Texture Mapping 101

Texture Mapping is the process of applying materials ("textures") to an object, and adjusting the Offset, Rotation, and Tiling of the object's UVs.

UVs are how the mesh stores this data. These are basically 2D "fold-outs" of the actual 3D mesh, like the image below.

Auto vs Manual UVs

ProBuilder provides both "Automatic" and "Manual" Texturing methods:

  • Auto UVs : Use this for simple Texturing work, especially architectural or hard-surface items. Tiling, Offset, Rotation, and other controls are available, while ProBuilder automatically handles projection and updates as you work.

  • Manual UV Editing : Use a full UV Editor to precisely unwrap and edit UVs, render UV Templates, project UVs, and more.

You can use a mix of Auto and Manual UVs, even on the same object. This is especially useful when some parts of a model need to have tiling textures, while others are unwrapped.

The UV Editor Window

Both Auto-Texturing and Manual UV Editing controls are located in UV Editor Window.

To open this window, click it's button ( UV Editor Icon or "UV Editor") in the Main Toolbar.

Item A UV Editor Toolbar

General tools and shortcuts for working with UVs- see the UV Editor Toolbar section for details.

Item B Actions Panel

This is a dynamic Panel, similar to the Main Toolbar- only actions available for the selected UV Element(s) type will be shown.

For full info, see the Auto UVs Actions and Manual UVs Actions sections.

Item C UV Viewer

Here you can view and edit the selected object's UV Elements directly- see the Manual UVs section for full details.