I just started playing around with the 3d functionality in CS5E and wondered if I might get some suggestions.

The principle activity I'm hoping to use it for is direct texture editing on the OBJ itself.  I've had success exporting (from Poser) the required OBJ along with the MTL file and needed textures.  I also had little problem loading it up in CS5E but here's where my experience hits a sour note.

I'd played briefly with 3d-coat in the spring and, although it doesn't hold a candle to the graphic editing capabilities of photoshop, I found it much better at painting directly on the 3d object.  Unfortunately, 3dc was just a 30day eval and I already own CS5E, so I'm trying to leverage what I have.

Specifically, what I'm trying to do is create new a V4 skin.  With 3dc I was able to load up a portion of the V4 mesh, along with a base texture, then create and new texture to overlay the existing one so my edits weren't applied directly to the base texture.  I can't figure out how to do the same in CS5E.  I can create a new layer but it's just a 2d layer and I have to merge down into the 3d layer in order to apply it, otherwise it just floats there above the object in a 2d plane.  Is there a way to add an additional texture layer to an object so I'm not having to edit the original texture directly?

Also, I'm not too happy with the performance.  Even if I load just a portion of the mesh (like a hand) I find it very clunky to spin the model unless zoomed way out.  Also, in order to preserve the 4x4k texture detail I need to increase the "image size" of the 3d object from the default 1x1k to at least 4x4k or higher.  In doing so the response lag becomes even worse to a point where you can't even think of using anything other than single click actions as it can't track your pen movements (only updating every 1/4 second or so).  3d-Coat didn't seem to have this "image size" issue and I could actually load up the entire mesh all at once, be able to zoom all the way in, and still have it perform smooth as glass.  Is there some other way of increasing the working resolution within Photoshop without having performance suffer so badly?  Or am just trying to use Photoshop for something it's not designed to do?

I'm already comfortable with Photoshop so I'd prefer to use it than have to relearn another package, like 3d-coat or Zbrush, not to mention the added expense.  I just find all the whacky seams in the Daz UV maps difficult to navigate in 2d so I'd really like to explore using direct 3d texture editing to clean up seams and nail down texture placements accurately the first time.

Any suggestions would be most welcome!

Figured out how to create a new 3d layer (first option under the 3d menu), but still no idea how to improve performance.  I have tweaked everything possible under the performance and 3d options, which had helped some but still looking for a better way.

there's not alotta expertise here on the 3d functions IMVHO, but I can confirm it's very slow and inaccurate painting on the obj itself.  they really want ya to paint on the UVmap, then view the results in 3d window.

I dunno if it's too late to tell ya, but painting on the obj surface is real-time in raytrace  mode, whereas zoom is real-time in unlit texture mode.  if that's any help.  using ordinary graphics card with 512 MB.

clicked star brush on seam areas on sydney model in photoshop. it goes over them o.k. (see att. img). brush acts in real time on raytraced preview.  when pasting 2d image onto  3d model (after selecting paste area with marquee), it comes in as new layer, but can then be combined with skin layer if desired (cmd-e in OS X).  photoshop selects correct texture (e.g. head or body) depending on where pasted. in re: 1Kx1K img size for 3d obj: size doesn't matter, it's not bitmap, just zoom in (raytrace mode).  it's like line path or vector shape.  2d img size meaningless for these things.

no, wait, I see what ya mean - changing 3d img size affects relative size of pasted 2d img.  maybe one of the others knows how to fix this as default setting.

What I do is export the obj+mtl files to a separate folder so I don't mess up the originals. Import the obj in CS4/5 and copy the texture layer. Paint whatever I need onto that layer and set the opacity. Then merge that layer to the original texture layer. Then I export it back out as an obj and see how it looks in 3D. If I don't like it I still have the original file saved.