Cinema 4D Tip: Speed Up UV Prep with Fill Selection and Grow/Shrink

Speed up UV prep by mastering Fill Selection and Grow/Shrink—fast, accurate island definition with fewer clicks and cleaner unfolds.

Where it helps most:

• Hard-surface assets with clear panels and trims
• Characters and clothing where seams are visibility‑sensitive
• Fast lookdev and baking workflows before packing UDIMs

Workflow outline:

• Switch to the UV Edit layout and work in UV Polygon mode for island operations.
• Define perimeters:
  • Select border edges around a logical material section (use Loop/Path on edges for speed).
  • Ensure the perimeter is closed; Fill Selection needs a sealed boundary to determine the interior.
• Use Select > Fill Selection to select the entire region inside your edge loop instantly. This is ideal for creating clean, contiguous UV islands in one move.
• Refine with Select > Grow/Shrink Selection:
  • Grow to pull in one more ring for padding or to include beveled edges.
  • Shrink to back away from tight corners and reduce distortion around creases.
• Store the result with Set Selection so you can recall that polygon or UV selection at any stage.
• Cut and relax:
  • Mark seams on the boundary edges if you haven’t already.
  • Apply Relax with “Cut Selected Edges” and “Pin Border” or “Pin Selected” as needed to stabilize shape while minimizing stretch.
• Normalize and pack:
  • Orient/Align islands for consistent grain/direction.
  • Match texel density across islands, then Pack with padding for safe texture bleeding.
• Validate with a checker texture and the UV Distortion view. Iterate Grow/Shrink to fix hot spots quickly.

Pro tips:

• Visible-only selection: Toggle “Only Select Visible Elements” depending on whether you want through‑selection in the Perspective view. In UV view, use the Visible Only toggle for marquee picks.
• Edge-to-poly conversion: Convert Selection (Edges to Polygons) lets you define borders first, then Fill for precise interiors.
• Mirror and symmetry: Mirror Selection saves time on symmetrical models—build one side, mirror, then relax both.
• Padding mindset: Grow once before packing to ensure your texel padding survives mips and post.
• Loop continuity: If Fill Selection fails, hunt for a gap—close the loop or add a supporting edge to complete the boundary.

Common pitfalls to avoid:

• N‑gons at sharp turns can cause uneven fills and relax artifacts—triangulate or add support loops before UVs.
• Forcing a single mega‑island—reasonable cuts usually yield better texel usage and less distortion.
• Skipping selection tags—without saved selections, revisions become slow and error‑prone.

Pipeline note: Clean islands built with Fill Selection plus Grow/Shrink lead to more reliable baking (normal/AO/curvature) and sharper materials in DCCs and game engines.

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