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898 Chapter 8: Modifiers
causes the shared edges to highlight), and then
choose the command. In the Stitch Tool dialog
(page 1–918),adjustthesettings,andthenclick
OK to accept or Cancel to abort.
Pack UVs —Distributes all texture-coordinate
clusters through the texture space using one of two
methods and spa cing you specify. This is useful
if you have several overlapping clusters and wish
to separate them.
Choosing Pack UVs opens the Pack dialog (page
1–909).
Sketch V er t ices—Lets you draw outlines for vertex
selections with the mouse. This is useful for
matching coordinate cluster outlines to sections of
the texture map en masse, without having to move
vertices one at a time.
Choosing Sketch Vertices opens the Sketch Tool
dialog (page 1–916).SketchVerticesisavailable
only in the Vertex sub-object mode.
Relax Dialog—Opens the non-modal Relax Tool
dialog (page 1–912), which lets you change t he
apparent surface tension in a selection of texture
vertices by moving vertices closer to, or away from,
their neighbors. Relaxing texture vertices can
make them more evenly spaced, resulting in easier
texture mapping. Available at all sub-object levels.
Note: This command, as well as a Relax command
that lets you apply the default settings to the
current selection without opening the dialog, are
available as assignable keyboard shortcuts (page
1–900).
R end er UVW Templ a te—Opens the Render UVs
dialog (page 1–914), which lets you export texture
mapping data as an image file that you can then
import into 2D paint software.
Mapping menu
Lets you apply one of three different t ypes of
automatic, procedural mapping methods to a
model. Each method provides settings so you can
adjustthemappingtothegeometryyou’reusing.
With each metho d, the mapping is applied to the
current face selection; if there is no face selection it
is applied to the entire mesh.
Here’s a quick overview of the three methods:
• Flatten mapping prevents overlap of mapping
clusters, but can still cause texture distortion.
• Normal mapping is the most straightforward
method,butcanresultinevengreatertexture
distortion than with Flatten mapping.
• Unfold mapping eliminates texture distortion,
but can result in overlapp ing coordinate
clusters.
Tip: In many cases, one of the automatic mapping
functions will prov ide useful results. But with
certain custom or complex objects, you might
get the b est results with manual mapping; use a
variation of t he basic procedure (page 1–880),or
use a procedu ra l method as a starting point for
custom mapping.
Flatten Mapping—Applies planar maps to groups
of contiguous faces that fall within a specified
angle threshold.
Choosing Flatten Mapping opens the Flatten
Mapping dialog (page 1–907).
Nor mal M apping—Applies pla nar maps based on
different vector-projection methods.
Choosing Normal Mapping opens the Normal
Mapping dialog (page 1–908).
Unfold M apping—Unfolds the mesh so you get no
face distortion, but does not guarantee that faces
will not overlap.
Choosing Unfold Mapping opens the Unfold
Mapping dialog (page 1–919).