So, just a quick note for others that may have issues. After importing to Mudbox from Softimage, you need to scale the model/object.
If you don't freeze the transforms then the sculpting tools have odd behavior: touching directly on the model to sculpt causes a the tool to appear to barely change the object. Yet, starting outside and swiping across will have the full affect. Import, Scale, Freeze Transformations, Enjoy Hope it helps someone. Patrick N.
