themacguy

I'm having trouble getting anywhere with anything other than the voxel-room, and render-room.... Anything much more complex than a simple cube just hangs/freezes the program, and I have to force-quit, or even reboot my MacPro to get going again. Still having ongoing problems with the SPHERE primitive, which only work for very very small spheres---larger ones have huge gaps in the polygonal "skin" when the sphere is released from the sphere-primitive-Gizmo.... So... Now working with a simple (?) cube primitive. Creates okay, "Releases" okay... I finally found the "retopo" command in the voxel-tree, by right-clicking on the object in the vox-tree. So... NOW what? Playing around---or I should probably say MESSING around in the paint-room, the few times that anything has even shown up in the paint-room (usually it, and the UV room and the sculpt room are completely BLANK... I get very very SLOPPY results when I try to colour the 6 sides of the cube, in anything like an approximation of "sharp accurate edges"---take well over an HOUR to do this, and it looks HORRIBLE... I am seemingly unable to make any clean, sharp edged selections... Practically impossible to colour each cubeface with a different flat colour. IE: a very straightforward (?) basic "working with a defined selection" sort of task.. So, what is the correct method/workflow, to make and select a defined, sharp-edged selection of the faces of a cube?, Colour each a different colour, And then......??? I'm running out of conceptual language that I UNDERSTAND, at this point---next step, I THINK, is to "peel the skin off" of the coloured cube. to create a "UV Map"....... I'm still not entirely clear just what a UV map is... A separate image for each cube face? I would THINK I should end up with something resembling THIS (see attached JPEG) But I'm not getting anything that looks remotely like this... I can construct this "peeled cube" image in Photoshop in about 3 minutes... Why is it so difficult/impossible to do in 3DC??? Until I get this working, my next desired step, which is to create ACCURATELY bevelled edges, and have them assigned a different material...is still a long way away!... :-/ I guess I'm still at the "playing in the sand-box with my toy blocks" stage of the game---and not even getting THAT right..! ;-}} :-// Please advise! :-)

This INSTANCING tool looks marvelous! I will bet that it saves a LOT of system-resources (eg. RAM) to have ONE model, and a "zillion" instances, instead of a "zillion" separate (but identically shaped) models in the same scene! Now.. (imitating CLINT EASTWOOD's snarl, in DIRTY HARRY... ;-) "WHERE IS THE MACINTOSH VERSION OF THIS??? ;0/ Please advise! :-) I'm hoping the next Mac version of 3D-Coat has some major "bug-fixes" as well (first!!) :-) --still having trouble with program stability, especially when using the "Primitive" tool!!

Hello Andrew! Thanks for having a look at my "Mac" 3D-Coat problem.... It's **STILL** happening--worse now than before! :-/ Reboot my system, then launch 3D-coat Click on Voxel "cube" icon Tap space-bar to bring up floating commands-menu window Select "Primitives" and "sphere" "Gizmo" appears, with sphere inside Tap "enter" or "return" or click on "Apply" on floating Primitives-menu-window to "Release" sphere as a voxel object Sizes below Radius = 100 are usually okay... Sizes larger than that progressively lose more and more surface as the sphere size increases! Similar behaviour with CUBE, but NOT with the other primitive shapes. I have purged my system and re-installed 3D-Coat "from scratch" several times, but the problem keeps on happening --assorted other "frozen" sessions after creating a fairly "low-poly" blob object, with "out of memory" errors, and I have to force-quit the program Using the Unix "Terminal.app" to do so! (ie: it's REALLY frozen!!) Is this something I am doing wrong? Or is this a program "bug"? Thank-you for any advice! :-) --------------- System Details: Mac Pro tower with "Snow Leopard" 10.6.6 (a "clean" install!!!) Single 6-core Westmere 3.33Ghz 64-bit Xeon chip, foactory installed 3 GB (3 x 1) RAM, factory installed. Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770: Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 5770 Type: GPU Bus: PCIe Slot: Slot-1 PCIe Lane Width: x16 VRAM (Total): 1024 MB Vendor: ATI (0x1002) Device ID: 0x68b8 Revision ID: 0x0000 ROM Revision: 113-C0160C-155 EFI Driver Version: 01.00.436 Software: 3D-Coat Ver.3.5.05B(GL)(educational) ---------

