Polygonal Design releases Unfold3D Generation 9
Polygonal Design has released Unfold3D Generation 9, a big update to its UV unwrapping software, also included in cut-down form inside Maya and Softimage.
Intuitive new brush-based UV-editing workflows
The update adds a number of new brush-based workflows to the software, including an intuitive-looking new Optimize brush, which you can see in action around 01:20 in the video above.
There are also new Drag, Pinch and Spread brushes; and users can also paint pinning maps over the top of their unfolded UV islands, preventing brushes from affecting those parts of the UVs.
In addition, the software now supports raycasted painting in the 3D viewport, enabling users to select more geometrically meaningful sections of the UVs, as you can see at 03:30 in the video.
New transform options, improved unwrapping
Other major new features include a new Proportional Transform tool, which enables users to stretch parts of UV islands simply by dragging them around, with the results displayed in the 3D viewport in real time.
If you want more precise numerical control, there is also a new Transform panel, which enables you to scale, rotate or translate individual UV islands, or selected groups of islands.
There is also a new option to add ‘roomspace’ between tightly packed frontiers on a UV island – for example, the fingers of a hand – to reduce texture bleed.
The unwrapping system has also been improved to avoid creating overlaps when flattening islands.
Pipeline integration options
For anyone looking to integrate Unfold3D into a pipeline, the software now supports Lua scripting.
In addition, the update adds support for the UDIM format used in applications like Mari; and there are new mouse presets for Blender, Cinema 4D, Modo, Rhino and ZBrush.
The UI has also been updated, including the addition of a new collapsible help panel that provides concise information on the tool currently active.
Pricing and availability
Unfold3D Generation 9 is available for Windows Vista and above and Mac OS X 10.10.2 and above. Freelance licences cost €299 (around $340); floating ‘Networking’ licences start at €699 ($790), and are Windows-only.
Read a full list of new features in Unfold3D Generation 9 on the Polygonal Design website