As a Maya user I was wondering what would be a better choice when wanting to expand into 3d painting. Mud or BodyPaint3d?
The criteria is purely for 3d painting/texturing… so no modeling/sculpting.
I keep hearing that for Maya users the transition to Mud workflow/interface is easier than some other apps?
Areas of interest, projection painting, painting across multiple objects, painting/stamping texture images.
Any info is appreciated. Cheers.
im a mud user so i know only the mud features…
in mud is all about uv tiles…
you can paint hundrets of textures for one object if you need cinematic tex resolution…
you can do this with layer and diffrent channels on highres meshes…
displayed all in realtime… diff, spec, gloss, normal,…
there is no other tool out there you can do this…
but you cant paint across multiple objects in mud…
only one by one in a scene… klick the object paint, klick an other one…
but you cant paint across with one stroke… (its no limitation for me)
my texture pipeline is mud and PS only…
there is a new mud version on the way… focus on painting…
drink some tea and wait…
have you guys seen the new features for mudbox 2011
http://www.infinity.no/mudbox.htm
this is awesome what they included. i was about to buy mudbox 2010, i think i will get this version when it comes out instead.
Very nice psd export options on paint layers. Direct export to maya and vice versa. And I wonder what the mudbox community tab is all about. Maybe connects to a central server where you can share brushes and stuff. 2011 looks pretty good!
I’m Mudbox and C4D.
I use them both for texturing. MB2010 can’t compare to BP painting but I go back and forth because some things are easier in one versus the other.
MB painting is more intuitive to me and was really easy to pickup.
Can’t speak for MB2011. It might have everything you need.
Still continue to use Photoshop. So, basically for texturing, I can sometimes use up to 3 different apps.
i completly disagree, although im a mudbox user and this might be biased logically thinking you get way more for your money, although hes not focusing on sculpting, you get a sculpting app, a texturing app, not only can you texture you can also illustrate…so…im sure its more worth the money to get mudbox, and with the painting tools in 2011 you have a very solid package.
BP is the best tool on the market for what he wants to do, why are you guys recommending a lesser tool that also does a bunch of things he’s not interested in.
Well mudbox 2011 is coming out…so lets really compare that with what bodypaint has in its arsenal. I think that no matter what software you use for 3d painting, be mudbox, bodypaing, or zbrush…in the end you will still have to go down to photoshop to tune all things. So taking into consideration that you will still have to go back to photoshop to refine your textures…I would agree that mudbox 2011 in the end will give you more bang for the buck…
Even if one is solely interested in painting 2d textures…when it comes to laying out cash…you really want the package that gives you all those extra features…and considering that you still have to go into photoshop for those tweaks in your texture…I choose mudbox. (my 2 cents)
agreed!
i personally don’t think of mudbox as being a lesser tool, i use it in everyday production at work, and for what he wants to do i would suggest mudbox to him, primarily because of its interop between photoshop,maya,max, and any of the 3d apps with a one click solution for going back and forth, one click automatically sends your files back to maya and hook everything up for you, textures and all.
its ability to handle hundreds of Uv tiles, paint 8k maps, bump, spec, diffuse, incandescence, normal map,gloss, and reflection maps.
brushes-projection,eye drop, airbrush,clone,dry brush,blur,burn,dodge,contrast,sponge,hue,hue shift, invert.
use layers and blending modes, direct link with Photoshop to allow you to export all your layers and have them update interactively with Photoshop.
here are a few videos demostrating a small potion of whats possible in mudbox, and some of these are from 2009-2010 and with the new release there are a ton tools to aid with this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koCOjBv7PTg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6_xj0sicHk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro_Ruhu-SGs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5wjt25h8wA&feature=related
look, in the end you will decide whats best for you as everyones experiences and needs are different i suggest you get the trials and try them out yourself and see whats best for you. as for mudbox 2011 you will be able to try that when they release it to the public.
everything mentioned here is also available in bodypaint.
