Changes for version 2.04:

* some mesh layout that previously caused the unwrap to fail work correctly now
* avoided specific cases of unintentional mesh distortion
* improved installer checks to avoid incompatibilities
 

All users can now download the latest version of Unwrella from the download page:

Unwrella is compatible with:
    * 3D Studio MAX 2010 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2010 64 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2009 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2009 64 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2008 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2008 64 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 9 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 9 64 bit
    * Maya 2010 32 bit
    * Maya 2010 64 bit
    * Maya 2009 32 bit
    * Maya 2009 64 bit
    * Maya 2008 32 bit
    * Maya 2008 64 bit
    * Maya 8.5 32 bit
    * Maya 8.5 64 bit

Requirements:
    * Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed
    * Microsoft Windows XP, Vista (32bit and 64bit)
    * Microsoft DirectX 9.0c (August 2008 or newer)

Changes for version 2.03:

* Added support for Autodesk Maya 2010
* Padding between UV charts has been adjusted. Charts now also keep correct distance to the edges of the UV map.
* Unwrapping for complex polygons has been improved for cases where objects have multiple unconnected vertex groups.
 

All users can now download the latest version of Unwrella from the download page:

Unwrella is compatible with:
    * 3D Studio MAX 2010 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2010 64 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2009 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2009 64 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2008 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 2008 64 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 9 32 bit
    * 3D Studio MAX 9 64 bit
    * Maya 2010 32 bit
    * Maya 2010 64 bit
    * Maya 2009 32 bit
    * Maya 2009 64 bit
    * Maya 2008 32 bit
    * Maya 2008 64 bit
    * Maya 8.5 32 bit
    * Maya 8.5 64 bit

Requirements:
    * Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed
    * Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32bit and 64bit)
    * Microsoft DirectX 9.0c (August 2008 or newer)

Changes for version 2.03:

• padding fix Padding between UV charts has been adjusted. Charts now also keep correct distance to the edges of the UV map.
• Error reporting for MAXScript use modified to allow success feedback for the asynchronous unwrap process. See MAXScript chapter in the Unwrella2 manual for details.

All users can now download the latest version of Unwrella from the download page:

Unwrella is compatible with:

• 3D Studio MAX 9 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 9 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2008 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2008 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2009 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2009 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2010 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2010 64 bit
• Maya 8.5 32 bit
• Maya 8.5 64 bit
• Maya 2008 32 bit
• Maya 2008 64 bit
• Maya 2009 32 bit
• Maya 2009 64 bit

Requirements:

• Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed
• Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32bit and 64bit)
• Microsoft DirectX 9.0c (August 2008)

Changes for version 2.02:

• Installer has been modified to improve handling of 3ds Max Design 2010, especially when 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max Design 2010 are both installed on the same system.
• Installation support for Japanese and Chinese versions of 3ds Max has been improved to avoid compatibility problems.
• Occasionally occuring compatibility problems with other plugins corrected.
• Unwrapping in polygon mode for complex polygons has been improved. It is no longer necessary to switch to triangle mode when unwrapping meshes with polygons that have multiple unconnected vertex groups.
• Caching of UV map data has been enhanced significantly, resulting in improved performance when working with Unwrella.
• A few minor user interface fixes.

Unwrella 1 has also been updated to version 1.10 to include the installer and compatibility improvements.

All users can now download the latest version of Unwrella from the download page:

Unwrella is compatible with:

• 3D Studio MAX 9 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 9 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2008 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2008 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2009 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2009 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2010 32 bit (new)
• 3D Studio MAX 2010 64 bit (new)
• Maya 8.5 32 bit
• Maya 8.5 64 bit
• Maya 2008 32 bit
• Maya 2008 64 bit
• Maya 2009 32 bit
• Maya 2009 64 bit

Requirements:

• Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed
• Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32bit and 64bit)
• Microsoft DirectX 9.0c (August 2008)

All users can now download the latest version 2.01 with the full Max 2010 support from the download page:

Unwrella 2 is compatible with:

