UVLayout. No matter how fast you can be in Max, UVLayout is so much faster when you learn the hotkeys. I thought I was fast in Max until I learned UVLayout. I unwrap, relax, and straighten in UVLayout, then I pack in Max. I mirror and overlap uvs and Max has the best control for manual packing.
Headus UVLayout, I tried it only recently, and because of faults in my original meshI had to redo the UV's a couple of time, but managed to do it all in the same evening with this gem of a program :).
I prefer to UV in Maya, any day of the week over Max. I learned to UV in Max but now I find it slow and clunky compared to Maya. I might have to give UVLayout a go though it would seem.
Headus UVLayout is hands down my favorite tool. The only time I'll use anything else is if I create a model entirely in zbrush in which I'd use that UV Master tool. It might be a bit confusing to use at first considering the UI is pretty minimal, but just watch a 10 - 20 minutes youtube video on it and you'll never turn…
after all i decided on uvlayout ..its not that hard..ive watch few tutorials and stuff..and from all those tools i have a question if i have like 2 arms..wich are identical bouth front side and back and left and right arm..is there an tool or option that will get them all in on uv ?instead of having like 2 arms but…
It's not really an extra import / export. I export from Max, unwrap and straighten in UVLayout, export back to Max and pack. All in all, the whole process is still faster than I ever was in Max alone. I like the vertex and grid snapping in Max. I use chugnuts (unwrap tools) in Max. I really like their displacement tools…