Greg's "Make-A-Rat" tutorial series is WONDERFUL--just the right amount of "granular" detail to really get the message across--without getting confused with too MUCH detail! I'm now working with 3d-Coat, after viewing the tutorials---but just how the various "rooms" link together---for UV's texture-maps, Retopo, Sculpt and Paint--is still something of a mystery to me, because the tutorials don't quite have enough of the "WHY" explained. Without the "why" and the "what" and the "how" all explained in granular detail "in parallel" it's VERY difficult to establish a conceptual FRAMEWORK of "understanding" to hang other, and more advanced "steps" onto in a way that makes sense...In some areas of the workflow, I think LOTS more detailed tutorials are needed... PERHAPS what's needed is to interpolate a few more video tutorial sub-sections into the "Rat Project"?!?!) Info on UV's and "baking" settings, the editing of "maps" generally needs LOTS more explanation of the "HOW" and "WHY" these map edits need to be done... ---the details of "peeling the skin off" of a model are still very confusing to me... I see that (in Javis Jones series of videos) they DO cover a heck of a lot of this "UV" stuff---but at what, for me, feels like a "machine-gun" pace--and in a manner that assumes that I already have a clear conceptual framework--a solid grasp of "WHY the pieces of the workflow fit together".... Presently I do NOT have that grasp--the WHY of various steps in the UV manipulation/editing workflow is missing... ---so all that's left is (at best), is my attempts to perform a rote repetition of steps, with almost NO understanding of really what's going on.. And I'm just not getting anything like the results in the "Build a Rat" project tutorials... (a lot of system-crashes and software-freezes on my Mac....hmm....) Example: Javis' tutorial on UV maps: rotating them with the "Manipulator" tool for flipping, or resizing, or smoothing.... --Well,,, what does this MEAN? WHY do I do this? Not enough of it is conceptually spelled out, to allow the formation of a coherent "understanding" of the workflow. ----and it's nearly impossible to follow along, without FIRST having that conceptual understanding... Again, I'm not expecting such a fully-developed series to be FREE---We all have to make a living somehow, right? :-) but the details---conceptual and practical---and a breakdown of the ENTIRE workflow at a sufficient level of "granularity" ie: the tutorial sequence has to "not skip over the obvious"...because it is NOT obvious to a beginner, learning about "3D stuff" and who is working with this program, for the first time... A complete mystery (to me) is precisely HOW to name files correctly so that they'll "reload" correctly while I'm (attempting to) build something with several objects, with different shader/texture settings on each section/face/part.... --and using various texture maps, bump maps, shaders et al... And, above all---HOW TO NAME/ORGANIZE them correctly??? How to "package" a 3D-Coat project so *everything* it need fit into a SENSIBLE export package.... THAT is a tutorial all "Newbies" would like to see...I'm sure! It is also a FEATURE REQUEST--I would LOVE to have a simple button called "EXPORT ENTIRE PROJECT" (if there *is* one, I haven't found it yet!) A few more conceptual lessons on "workflow details" working with (I'll suggest it yet again!) Use a REALLY REALLY SIMPLE model, to demonstrate the PROCESS.... Say, a cube with each side coloured/textured differently!! Then follow it through the PROCESS, with lots of fine-detail--both conceptually and practically. ---retopo-paint-sculpt-render "rooms"---with attention to the (for newbies) the "arcane" details of these rooms, and the conceptual toolkit that makes each room work... --UV (ultra-violet?) maps, "skinning the carcass" etc... I'll bet I'm not the only newbie going "W.T.F." and scratching their head! Javis very fast overview of UV techniques is probably very good for more advanced users...who can fill in any gaps from their OWN conceptual framework... ---but it is just NOT "granular" or "expository" enough (for me) and/or for people who do NOT know ANY of this stuff already! It's all "getting there", but there are still a few gaps in the "flow" of the tutorial series.. :-) Hell of a lot of excellent effort, tho' A++ to ALL concerned, for that! :-) As always... <Rant Mode/OFF> ;-}

