blabba Posted June 6, 2014 Posted June 6, 2014 Hello folks! As you may know, not all meshes contain the same UV's and trying to transfer texture maps between such things can be painstakingly hard in a normal 2d texture application. Or sometimes trying to fix hand seams can be painstakingly difficult. Today I bring you some solutions to these common problems by advocating a great app (that is free under an educational licence!) that I hardly see used in modding for some odd reason. Why get Mudbox?- Small Filesize and easy removal (It's 1 GB and it's not as 'involved' an installation as full 3D software packages)- Easily Paint textures in 3D, fix seams in 3D. No more guess work with UV shells and- Extends into Photoshop easily for even further customization. Required Tools:Mudbox 2014 - Get a free education version. (If you have 3dsMax/Maya/Softimage installed with a different year, then install that version of Mudbox)Photoshop (GIMP) - Make sure you have the .DDS texture add-on installed! Terminologies: .DDS = Direct Draw Surface, What most game textures use. Varying levels of compression..JPG = Default format for camera pictures usaully. Highly compressed, DO NOT USE FOR TEXTURES OR MUDBOX!.BMP = Default format for ENB screenshots. DO NOT POST THESE ON THE FORUMS DIRECTLY! They are very large and uncompressed for quality..PNG = Portable Net Graphics, Can be left uncompressed. Very good quality and can be posted on forums directly._msn = This is usually the Normal Map. For body's it is an Object Space normal map, for all others they are Tangent Space._sk = Subsurface Scattering Map. Used in conjunction with ENB's usually to replicate how light reflects from underneath skin or other materials._s = Specular Map. It controls glossiness or shine Guide 1: Converting textures between different UV Maps (CITRUS Hand example) This first guide will be specifically geared towards converting UNP hand textures to the new Citrus Hand UV Layout.But the method is extensible for converting any texture to new UV's. There seems to be a lot of steps, but this guide is meant for totally new people that have never opened a 3D application before or done even the slightest texture editing in Photoshop or similar.In actuality the total length of doing this shouldn't take more than 10 mins. (Which is a lot less time than it took me to figure this method out ) Step 0: If installing Mudbox for the first time, and you are a veteran of 3dsMax, it is highly suggested you use the 3dsMax control scheme on first install and application launch. This setting can later be changed if you so desire. Step 1: Download your favorite texture replacer. Step 2: Extract the Archive somewhere and navigate to the texture files. a. In this example we're only looking for the hand textures. They are usually named: "femalehands_1" Step 3: Open up the relevant files in Photoshop or Gimp. a. If a dialog pops up asking what size, just hit "Load Default size". Step 4: Hit File -> Save As and Export the texture files out as either .BMP or .PNG Step 5: Open up my attached "CITRUS Hands" Mudbox file (.mud) if you are converting textures between UNP hands to the new CITRUS hands. a. If doing other transfers, all you need is to open up two obj's that have the same topology but have different UV maps b. You can also transfer textures between two different objects with different topology (but same shape!) as well as UV's, but some manual cleaning up will be needed in Photoshop. (Optional) Step 6: On the bottom panel of Mudbox click "Select/Move Tools" and then select the "Objects" button. You can now use the brush in the Viewport to select objects if the following method seems slower to you. Step 7: On the Right Hand panel select the "Object List" Tab (second tab down) Step 8: Select the "UNP Hands UV" it should now be highlighted blue. Step 9: On the Right Hand panel select "Layers" Tab Step 10: On the Upper Right Hand panel, select the "Paint" Tab. Step 11: Right Click in the boxed area below the "Paint" Button and select "New Layer" and hit "OK" on the dialog box. Step 12: Right Click under the new layer tab and select "Import Layer" and navigate to your selected texture files you saved as .BMP or .PNG a. Repeat this for ALL your hand textures, like the specular, the normal map and the diffuse texture. Step 13: If your importing the Diffuse Map, select the Diffuse channel, if importing Normal Map, select the Normal channel etc... a. You should have 4 tabs on the right hand side (Mine's has 3 because I forgot the normal map) Step 14: Delete the "Paint Layer 1" tab by right clicking on it and selecting "Delete Layer" Step 15: On the Toolbar at the top, select "UV & Maps" then hover over "Extract Texture