LogInUVPackmaster add-on creator Lukasz Czyz presented SLIM, which is now integrated into the official Blender codebase.
Lukasz Czyz, also known as glukoz, the creator of the UVPackmaster add-on for Blender, has unveiled a new SLIM UV unwrapping method that is now available for testing in Blender 4.3.
This algorithm is built upon Aurel Gruber's code, which Lukasz Czyz completed with permission, receiving funding through Epic MegaGrant. The implementation is now officially included in the Blender codebase and is available for everyone, labeled as Minimum Stretch in the Blender UI.
SLIM is an advanced iterative algorithm for UV unwrapping that reduces distortion in complex meshes, even without seams. Users can manage the tradeoff between "unwrap quality" and "computing time" – more iterations produce a less distorted UV map but require additional computation time. It also features a Minimize Stretch operator to effectively reduce stretch on already unwrapped meshes.
In his blog post, Lukasz Czyz shared a comparison of the results obtained using the current Angle Based and Conformal methods:
Lukasz Czyz
Lukasz Czyz
And here's the SLIM result after 5, 10, and 50 iterations:
Lukasz Czyz
Lukasz Czyz
Lukasz Czyz
"As you can see, just 5 SLIM iterations are enough to achieve a less stretched UV map than the maps generated by the Blender methods. After 10 iterations, we get a map with much less distortion (the texture is laid on the mesh much more evenly).
What is more, 10 iterations of the algorithm can be computed in a very short time (similar to the time required for methods already implemented in Blender). When we proceed to 50 iterations, the result doesn’t change significantly, which indicates that we can stop on that number. We got a very decently unwrapped UV map with no single seam."
To try SLIM in Blender, download Blender 4.3, which is currently in alpha, open the UV editor, select the geometry, press U for unwrap, and then choose the Minimum Stretch method.
Learn more about SLIM here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.