Chapter 5. UV Mapping

UV mapping is a process of applying textures to an object by hand. With the procedural textures of last chapter, you made a material and changed its properties to create the look of a surface texture you wished to emulate. However, there are limitations to how much a procedural map can do. If, for example, you want your company logo on the side of your model, procedurals aren't going to do; you need the accuracy of manually painting your texture onto the surface. Table 5-1 compares the two techniques.

Table 5.1. Procedural and UV-Mapped Textures Compared

Procedural Textures

UV-Mapped Textures

No texture files needed

Very accurate

Very flexible with regard to experimentation and fine-tuning

Paint applied to textures directly in 3D ...

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