Maya and Mudbox / ZBrush

# 1 01-07-2010 , 03:36 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: Great Britain

Posts: 25

I'm probably asking an obvious question, but:

why use Mudbox / ZBrush when you can just model most of the detail in Maya? Is it so you can add more detail onto the model and then bring that detail back into Maya as a texture / bumb / displacement map? (I feel I may have just answered my own question!)

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# 2 01-07-2010 , 04:13 PM

Moderator
Join Date: May 2005

Location: Manchester Uk

Posts: 6,300

Thats pretty much the jist of it!

Zbrush allows you to do a lot more, in fact the question could be in reverse "Why use Maya to model when Zbrush can do it all?"

"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle

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# 3 01-07-2010 , 05:01 PM

EduSciVis-er
Join Date: Dec 2005

Location: Toronto

Posts: 3,374

They're different tool sets. The sculpting packages allow you to use sculpt tools, whereas maya allows you to use different tools, such as modifying edge loops, vertices, extruding etc.
Of course there is overlap, but they present different workflows.

-stwert

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# 4 02-07-2010 , 05:25 AM

Technical Director
Join Date: Feb 2004

Posts: 2,988

Call me old-fashioned, but I still model all the details in Maya. I avoid any import/export of objects like the plague if I can. I also feel that I have more control over the model.

But yes, you've got the jist of it.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 5 02-07-2010 , 10:18 AM

Lead Modeler - Framestore
Join Date: Feb 2003

Location: UK

Posts: 6,287

Yep, I agree with Next Design.

Theres a real tendancy to over cook a model with Zb or MB. I really go balls out on the main model and get it as near as damn it before committing to hi detail which gets turned into a map anyway.

Im working on some characters for a pilot tv show at the moment and the VFX director asked me to sculpt the characters in zbrush and make them loo chisled, I put him off straight away as I could do it in the mesh with the arsing about. I did it of course, the mesh is lighter and the rendertime is quicker, and the edits are far easier on character design changes. Theres too much emphisis on super hi detail, the human eye cant even pick it up at 12inches on a normal day unless you are looking for skin pores LOL

cheers
Jay

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# 6 03-07-2010 , 05:20 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: Great Britain

Posts: 25

Thanks for all the advice.

I am learning Mudbox at the moment and will be using it more for textures and details.

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# 7 03-07-2010 , 08:27 PM

Lead Modeler - Framestore
Join Date: Feb 2003

Location: UK

Posts: 6,287

Mudbox is better for textures as it deals with 32 bit across the board really well. But for detailing and sculpting, zbrush is the better by far.

Jay

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Maya and Mudbox / ZBrush

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