Usage in 3dsMax
Usage
Unwrella is designed to solve one of the most time-consuming tasks in 3D production: creating clean UVs for complex, irregular, and high-poly geometry.
Modern workflows rely on dense meshes and detailed assets that are difficult or impossible to unwrap manually. Unwrella removes this bottleneck completely.
There is no need to:
- manually place seams
- rearrange UV islands
- optimize layouts by hand
With a single click, Unwrella analyzes the geometry, generates seams, unwraps the mesh, and packs the UVs efficiently.
The Organic mode is ideal for complex, irregular shapes, where traditional workflows fail.
The Hard Surface mode is optimized for architectural and mechanical assets, delivering fast and clean results.
The Projection Unwrapping allows you to unwrap only visible areas—saving valuable UV space in environment and scene-based workflows.
Unwrella also integrates advanced UV packing, ensuring optimal texture usage even for large scenes with thousands of UV islands.
Basic Workflow
The typical Unwrella workflow consists of three simple steps:
Apply Unwrella
Select the object you want to unwrap and apply the Unwrella modifier from the modifier stack.
Choose Unwrap Mode
Select the appropriate mode depending on your geometry:
- Organic Mode → for smooth, curved objects (characters, cloth, etc.)
- Hard Surface Mode → for mechanical or angular objects
Generate UVs
Click Unwrap to generate the UV layout automatically.
Unwrella will:
- analyze geometry
- place seams automatically
- minimize stretching
- pack UV islands efficiently
Unwrap Modes
Unwrella provides three main modes optimized for different types of geometry.
Organic Mode
Designed for smooth and continuous surfaces:- minimizes distortion
- produces flowing UV layouts
- ideal for characters and natural shapes
Hard Surface Mode
Optimized for technical and mechanical geometry:- preserves sharp edges
- creates clean UV islands
- reduces visible seams
Projection Unwrap
The **Projection Unwrapping** allows you to unwrap only visible areas—saving valuable UV space in environment and scene-based workflows.It unwraps the geometry based on a given view perspective. Visible surfaces are distributed over the UV area while geometry not visible for the given view gets excluded. This allows a much more efficient use of UV space is the geometry is only seen from a fixed or slightly changing perspective. See Projection Unwrap for settings relating to this unwrap mode.
UV Channels
Unwrella works with UV channels, allowing non-destructive workflows.
- Source Channel → existing UVs (if available)
- Target Channel → where new UVs are written
👉 Best practice:
- Keep original UVs in Channel 1
- Generate new UVs in Channel 2
Seam Generation
Unwrella automatically detects optimal seam placement based on geometry.
You can control seam behavior by adjusting:
- angle thresholds
- smoothing parameters
- geometry interpretation
This allows you to balance:
- fewer seams
- lower distortion
Packing
After unwrapping, Unwrella automatically packs UV islands:
- maximizes texture space usage
- minimizes empty areas
- maintains consistent texel density
Tips for Best Results
- Apply Reset XForm before unwrapping
- Avoid non-uniform scaling
- Clean up overlapping or broken geometry
- Use appropriate unwrap mode for your asset type
When to Use Unwrella
Unwrella is ideal for:
- fast UV generation for large scenes
- preparing assets for texturing
- baking workflows
- real-time applications (games, VR, mobile)
Limitations
- Extremely complex or non-manifold geometry may require manual cleanup
- Artistic UV layouts may still require manual refinement
Summary
Unwrella automates one of the most time-consuming steps in 3D production:
- fast
- reliable
- production-ready UVs
Use it as a foundation and refine only where necessary.