Autodesk Launches Mudbox 2010 Digital Sculpting and Painting Software

New Version Offers Increased Model Quality, New Presentation Capabilities and Easier Integration with Digital Entertainment Workflows.

NEW ORLEANS - At SIGGRAPH 2009, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) 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.

Mudbox 2010 will ship as a part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites, making it more affordable to incorporate the technology into film, games and television workflows.

"Autodesk Mudbox gives artists the freedom to create 3D digital artwork as easily as working with clay and paint," said Stig Gruman, vice president, Autodesk Digital Entertainment Group. "The software empowers artists to add a level of detail to their 3D characters, objects and environments that can be difficult to achieve in traditional 3D modeling applications."

Christoph Schadl, character artist at RABCAT Computer Graphics GmbH, was a beta tester for Mudbox 2010. "I love to work with Mudbox because the intuitive user interface lets me focus entirely on my creative vision," said Schadl. "My favorite feature in the 2010 release is the ability to paint across multiple texture maps, in different paint channels without any seams. That means you can paint really huge textures -- up to 50K and more."

New Feature Highlights

* 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.

Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation Suites

Autodesk's new Entertainment Creation Suites offer customers a choice of either Maya 2010 or 3ds Max 2010 software, together with Mudbox 2010 and Autodesk MotionBuilder 2010 software. The Suites give artists and production facilities access to a range of powerful creative tools at more than 35 percent* cost savings, compared to purchasing each product separately. With Autodesk FBX 2010 data exchange technology, the Suites provide a cohesive, efficient pipeline. Used together, the products in these Suites help artists maximize creativity and optimize productivity.

Pricing and Availability

Autodesk anticipates that Mudbox 2010, as well as the new Digital Entertainment Creation suites, will be available in August 2009. The 32-bit version of Mudbox 2010 will be supported on the Windows Vista Business (SP1), Windows XP Professional (SP2) and Apple Mac OS X 10.5.7 operating systems. The 64-bit version of Mudbox 2010 will be supported on the Windows Vista Business (SP1) and Windows XP x64 Edition (SP2) operating systems.

The Autodesk suggested retail price for a license of Mudbox 2010 is US$745**. The suggested retail price to upgrade from Mudbox 2009 to Mudbox 2010 is US$375**. Autodesk Subscription is available for purchase simultaneously with the product or upgrade purchase. The Autodesk suggested retail price for Autodesk Subscription for Mudbox 2010 is US$250 per year**.

*International savings may vary.

**International pricing may vary.