Editors
- UV Editor
-
Displays the UV Editor.
See UV Editor overview, UV Editor menu bar, and UV Editor marking menus.
- UV Set Editor
-
Displays the UV Set Editor. See UV Set Editor.
Create
- Assign Shader
-
Assigns a shader with a checkerboard texture 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.
- Automatic
-
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.
Select UV > Automatic >
to set the
Automatic Mapping options.
- 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 shape at a time. You can still use vertices from a different shape to define the plane. - Camera-Based
-
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.
Select UV > Camera-Based >
to set the
Camera-Based Mapping options.
- Cylindrical
-
Maps UV texture coordinates onto the selected objects by projecting them inward from an imaginary cylinder.
Select UV > Cylindrical >
to set the
Cylindrical Mapping options.
- Planar
-
Maps UV texture coordinates onto the selected surface mesh by projecting them along one direction from an imaginary plane.
Select UV > Planar >
to set the
Planar Mapping options.
- Spherical
-
Maps UVs onto the selected objects by projecting them inward from an imaginary sphere.
Select UV > Spherical >
to set the
Spherical Mapping options.
- Contour Stretch
-
Select UV > Contour Stretch >
to set the
Contour Stretch Mapping options.
Modify
- Align
-
Repositions any selected UVs so they are aligned to a particular U or V value based on the options setting. You can also click any of the align icons
on the
UV Editor toolbar.
Select UV > Align >
to set the
Align UVs options.
- Flip
-
Flips the positions of the selected UV shells either horizontally or vertically. You can also click the flip icons
on the
UV Editor toolbar.
Select UV > Flip >
to set the
Flip UVs options.
- Grid
-
Repositions any currently selected UV to its nearest grid intersection in UV texture space. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar.
Select UV > Grid >
to set the
Grid UVs options.
- Layout Rectangle
-
Creates an evenly distributed UV rectangle from a selection of two vertices. The selected vertices define the top left (0,1) and bottom right (1,0) corners of a rectangular patch of geometry.
- Normalize
-
Scales the UVs of the selected components to within the 0 to 1 range of the UV texture space or within the closest UV tile. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar.
Select UV > Normalize >
to set the
Normalize UVs options.
- Rotate
-
Rotates the positions of the selected UVs. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar to rotate UVs.
Select UV > Rotate >
to set the
Rotate UVs options.
- 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 Editor.
Select UV > Unitize >
to set the
Unitize UVs options.
- 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.
Select UV > Map UV Border >
to set the
Map UV Border options.
- 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.
Select UV > Straighten UV Border >
to set the
Straighten UV Border options.
- Optimize
-
Lets you untangle and even out the spacing between UV coordinates on a shell. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar to relax UVs using the current settings.
Select UV > Optimize >
to set the
Optimize UVs options.
- Unfold
-
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. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar to unfold the selected UVs using the current settings.
Select UV > Unfold >
to set the
Unfold UVs options.
- 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.
Select UV > Layout >
to set the
Layout UVs options.
- 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.
Select UV > Warp Image >
to set the
Warp Image options.
Edit
- Auto Seams
-
Allows Maya to automatically select or cut edges on the selected object/UV shells to form appropriate seams. For more information, see Auto Seams options.
- 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 Editor. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar to use this tool. See
Cut UV Tool.
- 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.
- 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.
For more information, see Merge UVs options.
- 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 UVs features. This feature is also available from the toolbar of the UV Editor.
You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar to move and sew edges.
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.
Select UV > Move and Sew UV Edges >
to set the
Warp Image UVs options.
- Sew UV Edges
-
Attaches UVs along the selected borders, but does not move them together in the UV Editor view. You can also click
on the
UV Editor toolbar to use this tool.
- Split UVs
-
Separates UVs from each other along the edges connected to the selected UV points, creating borders.
Tip: Quickly separate UVs by clicking the Split UVs icon
on the
UV Editor toolbar.
- 3D Grab UV Tool
-
Use this tool to manipulate UVs directly on a model in your scene.
Select UV > 3D Grab UV Tool >
to set the
3D Grab UV Tool options.
Sets
- Copy UVs to UV Set > Copy into New UV Set
-
Creates a new UV set based on an existing UV layout or transfers a UV layout from one set to another.
Select UV > Copy UVs to UV Set > Copy into New UV Set >
to set the
Copy into New UV Set options.
- 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.
Select UV > Create Empty UV Set >
to set the
Create Empty UV Set options.
- Delete Current UV Set
-
Deletes the currently selected UV set.
- Rename Current UV Set
-
Lets you rename the currently selected UV set.
Select UV > Rename Current UV Set to set the Rename Current UV Set options.
- 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.
Select UV > Set Current UV Set to set the Set Current UV Set options.
- Per Instance Sharing
-
Provides options to share instances, select shared instances, or to make the selected instance current.