mappings.
- Unreal Engine: In Unreal, artists have access to 8 UV Channels.
- Unity Engine: Unity supports 4 UV Channels.
- Autodesk 3ds Max: A robust offering is found in 3ds Max, with up to 99 UV Channels available. This extensive range caters to highly detailed and complex texturing needs in various 3D projects.
- Maya: In Maya, these are referred to as “UV Sets.” This terminology reflects the software’s approach to managing multiple texturing layers, providing artists with a powerful tool for detailed texture mapping.
- Blender: Blender users will find this functionality under “UVMaps.” This feature integrates seamlessly with Blender’s comprehensive texturing and modeling capabilities, offering ample room for creative texturing workflows.
The availability and naming conventions of UV channels or sets vary across different software, but they all serve the essential purpose of enhancing the texturing process, allowing for more detailed and sophisticated 3D models.
UV channels are widely used in various fields, such as game development, film, and animation. They allow for detailed and realistic texturing of 3D models by enabling different texture effects to coexist on the same model without interfering with each other.
Utilizing UV Channels in Unwrella-IO
In Unwrella-IO, UV Channels are conveniently located on the right sidebar. The software currently supports up to 8 UV Channels. These channels are displayed in a row and offer functionalities such as filling with UV data, copying, swapping, or deleting. This positions Unwrella-IO as an exceptionally efficient tool for organizing UV Channels in the market.
The core concept of the Source->Target UV Channel feature is to provide users with the flexibility to maintain original UV data, typically in UV Channel Source “0”. Users can then pack this data into UV Channel Target “1” or any other available channel. This approach ensures that the new packed UVs are stored in a separate channel, preserving the original data. Once the packing yields satisfactory results, the newly packed data can be transferred to overwrite the original source channel. This method allows for a non-destructive workflow, where UV Channels serve as temporary data containers for experimentation and testing.
Another productive application of this feature is the ability for artists to create different UV Sets tailored for specific purposes in subsequent 3D applications. For instance, UV Channel 0 might contain the base UV set with proportionally packed UV islands. UV Channel 1 could be used to pack all UV data with larger padding, optimizing it for light map calculations. Meanwhile, UV Channel 3 might be dedicated to a subset of UV data, maximizing UV space utilization for higher texture pixel density. Once configured in Unwrella-IO, these UV Channels can be accessed and utilized as needed in the 3D application, depending on the specific requirements of the project.
How to use Channels
Define Source - Target
Keep 0 as “Source”, as long as there are UV data. Then, either leave “Target” to 0, which will overwrite your UV data with the new UV packed data, or chose another UV Channel to store the UV packed data.
Pack Your UVs
Once you are satisfied with the UV Tile subdivision, simply click the “Unwrap” button. This will execute the packing process, organizing your UVs into the specified UV Channels. Please consult the “UV-Sidebar” and the “Getting Started” tutorials for the full explanation and case studies.
Fast Combining
One of the most common and efficient techniques for UV unwrapping is to unwrap objects individually, verify the results, and then move on to the next. This approach ensures that each object is optimized separately, reducing the risk of distortion or inefficient UV space usage.
Once all objects are unwrapped, use Quick-Pack to automatically arrange them into the next available UV slot, creating a clean and structured final layout.
For additional workflow optimizations, refer to the Tips & Strategies subchapter.