Attached Link: http://www.3dcoat.com/

You have got to get this tool!!!

It is super fast growing and the developer never seems to sleep or tire, having fixes and updates and new tools and options on almost a daily basis. The customer support is every bit as good as the product. And what a surprising tool it is.

I would call it a 3d detailer / modeling program with all the capabilities of Photoshop and a bit of Mudbox and Zbrush thrown in. Now I have Zbrush, there's no knockin' it, and the others as well, but I must say this one's different and it works astoundingly well for Vue stuff.

All the layers you want.
Uv mapping so easy it's shameful. No smears, no overlaps.
Retopolization that is clean and easy
Many different ways to do a thing
Export all the parts as one texture and object or as a  .psd file with all layers intact
Displacement and normal map export in several different flavors.
You can actually use the exported object in Vue as opposed to the heavy meshes of Zbrush.
Photos, abr brushes, vectors, grayscales, texture maps, objects themselves, anything can be used as pen or brush.
All kinds of masking
All the lines and geometric ways to paint found in the other tools
On the fly...
Very fast
Very stable
and best of all......

It is perfect for Vue. All the maps, bumps, displacement maps, specular channels..everything generated out of 3dCoat is pristine in Vue. Just as you painted it. I don't know about you but many times when I've done something texture wise in some outside painting apps, it's just not the same when taken into Vue. You gotta flip it, or somethings missing, or it's not mapped right, or it seems faded etc...

Well not here....everything is spot on in Vue and quite gorgeous. I'm sorry I don't have any samples as of yet to show you. My digital room is a mess, with texture parts everywhere. But another good thing about it is it has brought all my other texture tools together with new uses.

It's only 120 bucks for the pro version. Nothing to shake a stick at....this ain't no kid's toy!!

You can't tell I like it can you?

Vue's own procedural and texturing capabilities are awesome. Now there's a tool to bring in perfectly painted, mapped and modeled objects into Vue looking killer. And new ways to generate bump and distribution.

I can't even imagine how good it's gonna be for Poser mappers and content creators....

Currently I'm making distribution maps for mixing Vue's native elements. Techno textures.

What a joy it is to be able to paint right on the model where you want things to go and have it be imported and applied in Vue immaculately.

Ok, done babbling....time to collaps...off to bed...

Gnite,

M

wow, Monsoon...

what a glowing review for something I probably would never have found otherwise =D

gonna have to try that 15 day trial =D

thank you for the heads-up!

Thanks for the heads up on this.If it works with Vue it works for me:D

-Paul

Looks like Maxon's Body Paint - only cheaper! 

YeeeHaaaa... downloading now - Many thanks Mr. M!

Hope your dreaming in 3D, HDR and 64 bit color...

Monsoon,
Could you post an image or two of something you did with this 3dcoat which as an example of some useful application for vue please?

Did you have a look at their gallery and features list? 'Course I'd also like to see what Monsoon is trying out.

Playing a bit with the free 15 day trial (limited) version. Sure can do a lot! Comes with sample models to play with and a PDF manual you can read online or download. Many keyboard shortcuts are the same as Silo's - that's nice for a Silo guy like me.

My toolbox needs this - now to find some learning time...

Wow, this is cool.  Thanks for info

I've had my eye on this software, but was put off by lack of tutes. Is it easy to learn for someone who has never painted their own textures or made a UV map?

Have you ever had a tech model, ship, station, gear, what have you, and wish you could subdivide it and still have all the sharp edges like with Silo's edge creasing?  You can import that way in this tool.

This is a very low poly ship part out of DoGa. In 3dC I took it up to 4 million polys after importing with smoothing off. I then exported it at a moderate but healthy 70,000 polys. It can now handle Vue's displacement better.

This ship is a quick study in making distributions for Vue's mats.  In 3dC, I laid a nice dirty gray base coat. Then on the second, third and fourth layer, I placed black rectangles and triangles exactly where I wanted engine fire and ship lights. Then I exported the model with it's new UVs and exported everything else in a Photoshop file. I then saved out the layers as distro maps. I mixed one of Vue's dirty metals with the imported base coat and then applied all the pretty lights and cockpit glass. About ten minutes all together.

The next sample is some other tech mats made with 3dCoat and Vue. I'm trying to take Postcards from the Rim type materials and take them to another level. The random placement of Vue's procedurals is great but to put stuff exactly where you want it is even better.
 

