Question about breaking the model up for animating

(Note: this is for people that are really experienced with max)

i was just wondering; if i constructed a model as a single object, say an editable mesh, and had uv-mapped/textured it as a single editable mesh.....can i then break apart the pieces of the body by using the 'detach to element' feature? 'cause if i straight up detach the different body parts, my uv-mapping coordinates (and thusly my texture) become all jacked up.

or in the future do i simply have to break the model up prior to uv-mapping/texturing in preparation for animating?

you break it up afterwards

just collapse the mesh down to just the editable mesh and start detaching. If you break them apart beforehand, you will have to uvunwrap each and skin each part. If you still get quirky results, try adding an edit mesh modifier and trying. Just collapsing works for me though