How would one go about blending UV seams? Normally, I'll try put them along edges or in creases. Some objects the only option seems to be to stick them out in the open. I found a technique for Blender to blend UV seams. Any thoughts on how to do this with Houdini? While we're at it. Any good tutorials on the concepts and theory of good UV unwrapping? I know how to physically use all the tools. Every tutorial I've found is unwrapping something simple such as a ball or a smoothed character with a few limbs. It seems to be a bit overwhelming when I get to machines with lots of interlocking pieces in various sizes.

Said Blender technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm0WRbxDZ1U [youtube.com]