graphite sculpting tools 3dsmax 2011

tutorial test 1st attempt. 1st upload ever :) took me a while but i will get the hang of making video tutorials. you will see no artwork here. just showing off the tools and what is their effect and controls on a model as well as a suggested UI setup even more efficient than the previous one that we were used to work with since R1. all it takes is a little flexibility.

I am using 3dsmax 2011 for this but the same tools apply in previous versions too. I found them to be quite reliable, and feel a bit smoother than mudbox at times. i hope 3dsmax team will take them further in the future.

for my next video, (an actual tutorial) i will try to demonstrate a completely different workflow for sculpting and texturing highly detailed environment assets in strictly and entirely in 3dsmax.

stay tuned.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• tutorial
• 3dsmax
• sculpting
• graphite
• 3D
• organic
• art
• digital

[Pseftothodoros]

@tmcthree oh sculpting in max has nothing to do with displacements. it is integral as well. I was just mentioning a way to augment your results as an alternative. but after all sculpting in max is really that. a "light" alternative. As for the subdivided object from mudbox, you are right, i also have thought of it, however it seems the mudbox-FBX team can't, or don't want to, make it so. (although support for turbosmooth is available in FBX).

[tmcthree]

@Pseftothodoros Yeah I agree. I've been using 3d professionally since 1992, I'm currently on a sabbatical, (studying law) so I'm not familiar with the very latest versions. But I have to say it is great in blender that the sculpting is integral (no messing around with displacement maps and such like.) I was extremely disappointed that mudbox doesn't simply export as a subdivided max object.

[Pseftothodoros]

@tmcthree

well it could be, but i think you should be looking at the big picture instead of individual features though.

Because in pretty much every other way, 3dsmax\maya\XSI are so much better than blender. Also you should keep in mind that this is an early implementation of sculpting, which is meant to be primarily for tweaking.

Blender is a great free tool for enthusiasts with advanced capabilities that's for sure, however it can't possibly compete with professional tools as a whole.

[tmcthree]

@Pseftothodoros Wow, so blender is miles ahead of max in this respect.

[Pseftothodoros]

@tmcthree

you mean like an alpha mask for the sculpting brush? No. and it doesn't make much sense at this point really.

max can't handle as much geometry on a single object as mudbox or zbrush to sculpt such fine detail. if this is what you are talking about, max has not yet reached that level of sculpting. but it's perfect to shape your model in 3dsmax and push it in mudbox for further detailing if necessary. you could possibly use displacement maps locally but it is not a good workflow.

[tmcthree]

Hey thanks, can you use textures to deform the mesh?