The UV-mapping question is especially can-of-wormy for me because there is some very interesting recent research in that area, complete with published source code. So if I got started on anything UV, I'd feel much more inclined to try and wrap my head around that stuff and turn it into something I could use in practice than dishing out money for some software that, if I'm lucky, is maybe a decade behind.

-- I'm not mad at you, just Westphalian.