Workflow pointers help n stuff - First Mudbox project ever

[MayaMan]

Hi all,
As I mentioned in my introduction I'm going to be asking some dumb assed n00b questions as I slowly get to grips with Mudbox over the coming weeks / months / years...

One of the things I've always wanted to make (and importantly finish) is a proper Giger Alien... Now I have plenty of reference (a model from Japan, lots of art books etc) and now I'd quite like to get down and sort this out...

So really what I suppose I'm asking here is a bit of sympathetic hand holding... I'd like to get on and make one of these critters but where to start?

Do I grab the standard man from Mudbox and work it up from there?
Do I make a basic mesh in Maya and start from there? And if so how basic is basic? Can I get away with a box for the neck, one for the body, 3x3 box for the head and some extra boxes for the limbs? Or would it be better to get at least some preliminary forms sorted out first? The creature is strewn with pipes, do I model them first or is there another way of knocking them out in Mudbox I'm not yet aware of...

As I mentioned in my intro in the intro thread I have the Digital Tutors video for Mudbox where they make a martian and I've sorted out the first disc which is basically the tools, so I know the navigational and pallet elements to the software, but I really need a bit (okay a lot) of advice about the workflow and how you more experienced users would go about doing something like this...

Thank you in advance for any and all help offered up to the new kid ;)

Cheers

[Hulahuga]

In the video they explain the importance of a good foundation topology/edge flow.
So depending on what you are doing, a basemesh made in Maya (or other apps) is best.
Else the body is good too. Just for doodling.

[MayaMan]

Thank you for that :)

How detailed do you really need to get in, say Maya, before you start swapping back in to Mudbox?...

[Hulahuga]

depends really ;P. Just make sure you got edgeloops that correspond to the coming form... :)

not much though

[Wayne]

Being honest I've sculpted on everything from a single tri poly to high res meshes. It really is up to what you find best for you as a way of working. I've made a good living out of sculpting from very very basic geometry 70% of the time.....so it depends on a lot of things. If you have decent poly skils than make as detaield a mesh as you wnat to, but bear in mind teh lower your polygon count the harder you will be able to push mudbox.


Wayne...

[MayaMan]

Again many thanks for the replies guys :)

I suppose I should just get on a blummin well do the thing shouldn't I? LOL

[Hulahuga]

Just start sculpting something ;P

[musashidan]

If you intend to animate the mesh then good topology is essential.Another option is to build a very basic base hinting at the form.Sculpt it to your hearts desire.export at about 100,00 polys or so and retopo with good edgeflow.UV the retopoed mesh and extract a tangent space normal map from Mud.This way you won't need disp maps as your retopoed mesh will have a good enough silhouette for applying your normal map.