2009

Table Of Contents
modify and save the file in Photoshop
®
, remember to select Image > Update
PSD Network in the UV Texture Editor so the texture map gets updated on
the model in the Maya scene.
If you would like to learn how to render an image of the cracker box model
see the Rendering chapter of this guide as well as the Maya Help to learn more
about lighting, shading, and rendering.
This lesson used a simple polygonal model to introduce the fundamental
concepts. When you work with more complex polygonal and subdivision
surface models, you can also:
layout overlapping UV shells that occur as a result of UV projection
mapping to ensure they fit within the 0 to 1 texture space using Edit UVs
> Layout.
maximize the use of texture space by forcing the UV borders to be mapped
to the full area of the 0 to 1 UV texture range using Edit UVs > Map UV
Border
align UVs to one another or snap them to the grid in the 2D view
untangle a UV mesh that contains overlapping UVs using Edit UVs > Relax.
modify a group of selected UVs using UV Lattice and UV Smudge tools
In general, you should begin texturing a model only after the model is fully
complete. Otherwise, changes to the model may affect the associated UV
texture coordinates which in turn will affect how the texture appears on the
model.
In this lesson you matched the UVs to an existing texture image. Many texture
artists create good UV layouts for their models prior to creating the actual 2D
images for their texture maps. This is done only after the model is fully
complete.
You can export a bitmap image of the 2D view of the UV Texture Editor to
use as a guide for painting a texture in your favorite image creation software.
In the UV Texture Editor, select Polygons > UV Snapshot to export the image.
If you use Adobe
®
Photoshop
®
for image creation and editing you can create
a UV snapshot in a .PSD file format that creates the UV image on a separate
layer. To create the .PSD format file while working in the UV Texture Editor,
select Image > Create PSD Network.
If you want to learn more about a particular tool or feature that was used in
this lesson, please refer to the Maya Help.
374 | Chapter 8 Polygon Texturing