Character Modelling Part 7: Texturing in Mudbox

In this blog post, I will talk about texturing my model in more detail using another Autodesk program called Mudbox to work with Maya. These two programs work together and can be updated their current scenes from both programs.

Texturing in Mudbox

When wanting to add more interesting textures, there are numerous ways to do this. In this instance, I have imported my character model from Maya into Mudbox, both are Autodesk programs. The GIF below shows the process of how to send a model from Maya to Mudbox.

To send something from Maya, first you need to select the necessary elements on the model you wish to send across to Mudbox. Then go to File>Send to Mudbox>Send as New Scene. This'll send the model to Mudbox and once opened, a green box in the bottom right corner of the screen will say "Connected to Maya" and next to it is a "Update" button. These steps are highlighted above.

Before I started to do anything to my model, I first had to select the faces on my model and subdivide the polygons in order to work with any tool in Mudbox. This is shown below too.

To subdivide polygons in Mudbox, first select all the faces (if the model has seperate objects like armour, helmet, boots, gloves etc.). Once it is selected, it turns yellow. To subdivide, press shift+D on your keyboard and it'll subdivide. I have subdivided mine twice as it helps to add detail smoother.

Adding a Bump Map

I decided that I wanted to add a bump map to my model, to add the slight detail metal would have. To do this, I selected the paint brush in "Paint Tools" shelf on the bottom and clicked on the model. Whenever you are about to paint on a model, a pop up screen asks what you want the output channel to be. For this, I wanted to add a bump map. Below is the process of the painting on Mudbox.

I first selected the Paint Brush, went to click the model and up came a option box to create a new paint layer. I selected Bump Map on Channel and selected OK. Once I had a paint layer, it appears in the layers channel on the top right of the screen under the Paint tab.
A choice of adding stencils to any paint or sculpt tool is available. I am now going to show what my actual model has in detail on the armour.

This is what I have been placing as a Bump Map onto my model. I used a stencil to add the details from the brush onto the armour using a low strength and a very large brush. The stencil I used is shown below.

When using a stencil of any shape, it places it directly over as a square. You can move the stencil around, rotate it, or scale it to help when making a stamping effect on the model instead of leaving it on one chunk area. The stencil will ALWAYS follow the editor camera. To move, scale or rotate the stencil, hold down S and use the corresponding mouse buttons (middle click to move, first click to rotate, and second click to scale).