Maps" and select "New Operation" Step 16: Select "Transfer Paint Layers" Step 17: Under "Targeted Models" a. Select "Add All' b. Select "UNP Hands UV" and then select the "Remove" Button Step 18: Under "Source Models" a. Select "Add All" b. Select "CITRUS Hands UV" Step 19: For "Method" Tab select "Subdivision" a. This method only works for Models with exact same Topology! (Like in this example!) It produces flawless results automatically. b. If not using the same topology, you must use Ray-Casting! I'll make a detailed guide about this later. Step 20: For the "Image Size" Tab make sure the box says "Same Size". You never want to upscale the resolution of a raster image texture. Step 21: For the Anti-Aliasing Tab, Set it to the highest possible value! Step 22: Double check your setting that they match the following image, and then scroll down and hit "Extract" Step 23: Don't do anything in Mudbox until the operation on the bottom right corner says "Done" (This may take awhile depending on your computer and quality of textures). Your viewport should change and show the new textures now on the CITRUS UV model when done. Step 24: On the Right Hand panel select "Object List" Step 25: Select "Citrus Hands UV" Step 26: On the Right Hand panel select "Layers" and make sure the "Paint" button is still highlighted. Step 27: Right click on each texture tab (You should have 3 total, remember I forgot my normal map so example pic is not accurate in that regard) a. If using GIMP, go ahead and select "Export Selected" and choose either PNG or BMP again, name texture, save and open in GIMP. b. If using Photoshop, go ahead and select "Export Channel to PSD...", Name file and save it somewhere. Photoshop should open. c. Repeat this step for ALL texture maps, when switching back from Photoshop to Mudbox, hit the "Close Dialog" button. Step 28: In Photoshop, click on the eyes of the layers on the right hand side except for the middle one (Or the one with actual colours/details) Step 29: Hit File -> Save As Step 30: Select .DDS, Overwrite your original texture pack's texture file and hit save. Depending on what type of texture and quality your going for set the settings and export. a. For Diffuse/Speculars you can use DXT1, DXT3 or DXT5 compression (I usually just leave the alpha in) b. For Normal Maps, depending on quality you want to use any of the ARGB modes (I usually just select 8.8.8) Step 31: Feel free to not save your work and quit Mudbox. Or if using my template .mud file, at least make sure you hit 'Save As' so you do not overwrite the template file. Permissions:Feel free to translate GuideFeel free to Download and Re-use imagesFeel free to Re-post or share guide on another siteJust be sure to give credit please! Feedback:I would love it if someone could tell me a good method of making tutorials that could be faster and better than forum guides I seem to be making these days. Or if there should be a better place where I make such guides.I am also looking for image hostersAlso, if someone could take the time to make an Offline PDF form of the Guide in order to protect it from 'Mishaps' I would be much obliged. Credits: Vioxsis - My partner in crime, and the creator of the hand meshes CITRUS Mudbox Hands.rar Mudbox Texture Guide 1.rar CITRUS Mudbox Hands v2.rar Unihand OBJ's.rar
Deedlit Posted June 6, 2014 Posted June 6, 2014 going sleep, but later on ill give a try, thanks for sharing and teach us that.
Emberheart Posted June 6, 2014 Posted June 6, 2014 MudBox is what I wanted to use next for creating some normal maps on something nifty I'm making. CrazyBump just doesn't give me what I want for that. But instead of moving vertices around in Roadkill to reallign stuff, maybe I'll give this a try.
blabba Posted June 6, 2014 Author Posted June 6, 2014 MudBox is what I wanted to use next for creating some normal maps on something nifty I'm making. CrazyBump just doesn't give me what I want for that. But instead of moving vertices around in Roadkill to reallign stuff, maybe I'll give this a try. It's a great tool for that, and I often find myself amazed at the things you can do with it. You can even convert normal maps into Bump maps using another program (like ShaderMap 2) or even just using some Photoshop trickery. And then have mudbox re-sculpt a high poly body using the bump map, which you can then edit and have export out a new customized normal map. But I get ahead of myself, I'm too much of a mudbox fanboy recently, even though there's plenty of area for improvement.
blabba Posted June 11, 2014 Author Posted June 11, 2014 I switched the CITRUS hand meshes to a new mesh. I uploaded new mudbox template file. The steps for converting textures should be the same.