I agree, it's an amazing tool, I bought it a few months ago and it's really great fun to use, tough I'm a long way to know all this soft's features (Andrew is the man that doesn't sleep, developing new tools and functions faster than I can try them). Very user-friendly and excellent feedback from his site, too. I posted here some things textured with 3D-Coat, if you want to see:
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1735690
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1595928
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1594826
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1684595
So you can see it works fine for Carrara, too.
I plan to texture my newest critter (see gallery) with this fantastic tool this afternoon...
Just try it...incredible!
Have a nice day
Eric

@ JackieD.
It's suggested to unwrap your model by yourself, but (and that's what I've done in the examples above) you can let 3D-coat do it for you. The uv's are a bit strange but it works! And it's so easy, as unwrapping uv's is not the best part of life. The painting itself is pure joy, try it free and you'll see what I mean

A review like that from anyone is something to spark my interest, but from a perfectionist master such as yourself, well I definately gotta check it out.

Just one more thing (you're never finished with 3D-Coat : ) : I'm just discovering the new uv tools and they seem very easy to use compared with Silo's ones. I should have used them yesterday, instead...

 I agree,3D-Coat is a winner.I cant imagine creating any 3D content without it anymore.And the updates are coming very oftenly - just amazing.Andrew is the best!!!

Dinoraul

Thanks!  Downloading the demo now.

Indeed the UV system in 3dc is great. Have a model with whacked UVs? Smudges, overlaps, gaps? Take it in there and pop it off and pop on a new one. You can choose your own seams or 3dC can insta map it for you without any gaps or overlaps. Yay!

Yes, it instamapping the model very well, i use it also for creating UV if i need to paint in Modo. Only in one week of use it's impossible for me to work without it!

-TOXE

Had good results letting 3DCoat map new UVs on a recent Silo 2.1 model. Not only will 3DCoat let me make better models faster for Vue, but it will also simplify what I have to do in Silo, adding speed to that part of the workflow as well.

I like the tool tips inside 3DCoat, they do help with the learning curve. But it helps if you already understand box/subdivision modeling and UV mapping concepts - there are lots of tutes online, for those new to 3D modeling.

Thanks for the use notes, Monsoon - great to learn the best approaches to a workflow leading to Vue. A 3DCoat tutorial would be fantastic - wonder if any exist yet. Just starting on studying the PDF manual.

All right, all right, you sold me. This had better be useful, despite the fact that I already have Zbrush, Deep Paint, Body Paint, Modo... 

Yeah...but there's nothin' better than a big ole fat toolbox eh? :)

Well, a fat toolbox makes it easier to sit on a thin wallet! 

A two-hour download went to the last 20 seconds, then read 'error.'  When I attempted to resume the download, it reverted to the beginning. Now there are two hours to go...

How could something that annoying happen without it being on purpose?

For MODO users....

What does this let you do that you can't do in MODO?

How do you integrate it into your workflow?  As a modeller?  Or painting UVs?

Is it a useful addition to MODO or a replacement?

Well, I just got the download, but once I figure out how to use it I'll let you know. 

I seriously doubt that 3DCoat is a replacement for Modo, the best, most versatile modeler on the planet. I even have doubts that it's a replacement for Zbrush, the ultimate displacement tool, but the easy compatibility with Vue was the main selling point for me—that and the low price.  

It should be good for boulders and bark, at least. 

Good one Peggy!

Sounds like a good package.  I might give this a try depending on what Autodesk is going to charge for the Mudbox 2009 upgrades due out next month. 

I don't think this will replace anything or at least it shouldn't. If you have Modo or Mudbox or Zbrush and are proficient and comfortable in them, then there might not be anything useful for you in this application. It depends on what your needs and workflow are. I think the bottom line for this app is you can't beat what it can do for the price. That's reason enough to get excited.

For me personally, I have purchased tools just because of one of the things it can do, that my others cannot or not do as well. Of course, there's a lot of redundancy in my toolbox but what the hey.

For instance, Zbrush 3.1 is so unstable on my machine, I can't keep it running and went back to using Zbrush 2. But I usually only use it for texture generation and playing with zspheres.

Silo I use for basic forms.  Hexagon has a great decimator for keeping hard edges.  Curvy3d is the ultimate lathe. MOI is great for nurbs. AC3D I bought just to have the instant greeble maker.  Archipelis is my sketch modeler of choice for implicit surfaces. Metasequoia I keep as the ultimate metablob modeler. And it keeps going this way for all my tools, 3d and 2d.

