MarkG

I'm pretty sure he means the ones that 3DArtist did... you know, the ones in this thread...? Not cool to hijack a thread with self-promotion...

OK Phil, I'll try playing with that. I probably didn't specify what I was trying to do... I did want to create the displacement in 3DC, you are right about that. The reason I want to export it, though, is I want to render it in Messiah, with the low-poly model for rigging and animating purposes, and the displacement map for a higher detail final render. I sort of see how this is done... I will try to play with it some and see if I can ask more specific questions... Thanks!

Well... if you take requests... I was wondering if you could show the process AFTER voxel sculpting... to use it in another app... I don't know if you saw my question in the other thread, but I was wondering about taking an existing low-poly mesh, merging it into Voxels, sculpting detail, then somehow getting the difference back out as a displacement map. Have you ever used Voxels for that sort of thing? Also, the cloth thing intrigues me, but is seems to only work if your model is lying horizontally on the ground... I'd like to see what you do with that...

Well, I downloaded the manual online. I read through the entire chapter on Voxels -- from Page 84 to 119... I never saw this mentioned. Maybe you can give me a hint? What page / topic am I looking for? Because I can't see this mentioned anywhere...

Voxel sculpting is really intriguing to me. But most of what I have seen suggests that the way to use them is to create your initial model in Voxels, and then export it as a polymesh to use elsewhere. In other words: 1. Create a sculpt using Voxels. 2. Retopolize with topology tools, or... 2b. Quadrangalize 3. Export mesh into another program to render, animate, etc I was wondering... what about this: 1. Create base mesh in another program 2. Import into 3DC and merge into Voxels 3. Add detail in Voxels 4. Export new result (somehow!) to external program 5. Create displacement map 6. Add displacement map + original low-res base model into external program and render, animate, etc. Is that possible? And, if so, how would you go about doing that?

I agree... this is really good stuff 3dioot... thanks for taking the time to do this! It makes Voxel sculpting much more accessible... Very nice pace. I'm with Drocket... can't wait for the next one!

You can save your file to a folder in Jing. It's in the settings options. Then you can upload the SWF file anywhere. I did it for my Meesiah bvh tutorial: http://digitalartistguild.com/MessiahTutorials.html Those are all Jing files...

This, though, is the problem for me... As I stated up thread, I admire Andrew's testimony, and his principals. I, too, am a Christian. I would never want to violate the letter of the law, or the spirit of the law with regards to the EULA. But reading the email sent to Infinite tells me that Pilgway's definition of pornography is much broader than mine. And, because I respect Andrew and his wishes, it keeps me from buying 3D Coat. I wouldn't want to do something that inadvertantly creates a problem. As Paul put it, if eating unclean meat offends your brother, don't do it... So, the EULA issue is not simply intolerant non-Christians wanting to make a stand against Christianity... It is a many faceted problem, with no easy answer...

Yeah, it always looks so easy and so fast in the videos, doesn't it? I'm hoping it doesn't just stop there... As a software guy, I think Maya is so over-rated... I hope GoZ opens up pipelines for a lot of apps... Unless, of course, Pixologic is positioning themselves for an autodesk buy-out... who knows? Well, that one is out now, so it's not really a ZB4 feature. It would be an amazing feature if it reduced polygons intelligently and gave you a good flow when it was done, but it seems like the mesh it produces is not good for much...

Hey, it's marketing's job to shout :-) But seriously, I think a lot of little things add up. I remember an old quote about Unix: "Unix is a lot like badword. If you've never tried it, you can't understand what all the fuss is about... but once you have, you can hardly live without it..." Not that zBrush is ever gonna be like badword... but you get my drift ... Well, a new UI has been on my wishlist for as long as I have known about ZB. I've given up by now, though. Waiting for ZB to fix its UI must be like being a Cubs fan, waiting for the World Series...