one-click transport of objects and materials…check
hundreds of uv tiles…check
paint up to 16k images…in the viewport or on a canvas
multi-channel painting (paint bump and diffuse at the same time)
and you can paint on the rendered image to preview things like reflections etc.
you have integration of psd format as well…for support with masks…blending modes etc.
you can even import your favorite photoshop brushes directly into bodypaint.
you have access to things like the clone tool in 2d and 3d…
you can paste images in 3d.
that being said…I am intrigued by mudbox 2011…but still wouldn’t call it a replacement for bodypaint or photoshop.
in the end photoshop is the given…everyone always goes to what they are familiar with.
If you take a long term approach to this, Mudbox (or Zbrush) is the winner. The future is in the sculpting/texturing combo. Unless money is no object, I would pick up Mudbox 2011,or Zbrush 4 (if it ever gets released. I know you are not interested in the modeling aspect, but adding surface detail, such as pores or scratches, is part of the texturing process. Also, these days, if you model at all, you probably sculpt as well, so why not have a package that does both, instead of doing everything in Maya.
It is true that there are some features that BP offers that MB and Zbrush do not, but the divide decreases with every release.
If money is no object, buy them both.
Cheers,
MC
Thanks guys, yeah I wasnt looking for the be all to end killer app. I know I’ll be taking everything back into PS in the end for fine tuning. Thanks for the info!
Trying the C4D/BP demo and the interface feels a bit “busy” coming from Maya but I’m sure its just a matter of playing around and maybe checking out a few tuts.
Will try the MB demo soon, any idea of MB 2011 release date?
if you leave your pointer on an icon, and then look in the lower left corner it tells you what the icon is for. once you get a feel for what the icons do the interface makes a lot of since. i’ve included a simple tutorial that show someone going from Maya to BP and doing some quick doodles.
Just a couple of questions:…can I paint texture masks and can I paint on several channels simultaneously in mudbox? Is there something like color channel curves or levels? Hue and saturation?
thanks in advance
-(can I paint on several channels simultaneously in mudbox) -no... however, the way mudbox handles this is different. lets say you paint a color map... and you want to get that information in a bump map. all you do is drag it to the bump layer and it automatically converts it to a bump..or spec
-(Is there something like color channel curves or levels) -yes! contrast brush, dodge,burn, and sponge..which is basically a desaturated brush that sucks all the color out of your texture.
-(Hue and saturation?) -yes! hue/ hue shift
(i’ve included a simple tutorial that show someone going from Maya to BP and doing some quick doodles.)
to be honest that video wasn’t that impressive, and setup seems to take a while, although that’s not a big issue… Ive used body paint before and the camera was a bit weird and rotating around my model felt a bit wonky not to mention its kinda backwards.
in maya, click export selected to mudbox, it launches mudbox and hooks everything up for you (normal maps or whatever you had hook up in maya)
right click in the layers tab and create a paint layer, you can create color, bump,spec, normal,gloss,reflection and incandescent
begin painting.
after finishing painting u can do one of 2 things, (1) you right click your layer and hit export channels to psd, it launches photoshop for you and hook everything up in the correct layers and even put a UV template on top of your layers for you.
(2) in mudbox click file-> send to maya, it launches maya and takes all your color maps, bump maps,normal maps, spec maps whatever you created and hook it up all in maya for you…hmm…
i will create a video to show how easy it really is... again i don't care which software you use, but from experience and something that i use everyday at work, its the fastest work flow yet... for me at-least.i seem to really be upsetting you Jam-I-am, and i apologize, i’m not doing it on purpose. he said he was trying the BP demo and needed a tut to get him started, that’s why i posted it. i’m sure he will let you know when he gets the mudbox demo.
no your not upsetting me bud, I’m not sure if that’s how i came off, i really don’t care what he gets as it will ultimately be his decision as to what feels better for him. I usually hate arguing over these programs, as to which one is best and whats not, any professional will tell you its not the tool that makes them a great artist…
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