So it all is just relative and depends on individual needs and preferences and what you are successful in.

So whatever you use, I wish everyone success!!

M

I agree. 3DCoat is one more option for filling out the 3D toolkit. My budget workflow doesn't include many expensive apps.
 
3DCoat happens to be a great fit for my top level workflow (Silo --> Vue --> Photoshop), where it fills a major gap.
 
So 3DCoat is quite perfect for me - provided I can learn it, and in those cases where it does things better or more easily than Silo or Vue - such as applying some types of textures and decals to surface groups, hand painting, perhaps UV handling, etc.

Thanks for the perspective guys.  Being a new MODO users, I was just wondering what advantages this might have for a proficient MODO user and whether it would add to my capabilities or be redundant?  If its simply more tools to learn, then a fatter toobox just adds to my challenges.  OTOH, if it does something different or better, then that would be a reason to take on a bigger challenge.

I started out with Hex (never got a handle on it), then Cararra (OK, but clunky interface) and then MODO which seems the smoothest and easiest for me.  Dan Ablan's video tutorials really help me the most I think.

 I am fairly new to cg and Vue 6 is the only application I have used so far. But I was a traditional illustrator and have been using Photoshop for about 13 years, that's how I make my living. I have actually worked with about 10 different projects that have required cg and in the past I have just used freelancers. Now I have decided that I would like to try and start doing some of my own cg work. One of the last projects I did was to create a mountain that was in the general shape of a molar tooth, then I put some snow on the mountain that help define the actual shape of the roots. I did this in Vue 6 Infinite using a terrain that I then sculpted into the shape I needed using the brush tools in the terrain editor. It was a real pain in the a** because all you can really do it to make something rise or dip. So I was wanting better sculpting tools. The other issue I had was with the texture. I had to place this created mountain into a actual photo of some other mountains. In this photo there where some mountains in the foreground and then some mountains in the background. So I had to try and create a texture that was close to what was already in the scene, it was similar to the look of Half Dome in Yosemite.  I had tried using some high res photo's of some real texture that was close to what I needed, but the size of the texture map was only about .25 of the actual size of my mountain. I played around with all of the different mapping modes and while I was able to get something that was interesting, I was not able to get exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be able to first create a texture in PS that would be the same size as my mountain so that I would be able to know where, say a certain crack would be mapped.
So it sounds like 3D coat may do what I need. I guess my question would be, is there anything that z-brush or any other 3d apps can do that 3D coat can not? A final question, and this may be showing my newbie stripes, but can you also set up lights and render from this program? All of my work is for print and usually combined with photography, so I need some that will let me create very photorealistic images. And one more thing, I am on a mac and it looks like right now z brush is not even an option for me.

Thanks,
Steve
Steve

Welcome to the world of cg and our little corner of it.

Certainly those tools do things this one cannot. If you are looking for an ideal 'all in one' solution then one of them may be a better option.

If you wish a photorealistic renderer built in, then Modo would probably be your best choice.  However, if you use Vue as your main staging application, then there's plenty of folk here that can steer you to the best settings for photorealism. There are even independant renderers if you're so inclined.

Never hesitate to post questions or problems. Plenty of help, advice, tips and tricks to be offered here. The only newb or stupid question is the one not asked!

Again, welcome aboard!

I'm another newerish 3d user, with a background in traditional visual arts. I did a bunch of trial versions to see what might work for me when I started 3d a few months ago. I ended up getting Vue after about a month of playing with the  learning addition since I enjoy landscape work and it rocks for that. Since then I've gotten more involved in making mesh models and ended up buying MoI after 15 days of the trial period since it's so good at basic modeling and fits well with my traditional media background. I saw Monsoon's review here and thought this program might be able to fill some gaps in things I find myself  wanting to do. I downloaded the trial version and ended up buying the Pro license after only an hour of playing with it. This is one cool program for the price. I don't make any money at this (yet?) so budget matters and this was a perfect fit for me.
For those who are thinking of trying it, one big commonality with Vue is the way it paints/sculpts. Basically it is using the brushes just like the terrain editor in Vue does, only you can do it on any shape surface from any direction. This made it a snap for me to hop in there and start playing.
So thanks Monsoon for pointing out this program to us!

