I've read on this forum a while ago that somebody was using a Max script or plugin that could calculate what % of your UV layout is unused space. I have been searching this forum and can't find it anywhere Can anybody tell me what this script or plugin is called?
Well the script works a bit different than just finding the area between the UVs. For example if you face mapped a box, this script will output 600%, because each side of the box is using 100%. So for a character that is mirrored perfectly you should shoot for 200%. But wether it's in Photoshop or this script everyone…
I made that years ago for Poop Mathis. http://www.juantwo.com/scripts/Martinez_Macro_TextureArea.zip Put it in the ..Max\UI\MacroScript\ folder, restart max, and look in the monsterBlues category to bind it to a hotkey.
You can also use your standard exported UV's, click outside them using the magic wand with the threshold set to 0 and contiguous checked, go to quick mask mode and then do basically as Ghostscape said. The Color palette will even give you a % that way. Moot point if you have a script though - neat