Select an object. > Modify panel > Modifier List > UVW Map
Select an object. > Modifiers menu > UVW Map
By applying mapping coordinates to an object, the UVW Map modifier controls how mapped and procedural materials appear on the surface of an object. Mapping coordinates specify how bitmaps are projected onto an object. The UVW coordinate system is similar to the XYZ coordinate system. The U and V axes of a bitmap correspond to the X and Y axes. The W axis, which corresponds to the Z axis, is generally only used for procedural maps. A bitmap's coordinate system can be switched in the Material Editor to VW or WU, in which case the bitmap is rotated and projected so that it is perpendicular to the surface.
Primitive objects, like spheres and boxes, can generate their own mapping coordinates, as can loft objects and NURBS surfaces. Scanned, imported, or hand-constructed polygonal or patch models do not have mapping coordinates until a UVW Map modifier is applied.
Note: Drawings that are imported or linked from Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Revit do retain the mapping coordinates that were assigned to objects by those products.
If you apply a UVW Map modifier to an object with built-in mapping coordinates, the applied coordinates take precedence if map channel 1 in the UVW Map modifier is used. The Generate Mapping Coordinates option, available during the creation of primitives, uses map channel 1 by default.
You use the UVW Map modifier to:
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Apply one of the seven types of mapping coordinates to an object on a specified map channel. A diffuse map on map channel 1 and a bump map on map channel 2 can have different mapping coordinates and can be controlled separately by using two UVW Map modifiers in the modifier stack
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Transform the mapping gizmo to adjust map placement. Objects with built-in mapping coordinates lack a gizmo.
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Apply mapping coordinates to an object with no mapping coordinates, an imported mesh, for example.
You can control the type of mapping coordinates and the placement of the mapping gizmo for each bitmap in a material that uses multiple bitmaps by assigning explicit map channels to the bitmaps. In the Material Editor you assign each map a different channel number, then you add multiple UVW Map modifiers to the object's modifier stack, each UVW Map modifier is set to a different map channel. To change the type of mapping or gizmo placement for a particular bitmap, you select one of the UVW Map modifiers in the modifier stack and change the parameters. You can change the name of a UVW Map modifier in the Edit Modifier Stack dialog to correlate the modifier to the bitmap.
The UVW Map gizmo projects mapping coordinates onto an object. You can position, rotate, or scale a gizmo to adjust map coordinates on an object. Gizmo transformations remain in effect if you select a new map type. For example, if you scale a spherical mapping gizmo and then switch to planar mapping, then the planar mapping gizmo is also scaled.
For planar, spherical, cylindrical and shrink wrap maps, a short yellow line indicates the top of the map. The green edge of the gizmo indicates the right side of the map. On a spherical or cylindrical map the green edge is the seam where the left and right edge meet. Gizmo must be selected in the modifier display hierarchy to display the gizmo.
Moving the gizmo changes the center of projection and affects all types of mapping. Rotating the gizmo changes the orientation of the map, which affects all types of mapping. Uniform scaling does not affect spherical or shrink-wrap mapping. Non-uniform scaling affects all types of mapping.
If you scale a gizmo smaller than the geometry, then a tiling effect is created, unless scaling has no effect on the map type in use. Tiling based on gizmo size is in addition to tiling values set in the Material Editor Coordinates rollout for the map or the UVW Map modifier tile controls.
The UVW Map modifier has graphic manipulators to help you adjust the mapping dimensions and tiling when Real-World Map Size is off. When Real-World Map Size is on, you can adjust positioning only for the Planar and Box mapping types.
Manipulators are visible and usable while the Select And Manipulate button is active. This button is on the default toolbar. When you move the mouse over a manipulator, the manipulator turns red to show that dragging or clicking it will have an
effect. Also, a tooltip appears, showing the object name, the parameter, and its value.
For more information on using the UVW Map manipulators, see the Procedures section.
UV width/length manipulators—In a viewport, drag the edges of the UVW Map gizmo to change the width or height.
UV tiling manipulators—In a viewport, drag the small circle next to the U edge or V edge to adjust the tiling in that dimension.