• 3D Studio MAX 9 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 9 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2008 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2008 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2009 32 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2009 64 bit
• 3D Studio MAX 2010 32 bit (new)
• 3D Studio MAX 2010 64 bit (new)
• Maya 8.5 32 bit
• Maya 8.5 64 bit
• Maya 2008 32 bit
• Maya 2008 64 bit
• Maya 2009 32 bit
• Maya 2009 64 bit

Requirements:

• Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed
• Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32bit and 64bit)
• Microsoft DirectX 9.0c (August 2008)

Unwrella Maya Highlights:

• The popular Unwrella plug-in for Autodesk 3ds Max is now also available for Autodesk Maya
• Automatically unwraps and packs UV maps for meshes
• Optimal quality UV layout that avoids texture deformations
• No visible texture seams due to uniform pixel distribution over the mesh surface
• Resulting UV maps have optimal quality for texture baking
• Supports both user placed texture borders and procedurally generated borders

The Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ Maya™ 8.5, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is now available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com

Unwrella was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and reliable unwrapping solution. It is the first tool of this kind on the market, allowing the unwrapping of 3d models to be done with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. This allows users to quickly solve complex tasks like the creation of seamless 3d models, more accurate lightmaps and productive subsequent processing of the UV maps in other 3d applications like ZBrush™ or Mudbox™.

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialised company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Our latest product on the gaming market was nominated for the German Game Developers Award 2008 in best graphics category, and CG products are used by many famous Game and Design Studios worldwide.

Contact:
www.3d-plugin.com / info@3d-plugin.com

The comprehensive 3D Tutorial "Create optimal UV Maps for professional 3d Characters" is a detailed Step-by-Step Course, backed with original 3D Assets from the Game Production for your own learning, and illustrated with an 3d page illustrated PDF, completly free for download!

We invite you today to download the fully working Unwrella Trial version, 3D Models scenes and the learning PDF and step into the complex, yet easy explained UV creation process of 3D Map Design.

Download the PDF Tutorial from by clicking here:

The Tutorial covers following aspects of the production:

Unwrella Step by Step automatic unwrapping and texture baking tutorial
3. Introduction
4. Content
10. Defining Seams in Max
16. Applying Unwrella
20. Texture Baking
29. Final Result
30. Unwrella FAQ, user manual

In this comprehensive tutorial we will guide you through the process of creating optimal UV texture maps.

Despite the fact that Unwrella is single click solution, we have created this tutorial with a lot of material explaining basic Autodesk 3DSMax work and the philosophy behind the „Render to Texture“ workflow.
This method, known in game development as texture baking, together with deployment of the Unwrella plug-in achieves the following quality benchmarks efficiently:

- Textures with reduced texture mapping seams
- Minimizes the surface stretching
- Creates automatically the largest possible UV chunks with maximal use of available space
- Preserves user created UV Seams
- Reduces the production time from 30 minutes to 3 Minutes!

Please follow these steps and learn how to utilize this great tool in order to achieve the best results in minimum time during your everyday productions.
best regards
Igor Posavec and the team at 3d-io.com
 

About 3DVF (http://www.3dvf.com/)
3DFV is the most prominent french Art and Design portal and organizer of the DominanceWarIV Mini Challenges.
Please read the rules and visit the current Challenge Sites and enjoy the stunning works of 3D Artists!

http://www.3dvf.com/forum/3dvf/Dominance-War-IV-Frog-returns/liste_sujet-1.htm

About 3d-io (http://www.3d-io.com)
3d-io games & video production is a german software company founded in 1996, focused on providing digital contents, high-quality 3D and 2D design, innovative software products on the field of game and infotainment industry. 3d-io is the author of unique UV Mapping and Texturing Plugins Unwrella, FlatIron and UV-Packer.

Dominance War IV (http://www.dominancewar.com)
Anticipation for the launch of a yearly event grows as we near the starting mark for Dominance War IV. Dominance War, on www.dominancewar.com, is a truly unique game art challenge. It is the only event of its kind to bring together famous forums to compete for world champion standings in an Olympic-like setting. In Dominance War, Artists are the athletes and online forums are their countries. It is a place that fosters the sharing of ideas and techniques and helps artists acquire new skills and new methods to achieve spectacular things. Each year, the thoughts of artists across the globe are depicted with truly imaginative art and starting this February 20th 2009, an unprecedented 12 art forums, 7 languages, and over 50 nationalities will take part in the largest war in the series – Dominance War IV.

