Appendices >
Tablet setup

It is recommended that you use a Wacom® pen tablet in order to take full advantage of Mudbox sculpting features. However, you can sculpt in Mudbox using a standard three-button mouse.

Mudbox uses a three-button mouse configuration for camera actions similar to Maya®. You'll need to configure the upper and lower side switches on your Wacom pen so they act in a similar manner to the right and middle buttons on the mouse.

NoteTo configure a Wacom tablet on Linux, see Tablet setup on Linux.

The following instructions provide two options for configuring the behavior of the side switches on your Wacom pen. Choose the option that best suits your workflow requirements.

The most current software drivers for your Wacom® tablet are available here:

http://www.wacom.com/productsupport/select.cfm

NoteThe Wacom web site provides worldwide download links.

To set the Wacom tablet properties - option 1

The following instructions describe how to set the pen properties for the middle and right-click functions (Track and Dolly) when the Alt key is pressed and the pen tip is positioned within 0.25 inches above the tablet surface and moved in a sideways or up and down motion.

NoteThe Track and Dolly functions do not work if the pen tip touches the tablet surface with this option.

1. To view and edit the Wacom tablet properties:
   - (Windows) Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, then choose Wacom Tablet Properties.
   - (Mac OS X) From the Apple menu, select System Preferences and click Wacom Tablet.
   - (Linux) See Tablet setup on Linux.
2. Modify the properties so that the Right Click and Middle Click functions are configured on the side switches of the pen barrel, as follows:

Camera actions with this setup work as follows:

Camera Action | Mouse Action | Pen Tablet Action
--- | --- | ---
Tumble | Alt + left-drag | Alt + drag on the tablet surface. The camera tumbles about its center of interest in the 3D view.
Track | Alt + middle-drag | Alt + middle-drag, moving the pen sideways with the pen tip positioned slightly above the tablet surface. The camera moves sideways or up and down in the 3D view.
Dolly | Alt + right-drag | Alt + right-drag, moving the pen sideways with the pen tip positioned slightly above the tablet surface. The camera moves towards or away from its center of interest in the 3D view.

To set the Wacom tablet properties - option 2

If you find that hovering the pen above the surface of the tablet is awkward for middle and right-click camera actions, you can configure the Wacom pen tablet using the following method. With this option you must first press down the side switch and then click with the pen tip on the tablet surface to perform any click function (right-click, middle-click) assigned to the side switch.

1. Perform the instructions described in Option 1. See To set the Wacom tablet properties - option 1.
2. In the Wacom Tablet Properties window, select Options.
3. In the Options window turn on the Click and Tap option (on some versions this is also called the Side Switch Expert Mode option).

Camera actions with this setup work as follows:

Camera Action | Mouse Action | Pen Tablet Action
--- | --- | ---
Tumble | Alt + left-drag | Press the Alt key then drag the pen tip on the tablet surface. The camera tumbles about its center of interest in the 3D view.
Track | Alt + middle-drag | Press the Alt key then press the side switch on the pen barrel for the middle button. Apply the pen tip to the tablet surface. Then move the pen sideways or up and down. The camera moves sideways or up and down in the 3D view.
Dolly | Alt + right-drag | Press the Alt key then press the side switch on the pen barrel for the right button. Apply the pen tip to the tablet surface. Then move the pen sideways. The camera moves towards or away from its center of interest in the 3D view.

Tablet setup on Linux

This section provides details on configuring a Wacom tablet for Red Hat 5.4 and Fedora Core 11 Linux. These steps assume you are using a USB-style Wacom Intuos tablet.

The Linux Wacom drivers installed with RHEL 5.4 support most tablets. If you have an older tablet you can use these stock drivers, and complete the following steps to configure your tablet.

ImportantIf you have a Wacom Intuos 4 or Bamboo device, you need to recompile the most recently released kernel driver to support the device before you configure xorg.conf. Follow the instructions at http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/debwacomnosrc to build and install the tablet driver before completing the following steps to configure the device.

To setup Xorg.conf

1. To support a Wacom Intuos tablet under X windows, add the following sections to the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
   NoteThis operation requires root (super-user) access.

       Section "InputDevice"

        Driver "wacom"

       Identifier "stylus"

       Option "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"   # USB ONLY

       Option "Type"          "stylus"

       Option "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY

       EndSection

       Section "InputDevice"

       Driver "wacom"

       Identifier "eraser"

       Option "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"   # USB ONLY

       Option "Type"          "eraser"

       Option "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY

       EndSection

       Section "InputDevice"

       Driver "wacom"

       Identifier "cursor"

       Option "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"   # USB ONLY

       Option "Type"          "cursor"

       Option "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY

       EndSection

       Section "InputDevice"

       Driver "wacom"

       Identifier "pad"

       Option "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"   # USB ONLY

       Option "Type"          "pad"

       Option "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY

       EndSection

       Section "InputDevice"

       Driver "wacom"

       Identifier "touch"

       Option "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"   # USB ONLY

       Option "Type"          "touch"

       Option "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY

       EndSection

2. Modify your server layout with the following lines:

       InputDevice "stylus"    "SendCoreEvents"

       InputDevice "eraser"    "SendCoreEvents"

       InputDevice "cursor"    "SendCoreEvents"    # For non-LCD tablets only

       InputDevice "touch"     "SendCoreEvents"

       InputDevice "pad"   # For Intuos3/CintiqV5/Graphire4/Bamboo tablets

3. (Optional) If your Red Hat system confuses the new device with an input mouse, change any reference to /dev/input/mice to /dev/input/mouse0 in the inputDevice section of xorg.conf.

   This prevents the Wacom device from being passed into the input device, which will convert the values into relative versus absolute.

4. Restart the computer with the Wacom Intuos tablet device plugged into the USB port.