1. REVIEWS - Autodesk Mudbox 2009 [OLD VERSION]
ViewUserReviews
Average Customer Rating
4.5 out of 5
Product Feature
Mudbox 2009 is a premier digital sculpting andq
texture painting solution ideal for 3D/2D artists,
fine artists, web and multimedia professionals,
traditional sculptors, students
Become productive in hours with the intuitiveq
Mudbox user interface--work interactively in an
environment in which high-res 3D models retain
their subtlety, realism, and detail
Provides an organic brush-based 3D modelingq
experience that includes 2D and 3D layers to
easily manage sculpting and painting iterations on
multiple meshes and maps
Designed by professional artists in the film, games,q
and design industries
Mudbox 2009 interoperates well with Autodeskq
Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max, as well as with other
3D software applications, making it a natural
choice for experienced artists
Read moreq
Product Description
Autodesk Mudbox 2009 is a digital sculpting and painting software that gives artists the freedom to create 3D
artwork as easily as if they were working with clay and paint. Designed by professional artists in the film,
games, and design industries, Mudbox combines a highly intuitive interface with a powerful toolset of stencils
and brushes, for creating ultra-realistic 3D models and environments. Read more
Product Description
Autodesk Mudbox 2009 digital sculpting and painting software gives artists the freedom to create 3D digital
artwork as if they were working with clay and paint. Designed by professional artists in the film, game, and
design industries, Mudbox combines a highly intuitive interface with a powerful toolset of stencils and brushes
for creating ultrarealistic models and environments.

2. Designed by industry professionals who understand how you work, Autodesk Mudbox 2009 software is a highly
intuitive 3D digital sculpting and texture painting solution. Click to enlarge.
Whether you're a seasoned 3D professional, an artist who works with traditional media, an amateur enthusiast,
or a 2D graphic designer or illustrator looking to add 3D to your workflow, Mudbox is what you need to add a
whole new dimension to your creativity.
"The introduction of Autodesk Mudbox 2009 sparks a revolution in computer graphics tools, bringing about a
paradigm shift in how designers and artists do their work." -- Habib Zargarpour, Senior Art Director, Electronic
Arts
Hit the road to freedom
Mudbox gives artists the ability to create without worrying about the technical details. Sculpt and paint as fast
as you think. With its friendly user interface, Mudbox can be easily used by both traditional and digital artists.
Welcome to the age of digital sculpting and 3D painting
There was a day when design ideas were visualized through a physical model fabricated or sculpted from
materials such as metal, paper, wood, or clay. There was a day when digital artists worked in 2D. That time is
over. Meet Mudbox.
Brush based digital sculpting
With Mudbox you can digitally sculpt ultrarealistic 3D models with incredible detail--down to the pores on a
character's skin--with easy-to-use, high-quality sculpting tools, stamps, and stencils. Choose from an extensive
list of brushes, or quickly tailor them to fit your project's particular needs.
Mudbox features an artist-friendly user interface (UI) and high quality, interactive display. Click to enlarge.

3. Choose from a number of base brush types: sculpt brush, flatten brush, wax brush, or create your own. Click to
enlarge.
If you are new to 3D, you can use one of the simple built-in primitive shapes, such as a sphere, as a starting
point for creating organic forms. Artists already familiar with 3D software may want to begin their designs in a
3D application like Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, or Autodesk Softimage, and then bring them into
Mudbox to refine the shape and add depth and texture. The Mudbox interface will be familiar to artists who
already know these tools.
Texture painting
Rotate your model to apply paint precisely where you want, no matter how complex the surface. Quickly and
easily paint multiple diffuse, specular, reflection, and bump textures across multiple high-resolution maps on
your 3D models. 3D painting is integrated with the familiar stamps and stencils workflow.
What you visualize is what they'll see
The real-time rendering effects in Mudbox enable you to see your work in progress from any angle. When
you're done, use Mudbox to show it off to clients, co-workers, or friends.
"In my line of work, with the stakes extremely high, either your model is unquestionably real or it's a failure.
There's no second chance, no 'nice try.' Mudbox 2009, with its smooth, high-fidelity brush set, image-based
lighting, real-time shadows, and nondestructive layer system wrapped in a clean UI, ensures that I hit my mark
100 percent of the time." -- Dan Platt, Senior Modeler/Organic Model Lead, Digital Domain
From 2D to 3D
It's never been easier to add a whole new dimension to your creativity. Adding Mudbox to your current 2D
workflow frees you from the creative limitations associated with traditional photography, 2D software, hand
illustration, and other traditional graphic design methods.
While the tools themselves will feel familiar to those who sculpt with clay, the Mudbox workflow offers the
advantages of digital creative tools, such as Adobe Photoshop software, including the ability to organize your
work using layers, mirror or flip them, and nondestructively edit your 3D models.
Let your inner child come out and play
When was the last time you played with Play-Doh? It's time to try it again (minus the funny smell)! Mudbox
guarantees hours of guilt-free fun--you're on a computer, so you must be working, right? After all, Mudbox is a
work tool used by major film, TV, and games studios to create 3D characters and environments.

