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I imported a model from another program and it didn't include any seams or a UV layout. When I unwrapped it, there were a lot of left over polys and I want to try and clean it up and have fewer islands to deal with. (e.g., I want larger islands with fewer small pieces that are unconnected and logically should be connected). The reason I want to do this is to make editing the texture in photoshop easier and more intuitive.

To start with, I'm looking at jewelry on the character model as shown below. It's kind of a complex shape and I'm struggling to figure out where to put the seams. I started with the loop cut tool and created a seam for every loop edge the tool could find. However, I'm not sure what to do next. Edges tend to go inside other shapes where you can't see them, and the ALT select is not a reliable method for getting the seam all the way around the mesh part.

Mesh to unwrap

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  • $\begingroup$ it really depends on what you want to do with your object, actually you don't tell enough, if you just want to paint on it, as Frederik Steinmetz says, you don't need any seam, just use Smart UV Project and you don't have to care about the UV map. $\endgroup$
    – moonboots
    Jun 7, 2020 at 8:30

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There isn't one good method for unwrapping an object, it needs some experience, here are the steps I would do:
Make sure it doesn't have a UV map, Seams usually do not get shared by different programs, so sometimes they do have a UV Layout, just no seems. Make sure that's not the case.
Don't create additional Vertices (Knife tool)
Worth a shot: in Edit Mode hit U and choose smart UV project. It will probably create a lot of small islands though, which might not be what you want.
In edit mode select everything and hit ALT J. That gets rid of as many triangles as Blender can do. If you're lucky, now you can use ALT click on edges to select loops and turn them into seams.
Try to hide the seams (less visible places on your object), because that's were texture artefacts can occur. It's not super important when you're drawing yourself, but it's a good practice none the less.
Create as big islands as possible without distortion/overlapping.

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  • $\begingroup$ ALT J was like a magic spell that suddenly made things a lot easier. I marked this answer correct for that alone. If you don't mind, I could still use some pointers on the best places to put the seams to get the largest possible islands. I've looked at some videos on unwrapping, but this is more complicated and less intuitive than the faces, clothing, and limbs I've done so far. $\endgroup$
    – user2970690
    Jun 8, 2020 at 5:26
  • $\begingroup$ On your screenshot the upper kind of hidden one is perfect, the ones inside the toruses are good, but you could move them below the structure. The rest are the "worst", because they are in plain sight, move them to the back of the structure. None of those are a catastrophy, just room for improvement. $\endgroup$
    – Frederik Steinmetz
    Jun 8, 2020 at 7:18
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for your help! $\endgroup$
    – user2970690
    Jun 8, 2020 at 18:47

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