For task instructions, see Extract a vector displacement map.
Expand the following headings to find descriptions of each area in the Extract Texture Maps window.
Displays the name of the model to receive the extracted map. The map produced will represent the difference between this model (low resolution) and the source model(s) (high resolution).
The target model is usually the lowest subdivision level of a model with multiple subdivision levels. You can click the displayed subdivision level (next to the target model name) to select a different subdivision level from a drop-down list.
Use the Add All, Add Selected, and Remove buttons to change the model listed as the target.
Smooths the positions of interior UVs of the target model during the texture extraction. Smooth Target UVs only smooths when the Smooth Target Model option is on.
This can be useful if your image rendering software (for example, Pixar’s RenderMan®) can smooth the UV texture coordinates on a mesh during rendering to improve the results.
For target models with creasing or hard edge data (see Import and export objects with creasing and hard edges), lets you set how Mudbox handles the creasing information when extracting texture maps.
When on, Use Creases & Hard Edges affects the operation of other map extraction options. If you are smoothing your target mesh (Smooth Target Models is on), it ensures that the creases are maintained in the smoothed mesh. If you are using Ray Casting, it ensures that vertex normals are used to map the surface together (rather than face normals). If you are creating a normal map, it ensures that the local tangent space calculation takes the creases and edges into account, rather than interpolating smoothly over the model.
Lists the model(s) to extract maps from. The source model (high resolution) typically contains the sculpted details to be extracted into the map(s). This model does not require UV texture coordinates.
You can click the displayed subdivision level (next to the source model name) to select a different subdivision level from a drop-down list. Use the Add All, Add Selected, and Remove buttons to change the model listed as the source
(Available only when you set Map Type to Texture.)
When on, improves the quality of the final extracted image map by applying a filter comparison between pixels in the image. Higher values increase the amount of antialiasing that occurs and the time to extract the image map. For initial test extractions, use a small Image Size value and leave the Antialiasing property turned off until you produce a final image.
(Available only when you set Map Type to Ptex.)
Set these options to determine the number of texels in your final map, and how they are distributed across the mesh.
(Only available when the target mesh is set up for PTEX painting - see Prepare a model for PTEX painting.) Applies the same texel distribution you defined during PTEX setup.
Defines the coordinate space on a face using the normal, tangent, and the binormal.
Use this option if you plan to use the output vector displacement map primarily for sculpting in Mudbox as a stamp or stencil. This option stores displacement vectors so that you can apply the vector displacement map image at any scale to any random surface. See also Sculpt using a vector displacement map.
Not recommended for rendering displaced detail on characters that will deform, because the height of the displacement can change where the surface squashes or stretches.
The coordinate space on a face is defined by the normal, tangent and binormal, which are orthogonalized and normalized relative to each other.
Use if you plan to render displaced detail on models that will need to deform. This option stores vector lengths that are hard-coded, or absolute, which maintains the height of the displacement across surface deformations.
Do not use Relative Tangent if you are extracting a vector displacement map for use outside of Mudbox.
If you plan to use the map in another Autodesk application (such as 3ds Max, Maya, or Softimage), use the following guidelines when setting the Vector Space:
Lastly, note that you can extract a vector displacement map from a model with no UVs using Ptex. However, if you use Relative Tangent or Absolute Tangent space, the map can only be applied to models with UVs.
Available when Map Type is set to Texture:
Enter a name for the extracted map(s). To have Mudbox automatically append the target mesh name to your filename, use the wildcard characters %s.
Click the browse icon to set save options (including file format) in the Save As window.
Available when Map Type is set to Ptex:
When on (default), Mudbox also saves general data about the mesh (vertex positions, list of faces, and so on) in the output PTEX file. This can be useful if other tools in your pipeline can use this type of PTEX data, for example if you will use a PTEX viewer to inspect the output file. It is recommended that you keep this option on when extracting PTEX files.
Depending on the type of map (or maps) you're generating, lets you specify the bit depth for the extracted Ptex file. (Options include 8 bit integer, 16 bit integer, 16 bit float, or 32 bit float.) The larger the bit depth you select, the higher the precision in the extracted files, and the larger the file size.