Symmetry tools offer a way to speed up the sculpting process by reflecting detail sculpted on one side of a model onto the other side.
Tool Symmetry
Tool symmetry is symmetry in real time. With symmetry turned on, the brush is reflected on the model across the chosen axis. While sculpting, vertices are displaced on both sides of the model.
Mudbox offers seven symmetry modes: X, Y, Z, LocalX, LocalY, LocalZ and Tanget. X, Y, and Z represent the three dimensions of world space and act as axes across which the tool is reflected. Local X, Y, and Z represent the three dimensions of local space, reflecting the brush across the axes of the object's transform instead of the axes of the world. The tangent mode refers to symmetry that reflects across the topological center line of a topologically symmetrical model. The shape of the model may be asymmetric, but if its topology is symmetric, Mudbox can offer tool symmetry across its center line.
Setting up Tangent Symmetry
To set up a model for tangent symmetry, first make sure the topology of the model is perfectly symmetrical and that the mesh is at level 0. Then define the topological axis:
- Select two adjacent faces which are on opposite sides of the mesh's topological axis. (Tip: Use Shift+S to select a single face at a time, regardless of brush size.)
- Mesh>Set Topological Axis
A model's topological axis needs to be defined only once. This information is then stored with the model and is carried over to all subsequent subdivision levels.
Sculpting with tangent symmetry on an asymmetrically
shaped, but topologically symmetrical mesh.
Things worth noting
Tool symmetry is unable to keep the model 100% symmetrical after extensive sculpting. This is true for all live tool symmetry implementations for high resolution editing. Therefore, if preserving symmetry is critical than we recommend you use layer symmetry.
When using tool symmetry with stencils, the primary brush and its reflection will likely scrub over different parts of the stencil image, which means the result of each stroke will be asymmetric. If preserving symmetry is important to you while using stencils, we recommend using layer symmetry.