Options available in the Extract Texture Maps window depend on the map types you select in the Maps to Generate list. In this topic, options common to many map types are listed first, followed by properties specific to each map type.
Select the map types you want to generate. The Extract Texture Maps window displays options for each map type as you select from this list. See also Texture extraction overview.
Displays the name of the model to receive the extracted map. Unless you are extracting maps in Ptex format, the target model must have UV co-ordinates.
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.
The map produced represents the difference between the target model (low resolution) and the source model(s) (high resolution).
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.
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.
Extracts a texture map by recording the distance (as a pixel value) between the source and target models based on sample rays cast along the surface normals of the target surface. The number of sample rays cast depends on the texture map resolution.
Use this method when extracting maps between arbitrary meshes (meshes with differing topologies), and ensure that you manually align the models as accurately as possible before extracting. Artifacts in the resulting texture map can sometimes occur (particularly with overhanging features) that require editing afterwards.
Extracts a texture map by recording the distance (as a pixel value) between one subdivision level and the corresponding point at a higher subdivision level on the same model. Use this method only when extracting texture maps between different subdivision levels on the same model.
The resulting texture map will contain fewer artifacts compared to the Ray Casting method, requires no setup or alignment between separate models, and performs the extraction more quickly. However, Subdivision does not capture the height differences as accurately as the Ray Casting method, particularly when vertices on the higher subdivision level have been translated off normal compared to the lower subdivision level, which can occur when using the Grab or Pinch tools.
Available when Method is set to Ray Casting. Off by default. so that intersections are ignored when the ray intersects a surface that is facing in the opposite direction. When on, Mudbox records ray intersections with source faces that are backfacing. This improves extraction results when a number of intersecting meshes are used as the source model.
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.
Only available when you select Ptex as the output format. 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. It is recommended that you keep this option on when extracting Ptex files.
Transfer Paint Layers properties
See Method. Select Subdivision if the source and target mesh have the same topology. If not, choose Ray Casting.
Can specify a fixed size, such as 1024 x 1024, which means that every paint layer that is transferred will use this fixed size. A second option is to select Same as source, which means that each transferred paint layer will have the same resolution as the corresponding source layer. A final option is to select 2x Source, which means that each transferred paint layer will have double the resolution in each dimension as its source counterpart.
Specifies which paint layers are transferred and how many. Selecting Replace Existing Layers means that a transferred layer of the same name will replace a previously existing layer. Selecting Add to Existing Layers means that all transferred layers will be added to existing layers, and any name conflicts will be resolved automatically.
Ambient Occlusion Map properties
Determines the quality of the final ambient occlusion map based on multiple shadow maps used for the calculation. Preset values include: Fastest, Fast, Normal, Good, and Best. A higher quality setting increases the number of shadow maps, produces a higher quality map, and increases the time to generate the ambient occlusion map.
Controls the size of the shadow maps for the occlusion map calculations. Values are preset at 256 x 256, 512 x 512, 1024 x 1024, 2048 x 2048, 4096 x 4096. The shadow maps are not accessible and are discarded after the generation of the occlusion map.
Increasing the Shadow Map Resolution produces a more detailed occlusion map and increases the time to generate it. In general, set the Shadow Map Resolution to the lowest value that produces an occlusion map of acceptable quality. Default is 1024 x 1024.
Controls the contrast between shaded and non-shaded areas in the ambient occlusion map. Decreasing the value reduces contrast, producing more mid-tone gray values in the map. Increasing the value increases contrast, producing tones that are more black and white. The default contrast setting is 0 (neutral contrast) with the lower and upper range of -1 and 1.
Vector Displacement Map properties
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.
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.
Automatically imports the generated displacement map as a new paint layer within the Bump Map channel of the assigned material. This lets you preview the displacement map on the selected model(s) and iterate the generated map with different settings if required.
When off, the extracted displacement map is saved to the directory you specify without displaying as a paint layer on the model.
Automatically imports the generated map as a new paint layer within the Normal Map channel of the assigned material. This lets you preview the normal map on the selected model(s) and iterate the generated map with different settings if required.
When off, the extracted normal map is saved to the directory you specify without displaying as a paint layer on the model.
to set
save options (including file format) in the 
