For getting intricate details and precise strokes on to your mesh, Mudbox 2011 provides a few ways to have better control. One way to get a tight continuous line is by snapping the sculpt brush to a curve. A vector curve can be drawn on the viewport of the camera. You can move and rotate the mesh while the curve stays in the same position as if it were a stencil. Once you turn on Stroke on Curve, under the curve menu, laying the cursor on the curve makes it automatically snap into place and follow the curve. Another way to assure a smoother line is to turn on Steady Stroke under the Sculpt properties window. When you make your mouse movement, Steady Stroke pauses for a specified distance from the initial start point before following. The path it follows behind your mouse is a much more even stroke, compensating for any natural jitter in your hand movement. Both of these methods provide for a graceful finessing of the lines you make on the mesh.
Considering that Autodesk Mudbox is primarily a sculpting program, most artists will need to be able to easily move models in and out of the Mudbox environment. Mudbox accepts the native .mud, .fbx that works with Maya and 3ds Max, and the general .obj, which is accepted in most 3D programs. In this exchange, UV coordinates, quick selects, blend shapes, shading materials, and joints can be brought in perfectly or with some conversion in the process. The results for the mesh and UV coordinates are compatible, but anything else would be a conversion that are close but not a 1 to 1.
