3D UV Mapping

The concept behind UV mapping is to deform a 3D object and making it into a plane 2D flat face. This allows textures to be taken and placed/painted on the 3D object easily.

When painting over the 2D planes they then wrap themselves around the 3D object to give off the impression that the 3D model has been textured and painted onto it whilst keeping maximum amounts of detail. There can be many different ways of using the UV feature in 3D, one being it allows you to manually choose where you want to UV and place the cameras exact to that. If you want to do it a faster and easier way there is a automatic option which does it all for you and allows you to be able to connect the different planes at a faster rate.

My barrel itself was automatically UV mapped and I used this to create the base UV for it. On doing this I then inserted a cut into one of the edges around the cylindrical shapes to allow it to unfold properly. Doing so allows me to be able to open up the cylindrical shape and texture over the top of this.

Image UVs done by Automatic UV and then cutting the cylindrical shapes down (Barrel)

Before automatic UV (Barrier)

After Automatic UV (Barrier)

The process used here allowed for me to be quick and efficient, allowing me to complete my UV mapping within minutes. Using this method allows for a industry standard way of thinking whilst also allowing the pressure of time consumption to be minimized.