Use the UVW Tile controls if you want a map to repeat. Tiled maps are useful for bricks on a wall, or tiles on a floor. Rather than creating one large map, seamless maps can be tiled to surface a large area without visible seams, to give the illusion of a large map.
Tiling in the UVW Map modifier affects only the objects that use this modifier. Tiling a map in the Material Editor affects tiling on all the objects that use the material.
Material and UVW Map tiling are multiplied. If a map in the Material Editor has a tile value of 2 on one axis, and a UVW Map modifier has a tiling value of 3 on the same axis, then the result is a tiling value of 6.
If you render an object that doesn't have mapping coordinates or a UVW Map modifier, and the object uses a material with 2D bitmaps or 3D procedural maps that use explicit map channels, then a Missing Map Coordinates alert is displayed. The alert lists both the name of the object and the UVW channels that are missing the coordinates. For example: (UVW 2): Torus01.
You can apply one UVW Map modifier to a selection of objects. One large mapping gizmo will encompass the entire selection unless the Use Pivot Points option is turned on in the modifiers rollout before applying the UVW Map modifier. If the Use Pivot Points option is used then each object is encompassed with its own mapping gizmo.
If any of the objects in the selection has had its pivot point shifted in the Hierarchy > Pivot panel, and you use the Use Pivot Points option with the UVW Map modifier, then the mapping gizmos are centered to the pivot points rather than the object center and the mapping may be tricky to position the way you want.
The idea behind real-world mapping is to simplify the use of texture mapped materials which are scaled correctly with the geometry in the scene. This feature gives you the ability to create a material and specify the actual width and height of a 2D texture map in the material editor. When you assign that material to an object in the scene, the texture map appears in the scene with the correct scaling.
There are two parts to the equation in order for real-world mapping to work. First, the correct style of UV texture coordinates must be assigned to the geometry. Basically, the size of the UV space needs to correspond to the size of the geometry. Therefore, a new switch, called Real-World Map Size, has been added to many of the dialogs and rollouts where you can generate texture coordinates. Any dialog or rollout in which you have the option to turn on Generate Mapping Coords, also has a switch where you can turn on Real-World Map Size.
Note: There are a few primitive objects that do not have a Real-World Map Size switch. These are Torus Knot, Hedra, Prism and RingWave.
The other part of the equation is in the material editor. When you create a material and use a 2D texture map, you now see a new switch in the Coordinates rollout called Use Real-World Scale. When this switch is turned on, the default, the Width and Height spinners are enabled that let you specify the horizontal/vertical offsets and size of the texture map in current display units.
Note: Autodesk VIZ scenes with objects using real-world mapping coordinates will display differently when opened in 3ds Max. This is because real-world mapping coordinates is not the default method of generating mapping coordinates in 3ds Max.
The UVW Map modifier now automatically selects the most reasonable mapping style for the object to which the modifier is applied. The following chart shows the mapping style that automatically gets assigned to standard and extended primitives.
Note: Intelligent mapping is only available when Use Real-World Texture Coordinates is turned on in Preferences dialog. When Use Real-World Texture Coordinates is turned off, Planar mapping is always used by default.
| Standard Primitive | Mapping Style |
|---|---|
| Box | Box |
| Cone | Cylindrical |
| Sphere | Spherical |
| Geosphere | Spherical |
| Cylinder | Cylindrical |
| Tube | Cylindrical |
| Torus | Planar |
| Pyramid | Box |
| Teapot | Box |
| Plane | Planar |
| Extended Primitive | Mapping Style |
| Hedra | Box |
| Torus Knot | Box |
| ChamferBox | Box |
| ChamferCyl | Box |
| OilTank | Box |
| Capsule | Box |
| Spindle | Box |
| L-Ext | Box |
| Gengon | Box |
| C-Ext | Box |
| Ringwave | Box |
| Hose | Box |
| Prism | Box |
For general meshes and other objects, the default mapping style is set to Box.
If applying maps at a sub-object level, such as to a sub-object selection of Faces, the modifier will calculate whether the faces are relatively parallel. If they are, the mapping style is set to planar and the mapping gizmo is oriented on the same plane as the selected faces. If they are not parallel, then a standard planar mapping style is applied.
