Materials and Mapping Tutorials > Mapping Characters with Unwrap UVW >
Mapping a Skirt

In this lesson, you use Unwrap UVW to apply a print pattern to a skirt. It is a simple exercise to acquaint you with the Unwrap UVW modifier and the use of its Freeform transform tool.

Set up the lesson:

1. On the Quick Access toolbar, click (Open File), navigate to \scenes\materials_and_mapping\unwrap_uvw_clothing\ and open fashion_model_clothed.max.
   NoteIf a dialog asks whether you want to use the scene’s Gamma And LUT settings, accept the scene Gamma settings, and click OK. If a dialog asks whether to use the scene’s units, accept the scene units, and click OK.

   The model is in a reference pose. The pullover and skirt are both created with the Garment Maker and Cloth modifiers.

Create a texture for the skirt:

1. On the main toolbar, click (Material Editor) to open the Slate Material editor.
   NoteThis button is on a flyout, which is like a drop-down menu, but with buttons instead of text. The other button on the flyout opens the Compact Material Editor.

   If you open the Compact Material Editor by accident, simply choose Modes Slate Material Editor.

   If this is the first time you are using the Slate Material Editor, you might need to resize it so you can easily see all three of the columns in its interface.

2. In the Material/Map Browser column at the left of the Slate Material Editor window, locate the entry for a Standard material.

   Drag this entry to the large View panel (View1) at the center of the window. 3ds Max Design displays the material as a node in the View.

3. Click the round input socket for the material's Diffuse Color component, then drag away from it.

   A wire appears as you drag.

   Release the mouse.

   3ds Max Design opens a pop-up context menu.

   On the context menu, choose Bitmap.

   3ds Max Design opens a Select Bitmap Image File dialog.

   On the file dialog, click skirt_print.jpg to select it, then click open.

   3ds Max Design adds a Bitmap node to the material's Diffuse Color component. It also adds a controller node for the Amount of diffuse color, but you won't be using that.

4. Click the bitmap node to select it.
5. On the Slate Material Editor toolbar, click to turn on (Show Shaded Material in Viewport). (If you are using the Direct3D, OpenGL, or Software viewport driver, the tooltip says, "Show Standard Map in Viewport.")

   When this option is turned on, 3ds Max Design displays a red wedge in the title bar of the Bitmap node.

6. Move the Slate Material Editor window so you can see a viewport. In the viewport, click to select the skirt (Skirt Pattern) object.
7. On the Slate Material Editor toolbar, click (Assign Material to Selection).
8. Close the Slate Material Editor.

   Shaded viewports now show the pattern on the dress. This is a good start, but the flowers should appear vertically and more evenly spaced.

Add an Unwrap UVW modifier:

1. Go to the Modify panel.
2. On the modifier stack, scroll down so you can see the Garment Maker modifier, and click the Garment Maker entry to highlight it.

   3ds Max Design displays a warning about topology. Click Yes to dismiss this warning.

3. Open the Modifier List and choose Unwrap UVW. (You can press U to quickly choose this modifier.)
   TipWhen you map a cloth object, always put Unwrap UVW on the stack above the Garment Maker modifier but below the Cloth modifier. The Cloth modifier distorts the original flat geometry, and this makes Unwrap UVW much harder to use.
4. On the Selection rollout, click (Polygon) to go to the Polygon sub-object level.

   If 3ds Max Design displays the topology warning again, click Yes to dismiss it again.

   3ds Max Design viewports display the skirt as the flat meshes created by Garment Maker.

5. Activate the Perspective viewport, then press Ctrl+A to select all of the faces in the skirt.
6. On the Modify panel Projection rollout, click (Cylindrical Map) to turn it on.

   3ds Max Design sets a cylindrical projection for the skirt, but the orientation is not correct.

7. Also on the Projection rollout, click (Align to Z).

   Now the projection is oriented correctly.

8. Click (Cylindrical Map) again to turn it off.
   ImportantThe Cylindrical Map button, like the other projection buttons on this rollout, enters a mode: If you forget to turn it off, later you won’t be able to use controls in the Edit UVWs dialog.

Adjust the layout of the print pattern:

1. On the Modify panel Edit UVs rollout, click Open UV Editor.

   3ds Max Design opens the Edit UVWs dialog.

   Each panel of the skirt appears in the Edit UVWs window as a flat cluster, highlighted in red because they are selected.

   You might notice that 3ds Max Design slows down. Garment Maker generates a large number of faces.

2. On the Edit UVWs dialog upper toolbar, open the texture drop-down list, and choose Map #0 (skirt_print.jpg). (The map number might vary.)

   The map pattern appears in the Edit UVWs window.

3. On the Edit UVWs dialog upper toolbar, click the options button.

   3ds Max Design opens the Unwrap Options dialog.

4. In the Unwrap Options dialog Display Preferences group, if Tile Bitmap is off, click to turn it on, and if Use Custom Bitmap size is on, click to turn it off.

   Click OK to close the Unwrap Options dialog.

   The area in the Edit UVWs window outlined by a dark rectangle is a unit square for the UV coordinates (it appear rectangular in this case, because the bitmap is not square).

5. Resize the Edit UVWS dialog, then zoom and pan the Edit UVWs window so you can see two tiles of the flower pattern.

   Navigation tools are on the Edit UVWs dialog second lower toolbar, the Transform/Display toolbar. They appear in the lower-right corner of the dialog.

6. On the Edit UVWs dialog upper toolbar, click (Freeform Mode) to activate it.

   In Freeform Mode, the sub-object selection is surrounded by a box. Dragging the center of the box moves the selection; dragging a handle in the middle of a side rotates it; and dragging a handle at a corner scales the selection, relative to the texture you are mapping. Watch the cursor to see which transform is active.

7. Move the skirt group to align it with the left edge of the pattern, then scale to stretch it so it covers two tiles of the pattern.
8. Click an empty area of the Edit UVWs window to deselect the skirt panels.
9. On the first of the Edit UVWs dialog lower toolbars, the Sub-object Selection toolbar, click (Select by Element UV Toggle) to turn it on.

   When it is on, the button shows a check mark.

10. Click to select only the left-hand skirt cluster, and scale it so it spans the first tile of the pattern.
11. Do the same for the right-hand skirt cluster.
12. Close the Edit UVWs dialog.
13. Scroll to the top of the modifier stack, and click to highlight the Shell modifier.

    The skirt of the finished model has a regular pattern, with vertical flowers at the front and back.

Save your work:

- Save the scene as my_skirt_print.max.

  The completed scene is fashion_model_print_skirt.max.

Next

Mapping a Character Skin