Dominance War IV – What’s coming?
Mystery in the final hour of tension, a twist at the turn of an era, Dominance War has always been about making an imaginative environment where artists are free to explore. Yes, there will always be rules in any given competition, but in this event, it’s all about options. In Dominance War IV, artists are able to choose a character type, what they carry and the attack methods he or she employs. Because of this, artists are able to individualize their characters to their own personal tastes and as a result, each entry is assured to stand out amongst others. What these new options are and how they can be used to create a fabulous entry… when the official rules are released, everything will be revealed.

Many grand things are arriving in Dominance War IV. An original story line, new mini challenges, additional sponsors, world renowned judges, further teams, extra languages, upgraded entry system, and a lot more. Each year, with support and suggestions from our community, DW improves for everyone so artists can always expect great things! Many preparations are being made. First and foremost, we are looking into partnerships with schools and their 3d classrooms. We hope to offer students the exposure they need to get them the jobs they always longed for. Additionally, we are going to expand the Dominance War movement with an informal gallery showcase in GDC 2009. We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of our artists and our great supporting sponsors, so we always look for additional ways in which we can promote them. It is our hopes that through various galleries, viewers around the world, in various nationalities, will become more aware of how truly great it is to be a game artist.

Why enter Dominance War IV?
Aside from +10 000 USD in cash prizes? Another benefit of entering a competition of this caliber comes with the global recognition attained. Winners will be interviewed in magazines, featured in live galleries, receive great prizes, get fantastic resume highlights, and will be regarded as heroes by their chosen home forums for many years to come. However, let’s not discount what non-champions will get. Dominance War is about giving everyone a place to learn new and innovative methods, create a fantastic portfolio piece, make friendships, find motivation, and showcase talents to the world. Even if an entry is not the best, each and every artist will take home knowledge that helps future careers. In the end, all the time invested in Dominance War is invaluable time invested in one’s self, one’s art and one’s talents. Win or loose, prizes or no prizes, there is a little something to be had for everyone.

How it works:
As Dominance War IV approaches, two types of events will unfold – Two quick-paced DW Mini Challenges with the first starting February 20th 2009, and an Epic Main Challenge that begins March 12th 2009.
.
Mini Challenges:
Mini Challenges are small single thread based competitions with easy topics and small polygon budgets. They are very intense as they only last for 9 days. Examples of topics include: creating a cartoon character, a small object, a weapon etc. To join, you must
1 – Select and represent 1 of 12 forums engaged in Dominance War IV. Once a forum has been chosen, you cannot change forums until Dominance War V, 2010.
2 – After the rules have been revealed and read, post your "mandatory" work in progress (w.i.p) shots in a single 3d and 2d thread within your selected forum. All artists must post their w.i.p art in the same thread on the same forum.
3 – Before the challenge ends, submit your final entry into the DW entry system.
4 – When all entries are in a 4-day public voting process begins.
5 – When voting is over, the best 5 artists from each forum move into the final professional judging stage and both Epic Main and Mini Challenge World Champions are announced in June 2009.

Epic Main Challenge:
The main challenge is like previous Dominance Wars. It is a character-based competition with game-like polygon budgets, texture budgets and a storyline. When the rules are revealed on March 12th, if artists have not already chosen a forum to represent, they must do so now. Unlike mini challenges, artists must create their own personal 3d or 2d work-in-progress (w.i.p) threads on their selected forums. Everyone has 8 weeks to post mandatory w.i.p updates and everyone is encouraged to help others with friendly suggestions and critiques. Before the challenge ends, artists must submit their final entries into the DW system and when judging is complete and the war is over, this year’s World Champions and the winning forums they represent are revealed in June 2009.

Any advice for people entering:
If this is your first time entering Dominance War, I would suggest that extra care be given to the rules and options of Dominance War IV. If we use last year’s rules as an example, if you choose to create a warlord character with a powerful fire element sword, don’t make him blue, dressed in a robe, and casting spells. Try to make the best entry possible with the options you choose. Dominance War IV options can easily be incorporated into your entry and they are an absolute must-see during judging.
 
