I'm posting this in the Poser forum vs. the Deep Paint 3D forum because I figured I would have a better chance of finding people that have tried both.

I am a Deep Paint 3D and Deep UV user ... and while using Deep UV I have a few frustrations with it. The big drawback is that it only lets you view one material at a time while you work with the UV mapping. I was wondering if Body Paint 3D does the same thing.

I'm also interested to learn, from folks who have tried both, if the relax feature is comparable between the two. That is the main reason I suffer through the materials situation with Deep UV ... because its relax feature is awesome.

I'd love to hear comments on the pros and cons of each application, because I'm considering if it might be worth it to switch to Body Paint. Thanks in advance!

Message edited on: 03/06/2005 10:25

Tried both and went with BodyPaint R2 as Deep Paint kept crashing on me. Both have a relax function that is very similar. BodyPaint manual is a ref guide with little tutorials and vid tuts on the CD, they cover the basics but leave a lot to learn on your own. No online tuts, little support but the program is stable as a rock and works like photoshop very well. All the materials get assigned seperately like layers, you can turn um on and off and its pretty easy to use the work flow once ya overcome some of the learning curve. I have not used the UVin much in BodyPaint but the features seem good and robust and I've head as good as DeepUV but I could really give you a comparison. All things being what they are if I was to purchase again I would go with DeepPaint. There are more poser users, more support and it's industry used. Too expensive now to switch. Currently I use UVMapper 3 free download and Photoshop 7 and rarly use BodyPaint due to the frustrations and learning curve. My 2 cents. Les of Sixus1 uses DeepPaint and is quite knowlegeable as wel as the folks over at RuntimeDNA and they are quite helpful with questions. If you need help with DeepPaint check out both forums ans ask some questions.

I'm versed in Deep Paint 3D and Deep UV, as I have been using both for over four years (since Deep Paint 3D version 1 with Texture Weapons). It's the UV mapping that I'm concerned with mostly ... I actually like the features of Deep Paint 3D and enjoy using it for textures. But there are things about the UV mapping that make the workflow a little bit different than I would like.

ONE of those situations is that you can only see what is happening to one material at a time. Even though you can select multiple materials (for example, you are on the head layer and you also want to affect the lips, eyebrows, nostrils, and eye socket materials), you can only see what is happening to the current layer. And sometimes this creates situations where vertices can over lap during relaxation.

I CAN use the Deep UV to Lightwave plugin for myself, but sometimes I get models from other people for UV mapping. I've found that it's better to keep everything one material until after the fact, but asking other folks to do that basically cramps their workflow style.

There is another major thing that concerns me, and why I'm asking about Body Paint 2 now. Deep Paint 3D version 2 and Deep UV 1 were released more than two years ago. This past January, I posted a message on their user forums, asking when the next release would be. I was pointed to a thread from May 2004 when someone else asked the same thing.

In May 2004, the reply was as follows:

"Deep Paint 3D Version 3.0 is on hold due to a large and longer than expected commitment to an OEM client.

At this stage it is envisaged that Deep Paint 3D V3 will become part of a new visualization product currently in development. We do not have a scheduled delivery date for this new product.

We apologize for the delay in this announcement and will advise on any update to this situation as soon as possible."

I was told in January there were still no further developments up till that point. And I am quite disappointed at this news because Deep Paint 3D and Deep UV were a significant monetary investment for me ... and now, because the future of it seems tenuous, I am looking into Body Paint 3D. Unfortunately, there is no "competitive upgrade" price unless you bundle Body Paint with Cinema 4D. That seems unrealistic as I already use and like LightWave.

I did download the demo but because of current workload didn't really have enough time to dig deep into how it did things. So if there is anyone out there who can give more feedback that would be wonderful!

Message edited on: 03/06/2005 16:43

The Maxon forums for BodyPaint are pretty dry and only plugin updates for LIghtwave 8 and 3dstudio, maya and cinema4d have been released as far as updates for BodyPaint. The BodyPaint demo is fully functional, since you are familiar with DeepPaint and know it's limits/strengths I would highly recommend playing with the UV features in the BodyPaint Demo and get a feel if it's going to be a benifit to switch. BodyPaint certainly isn't cheap nor is DeepPaint so switching (you to bodypaint, me to deeppaint) is an expensive guess. I'm sorry I can't really offer more information, I've been struggling with BodyPaint since I got it, however it doesn't seem to the be the program it's definatly the user. I'm more confortable in 2d than I am in 3d and it's been a struggle to get the hours to play and brain power to learn a new workflow.

Don't forget old ZBrush! It's a 3d paint app to!

Yeah but ZBrush doesn't have the cool UV mapping features, which is VERY important.

I bought BodyPaint2 but haven't had the time to use it. At CGFocus.com there is an article about Framestore (the guys who did Walking with Dinosaurs) switching over and using it. I guess if THEY think it's good enough to use in production, it's good enough for me! :) Megalodon

Attached Link: http://www.unwrap3d.com/

Does UU3D have a relax feature? That is very important ... I also have UV Mapper Pro, but while it does have a relax feature, it's not on par with what Deep UV does. I use both apps in conjunction, though, because Deep UV wreaks havoc with point orders. I do all my splitting and joining in UV Mapper, and the relaxing in Deep UV.

I used the Deep UV demo extensively for a month, and that point issue drove me absolutely nuts. I like UU3d - first of all it takes umpteen formats, secondly, Brad Bolthouse gives customer service above and beyond the call of duty, and third, yes, it can relax, and output UV-maps in a variety of ways. I could post screenshots, if you want, but there is a demo out at the website if you want to take a peek ~S