Switching the top to bottom?

Wee Dangerous John

Choose between X,Y,Z (Plus U,V) to get best result and Validate

Wee Dangerous John

Personally I would make the front strap, UVMap it. Then make a copy of it and adjust it (with soft selection when needed), then reposiition the copy on the UVmap if necessary.

Add seams -

Wee Dangerous John

Add pins, these are in the center, one in from the edges -

I have not done the center part as I cannot really tell from your pic how far up the leg you are taking it, but it should unfold the same as this one but with the end unfolded as-well.

Personally I would leave it as is because the further you go up the leg the harder it gets to control in DAZ Studio. Patience is the expert on that side of things.

AngelicArtwork

I can get a decent UV from the sole but the straps are all over the place no matter how I mark it. Even the sole for some reason I had to adjust the vertices on the UVMap to get them the proper shape but the straps for some reason are all coming unfolded all on top of each other and pulled weird.

Wee Dangerous John

Have you tried making the straps as separate parts.

I do not mind having a look at it for you, just PM me a link.

patience55

Whoa.

FIRST finish 'ALL' the modeling on the mesh before attempting to make the final uvmaps.
As soon as one "welds" the pieces together the uvmaps go "poof".

When all done,
1. Remove all Shading Domains if any exist [great to use at times while modeling as a method to hide various parts 'til needed].
To save some possible hair pulling, Tools > find and use the option to weld together the same MESH points. Validate.
2. Apply any uvmap, planar is my usual selection, in the end it seldom matters which one was started with unless making a plain box.
3. Select "line", "select face up top" [to start the unfold action], select a line and loop it for a seam, "+" it [or "-" if change mind], the above diagrams look good for starting on the soles. You'll find that 'parts' that are welded together will indeed end up with their own "islands" so it all gets sorted out by the end of the time. By the way, all uvmapping and unfolding has to be done in one go, once validated one can redo from scratch OR by carefully reselecting ALL the seams BEFORE suggesting unfold or adding pins ... if a total mess happens, abort sets it back to starting point.
4. Once all the islands are as good as they get in shape appearance; Validate.
5. Select "faces" and select each island in turn to resize and/or reposition it. Hexie lines everything up on the bottom line, be it one island or a billion.
6. Once the islands are likable, one can stitch some back together if so desired CAREFULLY. Line welds on the UVmap side. NO POINT WELDING. The map would go 'poof'.
7. When all the islands are as desired, save perhaps for general all around size because they ALL have to be on that checker page; start selecting the islands which are to be in a particular 'Shading Domain' and create the Shading domains. Once a shading domain is assigned; one can NOT weld lines back together between different shading domains!!!
8. Once all the Shading Domains [at least the main ones for each island] are done; one can start rearranging them and resizing as desired. One can slide the islands off the page to make some working space on the Checker T ... just remember to put them all back on the Checker T. Different Shading Domains can overlap ... if one highlights a domain then takes a "snapshot" one can get a quick template from Hexie. For actually making working templates I'd highly recommend using something like UVvIewer [free]. Once all the main work is done, if you then decide to make some extra Shading Domains, that's still possible using the mesh side ... simply do NOT move any of the uvmap stuff around unless you want to. Once moved around, it cannot be moved back into place with the same precision.
9. Oh yes, save or incre-save the project when 1. Mesh work is done; 2. uvmap is slapped on. 3. uvmap is unfolded. 4. uvmap is validated. And then again after any "gee that's just what I want" moments.
10. It takes time to learn how to master uvmapping in Hexagon. If planning to go pro, I'd recommend 3D Coat but keep Hexie handy. It can do something the other programs cannot necessarily do ... select lines for seams from the back.
There are more tricks and whatnot to solve various situations with uvmaps in Hexagon, the above list is a general starting guide.

btw - for those squiggle line shapes that Hexie has a problem making nice; one can select the line and use the manipulator tools to straight the line. Using the Checks on the Check T to set them at equal distances; then resize the entire island when all done to show nice squares on the mesh figure.