Actually, this is a concern for me, I have to admit. I'm a Christian. I read with great interest Andrew's testimony, and really love what he is doing here. I would also never use 3DC to create something pornographic, or hate filled. The example Roger_K gives of the sick artwork he viewed made me cringe. Of course, I would never want to do anything like that, and I can see why Andrew would never want to see his creation used for something like that. However... I read the post on Newtek. I visited the IR-Model website. And I have to say: I don't think any of it is pornographic. My wife gets a catalog from Victoria Secret. (Aside... how DOES that company make money? She places one order online, and now we get something like three color catalogs a month!) I see more revealing and suggestive poses on the cover of some Victoria Secret catalogs than the woman in lingerie from the artist in question. So... this is my dilemma. I intend to respect the EULA. I would not want to be doing something with 3DC that Andrew feels is a violation of the TOS. But... when I see how broad his definition of pornography is... I can't really buy the product. I don't think I am going to do anything pornographic. But if a woman in lingerie is pornographic... is a woman in a bikini? What about if I wanted to do a remake of the mover poster for 10000 Years BC, with Raquel Welch? (Which, actually, I have considered doing...) She is in a animal skin bikini, showing a lot of cleavage in that poster. Would Andrew see that and cringe because it is -- in his eyes -- pornographic? I don't care about what is legal, and whether he can or would turn off my license. To me the point is much further up the line than that. If he feel so strongly that 3DC should not be used to create such art... then I, sadly, don't think I can buy the product. It's a real shame, because I would like to support it. But, I really don't think I can, unless Andrew clarifies his position, and I see that I have misunderstood him.

I think Digital777 makes a valid point. You are correct, 3DC is a really great value at $200... but it used to be less... and unless you bought it within a short period of time, you had to pay a significant portion of the original price again to get the update. That was peanuts because 3DC is still pretty cheap. But it will have to continue to inch upwards. As Andrew continues to add finctionality, there is no way he can keep a $200 price. If you have to keep rebuying, it will add up. Frankly, I can't see Pixologic continuing the "free update" policy. That has certainly not been their way (in fact I think this is their first free update...) but if they did, in a couple of revisions, you will actually have ended up paying more for 3DC than zBrush... Of course, that may be fine. There are many on this forum who prefer 3DC over zBrush. But others are buying 3DC mainly because it is a low-cost alternative to zBrush. If they do the math and figure out that 3DC will cost more in the long run, they might decide to either A. not update, or B. save up for zBrush. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out...

I'm not a ZB user -- in fact I have been a longtime critic of ZB mainly because of its UI, and Pixologic's somewhat arrogant attitude (although it looks like they are trying to change that now, which is refreshing...) However, I could not disagree with you more about spotlight and lightbox (and you need to throw GoZ into the picture). The ability to find images, import them directly into the app, remove backgrounds, and then start painting with the image is going to be an amazing time saver. They can even use the pic for sculpting detail... that is pretty damn incredible. The ability to make a change in zBrush and have that change instantly in effect in Maya (or Max3D or -- I hope -- Messiah) is also a huge time saver. And upgrading for free is an about face -- that I don't think will continue -- but at least for one update, Pixologic is doing it right. I don't' think it is coincidental. zBrush is feeling the bite from Modo, Mudbox, and yes, even 3DC. The market is making them respond with new ideas, for a better price... which is very good news for us. The one thing about turning on web access within zBrush, though, is that it will also let them check licensing via the web -- much in the same way EA and Valve can for their games. This should, in turn, cut down on the piracy of the product... so they may end up making more money in the long run. If they sell it cheaper, but everyone actually buys it instead of simply pirate it and use it, they will probably end up on top. It's hard to say until we actually get our hands on what they are demonstrating (I remember how the retopo and transpose tools looked so good in the demo vids, too!) But if they deliver what they show, it will keep ZB a pretty big step ahead of 3DC, IMHO.

Or you can go the Gerard Butler route... and go all "300" on it... "Now I bring out the scraper. I take from the mesh EVERYTHING. I leave it NOTHING!"

Well, if you want some help on the English to English project, PM me and I can pitch in.