3D-Coat 3.5

[Canardia]

What's new in 3D-Coat version 3.5:

Industry New! Auto-retopology with user-defined guides for accurate edge loops. It looks like wizard with several stages to draw guides, paint dense areas (video)

Multiresolution for voxels has been done! You will be able to degrade object, modify low-poly mesh and combine together low and high frequency details (video)

Support of multiple UV sets management in UV room. You may change UV set of any face, add UV-set, remove unused UV-set. New UV stuff will work in both – per-pixel and microvertex mode

New option in export settings - Perfom coarsing. It is inverse to subdivision

Improved Ptex export/import. Support of export/import Ptex vector displacement

Bugfixes and stability improvements

... and many many more

Full list of changes you may find here: http://3d-coat.com/3d-coat-35/

 

Auto-retopology and multires voxels sounds really cool!

I think I might buy this, as it's now with discount until October 16. ($235 vs $349), and it seems easier to use than Blender.

[DaDonik]

3DCoat is definately worth every single cent!

[Roland]

This last version of 3DCoat really makes it :lol:

 

I'm selling my ZBrush license.

[Rick]

Can someone explain to me why this guy is drawing lines in his model in the video on their site? What does that do and why is it needed and/or a big deal?

[Roland]

Can someone explain to me why this guy is drawing lines in his model in the video on their site? What does that do and why is it needed and/or a big deal?

 

I guess you are talking about Auto-Retopo. The lines are suggestions or hints to the Auto-Retop logic, how you want your edgeloops. This may be critical for animation.

[Pancakes]

Can someone explain to me why this guy is drawing lines in his model in the video on their site? What does that do and why is it needed and/or a big deal?

 

In that way you can retopo a human model in seconds! Seconds!! It's insane, Rick! Insane!

[Rick]

I don't really know what that means though? It doesn't mean anything to me because I don't get why you have to do it in the first place. Is there examples as to why you have to do that and the issues it causes if you don't? Remember I'm a programmer and not an artist at all.

[Pancakes]

I don't really know what that means though? It doesn't mean anything to me because I don't get why you have to do it in the first place. Is there examples as to why you have to do that and the issues it causes if you don't? Remember I'm a programmer and not an artist at all.

 

Cuz you sculpt a high detail model first. The more 3d detail, the more geometry that it needs. So if you want a highly detailed normal map, you will have a mesh that can go up into the millions of polygons. This is not practical for realtime rendering. So you make a lower poly mesh that matches the siloughette of the high poly and then you bake the normal information from the high geometry model to the low one. And that is how you get a low poly mesh that looks like a high poly mesh in a real time engine. This process is known as retopology. Because you are changing the geometric shapes that comprise the surface of the model.

 

3dCoat makes a process that could take hours or days, and does it in seconds or minutes.

 

But not only that. It practically eliminates the need to know how to model with polygons. Of course understand edgeflow is still essential if you plan to animate. But that isn't difficult to understand. Before you'd have to make edgeloops by hand and it could be involved and required lots of expertise at times.

 

Now you just draw some curves. Press a button. And you're done.

[Davaris]

Thanks for explaining that Pancakes.

 

I understand what you said about producing high detailed normal maps from a high poly model, but what about the low poly model? Does 3D Coat convert the high poly model to low poly as well? Or do you have to do that by hand?

 

 

Also they have a picture of a spaceship here:

 

http://www.3d-coat.com/texture-painting/

 

Does that mean it can be used for more than just sculpting organic objects? Or perhaps they just imported the space ship.

[Pancakes]

auto topo produces a low poly from a high poly

[ArBuZ]

Wow!! Just downloaded a demo. I should check this out. Besides this soft was made by russian guys. So I think I must buy it and support this project

[wailingmonkey]

ArBuZ...there's an SDK for it too......

 

 

[Davaris]

If its as easy to make hard surface objects as in Tinker's spaceship video then I am sold. The only thing I don't understand is why this kind of modeling has not been standard in all 3D modelers. It looks so easy.

[Roland]

If its as easy to make hard surface objects as in Tinker's spaceship video then I am sold. The only thing I don't understand is why this kind of modeling has not been standard in all 3D modelers. It looks so easy.

 

Well. Its easy enough to model in Voxels. The thing is to make the retopology to create a mesh.

This has been made more and more easy, still it can be quite hard for complex models.

 

Making such things as buildings or complex technical things with many hard surfaces is still better done

using a traditional modeler. Normally you work with both your traditional modeler and 3DCoat together

to get all stuff done. Making a complete building in 3DCoat may be possible but not wise, thats done

far better with a normal modeler.

[Pancakes]

Well. Its easy enough to model in Voxels. The thing is to make the retopology to create a mesh.

This has been made more and more easy, still it can be quite hard for complex models.

 

Making such things as buildings or complex technical things with many hard surfaces is still better done

using a traditional modeler. Normally you work with both your traditional modeler and 3DCoat together

to get all stuff done. Making a complete building in 3DCoat may be possible but not wise, thats done

far better with a normal modeler.

 

I've been thinking more and more about that. If you plan your building well enough, you can do the entire thing with autotopo + voxel hard surface. I'm really not sure if I'll be using polys for anything anymore. I'll try to make a video on how I do it eventually. Still have some puzzle solving and also reading up on blender to get the fullest possible synergy between all these super powered apps

[Roland]

I've been thinking more and more about that. If you plan your building well enough, you can do the entire thing with autotopo + voxel hard surface. I'm really not sure if I'll be using polys for anything anymore. I'll try to make a video on how I do it eventually. Still have some puzzle solving and also reading up on blender to get the fullest possible synergy between all these super powered apps

 

Beware of the memory consumption though.

3-4 millions of polys with Voxel is OK, but going over that limit things start to go veryyyyyy slow.