Creating UVW Map For Skin Model

To create a UVW map for my face I had to open up the 3DsMax file I had created and clicked on the editable poly section on the right and then clicked on the modifier dropdown list and selected "Unwrap UVW" by clicking this it allows you to select vertex, edge or face.
To create a mask of my head I needed to select the Face option from the list.
Once you select the face option make sure you click off the option "ignore backfacing" and change the selection tool to paint hold down "ctrl" on the keyboard and then select with the mouse all of the areas of the head apart from the ear, once all of the faces are selected scroll down the list on the right.
On the right there is an option called "Cylinder" select this and a cylinder will show around your head, select the option "Align Y" this will make the cylinder appear upwards then use the "scale" tool to make the cylinder circular and then rotate the green part of the cylinder to the front and the middle of the head.
Now that a reference has been made on the head it is time to create a material of checkers so that when the UVW mask is edited it will show on the head.
To create the material go into Material Editor mode "M" on the keyboard, select the diffuse box and then click on the "Checker" option from the list then choose your tiling option and add it to the head.
Now that the head model has the checker material on it, its time to edit the mask that has been created by selecting all of the faces before.
To display this click on the "edit" option on the right side in the "Unwrap UVW" section it will display the Edit UVW window which displays the mask map that has been created by selecting the faces on the head.
The main part to editing the mask is to make the checkers all the same around the head so that it is a smooth fit when it comes to adding detail to it.
To make the areas look right you have to select the vertex option in the Edit UVW window and select the areas that look stretched the main areas that this occurred was the top of the head, the shoulders and parts of the neck.
I started by editing the top of the head and selected certain parts of the head that looked stretched and lifted sections to see what happened then made sure all of the areas around were made into quads.
I then edited the other areas using the vertex tool and made sure there were no triangles or overlapping parts to it.
I then made sure around the eyes and nose there wasnt any overlapping quads or points and then moved on to the next part.
The next part was to create a mask for the ear to do this I used the same technique as the head but only selected the ear.
The only difference with this is you dont use the "Cylinder" option you use the "Planar" first then use the "Pelt" option to define a split point.
When you click on the "Pelt" option 4 boxes appear underneath which allow you to select reference points. Select the "Point to Point Seam" option then click and drag the mouse from a point behind your ear to the corner of your ear as shown in the picture.
Once you have made sure all of the ear is selected you need to click the box below the 4 options and select "Edit Pelt Map" this will open a new window showing the Edit UWVs window from before but this time there are multiple points around the ear you have mapped.
This allows you to strectch the mask to show all of the quads that are involved to stretch the mesh simply select the "Simulate Pelt Pulling" button and watch the ear pulled to a point you are happy with.
Once you have a ear shape you are satisfied with you need to make it smaller with the scale tool and then place it under the head mask you created earlier.
Then its time to mirror the 2 objects so that you have one full head.
To do this click on the "Symmetry" option on the right hand side then click the dropdown list again and select "Unwrap UVW" this will create a 2nd Unwrap if you click the "Edit" option on the right hand side again it will show the mask you created already but if you click at a high point of the mask you will see it is selecting the other side of the head in perspective view if you then click the "Mirror" option at the top it will create a mirrored mask for you to line up in the middle of your mask.

You then need to select the ear the same way and mirror it to create a 2nd ear.
Once you have the middle of the mask aligned up its time to start welding the points together to do this simply match up each middle point together then select them both using the paint brush tool at the bottom of the Edit UVW window and then right click and select "weld selected" or hit "ctrl W" on the keyboard.
Once all of the points are selected and welded its time to export it the image to Photoshop so you can start adding detail for the skin map.
To export the image click the "Tools" option at the top and select "Render UVW Map" and then select None from the dropdown list and make the resolution the size you want it to be.
Once you have seleced these options turn off the edge colour and make sure edges are turned on otherwise you wont see any outlines then save the image as a bitmap or a photoshop file.
Now that you have an image to put into Photoshop you need to create a guide so that you can see over what skin you are putting on and make sure the points line up correctly.
To do this copy the background layer and then create a new layer called guide, then create a fill on the edit option at the top and this will make a background colour then select the "Quick Mask Mode" tool on the left side and paste the image onto the page.
Now you have an outline on the screen but its not very thick so select the option "Select" / "Modify" and select "Border" then make it 4 so that it becomes a thicker line.
After this select "Layer Mask" at the bottom right then right click on the right image that says guide and "Apply Layer Mask" it makes the image transparent apart from the lines it has created.
The next step is to open up the image you created before and start selecting points using the lasso tool this allows you to create a select of any shape from the face and then all you need to do is copy it and paste it onto your screen and then move it around and free transform it so that it fits properly on your guide.
This is an image of what it looks like in the process of adding parts of your face to the image without a guide ontop so you can see the image clearly.
Once you have added parts to the image you can merge the layers so that they are easier to modify and edit.
Using the patch tool and the clone stamp tool you can edit the face alot quicker and more effectively.
I used the patch tool to make areas that didnt match or look right together fit in smoothly and look like part of my face.
Once I used all of the techniques as above I made most of my face quite effectively and then to use it as a Material on Max I saved the image as a bitmap and then opened my 3DsMax file to test out the image so far.
Once Max was open I opened the material editor and selected an empty material then clicked on the diffuse option and select bitmap then selected my bitmap image I had created. Then applyed it to my head.
The result was brilliant it was finally starting to look like me!
I turned the perspective view to the side to see how the material fit around my head and neck and was pleased with the result now all I need to do is edit the image until it is complete and add it to my head.
The next step completing the mask for my head.