Mudbox is a proprietary computer-based 3D sculpting and painting tool. developed by

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartered ...

, Mudbox was created by Skymatter, founded by Tibor Madjar, David Cardwell and Andrew Camenisch, former artists of Weta Digital, where it was first used to produce the 2005 Peter Jackson remake of ''King Kong''. Mudbox's primary application is high-resolution

digital sculpting Digital sculpting, also known as sculpt modeling or 3D sculpting, is the use of software that offers tools to push, pull, smooth, grab, pinch or otherwise manipulate a digital object as if it were made of a real-life substance such as clay. Sculp ...

, texture painting, and displacement and normal map creation, although it is also used as a

design tool Design tools are objects, media, or computer programs, which can be used to design. They may influence the process of production, expression and perception of design ideas and therefore need to be applied skillfully. Objects New ideas can come ...

History

Mudbox was developed by Skymatter in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

as the founders David Cardwell, Tibor Madjar and Andrew Camenisch were working on ''The Lord of the Rings'' at Weta Digital circa 2001. They created the software to expand their own toolsets, and Mudbox was first used as a complete product on the 2005 film ''King Kong''. The beta was released in May 2006, followed by version 1.0 in mid-February 2007. On August 6, 2007,

announced the acquisition of Skymatter.

Features

Mudbox's

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

is a 3D environment that allows the creation of movable

camera A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

s that can be bookmarked. Models created within the program typically start as a

polygon mesh In 3D computer graphics and solid modeling, a polygon mesh is a collection of , s and s that defines the shape of a polyhedral object. The faces usually consist of triangles ( triangle mesh), quadrilaterals (quads), or other simple convex ...

that can be manipulated with a variety of different tools. A model can be subdivided to increase its resolution and the number of

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two t ...

s available to sculpt with. 3D layers allow the user to store different detail passes, blending them with multiplier sliders and layer masks. Using layers the user is able to sculpt and mould their 3D model without making permanent changes. As a detailing app, Mudbox can import and export .obj, .fbx, and .bio files, as well as its own .mud format. A typical workflow is to create a relatively simple (low polygon count) model in a 3D modeling application and then import it to Mudbox for sculpting. Subdivision of models occurs using the Catmull-Clark subdivision algorithm. The sculpting tool set contains an assortment of brushes with adjustable falloffs. The use of 3D layers allows for design visualization, non-destructive sculpting, and high polygon counts. Since the layers combine additively, their ordering is unimportant for the final model and may be created arbitrarily. Curves can be created and projected on a mesh for use as precise masking. All of the standard transform and selection tools are here as well. Paint layers were added in Mudbox 2009. Design visualization plays an important role in Mudbox's production value. Simple poly primitives can be created from within Mudbox, facilitating the creation of busts, props, terrain, etc. Mudbox also includes stamps and stencils. Stencils work by overlaying a

grayscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a grayscale image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an ''amount'' of light; that is, it carries only intensity information. Graysc ...

, or "alpha channel" image, such as a

bump map Bump mapping is a texture mapping technique in computer graphics for simulating bumps and wrinkles on the surface of an object. This is achieved by perturbing the surface normals of the object and using the perturbed normal during lighting calcul ...

, over the mesh. The artist can then project part or all of the image's detail onto the mesh through brush strokes, providing a method to quickly sculpt surface detail. The underlying architecture of Mudbox was updated in Mudbox 2009 to allow the sculpting of models with larger polygon counts compared to earlier versions. In Mudbox 2009 3D painting and texturing features were introduced to allow artists to paint directly on their models in 3D. In addition, features to display the model with depth of field and

ambient occlusion In 3D computer graphics, modeling, and animation, ambient occlusion is a shading and rendering technique used to calculate how exposed each point in a scene is to ambient lighting. For example, the interior of a tube is typically more occlude ...

were added for the release. In Mudbox 2010, an application programming interface (API) was introduced via a

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

(SDK). In addition, functionality to improve file interoperability with other 3D applications (Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max etc.) was added via the FBX file format.

Interface

Mudbox's interface includes menus, tabbed windows, and tool trays, and can be customized to a limited extent. It also provides

keyboard shortcuts computing, a keyboard shortcut also known as hotkey is a series of one or several keys to quickly invoke a software program or perform a preprogrammed action. This action may be part of the standard functionality of the operating system or ...

. The navigation in the 3D view is similar to that of

Autodesk Maya Autodesk Maya, commonly shortened to just Maya ( ), is a 3D computer graphics application that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, originally developed by Alias and currently owned and developed by Autodesk. It is used to create assets for interac ...

Awards

On February 15, 2014, Canadians Andrew Camenisch, David Cardwell and Canadian-Hungarian Tibor Madjar were honored by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

with an

Academy Award for Technical Achievement The Technical Achievement Award is one of three Scientific and Technical Awards given from time to time by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (The other two awards are the Scientific and Engineering Award and the Academy Award of Mer ...

for scientific and technical achievement for the concept and design, along with

Csaba Kőhegyi Csaba () is a Hungarian given name for males. Csaba is the native Hungarian name for Ernak, the youngest son of Attila the Hun.''Gesta Hungarorum'', Simon Keza, Edited and translated by Laszlo Veszpremy and Frank Schaer with a study by Jeno Szuc ...

and Imre Major, two Hungarians educated at

Debrecen University ThUniversity of Debrecen( hu, Debreceni Egyetem) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its establishment in 1538 by Suleiman the Magnificent ...

, for the implementation of the Mudbox software.

Releases

* October 2007, Autodesk released version 1.07 of ''Mudbox''. * October 2008, Autodesk released Mudbox 2009 (v2) of ''Mudbox''. * August 2009, Autodesk released Mudbox 2010 (v3) of ''Mudbox''. * March 2010, Autodesk released Mudbox 2011 (v4) of ''Mudbox''. * September 2010, Autodesk released Mudbox 2011 SAP (v4.5) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2011, Autodesk released Mudbox 2012 (v5) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2012, Autodesk released Mudbox 2013 (v6) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2013, Autodesk released Mudbox 2014 (v7) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2014, Autodesk released Mudbox 2015 (v8) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2015, Autodesk released Mudbox 2016 (v9) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2016, Autodesk released Mudbox 2017 (v10) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2017, Autodesk released Mudbox 2018 (v11) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2018, Autodesk released Mudbox 2019 (v12) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2019, Autodesk released Mudbox 2020 (v13) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2020, Autodesk released Mudbox 2021 (v14) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2021, Autodesk released Mudbox 2022 (v15) of ''Mudbox''. * April 2022, Autodesk released Mudbox 2023 (v16) of ''Mudbox''.

References

External links

Autodesk Mudbox HomepageMudbox ForumsMudboxCentral Tutorials, News and JobsMudbox Russian CommunityMudbox video tutorials
{{3D software

Mudbox Mudbox is a proprietary computer-based 3D sculpting and painting tool. developed by Autodesk, Mudbox was created by Skymatter, founded by Tibor Madjar, David Cardwell and Andrew Camenisch, former artists of Weta Digital, where it was first u ...

Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners 3D modeling software for Linux Proprietary commercial software for Linux