Texture Coordinates

= Texture Coordinates = Texture coordinates, also called UVs, are pairs of numbers stored in the vertices of a mesh, often used to stretch a 2D texture onto a 3D mesh.

UV Tutorials

 * Organic rock UV seams Polycount forum thread, how to create good UVs for spheroids.
 * UV Theory Polycount forum thread, how to plan good UVs.
 * As it turns out, we all suck at unwrapping? Polycount forum thread.
 * Unwrapping a sphere Polycount forum thread, good methods for UVing spheres. For sphere modeling tips see Sphere Topology.
 * First-Person Weapon UVs by Joe 'EarthQuake' Wilson, good weapon UVs.
 * Maya / Mudbox: Street Cop Workflow by Mashru Mishu, good character UVs.
 * uv + turbosmooth= big problem Polycount forum thread, how to prevent 3ds Max subdivision from distorting UVs. A similar thread: Best way to approach unwrapping UVWs with Meshsmooth?
 * What's an 8-sided tiled texture ? Polycount forum thread, how to edit textures so you can rotate and mirror them on adjacent polygons without seams.
 * See also Light Map Texture Coordinates

3ds Max

 * TexTools
 * Texture Atlas Generator
 * turboTools
 * Normalize UVs Maxscipt
 * LCSM Unwrap
 * 3ds Max Bridge to Headus UV Layout
 * 3ds Max Bridge to Roadkill
 * morphMap

Maya

 * Maya Bridge to Headus UV Layout
 * Texturing Scripts on CreativeCrash.com
 * Castor Lee's Auto UV Mapper

Softimage / XSI

 * Softimage Bridge to Headus UV Layout
 * Texturing Scripts on CreativeCrash.com
 * Softimage Bridge to Roadkill

UV Map Grids
This is a texture to use while unwrapping a mesh. Sometimes called a custom uv map template, a uv checker, or a test grid.

Good things to have in a uv map grid:
 * A large checker grid to see large distortions.
 * A fine per-pixel grid to see small distortions.
 * Circles help with solving distortion, as it's easier for the human eye to see when a circle is distorted than a square.
 * Unique colors across the map, to see where the UV is tiling.
 * Letters and/or numbers to see when the UV is reversed.
 * Letters and/or numbers to see where a mesh feature is located in UV space.