I too have invested in a licensed copy of Octane Render... However, my wait for results is a bit longer, as I'm STILL waiting for NVIDIA to come up with an AFFORDABLE card, with suitable drivers for Macintosh.. However, the various render samples on Octane's Gallery page are just STUNNING....Worth waiting for... However in advance of a fully proofed bridge between the two programs---If somebody can detail EXACTLY how to specify "parts" of an object built in 3DC, so that their textures can be "given more oomph" using Octane Render's nodal texture window... I'd love to know just how that (is supposed to?) work properly! LIkewise the management of UV's image maps, shaders, textures and "all of that stuff", so that a project can all be nicely "packaged" for storage, or export to another platform or workstation, without "missing something" needed in the package (BOTH the 3DC components, AND the "tweaked" textures and lighting coming in from Octane Render!) ----Everybody talks about "workflow", but there don't seem to be any DEAD SIMPLE, "start-to-finish" EXAMPLES for newbies to get up-to-speed with the wider aspects of that process... Say, take a CUBE primitive, all the way through the steps in 3DC, then into Octane, then to the render itself! Be that as it may---on GENERAL principles, just from what I've seen so far.... I'd LOVE to see a well-integrated "plug-in" for 3DC that would call up an Octane Render window, ---with the nodal textures all ready to go onto the 3DC model, to do final "tweaking" of textures and then a final render!

I seem to be having pretty much the same problem with the latest build of 3DC on Mac, and the one previious to it... very odd intermittent problems with scaling up voxel primatives (in 3.5.05), and now TOTAL in 3.507(GL Educational) for Mac --every time I do this, now, I get an "out of memory, save your work" error. and the program "hangs" at that point (switch to the Mac Desktop/Finder, and bring up info on the running programs, and 3DC is "not responding" flagged in RED... Have to FORCE_QUIT the program, but usuall y do NOT have to reboot the system itself... (although a good idea, to defragment "used" RAM partitions) I'm running on a brand-new 6-core Mac Pro, Westmere (Intel server) chip, with a paltry 3GB of RAM.... I can pull up a system "crash-log", that I assume will have the detailed process information needed to diagnose//FIX!! this problem, and perhaps move the Mac "build" forward toward the 64-bit objective! :-) Here's a selection from the tail-end of my system-log (recent activity being a crash-test of 3DC---well, it DID crash! :-// This is a read-out from the "CONSOLE.app" utility... lists all the various "threads" of CPU and RAM activity... (so they tell me... it's mostly "greek" to me!) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 10-12-27 2:50:19 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] 3D-Coat(41222,0xb0b1c000) malloc: *** mmap(size=749568) failed (error code=12) 10-12-27 2:50:19 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** error: can't allocate region 10-12-27 2:50:19 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug 10-12-27 2:50:19 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] 3D-Coat(41222,0xb0b1c000) malloc: *** mmap(size=770048) failed (error code=12) 10-12-27 2:50:19 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** error: can't allocate region 10-12-27 2:50:19 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug 10-12-27 2:50:21 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] 3D-Coat(41222,0xb0b1c000) malloc: *** mmap(size=13791232) failed (error code=12) 10-12-27 2:50:21 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** error: can't allocate region 10-12-27 2:50:21 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug 10-12-27 2:50:21 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] 3D-Coat(41222,0xb0b1c000) malloc: *** mmap(size=13811712) failed (error code=12) 10-12-27 2:50:21 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** error: can't allocate region 10-12-27 2:50:21 PM [0x0-0x6ee6ee].com.yourcompany.3D-Coat[41222] *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Attached, find a few more lengthy sections of my "crash-log" that SEEM to tie into this.... I've Zipped them for easier handling Let me know (somebody!! :-) what this all means, and how to make 3DC work properly on my Mac!... CrashLog-Archive.zip

Well... Thanks to lots of friendly input in the Forums, and a reasonable amount of time mucking about... Here's my first semi-decent, well-thought-out-in-ADVANCE piece of modelling... The basic modelling is okay--proportions are a bit "off" I think, but the components are scalable... The textures are impossibly too clean and smooth... I still havent gotten ANY "subtle" results (after figuring out the AUTOPRO button, when right-clicking on a layer in the model layer window... ---any "painting" I do on the mesh, comes across like I've vomited 20 gallons of lumpy latex goo all over the "mesh"... How do you get "just enough but not too much" of simulated "wear and tear" without having to chuck it, and start over from scratch... (which I've had to do many times... I don't think I have enough system RAM to load some of these meshed objects... 3DC freezes up on me about every 15 minutes or so.. I think you'll recognize the model.... a passing resemblance, for now... Comments and constructive tips WELCOME! :-)

