Maya 2016 Better UV map techniques

jose.fuentes

Hey guys

I have a simple shape that I am UV'ing, while i know the current UV layout will work for what I need to do.  I'd like to see if i can learn some tips on cleaning up my UVS

this is the shape



these are the UVS



some of the issues that I'm facing 



On the image on the left, the UVS are rotated - everytime that I use unfold UV's Maya seems to rotate the shell.  is there a way to have maya not rotate the shell?

On the right image - looking for a good way to reduce the stretching of UV's

GlowingPotato

I hate maya UV tools... I always use UV layout even for a simple plane.

Sorry, can't help. But I think I heard about a new UV tool bundled with Maya bonus tools.

Quack!

Conical shapes, especially those with a large taper, do not straighten well at all.
You have to make the decision to add a seam on the bottom shape and break it into more uv islands.

Both of your problems stem from the same idea, although the right one should be able to reduce stretching by using the 'optimize/relax' command in Maya.

jose.fuentes

i was able to fix the issue on the right.  I had 8 vertexes, once i merged and relaxed the UV's it smoothed out 

@GlowingPotato - I had heard that there were new UV tools ,ill check bonus tools 

MethodJ

@jose.fuentes  The new UV functionality is the Unfold 3D tool, which does make unwrapping a snap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLhazEa8wmw

However it wouldn't entirely solve your problem, as Quack! noted, the shape of your object is difficult to get distortion-free.

musashidan

For tricky islands that are pretty much impossible to get distortion-free, additional cuts are required. The algorithm can only do so much, no matter the UV toolset being used.

jose.fuentes

thanks guys!