Unwrapping 3D meshes into low-distortion texture maps

Techniques are disclosed for generating and using a conformal or UV mapping between an object's 3D representation (e.g., a polygonal mesh model) and a corresponding 2D representation (e.g., texture memory). More particularly, techniques disclosed herein generate a conformal mapping that allows the rapid identification of disparate locations in texture memory (e.g., those that span a seam) that are spatially similar at the corresponding 3D locations. The ability to perform 2D-to-3D-to-2D mappings quickly, grants the ability to filter across a conformal map's seams-an action that has previously been avoided due to its high computational cost.