Here's a tip for any other SpaceNavigator 3d mouse users.... I was getting really frustrated with the "Lathe tutorial" (mentioned earlier in this thread!), because the setting of the "locked down" settings needed to turn the "y axis spin" into a SOLID, NON-MOVING lathe platform were not working--there was always a bit (or a hell of a Lot, sometimes!) of "wobble"..... I finally traced it down the CAMERA settings on the main menu-bar---you have to be CERTAIN that the camera setting is set to "Rotate around world centre"--then the lathe "turntable" is a solid, reliable platform with no "wobble" ---I had had it (somehow) set to "revolve around last pick-point"---hence the wobbly behaviour!

Hi Tom... Thanks for your reply! I'm STILL missing something in the translation.. :-? I create an object ,starting with a primative cube, sphere or whatever. "release" it from the Gizmo by hitting ENTER or RETURN... Sometimes this works, and sometimes, when I then reselect the released object with the "Pick" tool, it just vanishes---the Gizmo is acting a bit "flaky" for me... even after several "trash everything and Re-Install" tries... Anyhow. assuming I have an edited block of Voxels, and have selected a Shader (say, shiny Red Plastic for this example) The object DOES show up in the Render Room, but NOT in ANY of Retopo, UV, Sculpt or Paint room... When I go back to the Voxels room, the edited block of Voxels--my "object" DOES show up there.... So... EXACTLY, COMPLETELY SPELLED OUT, IN GREAT DETAIL....(in words of one syllable, or less!!!... ;-}}} **How** do I get my voxel object to show up in these other rooms... and where do I switch on (????) this purple-sphere..??? And what do I do with it, then? Thanks for (hopefully...) a much amplified, point-by-point response.... It would be SO nice to have a highly detailed "workflow" video, with detailed audio commentary, SPELLING EVERYTHING OUT.... Step by step by step, using a very simple "object" like a cube, with a few minor edits---and "take through all the steps in the workflow....." ---but I haven't found it yet! :-/

I dunno.... I keep hacking away at trying to figure out how to make a "custom shader" from Scratch... And get some very interesting results---but NOT anything like the finished works shown in the Gallery.. (I'm NOT talking about models... just the texturing of "stuff"...) Specifically, How do you construct a bump-map and specularity-map, etc... so that a particular image you are using for the MAIN texture image will have a nice, suitably "raised" appearance? ---also, does this sort of bumped texture ACTUALLY change the shape it's applied to, (during the render) so that the mesh-geometry being renders is REALLY displaced "out from the surface"? NOTHING I've tried has given that effect, or even the "2-D" simulation of that effect... I believe there's something called "Z-displacement" that SOME shaders have, that DOES do this... Such that, if you applied a "pebbly" texture to a smooth sphere, and cranked up the Z-axis displacement, the rendered sphere would have a "bumpy" silhouette, indicating REAL deformation of the mesh... I've tried working with a 1024 x 1024 TGA image---a matrix of black polka-dots on a white background (and a "negative" version of this, white dots on a BLACK background---and worked with filling the dots in with various colours, to see if/how that would affect the results.... I'm really just bashing around in the dark, I don't know what "technically" I'm SUPPOSED to be doing.... or even if it's "do-able" in 3D-Coat... Here's a link to my current "shader trial" project---I'm serving it off my webserver, so I don't waste storage here on the Forum...: http://www.ihelpmac.dyndns.org/3dcoatstuff/ --Help yourself... (help ME!!) if there's something "obvious" I'm overlooking, let me know...

Hi Tom... Thanks for your reply! I must be doing something wrong.... I've TRIED putting my "RenderedImages" folder in my documents folder (ie: NOT "within" the 3d-Coat folder in the application's folder) and also any custom shaders, and saved object.3b files I've made... but when I boot up 3D-Coat, it doesn't LOAD any of those custom shaders, and when I open up one of the .3b files, I get all sorts of "shader files missing" error messages.... Any ideas how to remedy this? Thanks! (in advance... :-)

