This quick tip will help you prepare and export your objects from 3DS Max into Mudbox. Hard edged objects have to be prepared before exporting so you don’t loose your sharp edges when subdividing. We’re using 3DS Max 2011 but any modern version will do. Also, the same workflow applies to most 3D modeling applications.

1/3 The Scene

We assume you’ve already skimmed our UVW Unwrapping tutorial. If you didn’t have the time, you can download our unwrapped pillar prop from here:

Remember that none of the UVW groups are overlapping. This is very important for Mudbox exports.

2/3 Preparing the 3D Model

Open the Pillar scene, select the pillar, go to the Modify tab {} and add an Edit Poly modifier to the stack.

!Important! Go to the Edit Poly modifier’s Edit Geometry tab and click the Preserve UVs box. This will allow you to slightly modify your geometry without affecting the unwrapped map.

To complete the modeling part, go into the Edge {} Sub-object selection mode  and select the edges that need to be sharp.

Click the chamfer button and use a small chamfer value. We’ve used 0.2 cm but you can go smaller.

Right now, it would be a good ideea to make sure that your polygon density is consistent throughout your mesh. To do this, click the Quick Slice button and create a couple of new polygons on all sides.

> This will not affect your model because you will delete the Edit Poly from the final stack.
> It will also ensure you’ll get an even amount of polygons when subdividing in Mudbox

3/3 Exporting to Mudbox

Select the 3D object and navigate to and click the Export Selected entry.

Export as an OBJ file and select the Mudbox preset.

The End

Simple, right ? All you have to do now is import the object into mudbox and start painting / sculpting away. Stay tuned on our RSS feed for our 3DS Max Normal Mapping tutorial.