Why One Simple Knife Took Me Hours to Unwrap

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

On Day 37 of my game development journey, I spent more than two hours UV‑unwrapping a simple knife model. The process turned out to be the most mentally exhausting part of the day, highlighting why UV work can be especially hard for beginners.

Knife Model Details

The knife consisted of several parts:

• Blade
• Sharp edges
• Handle

All of these shared a single UV map, which added complexity.

What Confused Me

• Where exactly to place seams
• How to separate the blade and handle properly
• Why UVs were overlapping
• Why textures stretched along the knife edges

The model looked fine in 3D, but appeared terrible in the UV Editor.

Key Realizations

• Seams are like cutting paper before flattening it. Treating the knife as separate parts rather than one solid shape made a huge difference.
• Each major part needs its own UV island.
• Knife edges require extra seam care.
• Rushing the UV workflow only worsens the result.

Practical Tips for UV Unwrapping

• Mark seams slowly and deliberately.
• Unwrap in parts, not the whole mesh at once.
• Use a checker texture to quickly spot stretching.
• Check the UV Editor frequently to catch problems early.
• Remember that a clean UV layout depends more on thoughtful planning than on speed.

Conclusion

Progress may feel slow, but each challenge builds a stronger foundation. If you’re also learning game development, what was the first thing that confused you when you started?

See you in the next post 🎮🚀