Press Shift + D twice to subdivide the model you just imported two times. The polygon count should now be 41,728 and the active level should be 2. You can see this information in the lower right corner of the interface in the status bar. The 41,728 polygons may seem like a lot of polygons, but it really isn’t, when you consider that with Mudbox, you can sculpt millions of polygons in real time. Although it may be tempting to subdivide the model as much as possible right from the start, there are good reasons to keep the subdivision levels low at the beginning. First, keeping the subdivision level low at the start allows the computer to work faster because it does not have to display more polygons than what is necessary. Second, if the subdivision level is too high, then sculpting larger muscle masses becomes tedious, and you may be tempted to focus on details too soon, instead. In the initial stages of sculpting, your primary task is to rough in the general forms and masses, not details.
After you have subdivided the model, go to the Layers tab and create a new layer. Name it something that makes sense to you like Basic Muscles. In this tutorial, layers are initially used to manage levels of detail but they will be, eventually, used to manage sections of the model. For instance, the first layer will hold the roughed-in muscles; the next layer will hold more muscle details. Eventually, layers will be used to hold sculpting detail of sections like the hands, feet, and head.
Much like subdivision levels, sculpting layers have to be carefully managed. Remember, from previous topics, that a layer is locked to the subdivision level in which sculpting occurs. For instance, if the model is subdivided to level 2 and you begin to sculpt in a new layer, then that layer is now locked to subdivision level 2. So, if you subdivide again to level 3, you must create a new layer to sculpt in. Also remember that layers may be deleted, so in the event that you don’t like your work, you may simply delete the layer, create a new one, and try again. There is no right or wrong way to use the layers in Mudbox; in fact, you don’t even have to use layers at all. However, layers help to manage the sculpting process, so it’s a good idea to learn to efficiently work with them.
