What's new in General

You can now drag, resize, and close or open the tools and windows in Mudbox to easily create a custom layout that suits your workflow. Unlock the interface (Windows > Lock Layout), then rearrange as needed.

New options in the Windows menu let you lock your custom layout, reset to the default Mudbox layout, or import and export layouts to share with other artists.

Refer to the following new or updated topics:

• Create a custom layout
• Windows menu
• Interface overview

Mudbox now supports the ViewCube^®, an on-screen 3D navigation tool already familiar to users of other Autodesk 3D applications. The ViewCube provides feedback about the camera view in relation to the 3D scene, and lets you quickly and easily switch between scene views as you paint and sculpt.

Use the ViewCube menu to adjust the ViewCube size, behavior, and appearance.

• ViewCube overview
• Show or hide the ViewCube
• Navigate the 3D view

For Windows and Mac OS X, Mudbox now supports using a 3DConnexion 3D mouse to reorient and navigate a view.

3Dconnexion devices can boost your productivity in Mudbox by allowing for a two-handed work style. You can use your 3Dconnexion device with one hand to precisely position and visualize your model, while you use a stylus with the other hand to select, paint, and sculpt.

• 3Dconnexion device setup
• 3Dconnexion properties

The Select/Move Tools tray now includes Borders and UV Shell tools, letting you easily select all faces on a boundary edge (such as the edge of a hole), or all faces included in a single UV shell.

A new Reset button in the Properties window for many tools lets you experiment with adjustments to the tool settings, then easily reset the tool to default values as necessary.

• View and edit paint brush properties
• Edit sculpt tool properties

You can now freeze transforms on objects in Mudbox, similar to the Freeze Transform function in Maya. This lets you translate, rotate, and scale the object in Mudbox, then select Mesh > Freeze Transformations to set its current position as its new 'zero' position, essentially redefining the local origin for that object.

• Freeze Transformations

The hotkey preferences available in the Mudbox Setup window have been updated. If you install Mudbox as part of a Suite, you can now set which product hotkeys you use across the suite. New Interaction Mode preferences also let you edit this setting.

Quickly create pairs of objects (such as boots or gloves), or repeated features (such as double doors) using new items in the Edit and Mesh menus. Select Edit > Duplicate to create a copy of a model, and optionally select Mesh > Flip Mesh to flip the mesh.

Flipping the model is also useful if the primary sculpting application in your pipeline uses a default Z-Up scene orientation. Since Mudbox uses Y-Up orientation, you can quickly and easily flip your imported to display upright in Mudbox, then flip it back when ready to export.

• Duplicate a model
• Flip a model

New tiling planes let you paint and sculpt tiled detail, creating seamless, repeated features or textures. Select Create > Tiling Plane and use the new Create Tiling Plane window to specify the size and orientation of the plane, then use any paint or sculpt tool to create your repeating pattern. Use your tiled textures to efficiently cover large surface areas, or extract the sculpted detail into a displacement map (including vector displacement maps with undercuts and overhangs).

• Sculpt or paint on a tiling plane

Updates to the falloff curve editing tool make it easier to adjust the shape of sculpt and paint tool falloff. You can now add or delete points on the curve with a single click. In addition, a new Falloff Curve window lets you work with an expanded view of the curve for easier editing. See Adjust tool falloff for updated information.