Introducing Mudbox Book

Introduction

Chapter 1 Getting Your Feet in the Mud: The Basics of the Mudbox Production Pipeline 1

Understanding the Mudbox Workflow Stages 2

Loading a Base Mesh 5

Using the Camera to Navigate Your Scene 5

Blocking in the General Shape and Adding Image Planes 8

Sculpting Your Model 13

Adding Paint Layers and Painting Your Model 20

Rendering Your Image in Mudbox 26

Exporting Results from Mudbox 28

Rendering Your Image in Maya 32

Summary 40

Chapter 2 The Mudbox User Interface 41

Starting Out with the Welcome Screen 42

Navigating the Main Viewport 44

Exploring the East Frame Window 51

Working with the South Frame Tray 62

Performing Map Extraction 78

Setting Mudbox Preferences 85

Summary 88

Chapter 3 Detail-Sculpting an Imported Model 89

Modeling the Base Mesh 90

Laying Out UVs 94

Using Naming Conventions and Organizing the Components of Your Model 103

Setting Scale, Location, and Pose of the Model 104

Sculpting Surface Details 106

Sculpting Weathering and Wear and Tear 113

Summary 123

Chapter 4 Painting and Texturing an Imported Model 125

Texture-Painting Models in 2D and 3D 126

Laying Out UV Maps and Arranging UV Shells for Texture Painting 127

Creating Texture Maps 129

Using Materials and Textures 130

Working with Paint and Texture Layers 132

Using Specular, Gloss, and Bump Maps 134

Gathering Reference Images 134

Painting Bertie 136

Summary 150

Chapter 5 Digital Sculpting, Part I 151

Understanding Digital Sculpting 152

Planning the Sculpture 152

Sculpting in Stages 154

Determining the Best Base Mesh for Sculpting 155

Understanding the Mudbox Sculpt Tools and Their Properties 157

Summary 178

Chapter 6 Digital Sculpting, Part II 179

Modeling the Base Mesh in Maya 180

Laying Out the UVs in UVLayout 198

Posing the Base Mesh 207

Sculpting the Model 225

Sculp Using a Vector Displacement Map (VDM) 236

Summary 242

Chapter 7 Working with 3D Scan Data 245

Understanding the Benefits and Challenges of 3D Scan Data 246

Using 3D Scanners 250

Reviewing Scan Data Import Considerations 255

Importing 3D Scan Data and Re-topologizing in Mudbox 257

Summary 268

Chapter 8 3D Painting 269

Painting Your Sculpture 270

Generating UVs on Subdivision Levels and Painting Directly on UVs 270

Painting on Layers and Using Blend Modes 274

Using Color, Stamps, and Stencils 283

Workflow to Adobe Photoshop and Back 302

Loading Textures into Maya 305

Summary 307

Chapter 9 Lighting and Rendering 309

Rendering and Using Cameras in Mudbox 310

Lighting Your Model 312

Applying Visual Effects with Viewport Filters 319

Creating Turntables and Recording Sessions 325

Rendering in Mudbox and External Programs 327

Summary 353

Appendix About the Companion DVD 355

What You'll Find on the DVD 356

System Requirements 356

Using the DVD 357

Troubleshooting 358

Index 359