I downloaded MudBox and started yesterday my 15 days...   Has anyone got anywhere with it... 

I manage to do some very crude deformations...  I tried the (soft) and (softb) brushes and I only manage to distort surfaces and not get that smooth uplifted lines...  I got the (size) and (strength) to a low setting but the  distortions are huge and not uniformed....   Am also working with the size of the object to see if that was the problem... 

I want to make a smooth surface into a small uniformed bumped surface... 

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I downloaded the trial..... I got a string of error messages..... contacted them, tried what they suggested, but still got them... no luck. Lou.

"..... and that was when things got interestiing."

Well, there's good news and not so good. The not so good news is that some systems, regardless of power, just won't run MB at the moment. The team is supposed to be looking into it but I don't know how that's going.

Mudbox takes some getting used too, that's for sure. If it's any consolation, I didn't start really "getting it" until the last day of my 15 day trial, so it doesn't surprise me that you're a bit confused off the start.  Stick with it though. It is much easier to get things done in MudBox than ZBrush in my opinion but it's not as jump in and play as it could have been.   The best advice I can give is build up your displacement. Don't subdivide to the max and then start displacing because you usually end up with a lumpy mess. Refine as you subdivide, using the smooth tool along with the other tools so that the bumps and strokes you place on the mesh can  blend together better. Of the 5 or so programs I've tried that can do displacement painting, I've found the Silo 2 Beta the easiest to just jump in and play, which is unfortunate, since the poly count is limited to about 2 million per object...of course, if you break your model up into several smaller objects, we're talking 2 million for each part. :) That's my personal opinion though and should be taken as such, since just like it says above, no one can tell ya what works for you.

Having said all that, MB is just easier to get into that ZB...or at least, a bit less stressfull on a person's memory and eyes.  Post some shots of what you're doing Tom, maybe I can point out where things could be done differently and how it can be. I don't have MB any longer but the principles are the same regardless of programs. Only interface and workflow differ.

Attached Link: http://www.cbmodelpro.com/

Well.. here is what happened...  all of the sudden the program started working....  I took this kettle and made it look old by distorting some of the surface...  unfortunately it really does not show as much as I would have liked.. 

Then, it stopped working again.. and I started getting those huge distortions...  I think my system is struggling with it...

Thank you Teyon for the information.. at least I now know it is not me....

Have you heard of CB Model Pro?  it is free and it tries to fallow these APPs...

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I've downloaded CB Pro..... it seems pretty decent from what little "fiddling" I've done with it..... what you can download is the beta. Kinda fun to work with. Lou.

"..... and that was when things got interestiing."

Hi Lou,  Not a bad little program for free..... eh?

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Thanks for sharing.... Will this alwys be free or just during the beta?

don't know.....

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I downloaded the trial of Mudbox as well as CB model Pro. I don't see anything these two apps can do that can't be done in Sharpconstruct? Am I missing something?

I just took a look at the page and Mudbox might do the same and much more....    I'm going to download sharpconstruct and play with it..... 

Have you played with both programs or are you making a reference to the brush sculpting methods.

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Sharpconstruct just seems alot more intuitive for a dummy like me...

Any tutorials available for this app?

I just got Mudbox this weekend...... Seems a lot more intuitive than Zbrush. I was able to build the model shown after the first few hours of using the application. I know it's not "Teyon Great", but considering I had no ideas at all when I started... it looks ok.

I was not impressed with the MB help, so I looked for free video tutorials

• that made a real difference in understanding the program and what it can do.
  Watching and listening to a Pro use MudBox - gave me some real insight.

If you don't mind high poly models, this is a great application IMO!