How to Export Normal Maps in Mudbox
Mudbox is a 3D modeling application offered by Autodesk. It differs from many modeling applications in that it is primarily for modeling of organic figures like people, animals and plants. The tools are designed to operate almost like sculpting tools. But aside from the sculpting tools, Mudbox also provides tools for creating normal maps. Normal maps contain height and shape information. They can be applied to a low polygon figure to give the impression that it is much more detailed than it is. This saves on render time when using the model. Exporting these maps once you have created them is quite simple.
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Instructions
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Open the Mudbox application. Click “File” in the menu at the top and click “Open.” In the dialog that pops up, go to and open the file with the normal map you want to export.
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Click “Maps” in the menu and click “Extract Texture Maps.” From the options, choose “New Operation.”
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Click “Normal Map” in the dialog that pops up. Select the low resolution model in the “3D View” and click “Use Selected.” Select the high resolution model on which the normal map will be based. Click “Add Selected.”
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Type a value in “Search Distance.” This tells the program just how detailed it should make the map.
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Type in “Image Size” the size in pixels you want for the normal map resolution.
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Click on “Base File name” and type a name for the file. In the dialog that opens, choose the file format from the drop-down menu and click “Save.”
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