Mudbox or Zbrush? which should I try first?

[kcx]

Hey Guys,

I have been sculpting for a while now but want to try it digitally now... which program should I try?

thanks

[iatriki]

If you just want to sculpt you should try mudbox . It has a simpler interface and sculpting with it seems a bit more fluid and natural than zbrush. Zbrush is very good too, but for a beginner it cold look overly complicated to navigate thru all those buttons to find the essential tools.

[smothers]

I'd say that if your used to other 3d apps, like maya and 3ds, then mudbox will be far easier to learn since it is by definition a 3d app. If you are new to the world of "3d" software or even the slightest bit adventurous then I must recommend zbrush. You won't be able to just look at the ui and say i got it, but once you read a few tutorials and do get it there are far many more tools at you disposal. there is also a near limitless poly count in zbrush; I have yet to put enough polys on the screen to even slow my computer and that's working with multi million poly sculpts. now that i think about it, just go with zbrush. i don't know if you have another program to model base meshes in, but even if you do, zspheres modeling in zbrush is such a quick and easy way to start a sculpt that you may change your workflow because of it. with the new topology tool in 3.1 you now star with a zsphere and end with an animation ready mesh.

i think i have become a zbrush fanboy =(
oh well

[kcx]

I have been an animator for film and games for the last 7 years, so I use Maya everyday.

I have heard that Mudbox is alot more user friendly than Zbrush, but with Zbrush you can paint/create Textures.

I guess I want to sculpt/model but also make a final character (textured) too.

[Nitisk]

If you want to be able to just start sculpting (with your experience of maya)
you should deffenetly use mudbox, it is the easiest in the beginning.
If your used to maya, zbrush can be a bit hard just to get used to moving
around the model. In mudbox there are similar "buttontriggers" as in maya.
You can also get a very good end result with mudbox.

But if you want to create top of the line digital sculptures you should go for
zbrush! There you have the tools for creating movie-quality sculps. But as
I said, it can be a bit hard to learn everything and, as someone else here said,
you probably have to watch some tutorials to get into it.

[DeadlyFreeze]

The complicated aspect of zbrush isn't the interface its wrapping your head around the 2.5D canvas. Which is basically understanding that when you choose to stop editing something it will drop down to the canvas and you can't edit/select it anymore.