Autodesk MUDBOX 3D User manual

Overview
Create production-ready 3D digital artwork with
Autodesk®Mudbox™ digital sculpting and texture
painting software. Designed by professional artists
in the game, film, television, and design industries,
Mudbox combines a highly intuitive user interface
with a powerful creative toolset of stencils and
brushes to help you create ultra-realistic 3D characters,
engaging environments, stylized props, and more.
With familiar workflows and terminology and a
streamlined, intuitive workspace, you can become
productive on your first day with Mudbox—whether
you’re switching from an alternative solution, or new
to 3D sculpting and texture painting programs entirely.
Originally created in a real-world production
environment, and subsequently proven on many
demanding film and games projects, Mudbox also
provides the depth and flexibility to tackle complex
production challenges as they arise. With features
like a node-based architecture, and support for
n-gons, multiple UV tiles per texture, and custom
CgFX shaders, you can engineer creative solutions
to unique or unanticipated production problems.
Mudbox is available for Microsoft Windows®and
Apple Mac OS®X operating systems.
At its core, Mudbox is
extremely well built and
well thought out which
allows for the addition of
new tools that remain easy
to use, yet are extremely
powerful. With each new
release, Mudbox allows
me to focus more on the
art I’m creating instead of
the technical hurdles.
— Peter Zoppi
The shape of things to come
Autodesk Mudbox 3D digital sculpting and texture painting
software gives modelers and texture artists the freedom to
create production-ready 3D digital artwork without worrying
about the technical details.
Image courtesy of Peter Zoppi.
Image courtesy of Balazs Kiss. www.kissb.net.

Key Features
Best-in-Class Sculpting Toolset
Sculpt, design, and detail any organic or hard-surface
model and achieve smooth, accurate, and refined results:
• Selectfromanextensiverangeofintelligently 
designed default brushes that replicate real-world
sculpting paradigms: Sculpt, Smooth, Grab, Pinch,
Flatten, Foamy, Spray, Repeat, Imprint, Wax,
Scrape, Fill, Knife, Smear, Bulge, Contrast, and Freeze.
• Createcustombrusheswithuser-denedfallocurves
 andimagestampsforaninniterangeofeects.
• Sculptbothsidesoftopologicallysymmetrical 
models simultaneously—even when they are in an
asymmetrical pose—with the powerful tangent
space mirroring functionality.
• Usestencilstoquicklyadddetail,andcurvesto 
precisely control brush movement. Brush textures
directly into your mesh in 3D, and add high-quality
detail by displacing your mesh with images.
• Modelusingreferenceimages,withmultiple 
cameras each with its own image plane.
• Acceleratedesign,sculpting,andapprovalphaseswith
powerful new tools for deforming and posing models.
• Sculptcomplexformsimmediatelyusingvector 
displacement maps as stamps and stencils.
High-Quality 3D Paint
Paint multiple layers for multiple texture channels
on multiple high-resolution objects:
• Applypaintdirectlyontohigh-resolution3D models
and see the results immediately.
• Applydetailpreciselywhererequired,regardless
of UV distortion or surface complexity. Paint in
true 3D space, in UV space in the 3D view, or with
screen-space projection.
• PaintDiuse,Specular,Gloss,Emissive,Bump, 
Normal, and Reflection maps directly on your model.
• SelectfromPaint,Erase,Clone,andDrybrushes,
and customize their shape with image stamps and
 adjustablefallocurves.
• Selectivelyeditandmanipulateexistingpaintand
photo-based layers with new image adjustment
brushes: Blur, Dodge, Burn, Contrast, Sponge,
Hue, Hue Shift, and Invert.
• Selectivelypaintreferenceimagesontothemodel
from a particular viewpoint.
• Controlhowpaintlayerscompositetogetherto 
create a final image by selecting from one of the
new blend modes: Multiply, Screen, Add, or Overlay.
Flexible Layering System
Explorecreativeoptionsanditeratefreelytocreate,
compare, store, and blend multiple versions of your
paint and sculpting work using the flexible,
nondestructive layering system:
• Selectivelyedit,erase,andblendlayers 
nondestructively, using paintable layer masks.
• Duplicate,merge,atten,andreorderlayers.
• Blendlayersusinginteractivemultipliersliders 
and layer masks.
• Mirrororipthedetailstoredinoneormorelayers.
Images courtesy of Kenichi Nishida.
Images courtesy of Kenichi Nishida.

