MAYA to MUDBOX WORKFLOW

[center]PLEASE POST!![/center]

[left]Well Ive Just about Read every thread on here that may help me with using Mudbox in my workflow. I figured I would create a thread specifically for that reason as I dont think every MAYA user should have to go through what I have been doing and should find a place that caters to a MAYA—> Mudbox workflow.

With that said. If the moderators or those that understand MUDBOX inside and out and understand MAYA inside and out can post in this section, that would be great!!

I currently run MAYA 7.0 and am trying to use MUDBOX 1.0.4 as my choice for displacements. With that said, most of us in the animation industry will need to know this basic workflow in great detail as a solid high poly model exported from MUDBOX just wont do, I and im sure many other maya users need a step by step example of creating a low poly mesh in maya, UV mapping a certain way and why, then exporting to .obj, then importing to mudbox and understanding the ratio of sizes between the two and if that has an effect on the final displacement map, to then showing basic mesh changed in MUDBOX, EX: show a long horn created on a sphere, and then showing the steps to get the best displacement map from Mudbox for MAYA, what setting people use and why, to the final creation of the map. And lastly how to apply that map onto the same exported sphere in maya showing the process needed to set that up in Mental Ray to get the best renderer. I know getting the displacement to fit and render out right in MAYA has been a real pain in the arse, so it would be great if someone could go through that process as well showing there steps in MAYA after they have a completed displacement in MUDBOX, to get the most out of the displacement as far as matching your mudbox creation on screen..

If all this can be summed up in either this discussion board with picture files showing everything like a detailed tutorial, that would be great. I know once this MAYA to Mudbox workflow is created and followed to a T, there will be many more amazing works coming from this great program. A great displacement is so key to a model going out to be rigged for animation. I would myself love to contribute where I can and will once I get all the info. I need and all my questions answered.

Thanks and I hope we can get more MAYA people involved with this process!

A simple sphere from MAYA would be a first good tut on the process I described above.....[/left]

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Well I won’t bother quoting you, but Ditto!

At least I know I’m not alone in the fact that I’m searching for answers and getting them is like pulling teeth around here.

It’s simple, if I get answers I’ll buy Mudbox faster than a New York minute.

Good Documentation is a must.
I will be frequenting this Thread.

I just wanted to jump in here and say that I’ve followed everything that has been posted here and I’m using Maya 7 with Mudbox with great success. Either you guys are having a hard time following whats posted or your not trying hard enough. I feel the service we’ve gotten from the mudbox team has been more then we can ask for.

I just wanted to jump in here and say that I’ve followed everything that has been posted here and I’m using Maya 7 with Mudbox with great success. Either you guys are having a hard time following whats posted or your not trying hard enough. I feel the service we’ve gotten from the mudbox team has been more then we can ask for.

Good for you Pal! I just want to let you know that is the most usless answer I have gotten so far. Do me a favor and don’t pay attention to my posts. I’d rather have NO answer than an answer like yours.

Well First off,

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS!
if you cannot be helpful, please dont post!

in response to “Bradjames” comments, are you using MAYA 7.0 or 8.0, or both cous I know you have a couple more steps to do with 7.0 cous of the 32bit issue that 8 can solve inside MAYA itself, ide be interested in your findings??

Secondly, if it has been a breese for you, then please shed some light to the others here. I have read countless threads on the Help page and others from other forums, where there have been countless things that needed answered or not going right. If you have all the answers to the work flow I stated above with just a simple sphere, then by all means please post your findings to this rubix cube delema that seems to keep evading me and others.

It seems like with all that ive read that I am missing a few steps for some reason and would love for someone to clarify it without my own personal problems effecting everyone elses. With that said, its this simple and since you got the answers, or if anyone does, please post here:

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Please create a Poly sphere in MAYA with a scale of 1 1 1. (I say this cous I know there is an issue with the scale feature between the 2 programs, and in order for MUDBOX tools to best be used accordingly you may have to scale by 150, please write your findings with this issue too, and if that is even neccessary) Import to Mudbox and start detailing the spere into a character. Then please write down your settings with creating your displacement map, and from there, please write down your mental ray settings with newly created displacement map from mudbox so that others may see these findings rendered out in MR.

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I have yet to do this same workflow from MAYA to Mudbox back to MAYA, where the original maya sphere that got imported and detailed in Mudbox then back into MAYA was almost perfect as what I had created in MUDBOX. The closest thing I got was if I exported to high level res mesh from MUDBOX as geometry and then render in MAYA. ..If the renders on this site use that workflow then we have big problems here because majority of us use models to animate, not to create a pretty non animatable object.

I know this is not the case, so if you or anyone who has the perfect workflow for MAYA, please write down your finding here so other do not have to search a ton of pages and other forums to find one key sentence, that would be great.....

and please, for now, a work flow with a sphere would be great, and next even a workflow with a low res poly character as well. Thanks!!!!

SEL

as soon as I get my answers and workflow done, I will myself create a highly detailed tutorial for those that still have questions when this is all said and done.....

I do know that rendering out with MAYA 7.0 can use only 16bit maps unless converted to .map from a another proprietery software.

- Is it safe to assume you guys aren’t using Mental Ray then ? The above isn’t true if so. MR renders 32 bit float maps wether converted to .map format or not. Converting to .map format doesn’t need proprietary software, it’s a command line Mental Ray procedure, and there’s a ready made app that does it for you available.

If you are using Mental Ray, Have you read the tutorial included in the MB online documentation section ? I thought it covered the process in great and thorough detail.

- Is it safe to assume you guys aren’t using Mental Ray then ? The above isn’t true if so. MR renders 32 bit float maps wether converted to .map format or not. Converting to .map format doesn’t need proprietary software, it’s a command line Mental Ray procedure, and there’s a ready made app that does it for you available.

If you are using Mental Ray, Have you read the tutorial included in the MB online documentation section ? I thought it covered the process in great and thorough detail.

I would be using Mental Ray, if I could get that far.

I would be using Mental Ray, if I could get that far.

so you’re having issues with generating maps as opposed to actually rendering them?

Let me start by saying mRay for Maya 7 CAN read 32 bit, I don

aSh
http://www.PixelCG.com

I posted a sample file for your viewing
http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/98236/sphere-zip.html

aSh
http://www.PixelCG.com