What program do you use to UV map your models? Explain.
Diomede
Posts: 15,388
in The Commons
what program do you use to UV map your models?
Explain
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Blender, as I use it for modelling; also looking forward to their new UV system, although not sure if that is due with 2.8; Eavee is getting a lot of attention, but I'm more interested in their new UV when it arrives.
New UV system in the works? Was not aware. Thank you.
Anyone still use old classics like UVMapper Pro?
Dedicated programs like UVLayout or Ultimate Unwrap?
Can 3DCoat do uvmpping?
Prefer to use whichever program used as the modeler?
Blender as well.
Headus' UV Layout, excelent program.
I use UV Layout Pro.
I also use Blender. Started because I was a cheapskate, but then I realized it's super easy to use :D
...ouch, expesnive programme, even for the hobbyist version.
Hopefully in the rework of Hexagon they include a decent set of UV mapping tools.
I only use UV Mapper to export template and fix some things, but not to do a uv map
Never used UVLayout or Ultimate Unwrap, tho I heard they're very good.
3DCoat makes excellent uv maps.
I still use Roadkill believe it or not...force of habit ;).
Laurie
Modo, cos that's where I do most of my modelling. Even when I make stuff in Carrara, I'll often tweak the UV in Modo. (cos the UV editor in Carrara really is like, the bit they forgot to finish)
here ya go, the top 6 mappers
https://www.slant.co/topics/2560/~uv-mapping-software
I usually use Ultimate Unwrap 3D, but I tried Roadkill and really liked it, so might be switching.
a crazy mix of Carrara, Zbrush UV master plugin and Ultimate Unwrap 3D
I really do not know what I am doing but between those 3 end up with something
If you do use Roadkill just remember to make your material zones AFTER you make the UVs (Roadkill hoses the material zones) :P
Laurie
Thank you, everyone. @FSMCDesigns, very interesting list and reviews.
One of my FAV app's for mapping n texuring allegorithmic.com .It's killer fast n makes wicked textures
...sadly it sounds like the best either involve a fairly substantial outlay in Zloty's or time and frustration.
If the new version of Hexagon doesn't have a decent UV mapping/wrapping utility, then I'll probably bow out of modelling as I cannot afford tools that cost 100s if not 1,000s or that make me feel like I've beat my head against a concrete wall for a couple days.
SP cannot create UV's
i use Modo and UVLayout, Modo for primary UVing, and UVL for 'difficult' meshes that need 'relaxing/flattening.
the tools in Modo make it very easy to cut seam lines for creating your UV islands, and you can organise the islands in any way that you desire. it also works with UDIM tiling for the different sections
that may be required. the only thing on the 'con' side is that the relaxing algorithm does struggle with 'dense' meshes, so it pays to UV as early in the modelling process as you can.
btw, you do not NEED expensive programs to create your UVs. i have some of AllenArt's products, and her UVs are always very clean and logically laid out
I use Lightwave 3D for two reasons. First, I own a copy of it as it's my favourite 3D modeling app. Second, as a programmer, if it can't do something I need, I will write my own plugin. For example, I wrote a UV plugin to make the UV's rectangular and/or evenly distribute uv points in one or both directions. It works on your UV selection and is quite useful when you want to have that perfectly clean UV map on rectangular UV areas. It's available on Newtek's site. I have other plugins as well. The strange thing is that Lightwave was traditionally known as one of the worst tools for UV, but it's starting to have quite a few plugins that make it really powerful. Some of the unwrap tools are really nice. In Lightwave 2018, they added support for UDIM.
...I've tried using the free version of UV Mapper and it just seems so clumsy and imprecise. One of the things that bothered me is it was difficult to expand the workspace proportionally to do fine work and maps would often stretch out of proportion.
Inside Lightwave.
Also make your material zones afterwards, if you're texturing with Substance Painter. (it'll spit each mat zone out as a separate set of maps, even if they fit on the same UV)
..but isn't the whole idea of UV mapping to create material zones?
No, UVing is to tell an image how to wrap around the model.
Yep. It's the easiest I have found. ( Or is it UVMapper classic? I can't remember. It's free anyway)
...so how do you set up material zones then?
you can actually do that in DS with the geometry editor tool
You select a group of polygons and make it a material zone. It's like using the geometry editor. the models are already UVMapped, you are just creating material zones.
I use UV Mapper classic to make the uv templates I need to include with products, it's also great for consolidating a ton of seperate groups into one group (I often work with layers and layers of different bits and pieces) Hexagon sometimes makes a mess if I rename all the groups the same, and deleting all the unused ones in DS after making a conforming figure is tedious.. in UV Mapper classic it's like a couple clicks and typing a group name if I don't already have one that I want to use. Also great for double checking and fixing if Hexagon left any extra material zones (the deaded default surface), again fixable in DS but easier in UV Mapper. Before I got UV Layout I used just Hexagon's UV tools and UV Mapper classic, I got along okay, it's just a lot more tedious and time comsuming than UV Layout.
Or in Hexagon, it's usually easier in Hex.
...well yes and no as it can be extremely tedious, particularly on a large detailed model that has layered polys.
I've used it for kitbashing and one small slip up often requires you to start all over again (and it is painful for me to keep holding down the Shift or CTRL key for long periods of time.
For example in one scene that used the Magnus Manor set. I created a "Positif" division for the organ by using a second instance of the instrument on a smaller scale. Creating a separate material zone for the entire bottom of the model so I could "turn it off" in the surfaces tab and just have the upper part of the case with pipework, took well over an hour because of all the hidden polys I had to remove, and backtracking if I highlighted too much (again digital painting is not my strong suit as I have stiff and unsteady hands).
[see attached image]
Can this be done in a modelling programme?