Unwrap UVW Tutorial For Beginners - 3DS Max 2011 [Tutorial]

In this tutorial we will cover creating a UVW Map for a simple box using the “Unwrap
UVW” modifier in 3DS Max 2011, saving the UVW template, and then modifying it in Photoshop
CS5. The “Unwrap UVW” modifier allows you to
assign mapping coordinates to an object, or unwrap and edit existing ones. UVW mapping
coordinates determine how bitmaps are projected on to your object. The UVW axes correspond
to the XYZ axes of your object. The “X” axis is “U”, the “Y” axis is “V”,
and the “Z” axis is “W”. Basically UVW Mapping allows you unwrap the polygons
that make up a 3D model and display them on a 2D flat surface like a bitmap. This allows
you to work with the resulting image file in Photoshop or any other image editing program
you choose to create your textures. Let’s open 3DS Max. In the “create panel”,
“Geometry”, “Standard Primitives”, then under “Object Type” we’ll select
“Box”. In the “Perspective View” we’ll create a box. With the object still selected
let’s click on the “Modify Panel”. Under the “Parameters” we’ll change the Length,
Width, and Height all to the same number of 20. This is because we are making a crate
that needs to be square, but could be any number.
In the “Modifier List” let’s select the “Unwrap UVW” modifier to add it to
the stack. Under the “Unwrap UVW Parameters” click on the “Edit...” button. The “Edit UVWs”
window will open. Click the button to select “Face Sub-Object Mode” for selection.
It’s hard to see here but what we have is all of the faces that make up our box stacked
on top of each other like a sandwich. Drag a selection box around all the faces. Now
let’s click on the “Mapping” menu and select the “Flatten Mapping...” option.
The “Flatten Mapping” window will open. Leave all options set to the defaults and
click the “OK” button. Now we can see that all the faces are laid out next to each
other. Click on the “Tools” menu and select the
“Render UVW Template...” option. On the “Render UV’s” window that opens, leave
the settings as default and click the “Render UV Template” button. A “Render Map”
window will open showing the UVW Map. It’s very hard to see the green outlines on this
window. Let’s save this UVW Map to an image file. Click the “Save Image” button. The
“Save Image” window will open. Let’s select a location to save our image file.
For the “Save as type:” we will select “PNG Image File (*.png)”. You can use
any image type that you prefer, but I like to use PNG image files because they allow
for transparency that JPG does not. Let’s enter a name for our file and click
the “Save” button. Now that we have our UVW Template saved let’s close all but the
main 3DS Max window. Now that we have our UVW Map setup for this shape, we can merge
the “Unwrap UVW” modifier back into the mesh. When we do this it will preserve the
coordinate changes we made to the UVW map. Let’s right-click on our crate and select
“Convert To” then “Convert to Editable Mesh”
Let’s open Photoshop. Once it finishes opening we’ll open the “UVW Template” we created
previously. Let’s click “File” then “Open”. In the “Open” window, we’ll
select the UVW Template by double-clicking on it.
Now we’re going to need a texture to apply to the 6 faces(polygons) of our crate. You
can create one from scratch if you like or get an image file from a google images search,
which is what I like to do. Let’s open a web browser like Internet Explorer. I have
my home page set to Google.com. If you don’t have Google as your home page just enter the
address in the URL and hit enter. Now click on the “Images” link. In the search field
let’s enter “wooden crate texture” and click “search”. After we find an image
we like, let’s click on it. This will open the page the image was found on, along with
a full size copy of the image on top of the page. Right-click on the image and select
the “Copy” option. Back in Photoshop let’s create a new file
to paste the wooden crate image we copied from the web. Click “File” then “New...”.
The “New” window will open. Let’s give it a name of “CrateTexture”. Now notice
that the Width: and Height: are both “256”. This number is 256x256 because the wooden
crate image we copied on the web, that is still in our clipboard, has caused the new
image dialog to default to this. Your numbers may be different if your image is of a different
size. Click the “OK” button. Now we’ll press the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + V”
to paste our image. In Photoshop let’s bring up our “CrateTexture.png”
file. You can faintly see the green box outlines. To make the outlines more visible let’s
create a new layer, move it to the background, and then paint it black. We’ll click on
the “Create a new layer” button. We need to make sure that “Black” is set to the
foreground color in Photoshop. If it’s not, you can click here and set it accordingly.
Let’s click on the “Paint Bucket Tool”, and click to paint “Layer 1” black. Now
we can’t see the green UVW map because this black layer is on top of the UVW map layer.
To fix this, let’s left-click and hold on “Layer 1”, and then drag it down below
“Layer 0” and release the left mouse button. This makes it a bit easier to see and work
with. If your texture needs transparency, then you can just remove this layer before
you save it. To create the crate we are going to have the
same image on each face, but the same method will work for applying images to UVW maps
that are more complex, or that require different images on different areas. Back on the Photoshop
document tab with our wooden crate texture, we’ll click the “Layer” menu item, then
click the “Duplicate Layer...” menu option. In the “Duplicate Layer” window that opens,
let’s enter “crateface” for the name. Now click the drop down menu next to “Document:”,
and select the “CrateTexture.png” option. Click “OK”. Click on the “CrateTexture.png”
document tab. We can see “crateface” has been created. Let’s move the new layer to
the top of the stack, and then click to select the “Move Tool”. We’ll move the image
of the crate to the top left corner of the first face. Now we need to scale the size
of the crate texture to fit the face. When we do this we need to ensure that the image
completely covers the green outlines of our faces or it will show through on the model.
With “crateface” still selected press the “CTRL + T” keyboard shortcut to bring
up the “Free Transform” tool. Let’s adjust the size to completely fill the face.
When we have it set to the correct size we will press the “Enter” button to confirm
the change. Now let’s just repeat the process to cover the other 5 faces.
When we have completed our texture we will click on “File” then “Save As..”.
Because we have added layers it will default to saving as the Photoshop PSD format, but
we want to save this as a PNG file. Click the drop down next to “Format:” and select
“PNG” then click the “Save” button. In the resulting “PNG Options” that opens,
leave “None” selected, and click the “OK” button.
Now that we have our crate texture created let’s open back up 3DS Max. Let’s click
the “Material Editor” button. This tutorial uses the “Compact Material Editor”. If
you are using the “Slate Material Editor”, then click the “Modes” menu and select
the “Compact Material Editor...”. With the first slot selected we’ll click the
“Assign Material to Selection” button. Now we need to apply our crate texture to
our crate. Let’s click the little box next to the diffuse map. In the “Material/Map
Browser” window that opens we’ll double click on “Bitmap”. In the “Select Bitmap
Image File” window, we’ll browse to and select our “CrateTexture.png” file. To
be able to see the material we need to click the “Show Standard Map in Viewport” button.
Close the material editor. Now let’s press “F9” on the keyboard to render our crate.
Thank you for joining me on this tutorial.