An UV mapping algorithm to maximize texel density and consistency?

Question

I'm looking for a way to automatically map a 3D mesh's polygons onto UV space such that texel density is maximized and kept as consistent as possible between polygons. Does an algorithm exist that will provide better results in this respect than standard projections such as planar, box, cylindrical, and spherical?

Answer 1

It is a widely known problem. You should take a look at http://alice.loria.fr/publications/papers/2002/lscm/lscm.pdf. Also Google Scholar might be your friend!

Answer 2

Aside from the paper cited by tibur, there's a paper titled "ABF++: fast and robust angle based flattening" by Sheffer, Lévy, Mogilnitsky and Bogomyakov which discusses an algorithm that can be used to create texture maps which satisfy the stated requirements.