Question about uv's and texel density

IronHawk

Just a quick question here.

Is it better to us up all the space on a uv map or maintain even texel density? I thinking of an example like a barrel where you have one big piece and two ends that don't take up that much room.

Mark Dygert

It depends on the engine you're working with but it might be better to handle it in two textures instead of one. Or maybe UV Map/tile the barrel polys to a strip maybe two and place them on the side/top/bottom of the barrel top, kind of like a frame.

I guess it also depends if you'll ever see the bottom of the barrel, make it tiny?

Eric Chadwick

Better to use one texture instead of two, less texture fetches (can slow down the framerate). Use the empty space to pack another entity's texture into the same map.

IronHawk

thanks for the feedback guys.