Slammer64 Posted July 7, 2014 Posted July 7, 2014 Blabba, just a quick question, can this be used for older games, like FNV or Oblivion?
blabba Posted July 7, 2014 Author Posted July 7, 2014 Blabba, just a quick question, can this be used for older games, like FNV or Oblivion? yeap same method will work for any game really. Just import models into 3dsmax and then transfer them to mudbox.
medic975 Posted July 10, 2014 Posted July 10, 2014 I keep getting file too new or corrupt error messages when I try to load your mudbox hands in there. Are you using Mudbox 2013? And if so do you absolutely have to have the same version as 3ds max?
blabba Posted July 10, 2014 Author Posted July 10, 2014 I keep getting file too new or corrupt error messages when I try to load your mudbox hands in there. Are you using Mudbox 2013? And if so do you absolutely have to have the same version as 3ds max? No, you don't need to have Mudbox as the same version as your 3dsmax. You only need them to be the same version if you want make use of the 1 click transfer feature from 3dsmax to Mudbox and back again. I made the /mud file in Mudbox 2014, so either try that or try Mudbox 2015, should work fine. Or I'll try to export out the obj's and attach them later so you can just load them that way with any version of Mudbox.
medic975 Posted July 10, 2014 Posted July 10, 2014 Odd I downloaded 2014 and got the same error only with a different version number at the end. That is a relief that I can keep my 2012 3ds Max, Started getting more comfortable with that version.
medic975 Posted July 13, 2014 Posted July 13, 2014 2015 loads them, strange that the other versions would not. Mine also hangs on the calculating Tangents. I'll have to work on loading new object files. What do you import the sk,dds under?
blabba Posted July 13, 2014 Author Posted July 13, 2014 Never done sk maps, as I actually have no idea what they are used for or what they do.
medic975 Posted July 13, 2014 Posted July 13, 2014 Something to do with lighting effects on the skin if I'm on the right track. But I was unable to find a satisfactory explanation through google.
blabba Posted July 14, 2014 Author Posted July 14, 2014 Something to do with lighting effects on the skin if I'm on the right track. But I was unable to find a satisfactory explanation through google. Probably use the diffuse channel in mudbox. The preview might not look correct. but meh, It should work for converting it.
dup3w4sh1ngt0n Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 Something to do with lighting effects on the skin if I'm on the right track. But I was unable to find a satisfactory explanation through google. Probably use the diffuse channel in mudbox. The preview might not look correct. but meh, It should work for converting it. Sir Master Blabba, I have run into the same problem medic975 concerning Mudbox seemingly "calculating tangents" without any hint of end. I was wondering if you knew a way to circumvent this or why the program does it, again, a seemingly indefinite amount of times.
blabba Posted July 15, 2014 Author Posted July 15, 2014 Sir Master Blabba, I have run into the same problem medic975 concerning Mudbox seemingly "calculating tangents" without any hint of end. I was wondering if you knew a way to circumvent this or why the program does it, again, a seemingly indefinite amount of times. I actually have no idea how to troubleshoot the issue as I have never had it myself How does this even occur, or what step does it happen on?
medic975 Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 Between step 23 and 24. Mudbox will hang there indefinitely. I've left it overnight before just to be sure it wasn't just something that took a long time. I tried to load my own obj as explained in step 5, but I'm unsure what I did wrong there. Loaded the Citrus hands in 3DS Max, Exported them as an obj file, repeated with unp hands, but the citrus hands look really weird when I open them in mudbox, like the palm swallowed the fingers up to the second knuckle. and I get a high valence vertex and degenerated face pop up error. UNP hands came across nicely. What would be all the steps to do this with our own obj files?
