UV mapping is the 3D modeling process of making a 2D image representation of a 3D model.
This process projects a texture map onto a 3D object. The letters "U" and "V" are used to describe the 2D mesh because ("W" when using quaternions, which is standard,) "X", "Y" and "Z" are already used to describe the 3D object in model space.
UV texturing permits polygons that make up a 3D object to be painted with color from an image. The image is called a UV texture map, UV is the alternative to XY, it only maps into a texture space rather than into the geometric space of the object. But the rendering computation uses the UV texture coordinates to determine how to paint the three dimensional surface.
In the example to the right, a sphere is given a checkered texture, first without and then with UV mapping. Without UV mapping, the checkers tile XYZ space and the texture is carved out of the sphere.... Read More