In the process of doing some early test seams on my cat model I’m working on, and after finally figuring out how to kill the seams interfering with my normal maps, I’m left with the question - what is the best way to unwrap an animal?
My main two ideas are making the seams as though I was skinning it, so that the map looks a bit like a rug and has minimal seams, or adding more seams around the limbs and other body parts as though making a pattern for a plushie.
Which method do you think would get the best results with texturing?
I currently have the “skinning” method applied, but I originally was using the “plushie” method and only switched when I was battling seams on the normal map, as I mentioned before, thinking it would help (it didn’t really btw, turns out I just had to set my normal map to Non-Color). Once I crossed that bridge, I’m left realizing I could now go either way. Thoughts? Pros and cons to each method?
I think the layout in your images is a good start, though I would like to bring a few points. I think adding seams around the limbs would be the superior option because it will allow better unfolding and coverage of the texture space.
The legs UVs look very compressed compared with the model. Have you tried using a checker texture to see if the texure density is consistent across the model? Maybe the legs should be separated so they can unfold properly to the correct size.
I would most likely separate the tail, as it’s preventing a good coverage of the texture space. It’s forcing the UVs to be smaller than they should be, leaving large areas of the texture unused.
The ear seams should be watched carefully. Maybe it will work fine, but seams on surfaces like those (abrupt angles that aren’t actually marked sharp) can be problematic in some situations and result in highly visible seams. If it causes problems in the bake, it could be a good idea to move the seams back a little bit to the rear of the ears, so they can be placed on a more even surface.