Production-Ready Texture Baking
Create high-quality, accurate Normal, Displacement,
Vector Displacement, and Ambient Occlusion maps:
• ExtractmapsusinganewVectorDisplacement 
method to represent displacements that do not
simply follow the normal.
• Transferdatafromhighly-detailedsculptedsurfaces
or laser scans into the form required by film and
game pipelines. Map data between multiple arbitrary
 objectswithdieringtopologies.
• Detailcanbebakedinto8-,16-,and32-bitmaps.
• Generatesmooth,high-qualitymapsusing 
extraction options that address issues related to
poly faceting by extracting between the limit
surfaces of the given meshes.
• Bakenormalmapsthatarecompatiblewith 
Autodesk®Maya®and Autodesk®3ds Max®software.
• Createambientocclusionmapsforextremely 
high-resolution models: bake the soft shadows
and details of a model out to an image which can
be re-used without expensive recalculations.
• Forcustomizedpipelines,developerscanwrite 
their own baking function within Mudbox.
On-Target Working Environment
Work in a high-fidelity display environment that
closely resembles the final rendered output to help
you identify problems early and create presentations
with maximum impact:
• Interactivelypaintandviewmultiplematerial 
channels (such as bump and reflection) in real time.
• Paintdirectlyontosculpteddetail.
• Immediatelyseehowyourmodelwilllookwith 
render-quality results directly in the viewport -
accurate 3D shadows, ambient occlusion, and a choice
of light types, including HDR image-based lighting.
• Usetrue3D cameras to view your model as it will
be seen by the audience, and optionally import
production cameras from Maya or 3ds Max.
• ImportskeletonsfromMayaor3ds Max to validate
and test your design.
• Customizethedisplaytomatchatargetplatform
with CG shaders and viewport filters.
• Previewandedityournormalmapsdirectlyon 
your model in the 3D View.
Image courtesy of Mashru Mishu.
Intuitive User Interface
Become productive in hours, rather than weeks,
with the easy-to-learn Mudbox user interface:
• Enjoyatoolsetdesignedforartistsbyartists, 
inspired by real-world tools.
• Feelateasefromdayonewithfamiliarworkows,
terminology, and hotkeys.
• AccelerateyourworkowthroughHoverPick 
functionality, hotkeys, and other tools.
• Easilyswitchbetweensculptingandpaintingtools
to develop shape and texture in tandem.
Image courtesy of Mashru Mishu.

Performance That Scales
Create incredible detail working directly with extremely
high-resolution meshes, without slowing down:
• Evaluateeventhedensestmodelsatfullresolution
while tumbling, using multiple real-time cameras
including true perspective and orthographic cameras.
• Keepthecreativityowingwhereotherapplications
become unusable, with brush performance that
scales with scene size.
Seamless Pipeline Integration
Mudbox integrates smoothly into your pipeline,
enabling you to leverage the strengths of industry-
leading 2D and 3D applications:
• ExchangedatawithMaya,3ds Max, and Autodesk®
Softimage®via Autodesk®FBX®technology; with
Maya 2011, data exchange is a single click.
• ImportandExportmeshesasOBJ,andtexturesas
 BMP,EXR,JPEG,PNG,TIF,andGIF(importonly).
• ExportpaintlayersandUVlayoutsasmulti-layer
PSD files; edit them in Adobe®Photoshop®and
then re-import.
Autodesk, Maya, 3ds Max, Softimage, FBX and Mudbox are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or aliates in the USA and/or other countries.
Allotherbrandnames,productnames,ortrademarksbelongtotheirrespectiveholders.Autodeskreservestherighttoalterproductandservicesoerings,andspecicationsandpricingat
any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
©2010Autodesk,Inc.Allrightsreserved.BR0C1-000000-MZ23
• CreatesubdividedUVscompatiblewithPixar 
RenderMan®renderer with the UV Smoothing option.
• CustomizeandextendMudboxviatheC++API 
(Application Programming Interface).
In-Product Community
Get more out of your Mudbox experience with
online community resources accessible directly from
the Mudbox application:
• Selectfromhundredsofstamps,stencils,base 
meshes, and tutorials in the Mudbox Library, and
upload your own contributions.
• Uploadgalleryimagesandturntablestoshare 
your work and to receive valuable peer feedback
and ratings.
• GaininspirationfromtheworkoftalentedMudbox
artists, and vote for your favorites.
• Accumulatepointsasothersvoteonordownload
your contributions, and ascend the community
leader board for status, awards, and prizes.
www.autodesk.com/mudbox
Image courtesy of Jukka Tahtinen. Image courtesy of Dave Cardwell.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves™.
Images courtesy of Naughty Dog, Inc.