We will start the training by taking a look at our game development document as well as the artwork that we have. These will give us a better idea of the technical aspects of our models and their look. We'll talk about building the geometry and creating texture maps for pieces of our level like old oil drums, boards and lights. We'll also cover workflows between Maya and Mudbox for modeling, sculpting, and painting bits of organic debris to illustrate the enemy infestation. We'll finish up by talking about dressing the set temporarily in Maya as a guide for the final dressing in Unity. This course goes over the process for creating props and set dressing and the thoughts behind the decisions but it is not a step-by-step tutorial. If you'd like to get up to speed on modeling in Maya, I'd recommend Introduction to Modeling in Maya which goes over the tools we use here in greater detail. If you want a more step-by-step look at creating assets in Mudbox, we have a variety of training available, including Introduction to Mudbox 2012 which will get you started very quickly. So over the next hour and a half or so, we'll talk about creating the pieces necessary to dress our set and give it a realistic, aged and worn look.

Caricature, as an art form has been around for many years. Typically they are 2d drawings that really capture the essence of a real person through exaggeration and emphasis on specific features. With Mudbox, we can easily take this process into the 3d realm and create fun 3d caricatures complete with textures. We'll start by building up some base geometry in Maya and then begin shaping and sculpting our character bust. We'll use a variety of sculpting tools to create some exaggerated features for our character. We'll make use of the close integration between Mudbox and Maya to build accessories for our bust and assemble everything in Mudbox. We'll then talk about preparing the meshes for texturing and we'll paint maps for all of the different pieces. In the end, you'll have a finished caricature bust, but you'll also have the skills you need to start creating your own custom caricatures.

Within Mudbox, there is a wide range of sculpting tools that allows artists to create many different effects. Some of these tools are more commonly used so they are well covered in many of our Mudbox courses, but all of them serve a purpose and can be an important part of your artist's toolbox. In this course we will cover all of the sculpt tools, one by one, talking about how they can be used and what some of the unique properties are for each one. We'll cover the more commonly used tools like the Sculpt Tool and Grab Tool and lesser used tools like Flatten and Scrape. We'll look at the reasons for using each one and talk about how to add our own custom tools to the tool tray. We'll finish up by talking about a couple of different sculpting workflows you can take advantage of. In the end, you'll have enough knowledge of all of the Sculpt Tools in Mudbox to begin integrating them into your workflow..

Creating characters with expressive faces is often a very important part of our 3D projects. Depending on the type of character, you may need to communicate a great deal through the expression on its face. Facial expressions relay a lot of non-verbal information about our characters and Mudbox can make creating those expressions really easy and a lot of fun. In this course, we'll talk about several concepts to keep in mind when building facial expressions, such as the muscles of the face, how the skin reacts when the muscles move it into an expression and some important tips to keep in mind when working. We'll cover methods in Mudbox for sculpting different expressions and how to use sculpt layers to create an extremely flexible workflow. Finally, we'll look at a couple of ways that we can get our expressions into Maya in order to set up animatable blendshapes. Once done, you'll have a better understanding of how you can use Mudbox and Maya to create appealing facial expressions for your own characters.

Hands are one of the most expressive parts of many of the characters we create. Because of this, a lot of time should often be spent focusing on the hands. There are, of course, a nearly infinite number of styles in which to build a hand. In this course, we will concentrate on a hand that can go with a more realistic character. We'll start by talking a little about the proportions and anatomy of hands. Then we'll go over tools and methods for creating base geometry with topology that will help in sculpting and animating. Then we'll take the mesh into Mudbox and begin sculpting high-resolution details such as skin wrinkles, knuckles, and skin textures. Finally, we'll take our geometry and maps out of Mudbox and back into Maya. Once you've completed this course, you'll have a much better idea of how to go about building hands for your characters and how to create the detail you need in a usable state.

In the initial portion of the course, we'll turn a sketch into 3d geometry using a variety of modeling tools and techniques in Maya. We'll then take our geometry from Maya to Mudbox where we'll begin sculpting a wide range of high resolution details into the different parts of our scene. Then we'll stay in Mudbox to quickly paint color texture maps, specular maps, and bump maps. With all of our detailing and painting done, we'll export our result as an FBX, allowing us to quickly and easily get all of our geometry and maps out to Maya where we then render the scene.

When sculpting geometry in Mudbox, there may come a time when you'd like to add new geometry to the model but you don't want to lose the work you have done. In this course we're going to look at the process of adding geometry to sculpted meshes in Mudbox while retaining previously created detail. We'll talk about UV considerations, exporting geometry and displacement maps, and adding geometry in external applications. This course is a practical example of ways to solve a common issue. Upon completion, you'll have the knowledge to minimize this potential roadblock when you inevitably encounter it.

When creating assets in Mudbox, there are a number of things we can do to add realism to the models. Using a chair as an example, we'll learn how to use sculpting tools to add important details to the cushions like seams, wrinkles, folds, and buttons. We will also explore different ways of adding age and patterns of use into the chair. Then we will paint aged and worn textures and look at ways we can add wear and age to existing texture maps. Upon completion, you'll have a better understanding of some the things that you can do to add realism to your models in Mudbox.

While 3ds Max is great at creating models very quickly and efficiently, Mudbox excels at interactively sculpting complex detail. By using these two packages in conjunction, we can leverage their respective strengths to quickly create a cohesive digital asset. After building our base geometry of our sample project, a bladed weapon, and adding UVs in 3ds Max, we'll take the geometry into Mudbox to begin sculpting. We'll add a variety of detail, as well as using Channel painting to create textures for the color and specularity of the models. We'll also output normal maps and ambient occlusion maps. Finally, we'll put everything back together in 3ds Max. Upon completion, you be able to create your own weapons or props using these two powerful programs.

This course will take you through the workflow of using Mudbox and Maya to create props or set pieces that appear highly detailed, but are a low enough resolution that they can be easily manipulated in real-time environments. Mudbox is a great package for sculpting high resolution detail but there is a process of getting all of that data out of Mudbox in a usable state. Using an ancient dagger, we'll cover the modeling of the base geometry and UV layout in Maya. We will also go over the sculpting and detailing in Mudbox, as well as painting textures using multiple channels. We'll finish up by bringing all of that detail back into Maya in the form of normal maps.