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Mudbox workflow

Hey all,
My professor at my school recommended using mudbox or zbrush to make highpoly models, Ive never done this before. Can anyone explain what the difference is between modeling the highpoly in say max or maya vs doing it in mudbox?

whats the typical workflow in max/mudbox and what else can I use that for?

Replies

  • Joao Sapiro
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    Joao Sapiro sublime tool
    have you even tried to google any youtube videos showing the basic interface ? or look at the help files at all ?
  • tonyd927
    have you even tried to google any youtube videos showing the basic interface ? or look at the help files at all ?

    Yes, thanks for asking! :thumbup:
    Im just curious to know what you guys use it for and how it differs from using strictly maya or strictly max to model the low/ then the high/ then uvw/ then sculpt,
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    ZBrush & Mudbox are sculpting tools. Uses to sculpt out high definition details (read: highpoly). You use multiple brushes, like Photoshop, to manipulate the surfaces of your meshes.

    Max & Maya can also do these things, but you're doing it by manipulating vertex and polygons on their X, Y, or Z axis. Because of this, the process is tedious and typically the results are poor. Max & Maya, when talking about high poly creation, are good for 'hard surface' designs: Vehicles, weapons, gadgets, and so on.

    Look up Youtube videos of Mudbox and/or ZBrush. When you're watching them, tell yourself, "Max or Maya can't do any of these things." Thats why you'd use them.
  • tonyd927
    adam wrote: »
    ZBrush & Mudbox are sculpting tools. Uses to sculpt out high definition details (read: highpoly). You use multiple brushes, like Photoshop, to manipulate the surfaces of your meshes.

    Max & Maya can also do these things, but you're doing it by manipulating vertex and polygons on their X, Y, or Z axis. Because of this, the process is tedious and typically the results are poor. Max & Maya, when talking about high poly creation, are good for 'hard surface' designs: Vehicles, weapons, gadgets, and so on.

    Look up Youtube videos of Mudbox and/or ZBrush. When you're watching them, tell yourself, "Max or Maya can't do any of these things." Thats why you'd use them.

    awesome! wasnt sure if you can use it for hard surface modeling, or if its ideal to
  • Fingus
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    Fingus polycounter lvl 11
    Max and Maya are ideal for making clean and efficient base models. Their advantage is that they have a huge number of tools to manipulate geometry in really precise ways.

    Mudbox and zBrush are for adding detail to the above base models. They are able to manipulate massive numbers of polygons in really fast and organic ways which make them ideal for small detail and organic models.

    You can use zBrush and Mudbox for hard surface models, but generally only for the detailing phase like adding scratches and peeled paint to a clean model you have already made in Max or Maya. zBrush does have tools to generate basemeshes and some people have become really skilled at making hard surface models in it, but for a beginner I would say you should stick to Max or Maya for that.

    It's a bit of a complex question, because there are so many ways of doing things these days. There is no right or wrong.
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