Maya users, any plugins or software to aid UV mapping?

JamesLarden

Hey there PolyCount, was wondering if any Maya users here knew of any good plugins or seperate software that would be good for UVing, right now it's the only thing i'm struggling with, I can't seem to get it right.

So is there anything to make my life easier or do I just have to do it the plain old maya uv-texture editor way?

Sinking

Get Maya 2015, it has the best UV tools. If you cannot work with these you need to practice. If you don't have 2015, you could consider getting Roadkill UV, which I used too, before 2015 came out. And if you can get used to the controls, Headus UV is still one of the best unwrappers I know. I think there are some that are really expensive, and are supposed to work great, but honestly UVs are just a matter of practice. After a few months of modeling and texturing you are racing through this stuff

JamesLarden

Thanks for the advice, and I think i'll go and get 2015 now, didn't know that it updated the UV tools, and I was thinking about RoadKill but if I can just get 2015 instead then I might aswell do that.

Guess I better get practicing ^^.

peanut™

JamesLarden wrote: »

any plugins or software to aid UV mapping?

Have a look at: http://lab.hydralab.com/blog/pelting/, i had lots of success with this little gem. Works under anything in Maya.

Joopson

http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/script/nightshade-uv-editor !!!!!!

Nightshade UV is great. And free. And great. Also, it's great.

And it's made by a Polycounter.

jwfitt

I really love the free CAS plugin:

http://www.castorlee.com/maya-tools/auto-uv-mapper

Sean VanGorder

Nightshade is great, like Joopson said.

Also UVDeluxe

And Ninja Dojo, but its not free.

peanut™

Yeah, i forgot about Nightshade, thanks

Sinking

What I forgot to say, I use the Maya UV tools (Maya version 2015) in conjunction with the Bonus tools. With the Auto-UV function in Bonus Tools 2015 you can make edge selections and get a preview of your UV result. If you don't like it you can go back a step and make some changes and preview again. It's always been in Bonus tools, but with the new UV-algorythm it actually is a great tool to use now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJx3xr0xOM