4. Apply paint precisely where you want, regardless of surface complexity. Paint multiple textures across multiple
high resolution maps. Click to enlarge.
Use high dynamic range (HDR) images for custom lighting effects. Click to enlarge.
Mudbox has a layer system (similar to Photoshop) to help artists manage and experiment more easily with various
sculpting and painting effects and organize their work. Click to enlarge.
Ideal for:
3D artists
2D artists
Fine artists
Web and multimedia professionals
Traditional sculptors
Students
Applications:
Web and multimedia content
Film
Games
Television products
Design--automotive, consumer goods, industrial, architectural
Advertising

5. Product packaging
Illustration (classic, medical, or scientific)
Features
What's Included
Documentation and Learning:
Learning movies --Watch these movies to learn the essential skills to work in Mudbox.
QuickStart tutorial--Learn the basics of sculpting and painting in this step-by-step lesson.
Online documentation--The fully searchable online HTML-based help system includes user guides, tool
references, and best practices.
Community:
The AREA, a community for Autodesk Media & Entertainment products. Access free tutorials, downloads or
interact with fellow users in discussion forums and see the multitude of talent from around the globe. Directly
connect with industry professionals through blogs--more at area.autodesk.com.
Detailed features
IMPORTANT: Please read the System Requirements. As new hardware is added on an on-going basis, please
also visit Autodesk's updated requirements.
User Interface
Become productive in hours, rather than weeks, with the intuitive Mudbox user interface.
For traditional artists with no previous 3D experience, tools that closely mimic the behavior of their real-world
counterparts are quickly understood and easily adopted.
Work with tools such as brushes, stamps, and stencils to quickly sculpt and create lifelike textures.
Use the Layer Editor to organize your work.
Maximize your workspace by hiding UI elements and using standard hotkeys to manipulate the camera.
Mudbox can be used with a standard mouse but it is Ideal for use with a Wacom Cintiq interactive pen
display, or Wacom Intuos4 pen tablet.

6. Mudbox provides interactive lighting and shadows that enable you to see and develop your work under "real"
viewing conditions. Click to enlarge.
Visualize your model under different daylight conditions. Click to enlarge.
Bake high-quality normal and displacement maps between multiple arbitrary meshes. Details can be baked
into 8-, 16-, and 32-bit maps. Click to enlarge.
Cameras
Mudbox features innovative, accelerated camera manipulation, for excellent interactive performance with even
the densest meshes.
Use multiple real-time cameras within a scene, including true perspective and orthographic cameras.
Bookmark your camera positions.
Model using reference images: each camera has its own image plane.
Use Smart Focus to position the camera based on the cursor position and brush size.
Manipulate your camera with trackball-style controls.
Use the same keyboard shortcuts for Mudbox cameras as those that are used for cameras in Autodesk Maya
software.

