User interface >
Layers window

In Mudbox, a layer is like a transparent piece of acetate that can contain information. Mudbox provides two layer types: sculpt and paint.

The Layers window lets you control both of these layer types. To view the Layers window, click the tab titled Layers in the upper right corner of the user interface.

Mudbox attempts to select the correct layer type depending on which tool (sculpt or paint) you currently have selected. In many cases, you’ll need to click the Sculpt or Paint mode button at the top of the Layers window to perform layer operations.

The Layers window menu ( ) lets you perform many layers operations. The contents of this menu change depending on which layer mode (Sculpt or Paint) is selected.

For more information on the Layers window menu, see Sculpt Layers window menu.

Sculpt layers

Sculpt layers let you:

- Sculpt on one region of a mesh without affecting other areas. You can create a sculpt layer then sculpt on it so the new details are separate from the original mesh. If you need to modify your sculpting on that layer you can either perform additional sculpting on that layer, change the transparency for the layer, mask regions of it temporarily, or remove it without affecting details on other layers or on the base mesh. In this way, you can combine forms and details in a non-destructive manner. Using layers in this way lets you easily adapt to changes in art direction or explore different design iterations.
- Blend between multiple versions of an object. You can import a mesh that has been modeled and posed in various positions to separate layers, and then blend between the various layers to view the pose and add details to the poses on those layers. You can merge any layers together or flatten the layers into one layer and then extract your work as a normal or displacement map.

Paint layers

Let you create texture information (for example, diffuse color, specular, bump, reflection, and so on) by painting directly on your 3D model.

The paint information is saved as discrete channels. Any paint layers you create are automatically saved with your .mud file. You can also export paint layers as maps in a variety of file formats. You can modify the properties on a particular paint layer (for example, opacity) or delete it without affecting the texture properties on other layers. You can import images to paint layers.

You can view how your texture painting appears in the 2D texture space of your model using the UV View. The UV texture coordinates for the model are also displayed which can be a useful visual reference. Sculpt and paint layers can be used in combination to let you split surface detail for a material - for example, you can create texture map sets for a shading material with separate channels for skin, mud, warts, and scars, and then store each channel's detail on a separate layer.

You can view the images you paint using the Image Browser.

Related topics

Sculpt using layers

Paint using layers

Using the Image Browser

Create New Paint Layer window

Painting basics