Mudbox Vs Zbrush

I thought before I post any of my work here, I'd go into my thoughts on Autodesk's Mudbox and Pixelogic's Zbrush.

Please understand that this is coming from the perspective of someone who's never really worked in any 3d program. My background is in Photoshop, Corel Painter and Illustrator.

Mow having used both programs for a couple hours, I found myself with the dilemma of which one to commit myself to for the next few projects.
The main seller for me was actually usability over capability.
Originally I played with Zbrush, drawn to it by the promise of a sculpting-like experience when it came to modeling.
That wasn't incorrect, however, I think the main thing with Zbrush is just how foreign it is. Not just as a program, but in terms of layout. It's very slick looking but the menus aren't necessarily intuitive. Compare this to Mudbox, which carries a similar interface as Maya and Vue.

I don't doubt that Zbrush is the more flexible program from an artistic standpoint, however, the learning curve here is steep. For me, the most confusing aspect was the Zdraw and Zedit. I don't know if this is just my ineptitude with 3d programs showing though, but I feel that a lot of Zbrush uses terminology and menu headings that are unique to the program. In this, I think is the greatest fault with the program. Someone can't just pick it up and go. The interface can be best described as "overwhelming".

This is where Mudbox shines. Mudbox isn't worried about looking pretty and in many ways the layout is familiar to even any photoshop user. Each Menu tab is simply labeled. Even with only a fundamental knowledge of 3d mechanisms and tools a person can navigate their way through.
Mudbox (2009) also comes with a set of simple introduction movies, which Zbrush lacks, though both do come with a handful of pre-made meshes to use as a base. One thing that I noticed in Zbrush,(version 3), was that it did not come with a pre-made cube! Again, from the perspective of a new user the lack of such a fundamental base strikes me as odd. Yes, you can load your own meshes in and there is a cube in the 3d polymesh section, by why not have it as one of the ones you can select right at the start?

Working within the programs, Zbrush does run faster for me, and does have a more organic feel to it. The tools are responsive to a tablet pen and overall the program is a little more tablet friendly. Once you get in there and have familiarized yourself with the tools, you can begin sculpting.
One thing you need to watch out for is that, with a few blind clicks, you can drop the model you were working on, essentially "flattening" it for all intents and purposes. Once you learn how to save it, this can be avoided, however, once again, this is so easily done by accident that it will frustrated new users.

Mudbox, in comparison feels a touch slower and more mechanical. That said, if you're spending time fighting the interface, you get going far quicker and end up producing about the same results within the same time frame. Once again, the cleaner layout in Mudbox allows you to switch tools faster, though both programs allow you to customize your own shortcuts.

In summery, while I feel that Zbrush is the flashier of the two I'm finding Mudbox a kinder introduction to 3d Modeling.