About a year ago we reviewed Mudbox 2011 and since it was the first time we reviewed this particular application we noted its background a little. As well as a general introduction to the program. The program was originally created by Skymatter and had a Weta Digital background. This is now the fourth release of Mudbox by Autodesk since taking over the application in 2007 when it was acquired.
What’s New in Mudbox 2012
Autodesk Mudbox 2012 continues to advance itself and in this year’s release the design software giant added support for 64-bit Linux in addition to Windows and Mac OS X 10.6.x support. In this update Autodesk touched on all three major areas of Mudbox (sculpting, painting and posing) adding useful improvements, but in general the largest updates are concentrated in the area of 3D painting and posing.
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Before we get into those we’ll briefly touch on some general improvements. Version 2011 added 64-bit support for Mac and now as we mentioned we have the same for Linux. A big new improvement in this update is the ability to create and edit stencils. You can bring in images to use for stencils directly from the Mac clipboard.
Autodesk also has introduced new single-step “round-trip” workflows for other related Autodesk software, such as: Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Softimage. Imagining a scene origin from your DCC software of choice, you can export to Mudbox to add painting or sculpting effects and detail and then merge back to your digital content creation (DCC) software. That improves work flows for those working with Autodesk DCC suites. There is a new Send To option in the File menu.
Another useful and related new feature is the new Maya-like “Hot Menus” introduced in Mudbox 2012. Clicking the spacebar quickly creates a “heads-up” hot menu system. For whose who do not use such menu systems it may take getting use to. (see image 01).
01 – Autodesk Mudbox 2012 features new “heads-up” Maya-like hot menu system.
Some significant minor changes include the ability to use tools like Grab and Pinch to manipulate stencils to more closely conform to the shape of your model. There are new selection tools with region and lasso modes. This gives you more control over how you control your model. (see image 02).
02 – Mudbox 2012 features expanded selection tools with new lasso and region modes.
There are two new Grab brush options–Grab Silhouette and Follow Path–that allow you to create innovative new shapes. And this release vastly improves on texture data sets.
next page: Painting Improvements
Painting Improvements
A very large bulk of the major improvements in this release are centered on painting functionality. You can now create opacity channels which are helpful in simulating real-world materials like glass and ice. And there is also new opacity affects options in the materials palette. A useful new feature is the ability to transfer paint layers from one model to another, via an option in the Extract Texture Maps window.
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UV improvements include a new Create UVs option in the Mesh menu. This generates basic UVs for a model to start painting with. You can later transfer painting info to high quality UVs.
Improving on the last version’s abilities with layers and Photoshop editing, Autodesk Mudbox 2012 introduces new nondestructive ways to paint with layer masks on paint layers. In addition, there are 22 new layer blend modes extending what was previously available to 27, corresponding with all of the available layer blend modes in Photoshop CS5.
The big news in this release however is the new Ptex painting options. You are no longer restricted to creating UVs before painting in Mudbox.
Ptex was created by Disney (Pixar) and stands for Per-Face Texturing. It is a dramatically new way of painting 3D models because it requires no explicit UV maps. Texture data instead is assigned to each face on the model with varying resolution. An important drawback in this process is that Ptex files cannot be edited in programs such as Photoshop as UV texture files can.
03 – Mudbox 2012 Ptex setup is a simple process.
Painting with Ptex is just like painting with UVs, except there are different options and outcomes. In order to render models with Ptex painting you will need a renderer that understands Ptex files, such as Pixar’s RenderMan or the Maya Hardware Renderer. Ptex is not supported on the Maya software renderer, the older Maya hardware renderer, Softimage or 3ds Max.
04 – Exporting paint layers as Ptex paint layers.
Setting up for Ptex is very simple. Autodesk Mudbox 2012 walks you through the process (see image 03). Creating a new paint layer automatically creates a Ptext paint layer, which you can export as a Ptex file. (see image 04).
next page: Posing and Sculpting Improvements
Posing Improvements
Previously in Autodesk Mudbox 2011 you could not create weighted skeletons directly within the program, something we noted as a negative in our review. In this version that has been addressed.
Autodesk Mudbox 2012 introduces several improvements to posing your models. You can now create multiple joints so that model elements like arms for instance can be fully rigged, weighted and posed. (see image 05-07). There is a new smart-hierarchy logic that creates hierarchies based on influenced vertices. This can go amuck on you if you don’t take care when initially setting up your individual joints and weighting, which is the region of influence on a “vertice level.” Much practice will improve your ability at setting up complete skeletons in Mudbox 2012, however many professionals will most likely import in completely rigged models from other programs.
05 – Mudbox 2012 supports weighted skeletons.
06 – See relations between joints under the Skeleton object.
07 – Mudbox 2012 offers many posing improvements over the previous version.
Another useful new feature is the ability to create pose presets. You execute this through saved poses which appear inside a new Go To Pose drop-down list. This can save you much time in future work and helps with such things as painting underarm areas and hard to reach places, because you can rapidly move model elements to expose those areas.
Sculpting and other Improvements
Autodesk has not added much in Mudbox 2012 in the way of sculpting. Improvements to Imprint Brush and Grab Brush are its only major updates in this arena. The Imprint brush now includes a Draw From Center option property, which lets you specify how the stamp image expands as you stroke.
Earlier we noted the two new Grab brush options for creating unique shapes.
There is also a new color hue window, enabling improved painting. There is a curves function also available. (see image 08).
08 – The new Color Hue window offers more color control and offers a curve function as well.
The Viewport Filters have some minor changes too. The Ambient Occlusion filter has been renamed Cavity Ambient Occlusion filter. This filter shades the crevices of a model. A new Ambient Occlusion filter has been added. This is a more fully featured filter, which makes for a better final effect.
Finally, Autodesk Mudbox 2012 has new language support. The program is now available in French, German and Japanese.
Closing Comments
As we noted before Autodesk Mudbox’s primary competitor is Maxon’s BodyPaint 3D, and like BodyPaint works very well with the leading industry DCC 3D suites. Again we find Autodesk Mudbox 2012 a very attractive piece of software, largely because it has a very simplified and logical interface. We would love to see introductory learning videos that ship with the software updated and expanded more.
We noted last time that the program lacks complete UV editing tools. This issue still stands. Posing has improved but complex rigs are best left for other software. We think the company has done a good job in several areas and the performance abilities to load massive texture data sets is one of them. Overall, the improved 3D painting functionalities and integration with Adobe Photoshop, as well as the round-trip work with other Autodesk tools make this a strong upgrade. To learn more about Autodesk Mudbox 2012 visit them online here.
Pros: very intuitive and easy to learn 3D paint system; great help system; excellent new painting features and the new Ptex painting support for UV-less painting offers cutting edge innovation. Better posing tools–new weighted skeletons–and some nice new sculpting, color, and transparency support round out new features.
Cons: no true UV editing, as noted in earlier review; complex skeleton rigs are tricky if not truly limited with new tools.
Advice: Autodesk Mudbox 2012 is a solid contender for those venturing into 3D painting tools and a side-by-side option for those considering Maxon’s BodyPaint 3D.
Cost: 745.USD online direct. Other pricing options include bundles. Upgrade price is 375.USD. To learn more visit Autodesk’s Mudbox product page here. www.autodesk.com
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