Understanding when you're ready for multiresolution

We took a brief look at the multiresolution workflow in the Exploring the most powerful sculpting mode – multiresolution section of Chapter 2, Overview of Blender's Sculpting Workflows. We learned that multiresolution is the best way to create highly detailed sculptures. Of course, there is a problem with multiresolution; it requires us to commit to a particular shape and create a topology that supports this shape.

The earliest stages of the sculpting workflow are all about deciding what that shape is going to be. However, it can be difficult to know when you've gone far enough and whether you're ready to start the multiresolution stage. If you switch to multiresolution too early, you might end up being unable to add large additional details to the model. However, if you switch to multiresolution too late, then some of the details that you've already sculpted could be lost in the transition.

In...