This is kind of interesting… The Render Blog posts a look at how you can edit and manipulate UV’s in Maya’s 3D space directly in the Maya viewport.

João shows how you can convert an object’s UV’s into an editable mesh. This is done by using SOuP’s MaptoMesh node. Connecting the map to mesh node to the object’s shape node will give you a 3D representation of that objet’s UV’s in the viewport as an actual mesh.

Having the UV’s as a mesh in the 3D scene, allows you to use any of Maya’s modeling tools to manipulate the object’s UVs. There is also a look at using python to script a bit of automation into the process. Using a simple python script to automatically create the SOuP map to mesh node setups.

This is an excerpt from The Render Blog’s Advanced Shading Techniques course. The content runs 3h41m and is delivered through a series of 720p videos. Advanced Shading Techniques costs 49$, and can be purchased through The Render Blog. Check out Advanced Shading Techniques here.