Hi Everybody (and all you other users out in "Mac land.." ;-} I just had 3DC jam up on me for no apparent reason---so I quit the program, trashed the 3DC folder in my Applications directory ( /Applications/3d-Coat/.... ) and did a complete re-install.... THEN I find out that my assorted trials, models, textures, and rendered output had ALL been trashed... ---I'd forgotten that they are AT PRESENT, stored in SUB-directories--essentially "inside" of 3D-Coat's home directory, inside my Applications directory... This is NOT where the normal Apple/Mac file-storage conventions would put them.... ---the default location for "end-user" created files is normally somewhere in that user's HOME directory folder--separate from the application!!! So----Is there some way to set up 3D-Coat on a Mac (running OS-X 10.6.5) so that ALL of the end-user files, and all added "third party" custom shaders, models, maps and "whatnot" are all stored in a folder of MY choosing?? --inside my "Home" folder--so that trashing the program to re-install it, or an update, will not--in the future--wipe out my files? Another small point---In nearly every Mac program, the default keyboard shortcut for bringing up the PREFERENCES screen for that program is "Command + Comma" and that Preferences drop-down menu is ALWAYS listed under the Application name (left-most clickable bit of text on the main/top menubar--next to the "Apple Logo") Is it possible to adjust 3D-Coat to follow these two conventions, for the next version? MEANWHILE..... what SHOULD I be backing up MANUALLY/SEPARATELY----so that another "trashing of the program" does NOT wipe out my personal work files?? Hopefully this will be something the end-user can specify the "where" (outside the program) that ALL these files are stored... Thanks for any advise, or news of any program update that addresses these items! :-)

I've managed to get through the "Lathe Tutorial" for "Space Navigator" joystick users, in one piece---as previously mentioned in the New User forum to work...HOWEVER... ;-) I have another question.... Is there an "elegant" way of switching from "Lathe Mode" back/forth to "6-axis free" (normal) mode in 3D-Coat? It's a realy pain-in-the-XXX to have to MANUALLY re-configure the settings every time I want to use "lathe mode" (and then MANUALLY switch all the settings back again, when I'm finished...) Even better would be some way of pre-programming that toggle-switch from Lathe to Normal ONTO THE MOUSE, using one of the (only two) buttons on the Space Navigator... There is a "Macro" screen in the "Advanced" part of the 3D-Mouse driver-config. ControlPanel I'm on Mac OSX 10.6.5---but I have NO idea how to write a macro for this situation... ---and there are NO instructions or hintsl about it on the www.3dconnexion.com website, that I can find... Any advice would be very helpful! :-)

Hi Greg! I agree,,, now please tell me WHERE is this "Tip Hall of Fame" located??? ;-}} ((I need all the help I can get! )) Thanks! :-)

HI Tom... Thanks for the tip---seems to work okay! I'm still having trouble getthing the Lather tutorial to give me results that match what happens in the tutorial... There seems to be a problem with the smoothness of the "Carve" results---no matter what brush I use, hard or soft circle, large or small, or the 256x256 square "lathe" brush used in the tutorial ALL of these seem to generate rather "rough" results---as if all the brushes have "nicks" in the blade, so that any carving done with them gives a flawed results... Any idea how this happened, and how to prevent it? I have the "lathe" locked off, so that it is a VERY solid "turntable", and the cylindrical object I'm working on is PRECISELY centred in world-space oriented along the Y-axis... However I get rough edged results, no matter what brush settings or brush size that I use.... It's also rough when I use the "Invert Tool Action" button, so that I'm ADDING voxels instead of carving them... Have a look at the attached... <sigh>