I've heard about 3d Coat when it used to be "3D Paint" about a year ago [I think], withing this time they called it 3D Paint, and tried it out -- since then my computer would not harness it provided that my memory's about a teaspoon gigabyte and 'antique' graphics card.  I will be getting a new computer system next week -- So, I may test drive 3d Coat.

The only thing that interests me is, would it do like sculpting just like ZBrush, and I'm interested in the painting and such.

I'm so glad you brought this up.

Thanks,

JB

3DCoat is for someone not wanting to spend more for modo or ZBrush, but still wants to get the job done which is sculpting and texturing.

If that’s the case, I just wasted my money, but I still hope to find some feature in 3dcoat that makes the purchase worthwhile.  

Over time, 3DCoat will be heading into the modeling and rendering arena.  So it may be good to get in early for cheaper upgrade prices to newer versions.  But still, a duplication of what other apps are already doing.  For sure, 3DCoat will replace Hexagon and Silo at some point.

It's very stable on mac, and it's the first release:-) You can reach the same results with modo painting system, but they work on different approach. My workflow:
-model in modo
-export to 3dcoat to create UV (without watching the wires of the model)
-paint in 3d coat or modo (it depend on what i need)

3dcoat export lwo files very well, so the integration with modo is perfect.

-TOXE

I read about a feature introduced in the most recent version of 3dCoat that allows you to paint Hypervoxels for Lightwave--not that I've ever used a Hypervoxel at this point. 

3dCoat's instant compatibilty with the Lightwave format is an advantage over Zbrush. I wonder if anyone has tested to see whether 3dCoat morphs for Poser can be created without using the Scaler? 

Indeed, version 3 which Andrew is working on now will have freeform volumetric sculpting. I'm not sure it's the same thing as hypervoxels although I imagine you could apply any volumetric material to the objects in your staging application.

I've already tried it and it's going to be amazing.

For anyone that likes implicit surface or sketch modeling, Archipelis version 2 just came out and is now available. The interface and texture extraction seems to have been greatly improved.

Quote - It's very stable on mac, and it's the first release:-) You can reach the same results with modo painting system, but they work on different approach. My workflow:
-model in modo
-export to 3dcoat to create UV (without watching the wires of the model)
-paint in 3d coat or modo (it depend on what i need)

3dcoat export lwo files very well, so the integration with modo is perfect.

-TOXE

@TOXE- I also use a mac, but still a G4 Powerbook, I see on the website 3DC works on both 10.4 & 10.5 but am not clear does it need to be on an Intel mac  only ?
Which do you use, G4 or intel  ? 

Zbrush has "Z sphere" modellign which is very cool, but I DESPISE the damned interface, it's a total piece of ugly, hard as hell to use piece of crap!!!
And I say that after buying it, but there wa snothing similar at the time in my defence ;)

So 3D Coat is definately interesting :)

You just have to get the Zen of ZBrush :)

BE the interface !!! 

(I actually quite like it now and I can mostly zip around it ok apart from materials and stuff like that which I don't really use yet)

Can't figure something out in 3D Coat - can anyone help?

If I paint onto an object from a material (a 1024 x1024 jpg texture image I imported), the image is overlaid over the whole interface (as is the default). That's no problem and the painting works. I know how to hide that, but don't care.

But, if I use the alt key+mouse to reposition my object, so I can paint "behind" something which was obstructed before, only the object moves. Now the texture image is misaligned and I can't paint again in the original alignment.

Isn't there some way to lock the object and texture image together so a transform (move) affects both?

Or am I missing some better way to paint image textures onto objects.

jc....is your little 'charactaristics of preview' bar up top with the little 'navi' bar?

It may be hiding the navi bar so you have to slide it over a bit to the left.  You'll see the choice between camera and cubic mapping.  If you don't see it at all, you may have to click on 'mask' to the right to make it do so.

When using the camera mapping, I stop using Alt lmb and leave my pen/mouse up top and use those instead. Gives me lots more control....

Also if you have a material up and you're in cubic mapping, go to the fill button on the left and you have some nice fill options and it matches your projected material......

Many thanks Monsoon - that did it!

Used "Navi" for camera movement. In "Characteristics of Preview", did "Lock", used Cubic projection instead of projecting texture from camera ("Cube mapping"). Now everything stays beautifully aligned as I rotate object and paint from my texture image onto my object - from various angles.

Yes, the fill tool has some nice features - most useful may be to fill a whole sub-object at once, so you don't have to paint it manually.

Excellent..........!!

M