Mud was the blank canvas of your childhood – you could do almost anything with a cold lumpy ball of wet dirt. It was a fancy, rock-sprinkled pie when you were feeling culinary. It was a crackly skin when you were feeling reptilian. It was camouflage face paint when you were feeling intrepid. It was even a projectile weapon on your more aggressive days. Sloppy old mud was potential. Unfortunately, those days are probably behind you. The good news is that the liberating creative qualities you practiced with mud don't have to be. With the powers of Autodesk Mudbox, you can create lifelike 3D models that will make those mud-sculptures of your childhood look like the work of an eight-year-old. Mudbox is a unique breed of 3D animation software – not a really fully fledged modeling or animation application. It is most accurately described as a 3D sculpting and detailing application. Although you can build models from scratch, Mudbox really excels in adding the finishing touches to already-fabricated 3D meshes.

Sculpting
As a sculpting application, Mudbox presents an appealing alternative to aspiring modelers who don't want to overcome the technical hurdles of polygon modeling. You can work with Mudbox models the way you might work with a lump of clay in your hand. The toolset includes many different additive and subtractive brushes that allow you to sculpt and whittle your model without worrying quite so much about the geometry of the mesh. Artists with a good grasp on traditional 3D modeling software will be at a major advantage, but the interface is still very approachable for new users.

Mudbox is extremely powerful as a detailer. You can add real texture and fine details to your models with fluid ease using the sculpting and painting tools. Once you have added the details you want to appear in the actual mesh, you can paint texture directly onto the model itself. With practice and artistic instinct, the detailing tools allow you to add wrinkles, muscles, bony ridges – anything you like.

Texturing
The texture painting tools are a wonderful means of adding the final finishing details. The brushes are all intuitive, highly customizable, and have great potential for producing realistic 3D models. Even the default brush sets included in the software package offer a great variety of high-quality textures. The stencil tool and projection brush are just a couple of examples of standout painting features within Mudbox. These tools work together and allow you to paint textures directly from an external image onto your model.

Summary
The luscious feeling of squishing the goopy mixture between fingers and toes has always been part of the love affair between mud and young children. Even back then, you knew it was filthy, but you didn't care because it felt good. Sometimes, you wanted to get dirty. Your mother won out in the end, and chances are good that you haven't played in the mud for a while. If you miss that feeling of wild abandon, dig into Autodesk Mudbox. It's the perfect supplement to your 3D animation software. Create fantastic, detailed 3D content for games, movies, broadcast television – whatever. This application is approachable, powerful and undeniably pleasant to sculpt and squish. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do The Research So You Don't Have To.™