Today's feature films are laden with CG effects, most of which are highly-detailed characters. Using conventional 3D applications, the molding of highly sophisticated models would take a considerable amount of time with tools that are not imitative of the craft that it so closely resembles. Scarred and weathered faces, wart-covered toads, intricate armor with rivets and ornaments; all of those types of characters and props would take intensive scrutiny for it to be constructed. Rather than use methods that are analogous to working on a computer, wouldn't it be beneficial if the program mimicked techniques more akin to the tradition of the sculptor. Add to it all the conveniences afforded by a computer and you have Autodesk Mudbox 2011.
The Image Browser gives you access to your texture images to import into Mudbox.
First developed by artists at Weta Digital, Mudbox is a brush-based 3D sculpting and painting program that is built to handle high-resolution polygon meshes. On a standard computer rig with normal 3D sculpting software, sculpting millions of polygons would cripple the GPU or processor, making it run sluggishly or just outright crash. Mudbox allows for working with dense geometry with little or no slow down. A clean, intuitive interface as well as easy to use toolset for sculpting and painting make Mudbox a powerful solution for producing high fidelity models that can be outputted for feature film composites and triple-A video games.
The Mudbox interface is clean and minimal as it is intuitive to use.
Ease of Use
Mudbox 2011 interface has seen the same visual update that the other Autodesk Creative Suite programs have undergone. Sporting the dark gray coating over the working environment, Mudbox still retains the minimalist layout with easy to read icons, tabbed palettes, and contextual windows that update based on the current tool in use. The trays at the bottom and the windows on the right can my resized for easier access. And just in case you need a reminder of what a particular tool may do, a helpful tool tip pops up to summarize its operation. Less pertinent views or information are under different tabs so that users can pull access them as needed without it cluttering up the environment. Having an interface that permits you to focus primarily on what you need is necessity for any computer artist.
The layer tab allows you to switch from sculpt to paint mode as well as organize the detail information of your model.
New projects within Mudbox 2011 start by either building with a primitive object, general mesh, or importing your own. With the mesh centered in the viewport, the user can now choose a sculpt tool to add, pinch, flatten, and smooth the geometry. Primitives start off as a low-resolution mesh, making any changes done to the surface seem extreme depending on the strength of the brush. The simplified silhouette is usually formed at this stage, subdividing the mesh as needed to permit the artist to have tighter, more detailed manipulation of the surface. And instead of sculpting all your changes on to your base mesh, layers can provide a means to organize different features or just to experiment without destroying your previous work.
Today's feature films are laden with CG effects, most of which are highly-detailed characters. Using conventional 3D applications, the molding of highly sophisticated models would take a considerable amount of time with tools that are not imitative of the craft that it so closely resembles. Scarred and weathered faces, wart-covered toads, intricate armor with rivets and ornaments; all of those types of characters and props would take intensive scrutiny for it to be constructed. Rather than use methods that are analogous to working on a computer, wouldn't it be beneficial if the program mimicked techniques more akin to the tradition of the sculptor. Add to it all the conveniences afforded by a computer and you have Autodesk Mudbox 2011. 
