Autodesk, Inc. has launched Autodesk Mudbox 2010 software, the latest version of its digital sculpting and painting application. The 2010 release makes it easier for artists to use Mudbox alongside Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Softimage software. Mudbox 2010 now also features a host of new creative tools and workflows, as well as a software development kit (SDK) that enables production teams to customize and integrate Mudbox into pipelines.
* Interoperability with Adobe Photoshop: New workflows make using Mudbox in conjunction with Photoshop easier. Mudbox 2010 can import PSD files to use as paint layers, as well as export paint layers as PSD files for touchup.
* Simpler interoperability with Maya, 3ds Max and Softimage: Mudbox adds support for Autodesk FBX file transfer technology, enabling artists to import and export scene data containing more information than the usual OBJ file format. Painted texture maps, cameras and image planes can be retained, resulting in higher-fidelity transfers that help to save artists' time.
* Software development kit (SDK): Mudbox 2010 introduces a C++ SDK that production teams can use to customize and integrate Mudbox into pipelines.
* New creative tools and workflows: The 2010 version also includes new brushes, support for reordering of paint layers, ambient occlusion map baking, new viewport filters as well as the ability to render images directly from the viewport -- making Mudbox a great presentation tool.