Hi Everybody... I'm trying to do the "Lathe" tutorial, http://www.cgdigg.com/rw3d.php --with sincere thanks to "Journyman"!!! I owe you a "cup of coffee" as soon as I have some spare coins... :-) The tutorial looks GREAT, (as nearly all tutorials do..) except for missing a few key steps.... :-) I just got a Connexion "Space Navigator" 3-D mouse/joystick, and want to import your suggested/provided .PSD file (in this case 256x256 pixels, WHITE square) However---How DO you add this customized brush to the brushes menu? I'm presuming that the brush shape is defined by a black and white image (in this case a white square) --with the black being what would be used to create a more "complex" shape of brush? ...But exactly what's the procedure? What format (in an external editor, presumably Photoshop) do you save the brush-file as? How do you create a visual "icon" for that brush, so you can recognize it in the brush-palette? Are there special naming-conventions for naming a brush in the brush-palette? And, probably most important....WHERE exactly does the new brush go, ---so that it will be loaded into 3d-Coat, the next time you load the program?? Either as part of the "default set", OR, As part of aa "custom set" for general use, OR, for use with a specific project? Where ARE the "brush libraries" stored for 3DC? (I'm on a Mac...) Are there any optional libraries that can be "loaded" and "unloaded" as the need arises?If so, where and how? The same range of questions apply for adding to or customizing "Materials" "Textures" "Shaders". "Masks" etc. etc... I can see that, as the user continues to add "special" and "custom" and "project related" files to 3D-Coat... ---that "support file management" is going to become an item of MAJOR concern... File-formats and naming and saving conventions, to impose some "order over the chaos" will need to be SPELLED OUT.! :-) I wouldn't want to have an installation of a newer version of 3DC or a RE-installation to fix a corrupted copy... ---TOTALLY obliterate a carefully built up set of brushes, textures and whatnot... Just for the "newbie" mistake of having stored those customized/extra items in "the wrong place"... So, a very clear DIAGRAM of folder hierarchies to PRECISELY define the "WHERE" for all of this stuff to go... ---would be a GREAT thing to add to the Manual, and the WIKI.. :-) b.t.w.... Is anybody else using a 3D "Space Navigator" type of joystick? Let's get together here and share tips and techniques... (configuring it PROPERLY seems to be something that is "non-trivial") ---I haven't got the hang of that yet, either ! But it looks like it could be a LOT of fun! ;-)

I think this would be a GREAT add-on tool for 3DC.... Very useful for construction of "repeating" objects (say perhaps a simple primative cube to start off with...) Parameters to consider.... LAYERS: Clone result on SAME layer as the original object? vs. Results on a SINGLE new layer (presumably "child" layer linked the original object's layer) OR Results distributed across a SERIES of NEW layers.. (one per each "clone" copy)==this would allow mapping different colours to each object. DISTANCE: Distance of each "step" for the repeat clones... (How far? Which axis? or relative to WHAT anchoring object---What units of measurement make sense for this??) ROTATION: For each repeat clone (have EACH one of the clones be able to be CREATED with a step-function parameter, something like ... (simple)=Rotate each clone 15 degrees clockwise on the X-axis, relative to the original object... VERSUS (Complex)= Rotate each clone 30 degrees clockwise on the X-axis AND rotate it 60 degrees clockwise on the Y-axis, AND rotate it 5 degrees counter-clockwise on the Z axis.. And to top all this off---how about "Nudge" keys for a selected object (pixels of X, Y, Z axis? SYMMETRY Definable "symmetry" of a series of cloned objects X, Y, Z axis of symmetry (relative to the orientation of the original object? or relative to world-space X, Y, Z axis?) --How about adding RADIAL symmetry to this step-and-repeat clone function!? either around the centre of the original object, or around world-space, or around a selectable X, Y, Z co-ordinate? I will be NEEDING tools like this, since I work mainly with a "geometrically derived" style of graphic illustration... (I'm not much of an "artist", but i'm a whizz of a "journeyman carpenter"... If I have geometrical manipulation tools to work with! :-) Attached a few roughly laid out illustrations (took me about 2 hours!---with tools as described, would only take SECONDS...

I think having some way to give an object a "nudge" in 3D-Paint, using the arrow-(keys (up, down, left, right) would be *VERY* useful. Either like Photoshop (one pixel per nudge, or 10 pixels of a nudge, with the SHIFT key held down.) or like Illustrator, where Command-K brings up a "Keyboard Increment" setting, measured in pixels or cm. or Inches. The selected object or shape or line gets a "nudge" by that amount Is there an equivalent in 3D-Coat? Haven't found it anywhere in the manual, so I thought I should mention it in here! :-)

Hi Phil... Hmm... I think Ive spotted something---YOUR splash-creen and YOUR primitive generator (hit keyboard spacebar in Voxelroom..) look DIFFERENT from mine! YOU have a full set of icons (L. to R.: headless chicken, rounded cube, marble statue, sharp-edge cube, standing monster, and finally a large shiny sphere! My splash-screen is much "plainer" than yours: 3DC folder icon, square-with-an-x icon, then small, medium, large brown spheres, then sharp brown cube, then finally a brown cylinder... Are we working with the same version, I wonder?? The info in the window menu (I'm on a Mac) says I"m using "3D-COAT 3.5.00(GL)(educational) ----are we using the same "build" of the software??? OR is the educational version "cripple-ware" in some respects??? I wonder....

