3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [352]
New Feature
The UVW Editor has been overhauled in 3ds Max 2012. Most of the common menu commands are now icon buttons, and several new features—such as the Peel toolset and the Grouping tools—are new. •
You also can use the Unwrap UVW modifier to apply multiple planar maps to an object. You accomplish this task by creating planar maps for various sides of an object and then editing the mapping coordinates in the Edit UVWs interface.
Selecting UVW subobjects
The Unwrap UVW modifier lets you control precisely how a map is applied to an object. The Unwrap UVW modifier has Vertex, Edge, and Face subobject modes. In subobject mode, you can select a subobject, and the same selection is displayed in the Edit UVWs interface and vice versa. This synchronization between the Edit UVW window and the viewports helps to ensure that you're working on the same subobjects all the time.
The Selection rollout, shown in Figure 33.3, includes a button with a plus sign and one with a minus sign. These buttons grow or shrink the current selected subobject selection. When Edge subobjects are selected, the Ring and Loop buttons and the Point-to-Point Edge Selection button become active. The Point-to-Point Edge Selection button is a great way to create seams. When you select two points, all the edges connecting those two points are selected.
In Face subobject mode, the Select by Material ID and Select by Smoothing Group buttons are active. The Select by Element button selects all the subobjects in the current element, which is an easier way to quickly select all subobjects of a defined element. You also can select to Ignore Backfacing and Select by Planar Angle.
FIGURE 33.3
The Selection panel for the UVW Unwrap modifier lets you work with Vertex, Edge, and Face subobjects.
The Select menu commands let you convert selections between vertices, edges, and faces. Additional options in the Select menu let you select all inverted and overlapped faces, allowing you to find potential problem areas.
Accessing the Edit UVWs interface
The Edit UVs rollout includes a button named Open UV Editor. This button opens the Edit UVWs interface. Within the UVW Editor, you have complete control over the various UVs, and the subobject selected in the viewport also is selected within the UVW Editor. The UVW Editor also can select and display the applied texture bitmap; the mapped bitmap also is shown in the viewport.
Tweaking vertices in the viewport
The Edit UVs rollout also includes a Tweak in View button. When this button is enabled, you can drag a single vertex in the viewports to move the texture mapping. This doesn't cause the vertex's actual position in the scene to move, only the mapping. The effects of this mode are apparent only in the viewport when the texture is visible. Texture maps can be made visible in the viewports using the Views⇒Show Materials in Viewports As⇒Shaded Materials with Maps or Realistic Materials with Maps.
Using the Quick Planar Map
One of the easiest ways to isolate mapping surfaces is with the Quick Planar Map button found in the Edit UVs rollout under the Tweak in View button. If you select a set of faces either in the viewports or in the Edit UVW window and click this button, a planar map based on the X, Y, Z or an Averaged Normals is separated and the selected area is marked with a map seam. A button to Display Quick Planar Map shows the orientation of the mapping plan when enabled. Quick Planar Maps are one of the easiest ways to select, orient, and group mapping areas together.
Saving and loading mapping coordinates
You also can load and save the edited mapping coordinates using the Save and Load buttons in the Channel rollout, and the Reset UVWs button resets all the mapped coordinates. Saved mapping coordinate