Although dominance war is a fairly open competition, an epic series with a 3-year history is always a little daunting to first time participants. Fortunately, there are plenty of moderators and artists who are always happy and willing to help fellow artists get started.

Here are a few tips.
- Always look carefully at the rules and ask questions if you don’t understand something.

- Make sure you love and take pride in the concept/idea you create. The concept should be something that will captivate you throughout the comp. If you love your idea, regardless of what happens around you, this will pull you through all difficult times.

- It might be tempting to create an entry that pushes or bends the rules, but if you look at previous champions, they are all perfect examples of the topics they represent. In 2006, rawkstar’s entry, General Crom, was a perfect War General. In 2007, Team Bigun’s entry was a fantastic Shadow type character perfectly equipped for mass extermination. In 2008, parkparkin’s 3d final looked like a perfect War Lord with a highly magical weapon and JerryJ’s 2d queen-like creation, flying impervious to all attacks, was perfect for destroying all opposition.

- Pace yourself. Don’t leave everything to the last minute. If you can’t keep a schedule then pace yourself according to another artist in the competition. If he/she finishes a head over the weekend, finish yours!

- Leave enough time at the end for a great presentation. A bad presentation can easily kill 2 months of hard work. Judges don’t see the hard work put into progress threads. They only see final images. If the presentation of the first image, winning pose, is bad, they will immediately skip to the next finalist.
 
- Don’t hide your character under too many effects. Each character should be able to stand proudly by itself.  The winning pose is about showing your character in a simple natural setting. If your entry is hidden, it looks like your entry has something to hide and will in turn be skipped.

Final Notes:
We will always be here to encourage and help artists in the coming months ahead. If you are an artists thinking about joining in on the fun, we look forward to seeing you in Dominance War IV. From the Dominance War team, we wish everyone good luck and we hope you enjoy this year’s epic event! See you on the forums!
 

Igor Posavec, CGI Director of 3d-io, presents in the following 10 minutes tutorial the wonderfull workflow by designing the UV maps and textures in order to create proffessional looking 3D Game Characters. Igor goes step-by-step explaining the adventages of parametric mapping and texturing. It is highly recommended for all 3D Artists focused on Mapping & Texturing to take a look at this video.
You can watch the movie (s. above) or download it for your off-site seeing (s. below or "download" icon).

Key features of this new version:

- Unwrella 2.0 now offers full support for manually placed seams and can maintain the manually chosen chart distribution during the unwrap process.

- Enhanced usability due to seam visualization in the Viewports and user selecable colorization of manual and automatically placed seams.

- Unwrapping of meshes with arbitrary polygon shapes (not just quads) has been improved.

Version 2.0 of the Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ 9, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is now available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com

Unwrella was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and reliable unwrapping solution. It is the first tool of this kind on the market, allowing the unwrapping of 3d models to be done with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. This allows users to quickly solve complex tasks like the creation of seamless 3d models, more accurate lightmaps and productive subsequent processing of the UV maps in other 3d applications like ZBrush™ or Mudbox™.

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialised company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Our latest product on the gaming market was nominated for the German Game Developers Award 2008 in best graphics category, and CG products are used by many famous Game and Design Studios worldwide.

Key features of this new version:

- Unwrella 2.0 now offers full support for manually placed seams and can maintain the manually chosen chart distribution during the unwrap process.

- Enhanced usability due to seam visualization in the Viewports and user selecable colorization of manual and automatically placed seams.

- Unwrapping of meshes with arbitrary polygon shapes (not just quads) has been improved.

Version 2.0 of the Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ 9, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is now available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com

Unwrella was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and reliable unwrapping solution. It is the first tool of this kind on the market, allowing the unwrapping of 3d models to be done with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. This allows users to quickly solve complex tasks like the creation of seamless 3d models, more accurate lightmaps and productive subsequent processing of the UV maps in other 3d applications like ZBrush™ or Mudbox™.

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialised company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Our latest product on the gaming market was nominated for the German Game Developers Award 2008 in best graphics category, and CG products are used by many famous Game and Design Studios worldwide.