Finding the right edges on which to place seams

The first step to unwrapping any asset is the seam placement on the edges of our mesh, but not all edges. We need to place just enough seams to lay our object’s geometry flat, quite literally like a carpet. There’s no correct result; as long as we’re satisfied with the outcome and stretching is minimized, it can be considered correct. Remember, though, that those seams might be visible in the textures since the parts will be separated, so we’d want to use as few of them as possible, and in places where they won’t be seen as much.

So, where do we put seams? That depends entirely on the shape of your mesh. But generally, seams can be put on edges that separate different surfaces, which are generally the edges with sharper angles, although some more seams can be placed elsewhere to get rid of stretching. Let’s see what this means through examples, using a few of the main primitive shapes available...