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The shape of things to come
Autodesk Mudbox software delivers new tools for
helping deform and pose models, an extended texture
painting toolset, and enhanced file transfer with leading
2D and 3D applications.
Autodesk ® Mudbox™ 2011 software helps accelerate
design, sculpting, and approval phases with powerful
new tools for deforming and posing models, and
the ability to create high-quality turntables for
presentations. Moreover, the texture painting toolset
is significantly extended with image adjustment
brushes and blend modes for paint layers, while a Vector
Displacement map extraction method offers new
possibilities for creating and rendering complex details.
In addition, with single-click file transfer with Autodesk
®
Maya
®
2011 software; multi-layer PSD exchange with
Adobe
®
Photoshop
®
; and support for Windows
®
7 and
Mac OS
®
X 64-bit operating systems, Mudbox
fits more seamlessly into existing pipelines.
Posing Toolset
Quickly and easily deform and pose models to change
their design, access occluded regions, present them
for approval, or prepare them for map extraction.
With tools for quickly creating and editing joints,
and the ability to import weighted skeletons from
Autodesk
®
Maya
®
2011, Autodesk
®
3ds Max
®
2011,
or Autodesk
®
Softimage
®
2011 software, the new
toolset enables modelers to create and manipulate
poses as part of the design, sculpting, painting, or
approval process.
Image Adjustment Brushes
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. These brushes enable existing image
data under the brush to be altered or enhanced—for
example, color-corrected, brightened, or softened.
Vector Displacements
Extract maps using a new Vector Displacement method
and represent displacements that do not simply follow
the normal: for example, forms with appendages,
undercuts, folds, and bulges, such as a human ear.
Once extracted, maps can be used to help recreate
detail at render time in supported renderers, or as
brush stamps or stencils in Mudbox to sculpt complex
detail onto meshes in a single stroke. Artists can
build up a library of commonly-used forms and
reuse them on models.
Paint in UV Space in the 3D View
While painting in 3D space helps with precise
placement of detail on the model, in some cases it is
easier to paint textures in a 2D format. An innovative
new feature in Mudbox unfolds a 3D model into a
2D representation, based on its UVs, but retains the
benefits of working in a true 3D environment such
as the ability to analyze lighting and material qualities.
Beyond painting, sculpting on the unfolded mesh
with tools such as Grab and Smooth enables basic
editing of the 3D model’s UVs.
Enhanced Interoperability with Maya, 3ds Max,
and Softimage
No need to navigate through multiple file browsers
and remember path and filenames: now models and
scene information transfer between Mudbox
and Maya 2011 with a single click. In addition,
Displacement and Normal maps extracted in Mudbox
are now associated with models when an Autodesk
®
FBX
®
2011 file is exported, helping to eliminate the
need to manually reassemble the asset when brought
into in another program. Meanwhile, using Mudbox
in concert with a favorite content creation application
is easier than ever with a choice of familiar hotkey
setups for common actions.
Blend Modes for Paint Layers
Control how paint layers composite together to help
create a final image by selecting from one of the
new blend modes: Multiply, Screen, Add, or Overlay.
These non-destructive settings help artists to
experiment freely when constructing complex multi-
layered textures by offering the flexibility to change
the blend mode.
Multi-Layer PSD File Exchange with Photoshop
Import and export multiple layers in PSD files to leverage
the Adobe Photoshop toolset on more demanding
scenes and projects. Now artists can edit layers in
the context of the final composite, helping preserve
continuity in look and workflow when moving between
Mudbox and Photoshop.
High-Quality Turntables
Quickly and easily create high-quality 360 degree
turntable movie files directly in Mudbox. Common
file formats enable movies to be more easily accessed
for remote review or approval via email or on a website;
turntables are also useful for showcasing artists’ work.
Session Recording
Record a sculpting and painting session in Mudbox
and export the recording to a movie. Recorded sessions
can be used to share workflows, teach techniques,
and showcase talent.
Superior Performance
Work with assets of greater complexity through
significant performance increases for scenes with
multiple objects.
Enhanced Color Chooser
Store and recall recently-used colors and user-defined
palettes, and work in a choice of color spaces using
the same new color chooser as Maya 2011.
64-bit Support for Mac OS
®
X and Windows 7
Mudbox has new 64-bit executables on Mac OS
X and Windows 7 operating systems providing more
addressable memory to more easily handle the
increasingly detailed models required by today’s
challenging productions.
Mudbox In-product Community
Get more out of your Mudbox experience with online
community resources accessible directly from the
Mudbox application. Artists can select from hundreds
of stamps, stencils, base meshes, and tutorials in the
Mudbox Library, and share their work with other users
for valuable peer review without ever having to leave
their work environment.
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