Mudbox help please

[quyeno]

Hi guys,

got some problems and woudl really appreciate any hep.

I have a sculpt that is 7.5 mil polys and i want to take into Max to bake NM and AO but so far its no go as Max crashes when i try to import it (even when i have split it into 2 smaller chunks). My questions are:

1. can Mudbox bake AO onto a low poly model?

2. I want to try and get the model into max using smaller chunks, so how do I split the model in mudbox into more than 2 chunks?

3. If that fails, i'll just export the level down. how do I copy a layer from the top level to a lower level? I have a 'crack' layer in level 7 and want to copy that layer to level 6 and delete level 7.

thanks
Quyeno

[Gregg]

1. can Mudbox bake AO onto a low poly model?Quyeno

Why would you want to bake your AO from a low poly model?
Usually, you bake the AO from the high rez model and use the generated map on a lower rez model; one that has a normal or displacement map applied, also baked from a higher rez version, of course...

2. I want to try and get the model into max using smaller chunks, so how do I split the model in mudbox into more than 2 chunks?Quyeno

Select some polygons, then use Export Selection. Immediately, hide those polygons and click on an empty area to de-select everything. Then, select some more polygons and again use Export Selection. Continue the same procedure, until you've export the whole model, in as many chucks as you want, or as the selections you've made...

3. If that fails, i'll just export the level down. how do I copy a layer from the top level to a lower level? I have a 'crack' layer in level 7 and want to copy that layer to level 6 and delete level 7.Quyeno

You don't need to. Higher level details propagade to lower leves as well. Obviously, they don't have the same fidelity and clarity, as each higher level have 4 times the polygon amount of it's preceding layer. You can step down a level and simply delete the highest level, to bake and/or export from level 6. Save in a separate file though, to keep your level 7 in case you need it...

Cheers,
T.Rex

[quyeno]

cool, cheers mate.

as for Q1...I want to bake ONTO a low poly model ;) Did somemore digging and seems like Mudbox can't bake AO maps. Would be so nice if the next version or update to Mudbox has AO and Dirt map baking tools. It would make Mudbox's baking tools complete. wonder if Monsieur Wayne knows? ;)

Thanks for your help mate, much appreciated.

I was thinking I could bake a Displacement map in Mudbox then use the Displacment Modifier in Max along with an Optimise modifier. This should hopefully give me the same results as it is in Mudbox.

[Wayne]

You can currenlty bake an Ambient Occlusion map, take care to be at your highest subdivision level, as mudbox wil only bake the dtail it see's for an ambient occlusion map. You can then trasnfer this to your low level. BUT (and this is the one thing that catches out a lot of guys), make damn sure that you low res retains the sillhoutte of your high res to a decent degree.... if not not only will AO maps look crap, but also normal maps too.

You must have the geometry to support the detail you are trying to infer with a normal / AO map. Yeah I do know alot of whats coming in future mud vresion but I'm not allowed to say one word.....sorry. I slipped up once before by accident on twitter and got a telling off for it. :)

Wayne...

[quyeno]

Hmmm.....i think the docs need updating! I couldn;t find anything about baking AO...only NM and DM.

Wayne...since you're the man in the know, it would be really cool of Mudbox had a projection cage like Max. This is much better than punching in numbers.

Also how about a features request and BUGs sticky?

[Gregg]

Hmmm.....i think the docs need updating! I couldn;t find anything about baking AO...only NM and DM.

Have you updated to latest SP2 version ?

[quyeno]

hi,

yeah i've updated. can't believe i missed it in the menus! stupid fool.

anyhoo, i've got another problem. I'm trying to export my mesh in parts, so i use the face select brush and select a portion of the mesh and export. i then go to display and hide selection. the problem is that mudbox seems to hide more than that is selected?! I tried selecting less and more but everytime it does teh same thing, hides more than that is selected. is there a workaround for this bug?

thanks
Quyeno

[Gregg]

That doesn't happen here, on a high rez mesh i tried; Mudbox hides only what is selected.

After that, you have to deselect and select again the other mesh part you need to export, otherwise it still "remembers" the last selection, even if it's hidden and you'll end up exporting the hidden part as well...

[quyeno]

its definately happening here. think i'm going to have to do something funky invert selecting.