7. Display
Work interactively in an environment in which high-res 3D models retain their subtlety, realism, and detail.
Apply one or more image maps to any object, independent of the other objects in the scene.
Use smooth shading mode to get a display more representative of the limit surface.
Interactively view multiple texture channels (including bump and reflection) at the same time.
Interactively view multiple maps and multiple materials in the scene.
Work in real time with models that properly display advanced lighting (including HDRI-based lighting) and
shadows.
Incorporate advanced display options into your presentation, including ambient occlusion, depth of field, and
tone mapping.
Sculpt Layers
Store different detail passes, design directions, libraries of morph targets, and more on multiple layers.
Mirror or flip the detail stored in one or more layers.
Edit nondestructively: Mudbox delivers paintable masks.
Quickly duplicate, merge, flatten, and reorder layers.
Precisely blend layers using interactive multiplier sliders and layer masks.
Use layers to store libraries of morph targets.
Advanced Digital Sculpting
High-quality brushes, stencils, and curves let you quickly "sculpt" your geometry into the 3D model you
envision.
3D Brushes
Use intelligently designed default brushes or quickly tailor them for custom behavior and performance.
Choose from a number of base brush types, including
Sculpt brush--enables you to create complex forms with great control
Flatten brush--enables you to quickly create planes and wipe away detail
Wax brush--enables you to easily fill in area
Accurately shape your brush tips with falloff curves and stamps. A sharp falloff curve will cut an accurate,
sharp stroke into the geometry with no soft stroke profiles.
Workflow
Sculpt both sides of topologically symmetrical models simultaneously--even when they are in an asymmetrical
pose--with the powerful tangent space mirroring functionality.
Use curves as guides for brush strokes.
Use image stamps to quickly brush (in 3D) a detailed texture directly into your mesh.
Quickly add high-quality detail through mesh displacement. Use 8-, 16-, or 32-bit images to displace your
mesh; Mudbox even supports displacement using multiple maps at one time.
Texture Painting and Assignment
Quickly and easily paint multiple diffuse, specular, reflection, and bump textures across multiple high-resolution
maps on your 3D models.
Apply detail precisely where required, regardless of UV distortion or surface complexity. In the Mudbox 3D
Paint mode, the brush position relative to the model is calculated in true world space; paint is projected
tangent to the model. 3D painting is integrated with the familiar stamps and stencils workflow.
Selectively paint reference images onto the model from a particular viewpoint. Using the new Projection brush,
you can project paint onto the model from screen space.
Paint hero characters with ease: Mudbox supports the painting of multiple maps on multiple meshes.
Paint both sides of your model simultaneously with the familiar symmetry workflow.
Paint and display a different texture for each UV square unit tile.
Use the intuitive layer editor to easily manage multiple paint layers. You can select, blend, and organize
several images for each texture channel.

8. Texture Baking
With its robust texture baking capabilities, Mudbox solves one of the most common bottlenecks in production
pipelines: baking of normal and displacement maps.
Bake high-quality normal and displacement maps between multiple arbitrary meshes. Detail can be baked into
8-, 16-, and 32-bit maps.
Generate smooth, high-quality maps using extraction options designed to address issues related to poly
faceting by extracting between the limit surfaces of the given meshes.
Displace your meshes using multiple floating point maps.
Bake normal maps that are compatible with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max software.
General Workflow
Mudbox performance is renowned, with tools organized in a familiar, intuitive manner.
Work in real time even on 3D models that are fully subdivided into tens of millions of high-quality polygons.
Manipulate the camera using conventional camera controls--to maximize your workspace and reduce "back
and forth" workflows.
Streamline your workflow through tools such as the Hover Pick functionality and hotkeys.
Use asymmetrical mirroring to streamline the process of working on posed or asymmetrical models.
Work on one mesh in the context of others: Mudbox supports multiple meshes within the scene.
Use the built-in image browser--with full support for 8-, 16-, and 32-bit images--to view reference images and
quickly assign them to stamps, stencils, or camera image planes.
Connectivity and Integration
Mudbox works well with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max, as well as with other 3D software applications,
making it a natural choice for experienced artists.
Integration with Autodesk Maya 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max 2009
Autodesk Mudbox provides enhanced interoperability with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max through
improved matching of Maya and 3ds Max normal and displacement maps. Additionally, Mudbox employs, by
default, the same keyboard shortcuts as Autodesk Maya for camera manipulation. #mudbox { border: 1px
solid black; font-size: 80%; border-collapse: collapse; } #mudbox td { border: 1px solid black; }
Supported Formats
Scene Import OBJ
Scene Export OBJ
Texture Import BMP, EXR, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIF
Bitmap Output BMP, EXR, JPEG, PNG, TIF. Some formats applicable to certain renderers only.
Read more
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