Carving a Digital Monster

Hello and welcome to this tutorial on virtual sculpture. We are going to create the head of a scary creature. It could be something that comes from outer space or the bottom of the ocean. You're in charge here. You can undo anything if you make a mistake, and you never get your hands dirty. That's the beauty of digital sculpting.

For this tutorial, I'm using Autodesk Mudbox, but you can also use any other 3D software that has a set of sculpting tools, such as Cinema 4D, or even free programs like Blender. The methods I explain here can be easily replicated in any of these applications.
This way of modeling in 3D is very intuitive, you will feel like you are working with clay. If you have access to a digital stylus like a Wacom pen, it's even better, because you can control the pressure. Since most of us only have a mouse, we'll use that instead.

On a side note, there are also some very good sculpting apps for Iphone and Android. Look for them in the stores and watch some videos. The feel is completely different in this case. You sculpt directly with your finger, which is even more intuitive. The experience is better the bigger the screen, so reach for ipads and other tablets. Or, if you can, buy a Cintiq and you have the Holy Grail.

a computer that can run 3D games

3D software with sculpting tools

a Wacom pen (optional)

When you open Mudbox, you are presented with a screen where you can select one of the basic meshes provided to start sculpting immediately. These include a human head, a body, a car, a cow, a cube and some other useful objects. For this tutorial, we'll just choose the head.

Now that we're in the virtual sculpting space, let's make some adjustments so we can work better. The first thing I want to do is hide the grid, since we won't need it and it's in the way.

To navigate the viewport you can zoom in with the mouse wheel; rotate the view with Alt+click and pan with Alt+mouse wheel.

Now select the first modeling tool and click on the head. A message will appear telling you that the mesh is too rough to model. Press Shift+D 3 times to increase the resolution of the mesh.
Now try drawing a line on the head. You will notice that the cursor, in this case the size of the brush, is very small and the line we made is very thin and full of spikes. To increase the size of the brush, use the control panel on the right. Here you can also adjust the strength of the brush. The stronger the brush, the more pronounced the line you draw.

The line is now thicker, but still full of spikes. This is because we are using a texture on the brush. Just disable it in the right panel.
Now the lines we draw are smooth. The values used here are a good start for the size and thickness of the brush. To keep things simple, I'm only going to use 2 tools. Sculpt and Grab. This will give you a good feel for what is possible, and I will give you the pleasure of exploring the rest of the tools later. In the mirror drop down button, select X. This lets us sculpt with simmetry enabled, so we can only carve one side of the head.

Now just use the Sculpt tool if you want to make a dent. To make a depression, use Ctrl+click. Shift+click will smooth out the surface. It's the equivalent of using the smooth tool.
Now you can start doodling on the head or one of the other models and just have fun. You can make a creature like I did without any colors or you can try your hand at something more realistic, like an old person full of wrinkles and veins, etc.

Oh. And I almost forgot. We're going to paint the object, too. Working like this is so fun and intuitive, even a child can come up with something beautiful. Remember, you can always 3D print your creations once they're done. hope you get as hooked as I did.