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Add New Subdivision Level

Increases the resolution of the model by subdividing each polygonal face into four smaller faces. As a result, the number of faces quadruples each time you subdivide. See Increase a model's resolution.

Select Add New Subdivision Level > (Windows and Linux) or Add New Subdivision Level Options (Mac OS X) to open the Subdivision Options window.

Subdivision Options

Smooth Positions

When on (default), applies a global smoothing operation to vertices on the model each time it is subdivided (based on a Catmull-Clark algorithm).

Subdivide UVs

When on, subdivides the model’s UV texture coordinates for each subdivision operation. When off (default), subdivision levels higher than Level 0 do not have UVs applied until they are required. For example, UVs are applied to a higher level when you paint on the model. The default is off.

Smooth UVs

When on, applies global smoothing to the model’s UV texture coordinates each time it is subdivided. Smoothing UVs is useful if the model will be rendered as a subdivision surface model in another application that supports a similar UV smoothing algorithm as Mudbox. Off by default.

Note Smooth UVs changed as of Mudbox 2010 so that smoothing only occurs for UVs on the interior of a UV shell and not along its border edges. If you need the older pre-2010 method where all UVs are smoothed, the Mudbox 2009 UV smoothing behavior is still accessible using an environment variable. See MUDBOX2009_SUBDIVIDE_SMOOTH_UV in Environment variables.
Boundary Rule

Lets you set how you want creasing applied to boundary edges and vertices as you subdivide the mesh. This option is based on the Boundary Rule setting found in Maya. Select from the following rules:

Crease Nothing
Apply no creasing to boundary edges and vertices. (Corresponds to the Boundary Rule: Legacy option in Maya.)
Crease Vertices and Edges

(Default.) Apply full creasing to all boundary edges and all vertices that have only two incident edges before being converted to a smooth mesh. (Corresponds to the Boundary Rule: Crease All option in Maya.)

Crease Edges
Apply full creasing to edges only. (Corresponds to the same option in Maya.)
Preserve Borders

When on, Mudbox preserves border edges when you subdivide the mesh. (Border edges are not smoothed.)

Preserve Hard Edges

Only available when the active mesh has hard edge data (for example, smoothing groups imported from Softimage or hard edge data from Maya). When on, Mudbox preserves hard normals so they also appear when you subdivide the mesh.

Crease Hard Edges

Available only when Preserve Hard Edges is on. When on, Mudbox handles hard edges as infinite creasing edges during subdivision and creates a continuous crease, similar to hard edges with the TurboSmooth modifier in 3ds Max. This means edges are only smoothed along the edge direction, but not smoothed along the direction across the edges. Normals along the edges are changed smoothly, but normals on the left side of the edge change dramatically to normals on the right side. (The effect is to round over corners and edges.)

When off, the hard edges are fixed (meaning they are subdivided in a linear fashion and not smoothed at all, like in Maya). For new vertices inserted during subdivision, Mudbox uses linear interpolation from the original hard edges to determine the angles of new faces at corners and edges.

The following images illustrate the difference between a mesh subdivided twice with Crease Hard Edges on, and off.

Preserve Creasing

When on, edges with creases are preserved during subdivision and only smoothed in one direction, along the edges. When off, subdivision ignores the creasing.

Step Level Up

Displays the next higher subdivision level, if one currently exists.

Step Level Down

Displays the next lower subdivision level, if one currently exists.

Delete Highest Level

Removes the highest subdivision level from the active model.

Rebuild Subdivision Levels

For use on imported, high resolution meshes that were Catmull-Clark subdivided in other applications. Recreates lower subdivision levels for the active mesh. See also Rebuild subdivision levels for an imported mesh.

Note

This option works only on surfaces that have not yet been subdivided in Mudbox. If you import a high-res mesh, you must recreate the lower subdivision levels before you subdivide further in Mudbox. Mudbox can un-subdivide only to the lowest level that is all quads.

Recreate Level UVs

Creates UVs for the currently active subdivision level by interpolating the model's UVs at the base level (level 0), only if UVs exist at the base level.

Freeze Transformations

Sets the current transformation values for the selected object to be its 'zero' position. (Similar to the Modify > Freeze Transformations option in Maya.)

NoteAfter you set Freeze Transformations on an object, its local mirror axes pass through the world origin (since object space and world space are the same).
Set Topological Axis

Calculates and stores the topological center of a topologically symmetrical model (based on your selection of two faces straddling the center line). Setting the topological axis is required for using layer symmetry or if you want to mirror sculpting on a model that is topologically symmetrical, but posed asymmetrically. Sculpt using symmetry.

Flip Mesh

Flips the entire mesh around the specified axis, including all subdivision levels and any sculpt layers.

Select from the following sub-options depending on how you want the flipped mesh to be positioned:

  • Around X
  • Around Y
  • Around Z
  • Around Local X
  • Around Local Y
  • Around Local Z
  • From Y-Up to Z-Up
  • From Z-Up to Y-Up

Flipping the mesh from Z-Up to Y-Up or Y-Up to Z-Up makes it easier to work with meshes authored in other applications that use a default scene orientation different from Mudbox. For example, you can import a model, flip it to Y-Up while you work with it in Mudbox, then flip it back to Z-Up when ready to export.

NoteMudbox also flips the mesh UVs, so any text or logos on a painted texture will appear mirrored in the flipped mesh.

See also Flip a model.

PTEX Setup

Opens the How to Prepare Your Mesh for PTEX window, the PTEX Setup window, or both. See also Prepare a model for PTEX painting.

Transfer Details

Transfers high frequency sculpting detail, joint weighting, and sculpt layers from a high resolution mesh (the source) to a mesh with different topology (the target). See Transfer sculpt detail.

Validate Meshes

Scans all meshes in the scene for potential problems. See also Prepare a model for sculpting.

By default, the Validate meshes on import preference is on and Mudbox automatically scans FBX or OBJ meshes for potential problems on import, before you invest any time sculpting or painting. If you have turned this preference off, select Mesh > Validate Meshes to run the scan manually.

Create UVs

Automatically creates UVs for any mesh. Depending on your mesh, the following can occur:

  • If the mesh has no existing UVs, Mudbox creates UVs for the mesh on Level 0, and recreates UVs for any other levels.
  • If the mesh has existing UVs, a dialog box appears letting you choose whether to Replace Existing UVs or cancel the operation.
  • If the mesh is set up for PTEX painting, you cannot automatically create UVs, and a temporary message appears to indicate no changes are made.
Flatten to UV Space

Produces a flattened copy of the 3D model. Vertices on the flattened version are repositioned to match the UV texture coordinate positions of the original model to allow texture painting or basic UV editing. The original version still exists and is made temporarily invisible. Hotkey: Alt + T.

Unflatten From UV Space

Deletes a model previously flattened by Flatten to UV Space and restores the display of the original model. Hotkey: Alt + T.

Related topics

Increase a model’s resolution