To apply the UVW Map modifier:
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Adjust the mapping parameters.
By default, the UVW Map modifier uses planar mapping on map channel 1. You can change the type of mapping and the map channel to suit your needs. There are seven types of mapping coordinates, ninety-nine map channels, tiling controls, and controls to size and orient the mapping gizmo in the UVW Map modifier.
Note: If a UVW Map modifier is applied to multiple objects, the UVW Map gizmo is defined by the selection, and the mapping that results is applied to all the objects.
To use multiple UVW channels in the same object:
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Assign Map channel 1 to an object. You can do this by either turning on Generate Mapping Coordinates in the Parameters rollout of any primitive, or by assigning a UVW Map modifier with channel 1 chosen.
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Assign a UVW Map modifier (or a second one, if you're using the first to assign channel 1). Choose channel 2 for this modifier.
Both coordinate channels are now assigned to the geometry. The next step is to assign a mapped material that uses both channels.
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Create a material with two maps. You can do this using a Composite map, or a Blend material with two maps, or you can have one map assigned to Diffuse and another assigned to Bump. Perhaps the easiest way to see the effect is to composite two maps, with the second map containing an alpha channel.
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Go to the level of one of the maps and, in the Mapping list, choose Explicit Map Channel 2.
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Assign the mapped material to the object.
You can switch between viewing the maps in the viewport using the Show Map In Viewport control in the Material Editor. You can adjust the mapping of channel 2 without altering the mapping of channel 1 if you've assigned two UVW Map modifiers. Render the scene to see the effect.
To use the XYZ to UVW option:
The XYZ to UVW option is used to make a 3D procedural texture, like Cellular, follow the surface of an object. If the object stretches, so does the 3D procedural texture. Currently, it cannot be used with NURBS objects and is unavailable if a NURBS object is selected.
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In the Material Editor, on the Coordinates rollout of the Cellular map, open the Source drop-down list, and choose Explicit Map Channel.
On the Coordinates rollout, the Map Channel parameter activates, leave the value at 1.
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Render the Perspective viewport.
The cellular pattern renders normally on the surface of the box.
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Right-click over the object and choose Convert To: > Convert to Editable Mesh from the Transform (lower-right) quadrant of the quad menu.
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On the Modify panel, click to turn on Vertex on the Selection rollout.
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In the Perspective viewport, select the top vertices of the box, and move them up.
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Render the Perspective viewport again.
The cellular pattern stretches with the box. This effect is enabled by the XYZ to UVW option. To see the difference, we will change the Source option in the Coordinates rollout in the Material Editor.
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In the Material Editor, locate the diffuse Cellular material.
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On the Coordinates rollout of the Cellular diffuse map, open the Source drop-down list and choose Object XYZ.
To transform the UVW Map gizmo:
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On the Modify panel, choose the UVW Mapping modifier in the stack display.
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In the stack display, choose the Gizmo sub-object level.
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Move, scale, or rotate the gizmo in the viewports, or use the Length and Width controls in the UVW Map modifier.
Transforming the map gizmo shifts the bitmap, allowing you to orient and move the map on the object's surface.
To use manipulate to control map position:
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On the Modify panel, make sure Real-World Map Size is turned on in the Parameters rollout.
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Make sure the mapping style is set to Planar or Box and turn on Manipulate in the Alignment group.
The mapping gizmo displays showing the extents of the texture map and each corner has a handle.
Note: The handles at the corners of the mapping gizmo only appear if you've also enabled the Real-World Map Size switch.
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Drag one of the handles to adjust the position of the texture map.
A tooltip shows which dimension you are adjusting, and the new placement value in that dimension.
Tip: If you have Snaps turned on, the handle will recognize any snap setting that is active.
Gizmo sub-object level—Enables gizmo transformations. At this sub-object level you can move, scale, and rotate the gizmo in the viewports to position the mapping. In the Material Editor, you turn on the Show Map in Viewport option to make the map visible in a shaded viewport, the map moves on the surface of the object as you transform the gizmo.
Determines the type of mapping coordinates used. Different kinds of mapping are distinguished by how the map is geometrically projected onto the object and how the projection interacts with the object's surfaces.