I have another small related question... When launching 3DCoat I get the standard splash screen showing up with the various choices of what "room" to start with... Accidentally I brushed against the keyboard's space-bar at that point-in-time, and along with the splashscreen--THIS round palette popped up briefly... but was "untouchable". I continued launching the program, and selected the voxel-room (square-with-an-X-icon).. where hitting the spacebar again brings up the standard "primitive" geneerator menu... What is the round palette used for. and how do you "summon" it, when working in the 3DC program? (see screenshots) I don't seem to find any reference to it in the manual... As always, thanks for any replies on this! :-)

Hi Phil... I understand your reply... However the thrust of my question is "Why does this NOT WORK PROPERLY"===I've tried opening both .OBJ files and .3b files from the 3DC folder icon---and NOTHING shows up in the "empty room" (just the gizmo, but nothing at all attached to it!). A somewhat different experience when using the Square-with-an-X-icon way of opening up an empty voxel room.... The "room" opens up. I create a primitive, such as a sphere or cube or whatever, using the Gizmo... Then hit ENTER to convert the primitive to voxels... and select one of the brush/carve tools to "release" the item from the Gizmo entirely---then I edit the shape a bit---and then go look at it in the RENDER room... where it DOES show up... ---however it does NOT show up in ANY of the the other "rooms" (UV, Sculpt, Retopo, or Paint).... So, if starting a project in either of two ways generate such a 'broken' response---What is the "right" way of using them? (in fact WHY are they listed on the startup splash-screen AT ALL??? What is the "correct" way (if there is one?!?!) of using them? I'm still trying to figure it out, but can't find anything on this in the manual wiki, or in the Forums.... If anybody reading this knows what this is all about, and the "right way" of using the square-X-icon, or the folder-icon , on the left side of the opening splash-screen, PLEASE post a reply on this topic! Thanks! :-)

Hi Phil... THANK-YOU! I had to play it back a frame-at-a-time to catch most of what you were doing, but I did manage to "follow the magic footsteps" (well, sort of... ;-}} and create a (rather crude) painted/UV skinned, model..... IF you could find the time to really Slllooooow it down... and add a very granular and descriptive narration of what you are doing, and WHY you are doing it, and any useful general tips... Im CERTAIN that the people (metaphorically) lined up after me, needing the same level of support would thank you a great deal!! (don't you just *hate* spam??? ;-) Ya' probably should have a few shots of tequila before viewing my result... :-) It's a bit too large to post here (4.0 MB) , so I've put it on my webserver... http://www.ihelpmac.dyndns.org/assorted/threedeepaint/archive.zip Obviously still a HELL of a long way to go... but at least I managed to "walk it through the rooms" :-) I still do not understand WHY the two boxes on the left side of the launch-splash-screen --showing a folder icon with 3DC's logo, and a square with a white X in it, the banner above both of these icons reads: VOXEL SCULPTING---both seem to lead directly to the Voxel room---and NEITHER of them generate anything OUTSIDE of the voxel room and Render room----except for "empty rooms" for UV, Scultping, Retopo..... So... what the HELL is that square-button-with-the-X USED for? :-) Any ideas??? What happens when/if YOU use that button to launch into the voxel room....what sort of "results" do you get? (enquiring minds would like to know... :-) Meanwhile, Thanks Again (and again,,,,and again... and again.........) for the intro-"workflow" tutorial video SHOWING some of the "dance steps"...

Hi Phil... I'm sorry if that term was interpreted as hard sarcasm, it wasn't intended that way---and if it came across that way, I do apologize! Meanwhile, YES---I've hit "ENTER" (and/or RETURN) after creating a primitive, then fiddled around with brushes and suchlike to "carve" some details into (say) a simple cube.. but again i say--NOTHING is showing up in any of the other 'rooms' except for the render room! --A somewhat "fiddled with" Voxel Cube, ready to be rendered.... Is there a video that explicitly covers this "simple" step?? I must be missing a step here, but I just can't parse out what it might be! Thanks Again, Very much! :-)