blabba Posted July 15, 2014 Author Posted July 15, 2014 Between step 23 and 24. Mudbox will hang there indefinitely. I've left it overnight before just to be sure it wasn't just something that took a long time. I tried to load my own obj as explained in step 5, but I'm unsure what I did wrong there. Loaded the Citrus hands in 3DS Max, Exported them as an obj file, repeated with unp hands, but the citrus hands look really weird when I open them in mudbox, like the palm swallowed the fingers up to the second knuckle. and I get a high valence vertex and degenerated face pop up error. UNP hands came across nicely. What would be all the steps to do this with our own obj files? In 3dsMax, make sure the hands are converted to editable poly with no other modifiers on the stack. Then when you export to .obj, make sure you select the mudbox preset. Also, for best quality transfer of textures, It's best that you use the SAME mesh with the different UV Maps. I'll upload the obj's for people here in a little bit.
hentaijin Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 I could be wrong but step 17 and 18 in the guide is reversed of what it's suppose to be? Also the default is 'only the selected paint layer' not 'all layers'.
blabba Posted July 23, 2014 Author Posted July 23, 2014 I could be wrong but step 17 and 18 in the guide is reversed of what it's suppose to be? Also the default is 'only the selected paint layer' not 'all layers'. Nah, correct order at least in my mudbox. But yea to be honest the order doesn't matter. As Long as you select the correct source and destination objects.
Formion Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Ok, the tutoorial is excellent. Now, if I could just get MudBox to work properly I could have done this already. Slight rant, but Autodesk has probably one of the most irritating sign up, download and installation procedures I hgave ever seen. (srs, asking to accept the use lisence agreement 3 times among other things) But I managed to install MudBox, and teh tutorial is excellent. I still run into a problem at step 22, since MudBox apparently never got to "done". I'll retry it later on.
Formion Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Ok, got the time and tried it again. Three times. For some reason MudBox kept getting stuck right after Extracting was done. It did this twice (second time I left it running for 2 hours, just to make sure it wasn't realy, realy slow). Third time it worked with no trouble. No idea why. The tutorial is excellent, as I wrote. One question only. "a. Repeat this for ALL your hand textures, like the specular, the normal map and the diffuse texture." I tried this with Realistic Girls texture. There is only one hand texture. Am I doing something wrong and the specular, diffuse and normal maps are extracted somehow from that? If so, how? I checked Mature skin as well, and it is the same.
blabba Posted August 16, 2014 Author Posted August 16, 2014 Ok, got the time and tried it again. Three times. For some reason MudBox kept getting stuck right after Extracting was done. It did this twice (second time I left it running for 2 hours, just to make sure it wasn't realy, realy slow). Third time it worked with no trouble. No idea why. The tutorial is excellent, as I wrote. One question only. "a. Repeat this for ALL your hand textures, like the specular, the normal map and the diffuse texture." I tried this with Realistic Girls texture. There is only one hand texture. Am I doing something wrong and the specular, diffuse and normal maps are extracted somehow from that? If so, how? I checked Mature skin as well, and it is the same. I know for sure Mature skin has multiple maps, 1 for specular, normal and diffuse. Since that's what I converted in the tutorial. Some textures might only come with 1 map, but most complete overhauls should have the full set. I'm fairly sure Real Girls should have a complete set, unless it's still in beta/alpha and the creator hasn't finished them yet. The textures should show up in the texture folder with _s, _msn names usually.
Formion Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Ok, got the time and tried it again. Three times. For some reason MudBox kept getting stuck right after Extracting was done. It did this twice (second time I left it running for 2 hours, just to make sure it wasn't realy, realy slow). Third time it worked with no trouble. No idea why. The tutorial is excellent, as I wrote. One question only. "a. Repeat this for ALL your hand textures, like the specular, the normal map and the diffuse texture." I tried this with Realistic Girls texture. There is only one hand texture. Am I doing something wrong and the specular, diffuse and normal maps are extracted somehow from that? If so, how? I checked Mature skin as well, and it is the same. I know for sure Mature skin has multiple maps, 1 for specular, normal and diffuse. Since that's what I converted in the tutorial. Some textures might only come with 1 map, but most complete overhauls should have the full set. I'm fairly sure Real Girls should have a complete set, unless it's still in beta/alpha and the creator hasn't finished them yet. The textures should show up in the texture folder with _s, _msn names usually. Ok, now I am confused. I triple checked, thinking that Windows might be hding files from me. But no. After unpacking the archive, this is all I see in the folder: I used the highest resolution one, so now I'll try anotehr one when I have the chance. But unless I am seriously derping here I have no idea what could be wrong.
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