Planar—Projects the map from a single plane flat against the object, somewhat like projecting a slide.
Planar projection is useful when only one side of an object needs to be mapped. It is also useful for obliquely mapping multiple sides, and for mapping two sides of a symmetrical object.
Cylindrical—Projects the map from a cylinder, wrapping it around an object. Seams where the edges of the bitmap meet are visible unless a seamless map is used. Cylindrical projection is useful for objects that are roughly cylindrical in shape.
Cap—Applies planar mapping coordinates to the caps of the cylinder.
Note: If the ends of the object geometry are not at right angles to the sides, the Cap projection bleeds onto the sides of the object.
Spherical—Surrounds the object by projecting the map from a sphere. You see a seam and mapping singularities at the top and bottom of the sphere where the bitmap edges meet at the sphere's poles. Spherical mapping is useful for objects that are roughly spherical in shape.
Shrink Wrap—Uses spherical mapping, but truncates the corners of the map and joins them all at a single pole, creating only one singularity. Shrink-wrap mapping is useful when you want to hide the mapping singularity.
Box—Projects the map from the six sides of a box. Each side projects as a planar map, and the effect on the surface depends on the surface normal. Each face is mapped from the closest box surface whose normal most closely parallels its own normal.
Face—Applies a copy of the map to every face of an object. Pairs of faces sharing a hidden edge are mapped with the full rectangular map. Single faces with no hidden edge are mapped with a triangular portion of the map.
XYZ to UVW—Maps 3D procedural coordinates to UVW coordinates. This "sticks" the procedural texture to the surface. If the surface stretches, so does the 3D procedural map. Use this option with procedural textures, like Cellular Currently, XYZ to UVW cannot be used with NURBS objects and is disabled if a NURBS object is selected.
Note: In the Material Editor's Coordinates rollout for the map, set Source to Explicit Map Channel. Use the same map channel in the material and UVW Map modifier.
Length, Width, Height—Specify the dimensions of the UVW Map gizmo. The default scale of the mapping icon is defined by the largest dimension of the object when you apply the modifier. Note the following facts about these spinners:
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The dimensions are based on a bounding box of the gizmo.
The Height dimension is unavailable for the Planar gizmo: It does not have depth. Likewise, the dimensions for Cylindrical, Spherical, and Shrink Wrap mapping all display the dimensions of their bounding box and not their radiuses. No dimensions are available for the Face map: Each face on the geometry contains the entire map.
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The three dimensions are set to 1 or 2, depending on map type and dimensions.
The dimensions essentially become scale factors rather than measurements. You can reset the values to dimensions by clicking the Fit or Reset buttons, which will lose the original non-uniform scaling.
U Tile, V Tile, W Tile—Let you specify the dimensions of the UVW map, for tiling the image.
Flip—Reverses the image about the given axis.
Real-World Map Size—Controls the scaling method used for texture mapped materials that are applied to the object. The scaling values are controlled by the Use Real-World Scale settings found on the applied material's Coordinates rollout. Default=on.
When on, the Length, Width, Height and Tiling spinners are unavailable.
Each object can have up to 99 UVW mapping coordinate channels. The default mapping (from the Generate Mapping Coordinates toggle) is always channel 1. The UVW Map modifier can send coordinates to any channel. This lets you have many different sets of coordinates on the same face simultaneously.
Map Channel—Sets the map channel. The UVW Map modifier defaults to channel 1, so mapping behaves in the default fashion (and in the fashion of earlier software releases) unless you explicitly change to another channel. Default=1. Range=1 to 99
To use the additional channels, you must not only choose a channel in the UVW Map modifier, but also assign an explicit map channel at the map level of the material assigned to the object. You can use many UVW Map modifiers in the modifier stack, each one controlling the mapping coordinates of different maps in a material.
Vertex Color Channel—Define the channel as a vertex color channel by choosing this option. Be sure to match any material mapping in the coordinates rollout to be Vertex Color as well, or by using the Assign Vertex Colors utility.
The Map channels are accessed in various places in the software, as follows:
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Generate Mapping Coords—This check box, in the creation parameters of most objects, assigns Map channel 1 when turned on.
