Sending textures between Maya and Mudbox

You can send single or multi-tile UV and PTEX textures between Maya and Mudbox using the File > Send to options.

Sending single or multi-tile UV textures between Maya and Mudbox

To send single or multi-tile UV textures between Maya and Mudbox

1. Send a Maya scene with textures to Mudbox using the File > Send to Mudbox > Send Selected as New Scene option.

   A similar copy of the Maya scene with all the textures is imported in Mudbox.

2. In Mudbox, paint on the existing textures or create new paint layers on the imported scene.
3. Export the scene with texture modifications to Maya using the File > Send to Maya > Send Selected as New Scene option.
   The Set Texture Paths window appears.

   
4. (Optional) In the Path Template text box, enter the file path or click the folder icon to choose a folder location.
5. (Optional) Specify channel, group, and layer names in the names for the Channel Name Template, Group Name Template, Layer Name Template text boxes.

   For more information on the Path Template, Channel Name Template, Group Name Template, and Layer Name Template, see Export All Paint Layers window.

   Mudbox stores all new textures in the disk and remembers the texture path. The stored textures are referred for making subsequent updates to the Maya scene.

6. Click OK.
7. The updated textures are referenced correctly in the Maya scene.

To update textures in the current Maya scene

1. Perform texture modifications on the imported Maya scene in Mudbox.
2. Choose File > Send to Maya > Update Current Scene or Update Textures in Current Scene.

   If there are no new textures, then Mudbox refers to the existing textures in Maya and the texture files are updated directly.

   If there are new textures created, then Set Texture Paths window appears. In the Path Template field, you can enter the export path for these new textures.

   Note: In order to make sure the editing to these textures appear correctly in Maya, turn on the Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences > Files/Projects >Image Files > Automatically reload updated image files preference in Maya.

Sending multi-tile UV textures between Maya and Mudbox

The procedure for sending multi-tile UV textures between Maya and Mudbox is similar to sending the single tile textures. While sending new textures to the Maya scene or updating the Maya scene for the first time, specify the texture file path in the Set Texture Paths window.

Note: Regardless of whether the UV Tiling Mode attribute in Maya is set to 1-based (Mudbox), Explicit Tiles, 0-based (ZBrush), or other options, you can paint a model outside of the 0-1 UV space using Mudbox and update the editing in Mudbox back to Maya correctly.

Tip: To create UVs for your mesh in Maya or 3ds Max, make sure you export level 0. UVs can only be imported back to Mudbox on level 0.

Sending PTEX textures between Maya and Mudbox

You can set up a model for PTEX painting in Mudbox, perform modifications as required to the PTEX painting, and then send or update PTEX texture to Maya and back to Mudbox.

The procedure for sending PTEX textures between Maya and Mudbox is similar to sending UV textures. While sending new textures to the Maya scene or updating the Maya scene for the first time, specify the texture file path in the Set Texture Paths window.