Dev Blog 02 - UV Process of the Vessels

I am Emily S, the main UV/Texture Artist and PR Lead of the team. I run our social media accounts and website, as well as create textures and UV Layouts for assets in the game. The models were made in ZBrush by Allen, and the topology was fixed by Mo. Texturing is the stage where the model has color added. For our game, I have been using Substance Painter. Before one can start the process of texturing the asset, the UVs must be laid out in Maya.

The process of laying out a UV is like making a cube out of a sheet of paper. As seen in the gif above, the faces of the cube are connected in one 2D shape that gets folded into the 3D shape. The edges of the cube that would need to be taped are called the seams. When UVing a more complex shape, you want to be conscious of where the seams are. You wouldn’t want too much tape showing on a paper model. Instead of tape, a poorly placed seam on a digital model presents itself as a line where the texture does not line up. The way I approach UVing a model starts with me breaking it up into logical less complex pieces. I then plan where I want my seams to go. I want them to be where I want a hard edge between different textures or materials. Or, I place the seams on the underside of a model or somewhere that is less likely to be seen. The images below show the Automatic UV layout (left), and the final layout that I did (middle), and the model that these UVs belong to.

What happens when you don’t have an effective UV Layout? Uneven distribution of texture on the model! This can be seen in the far left image below. You can see on the head and limbs; the checkerboard pattern is very stretched and not evenly distributed across the model. I then will use Maya’s automatic UV Layout tool which is a good place to start, but not always perfect. It makes sure the pieces are scaled accurately to ensure that the texture is the same size across the model. Then. I cut apart and rearrange the 2D shapes until they divide the model up in a logical way and result in a smooth application of texture with no warping and minimal seams.