What is Mudbox?
Autodesk® Mudbox™ is the first advanced, high
resolution, brush-based 3D sculpting and painting application built
from the ground up to address the needs of the digital sculptors
and texture artists. Designed by production artists for production
artists working on demanding projects, Mudbox introduces new workflow
paradigms and combines familiar concepts in a new and exciting way
to offer a unique solution for high-end commercial modeling and
painting.
Mudbox is quick to learn,
easy to use and integrates well with existing production pipelines.
What can you do with Mudbox?
Mudbox is designed for
manipulating digital surfaces in an organic manner. Models can be
either imported from existing files or generated using one of the
basic sculpt templates provided with Mudbox. Completed models can
be exported from Mudbox to be lit and rendered in other 3D applications.
Otherwise, displacement and normal maps are generated from the high
resolution Mudbox model and applied as a texture map on the original low
resolution mesh in another 3D application.
Mudbox is great for:
Designing:
- Start with a basic model template and
explore dozens of different design directions.
- Use Mudbox's powerful 3D Layers to version
your design ideas or to non-destructively combine different designs.
- Use Subdivision Levels to preserve superficial
detailing while making broad changes to the gross forms underneath.
- Evaluate the design properly by working
in true perspective. View the design through different lenses by
adjusting the camera's Field of View.
- Create multiple cameras or camera bookmarks
to quickly jump to common viewpoints or areas of the model.
- Import models from other 3D applications
such as Autodesk® Maya, Autodesk® 3ds Max, Pixologic™ ZBrush® for
sculpting in Mudbox.
- Output a model that can be input to another
application and rapid prototyped for client evaluation or passed
directly downstream to other digital departments for rigging, shading,
and testing.
Detailing:
- Use Layers to separate surface details
(pores, veins, scars, etc.) for easy and nondestructive editing
or to supply different map sets for different channels in the material.
- Use Mudbox's Knife tool to slice through
dense meshes creating crisp, clean lines.
- Sculpt all detail directly in 3D, avoiding
2D projection, using Mudbox's Stamps and Stencils for 3D sculpting.
- Use Mudbox's unique tangent based symmetry
sculpting to detail both sides of a model posed in a natural (asymmetric)
or client-approved character pose.
General sculpting
- Build up forms with control using Mudbox's
falloff curve to accurately shape the tip of sculpt tool. Cut sharp
wrinkles into the mesh with a single stroke.
- Import and create multiple objects within
Mudbox. Manage them through a conventional Object List, selecting,
hiding and locking whichever you please.
- Maximize your work space and keep your
cursor over the model while working, by using Mudbox's conventional
3D camera controls and its useful selection feature.
Painting and texturing
- Apply paint directly to your 3D models
in Mudbox. Mudbox produces a bitmap image behind the scenes that
you can use as a file texture or image map when rendering in other
3D applications.
- Color can be projected onto a model using
an image to apply its properties to the model using either a brush
stamp or stencil.
- Paint can be applied to produce a textured
appearance using a bump map.
- View your 2D painted bitmap images in
relation to the UV texture coordinates for the model using the UV
View.