Retopo model transparency??

[Mix Mash]

Hi,

I'm learning slowly to retopologise with 3dCoat but I have a few questions.

1) When I mport a model to be retopologised, does it need to be made into a voxel object first?

2) How do I make the base model semi transparent so I can see the polygons that appear 'underneath' the base model when I retopologise?

3) How do I change the material of the base model?

4) How do I hide/unhide parts of my mesh so I can retopologise difficult areas of my base model?

Thanks.

Cheers,

Paul

[Tony Nemo]

Hi Paul,

a lot of your questions are answered in the docs, a PDF from the Help menu.

[lc8b105]

1) When I mport a model to be retopologised, does it need to be made into a voxel object first?

Usually you don't need to merge the object to voxel if you want to do manually retopo. You can just use "File" - "Import" - "Reference Mesh" to import the model, this option is especially made for Retopo.

But there is a benefit merge model into voxel, that is "Quadrangle", this command equal to Auto retopo, just a click and 3D-Coat will retopo the model automatically. Right click on the volume in VoxTree panel, there is a pop menu, you can see "Quadrangle" option there.

2) How do I make the base model semi transparent so I can see the polygons that appear 'underneath' the base model when I retopologise?

There is no "semi transparent" option yet, but you can use "Z-Bias" slider bar instead, I think it can fit what you need. "Z-Bias" slider is on top tool bar, give it a bigger value and try.

3) How do I change the material of the base model?

I don't understand what you mean. What's the purpose change the material when you just do Retopo? If you mean only visual feedback, and you have merged the model into voxel, just go to "Shaders" Panel in Voxel tab and choose a difference shader.

4) How do I hide/unhide parts of my mesh so I can retopologise difficult areas of my base model?

If you want to import to voxel first, import each sub-object of you model into different Volume layers Separately. So you can hide/unhide each sub-object by hide/unhide the Volume layers.

If you import the model in normal way, "Objects" panel in Paint tab may help too.

Also there are "Hide" tool in Voxel tab and Paint tab.

[lc8b105]

By the way, it's better to learn the manual carefully first.

[Mix Mash]

Thanks, guys. I didn't know about the manual.

Cheers,

Paul

[bisenberger]

Paul, If you are just getting started with 3D Coat you might want to check out Javis Jone's webinar Saturday morning. It should be very informative and it cost less than 5 bucks.

http://www.3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3696

[Rembot 2000]

Holy F batman how the hell do i hide the stupid reference mesh? I have a reference mesh I have been using for retopology. I am currently trying to work in a tight area and cannot see what i am doing because everytime i tumble around the ref object i end up inside of it and cannot see the area I am trying to work on. I am very simply trying to hide the WHOLE ref mesh, not just part of it. And there is only one reference mesh in the scene (no sub-objects). Im feelin a little stupid at having to come to a forum to figure out what i imagine should be a very simple task. Yes I have tried looking at the manual and didnt find my answer quick enough so now i am coming here. Hiding sub object does nothing, playing with z-bias does nothing. Help is much appreciated.

[AbnRanger]

Holy F batman how the hell do i hide the stupid reference mesh? I have a reference mesh I have been using for retopology. I am currently trying to work in a tight area and cannot see what i am doing because everytime i tumble around the ref object i end up inside of it and cannot see the area I am trying to work on. I am very simply trying to hide the WHOLE ref mesh, not just part of it. And there is only one reference mesh in the scene (no sub-objects). Im feelin a little stupid at having to come to a forum to figure out what i imagine should be a very simple task. Yes I have tried looking at the manual and didnt find my answer quick enough so now i am coming here. Hiding sub object does nothing, playing with z-bias does nothing. Help is much appreciated.

The Retopo Group Panel is your layer panel essentially, in the Retopo room. That is the panel for your Retopo mesh and the Subobjects panel (you may have to open it from the WINDOW>POPUPS menu). Your reference mesh WILL indeed be there. You can simply click the visibility icon to toggle it on or off.

Having said that, I would recommend merging the high res mesh to Voxels and build the retopo mesh onto that. The viewport performance is much better with a voxel model than a dense mesh.