uhhmmm, actually, I entered a contest just last month, and I learned how to unwrap my model. I wrote the steps down for someone else, but maybe you might find it interesting for either now or in the future. Here:
This is the tutorial that will be used as a bases for my additions. He forgot to write some valuable points:
http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/cottages/pixelated/tut02.shtml
Step 1# Before you follow that tutorial, you have to first select all your faces on your model you are about to texture. Then leave them selected and apply a frontal uvw map. Create this map in the front view port, make your UVW modifier active, then in the alignment section of the UVW modifier, press on “Fit” and then on “View Alignment.”
Step 2# then apply your unwrap. Press on the edit button, and when the screen pops up, don’t scroll in (don’t touch your scrolling thing on your wheel mouse) or zoom in on your picture. Select all the vertex’s you see there and scale them down until they are just one pixel, i.e. The only thing you should see after this is one “red” pixel in that unwrap modifier. Move that pixel to a corner of your window, somewhere off to the side.
Step 3# - Collapse the Stack - Only an edit mesh should be left.
Step 4# - Now you can begin to follow the tutorial. Start with your easiest thing, maybe your chest area. Select the faces on the front of your chest, leave the selection active, apply a Frontal UVW Map, do the same thing I said before and in that order (fit, view align). And then apply your unwrap.
Step 5# - This time, in the unwrap, feel free to move, or zoom in as much as you want. It might be easier at this point if you followed the - apply a checkered pattern - from the tutorial so you can see what you are doing and how every time you move a vertex, it changes in the view port. Once you get everything moderatly even looking, select all the vertices in the unwrap, and again, move it off to the side somewhere far away.
Step 6# - Collapse the stack -
Step 7# Repeat
If you ever want to see how it’s going, just don’t select any faces and add an Unwrap modier (without a UVW map) and you will now see your little pixel from the first few steps, as well as your chest part that you moved to the side somewhere. After you have gotten your visual confirmation that everything is working, delete that unwrap modiefier and continue on with the previous steps I told you (select faces, apply UVW planar map, then unwrap).
Also note, always keep the UVW Map channel as number 1.
Well, I hope this works. Unwrap is almost impossible to figure out on ones own. Even the 3dmax tutorial in the help menu is wrong #$%##. Anyways, it should prove as an interesting read.
Later
that will serve me good when i get down to texturing after this challenge.
HAHA
sucks, I know… but I’ll get back to my ordinary job on monday, and this weekend will be spent downloading stuff for my computer. I got a GeForce4 TI4400 a couple of days ago, as well as 2 new harddrives, and I can’t seem to get the c-dilla to work properly. and well, that makes it 1 day to get 3dsmax to work properly and as well finish off my beast, it won’t work.