character head/neck UVing question.....please help

fritz

when texturing a characters head...do you guys lay the neck UV's separate from the head UV's? i've seen tons of head textures...but the neck is never attached. and if you do separate the head and neck...where is the best place to do so.

PS. the character i'm working on has no necklace, etc. to hide a seam....

thanks

MoP

I usually attach the neck to the head wherever possible. It really depends on the optimal UV layout and how the geometry is built. There is no "correct" solution really. You want as few seams as possible, but don't do it at the expense of excessive warping or weirdness.

Even if you do split it off, I'd say it's best to do around the base of the jaw, since that's hardly ever seen, and anyway, colours around those areas are usually pretty uniform anyway, so it's easy to paint over and hide the seams.