Hi Phil.... Again, thanks for the quick reply, however you've basically "skated around" my question/problem which is that when I create a voxel primative, and "release" it from the Gizmo (by selecting one of the other "edit" tools... ) NOTHING shows up, in ANY other window, except the render-room.. Nothing at all in the Retopo room, Paint room, or Sculpting room either.... Is there a preference or some button-i-have-to-push first? It's like the old techie/computer-salesman joke "...They claim is that it's completely automatic, but actually you have to press this tiny little button hidden away around the back side of it..." :-) b.t.w. YES I've read the manual---a lot of it doesn't really have a conceptual hook to hang the "information" on--so to me, so far a lot of it is just NOISE... and confusing noise as well... :-/ A picture is worth a thousand word, a VIDEO is worth ten-thousand words,, and a REALLY GOOD, very lucid, well photographed, and narrated video CAN be worth a MILLION words.... I still haven't seen a video like that---intended for rank "newbies" (like ME!!)---that really DOES cover-the-ground with a SIMPLE linear example----Taking it right-through-ALL-the-steps, & explaining the "workflow" process (ie: "what little button to push!" with enough detail that the newbie can use that video as an ADEQUATE template to proceed to do simple stuff.... The standard for writing a "newbie" manual is---can your mother, or grandmother understand it?? :-}}} Just because YOU understand it intuitively and easily, does NOT mean that they will be able to do so! Another is, if YOU knew NOTHING about it (hypothetically) ....can you sit down and USING ONLY THE **EXPLICIT** DIRECTIONS BEING SHOWN IN THE EXISTING TUTORIAL...absolutely NOTHING ELSE.... ---follow and repeat the steps being shown (EG. in this site's series of video-tutorials for 3d-Coat)---and then get the SAME results that the demonstrator is getting? I'm NOT getting results like that!!! :-// I've written a lot of documentation in my previous career; to explain Photoshop manuals (written in "jargon")--"translating" & re-writing them into step-wise, concrete, "baby-step-by-baby-step" sets of linked instructions that LITERALLY a senior-citizen CAN understand! I taught adult-education---intro-to-computers, and Internet, and computer desktop-publishing "2-Dee" courses---to elderly first-time students---for over ten years, so I know what sort of "language" passes muster, and what doesn't... It's a very interesting (and HUMBLING!) to be on the "receiving end" of a (supposedly) "newbie" "obvious" set of instructions, that I WANT to make sense of---that "makes ME "feel like a COMPLETE idiot" (and that is the EXACT phrase I hear from nearly EVERY elderly student at their first lesson! :-) Has ANYBODY had problems with their installation of 3d_Coat, such that they do not see any voxel-created object in "the other rooms"??? I'm stumped on this--do I (should I) erase the program and try reinstalling it "from scratch"???? I don't want to bugger up my purchased licence... Again,,, thanks for any reply on this.. :-)

Thanks for your quick reply! I find that ANYTHING I build in the Voxel room DOES NOT SHOW UP in ANY of the other editorial rooms--but DOES show up in the final render room... At my present level of "understanding" of 3d-Coat (very very very low, admittedly!) I cannot figure out HOW to take a voxel-constructed object "into" these other rooms---the online video tutorials don't seem to cover this critical step at ALL.... It would be VERY useful to have a video that takes a "total newbie approach" to construcing a VERY SIMPLE model & then "taking it through the workflow" (eg: simple primitive cube, from the "Gizmo" then smooth off the corners, drill a hole in it.. etc.. SIMPLE with only one or two changes to the primitive cube.) THEN "walk it through the steps" IN GREAT DETAIL, the steps needed to take the voxel-model into the retopo room (fixes "mesh" errors, I believe???), then "unwrap" it (UV room???)---and do some VERY SIMPLE work on the "unwrapped skin", then (I guess??) take it in "sculpt" and "paint" rooms... (by-the-way, I"m finding that ALL these rooms are BLANK for me... and I don't know why! :-//) --- and finally "package" the file for export with textures "skin" wireframe (?) and whatever else is needed (??? WHAT is needed???)---to export it into another "external" program for final texturing and full ray-trace-rendering... (eg: Octane Render) Sorry for the dreary list of "things I do not know", but I'm trying to turn "lemons" into "lemonade" here! Sometimes experts FORGET how difficult and utterly baffling some of this stuff can be, when starting out for the very first time... ---they've forgotten "the hard parts" of the very front-end beginning of the learning curve! :-) Thanks for any reply!!---I hope such a video tutorial as I've described shows up here, someday "soon"!