DCC production guide
UDIM Texture Workflow Guide
Direct answer: Use a UDIM workflow when one zero-to-one texture set cannot provide the required close-up texel density. Freeze tile allocation before baking, keep shells inside their assigned tiles, use the exact 1001-based filename token expected downstream, and verify that the target renderer can load or convert the complete set.
UDIMUV tilesTexture setsBake padding
Build the UDIM workflow in a stable order
Start by grouping geometry by material purpose and expected camera distance. Apply transforms, finalize topology, and assign consistent scene scale before unwrapping. Lay out the highest-value surfaces first, then distribute secondary and hidden surfaces. Lock the tile map before baking so a late UV move does not invalidate every texture. Export a low mesh, a matching high mesh, and a tile manifest. Bake one diagnostic normal or ID pass before committing expensive maps. After painting, export with a filename such as hero_body_basecolor.<UDIM>.png, then test the actual ingest path rather than only the authoring viewport.
Choose tile, padding, and resolution settings
Keep one texel-density rule per material class. A hero face may justify more pixels than boots, but arbitrary density changes become visible at seams. For a 4K tile, start with 16 pixels of final edge padding and increase it when aggressive mipmapping is expected. Bake at final resolution or a documented multiple, use the production tangent basis, and keep normal maps non-color while base color remains color managed. Tiles should stay within the renderer's supported row and tile count; do not assume an unlimited grid.
Respect renderer and delivery constraints
Offline renderers usually consume tiled images directly, while realtime engines may require virtual textures, atlas conversion, or separate material slots. Confirm maximum texture dimension, texture count, compression, memory budget, and streaming behavior before approving the layout. Eight 4K tiles can be much more expensive than one 8K map once mip chains and multiple channels are counted. Avoid placing one UV island across a tile border unless the baker, painter, exporter, and renderer all support cross-tile sampling.
Decision example: creature close-up versus prop
A cinematic creature viewed at head-and-shoulders distance can use tiles 1001–1004 for the head and 1011–1014 for the body, with equal density and a documented face priority. A waist-high background crate does not gain useful detail from that complexity; one conventional set is easier to stream and review. The decision is not “more tiles means higher quality.” Choose the smallest layout that meets the shot, platform, and maintenance requirement.
Diagnose missing tiles, seams, and soft detail
A gray tile usually indicates a filename token, path, or material assignment problem. A shifted texture points to wrong tile numbering or UVs outside the intended coordinate. Bright seams after baking suggest insufficient dilation, mismatched tangents, or islands touching a border. Soft detail on only one tile usually means a resolution or export-preset mismatch. Inspect UV bounds numerically, load every output image, and test one mipmapped render. Repainting should be the last response, not the first.
Evidence checklist for review and handoff
- Capture the UV editor with tile numbers and density overlay visible.
- Provide the tile manifest, naming template, channel list, bit depth, and color-space rules.
- Show a checker render plus normal, base-color, and roughness outputs at final resolution.
- Record bake cage, dilation, tangent basis, export preset, and renderer version.
- Open the delivered files in the target renderer and capture one close-up and one mipmapped distance view.
Multilingual UV workflow table
Keep each production label beside its Chinese and Japanese equivalent when assigning UV work or reporting a failed tile.
| 中文 | English | 日本語 | Workflow usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| UDIM | UDIM | UDIM | Name the tiled 1001-based texture convention in the manifest. |
| UDIM 工作流程 | UDIM Workflow | UDIMワークフロー | Name the complete tile-planning, baking, painting, export, and validation sequence. |
| 唯一 UV | Unique UVs | ユニークUV | Require non-overlapping bake regions where unique detail is needed. |
| UV 通道 | UV Channel | UVチャンネル | Identify the channel consumed by each baker or renderer. |
| 边距 | UV Margin | 余白 | Set shell spacing and bake dilation for the final resolution. |
| UV 集 | UV Set | UVセット | Name the approved set before interchange between DCC packages. |
| UV 图块 | UV Tile | UVタイル | Assign surfaces to a numbered tile before baking. |
| UV 坐标 | UV Coordinates | UV座標 | Check coordinates when an image appears shifted or missing. |
| UV 岛 | UV Island | UVアイランド | Review orientation, scale, border safety, and overlap per shell. |
Related DCC references
FAQ
Does every game asset need UDIMs?
No. Use UDIMs when close-up texel density or authoring scale justifies multiple tiles and the target renderer supports the delivery method.
What does tile 1001 represent?
Tile 1001 is the base zero-to-one UV space. Tiles increase along U before moving to the next V row.
Can different tiles use different resolutions?
They can in some pipelines, but consistent resolution is easier to validate. Record every deliberate exception in the asset specification.
Why does a seam appear between tiles?
Common causes are insufficient bake dilation, mismatched color processing, inconsistent tangent data, or a sampler that does not resolve neighboring tiles correctly.