Cylindrical mapping
Cylindrical mapping is suitable for projection surfaces wrapping around 360 degrees, for example a cylinder or a bottle.
How the UV map is generated
The Cylindrical map will cylindrically project UV coordinates to the surface, by arraying the map around 360 degrees. This will enable symmetrical content to flow across the surface smoothly. However, because the UV map is joined at a seam, asymmetrical content will not flow around the surface smoothly.
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Select the UVW Map modifier.
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From the list of projection types select cylindrical.
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The cylindrical map will project UV coordinates from its normals to the surface. Therefore, it is necessary to fit the cylindrical map's position, orientation and scale to the surface.
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Select the Unwrap UVW modifier.
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Open the Edit UVWs window to view the UV map.
The image below shows a non-uniform checker pattern rendered to the surface, which indicates the UV map has an uneven distribution of UV coordinates. To fully unwrap the surface the UV map should be relaxed.
A 3D model of a coke bottle cylindrically mapped in 3ds Max.
The images below show two content templates mapped to the screen in Disguise software. The template's resolution was calculated by following the same technique used for Shrink wrapped projection surfaces, because when a surface is Cylindrically mapped it is problematic to calculate the resolution mathematically.
If a horizontal line is drawn across the template, in Disguise it will seamlessly map to the screen.
A 2D content template rendered from 3ds Max and applied to the coke bottle in Disguise. Notice how the horizontal line maps onto the 3D model seamlessly.
If a diagonal line is drawn across the template, in Disguise it will reveal a seam when mapped to the screen.
A 2D content template rendered from 3ds Max and applied to the coke bottle in Disguise. Notice how the diagonal line reveals a seam at its start and end points.