Mapping the Helmet

Apply the material to the helmet:

1. Continue working on your file from the previous exercise or load the file pilot02.max found under \tutorials\unwrap_uvw.

2. Zoom in on the pilot’s helmet in the Perspective viewport.

3. Press M to open the Material Editor.

4. Find the material named Pilot_Head. Drag this material and drop it on the helmet in the Perspective view.

5. Close the Material Editor.

Map the helmet:

1. Select the Helmet, and then go to the Modify panel.

2. From the Modifier list, choose Unwrap UVW.

3. Expand the Unwrap UVW modifier, and then choose Face sub-object level.

   

4. On the Selection Parameters rollout, turn off Ignore Backfacing.

   

5. Drag to region-select all the faces that make the helmet. The whole helmet turns red.

6. On the Map Parameters rollout, click the Cylindrical button. A cylindrical mapping gizmo appears, but its size and orientation are incorrect.

   

7. On the Map Parameters rollout, click on Align Y to adjust the gizmo to the helmet.

   

   Note: Take a look at the vertical green edge at the front of the cylindrical gizmo. This represents the edge that will be used to unfold the map. You will need to rotate that edge to the back of the helmet to better fit the map assigned to the material.

8. From the main toolbar, click the Rotate tool and set Reference Coordinate System to Local.

   

9. Press the A key to turn on Angle Snap.

10. In the perspective view, rotate the gizmo 180 degrees on the Z axis (blue axis) until the green edge is at the back of the head.

    

11. On the Parameters rollout, click Edit to open the Edit UVWs dialog.

    The selected faces are unfolded against a checkered pattern, but it might not be completely symmetrical.

    

12. Rotate the cylindrical gizmo an additional 5 degrees on the Z axis.

    This fixes the selected faces into a perfectly symmetrical layout.

    

13. On the Map Parameters rollout, click the Cylindrical button to exit that mode.

14. In the editor, from the map drop-down list, choose the helmet map defined in the material.

    

15. Make sure the Options button in the bottom right corner of the dialog is active.

16. In the Bitmap Options group, set the Brightness to 1.0. This makes the background image easier to read.

17. On the dialog’s main toolbar, make sure the Freeform Mode tool is selected.

18. Position the cursor on one of the corner boxes to scale the selected faces, or anywhere inside the selection to move the selected faces.

19. Make a preliminary adjustment for the selected faces to fit the background image.

    

20. In the Selection Modes group at the bottom of the dialog, choose Vertex sub-object mode.

    

21. Adjust groups of vertices, as you did in the previous exercise.

    

22. Exit the Edit UVWs dialog when done. In the Modifier stack, exit the sub-object level.