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UVW Map Modifier—Contains options for channels 1 through 99. This lets you specify which UVW coordinates are used by this UVW Map modifier. The modifier stack can pass these channels simultaneously for any face.
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UVW XForm and Unwrap UVWs—These two modifiers also contain Channel option buttons.
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Material Editor Channel Assignment—You assign the channel to be used by a map in the Coordinates rollout at the map level in the Material Editor.
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The assignment varies depending on the type of map:
2D Maps—In the Mapping list for the Texture option, you can choose Explicit Map channel, Vertex Color Channel, Planar from Object XYZ, or Planar from World XYZ.
3D Maps—At the top of the Coordinates rollout, there is a Source list where you can choose an Explicit Map Channel, Vertex Color Channel, Object XYZ, or World XYZ. Use the Map Channel spinner to define the channel number.
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NURBS Surface Objects and Sub-Objects—Let you specify which Map channel the surface uses.
X/Y/Z—Select one of these to flip the alignment of the mapping gizmo. Each specifies which axis of the gizmo is aligned with the local Z axis of the object.
Note: These options aren't the same as the Flip check boxes beside the U/V/W Tile spinners. The Alignment option buttons actually flip the gizmo orientation, while the Flip check boxes flip an assigned map's orientation.
Manipulate—When on, a gizmo appears on the surface of the object matching the extents of the texture map being used. At each corner is a handle that you can use to change the position of the map.
Note: Manipulate works only with Planar and Box mapping styles. The corner handles only appear when Real-World Map Size is turned on.
Tip: Turn on snapping to adjust the mapping precisely.
Fit—Fits the gizmo to the extents of the object and centers it so that it's locked to the object's extents. Unavailable when Real-World Map Size is on.
Center—Moves the gizmo so that its center coincides with the center of the object.
Bitmap Fit—Displays the standard bitmap file browser so that you can pick an image. Unavailable when Real-World Map Size is on.
For planar mappings, the map icon is set to the aspect ratio of the image. For cylindrical mapping, the height (rather than the radius of the gizmo) is scaled to match the bitmap. For best results, first use the Fit button to match the radius of the object and gizmo, and then use Bitmap Fit.
Normal Align—Click and drag on the surface of the object to which the modifier is applied. The origin of the gizmo is placed at the point on the surface where the mouse is pointing; the XY plane of the gizmo is aligned to the face. The X axis of the gizmo lies in the object's XY plane.
Normal Align respects smoothing groups and uses the interpolated normal based on face smoothing. As a result, you can orient the mapping icon to any part of the surface, rather than having it "snap" to face normals.
View Align—Reorients the mapping gizmo to face the active viewport. The size of the icon is unchanged.
Region Fit—Activates a mode in which you can drag in the viewports to define the region of the mapping gizmo. The orientation of the gizmo is not affected. Unavailable when Real-World Map Size is on.
Reset—Deletes the current controller controlling the gizmo and plugs in a new one initialized using the Fit function. As with all the alignment options, you can cancel the reset operation by clicking Undo.
Acquire—Effectively copies the UVW coordinates from other objects When you pick an object from which you want to acquire UVWs, a dialog prompts you whether the acquire should be done in an absolute or relative fashion.
If you choose Absolute, the acquired mapping gizmo is positioned exactly on top of the mapping gizmo you pick. If you choose Relative, the acquired mapping gizmo is positioned over the selected object.
This setting determines whether and how mapping discontinuities, also known as seams, appear in the viewports. The seams appear only when the Gizmo sub-object level is active. The default seam color is green; to change it, go to Customize menu > Customize User Interface > Colors tab, and then from the Elements drop-down list, choose UVW Map.
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Show No Seams—Mapping boundaries don't appear in the viewports. This is the default choice.
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Thin Seam Display—Displays mapping boundaries on object surfaces in the viewports with relatively thin lines. The line thickness remains constant as you zoom the view in and out.
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Thick Seam Display—Displays mapping boundaries on object surfaces in the viewports with relatively thick lines. The line thickness increases when you zoom the view in and decreases when you zoom out.