AbnRanger

When I have issues with Cavity Painting, it is usually a matter of having to bake a new Curvature and/or Ambient Occlusion map. Give that a try and see if it helps.

It's my understanding that the "Rent to Own" option is for a new license (no more Pro or Amateur versions), not for upgrades. We should expect the upgrade from V3 or V4 to 2021 will be close to the upgrade cost between major versions in the past (ie., V3, V4). The annual upgrade price (ie. 2021 to 2022) will probably be roughly half that. Pilgway is a very fair company. That much one can count on.

Rent to Own is a common English term, this coming from a US citizen, native English speaker, all my life. Is it normally associated with household commodities? Sure, but it accurately describes what is being offered. I may not particularly like the phrase, but I personally cannot think of a better alternative. People understand exactly what is being offered. VRay, a premiere render engine, has RENTAL licenses, as do many other software vendors. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the phrase being used to describe payments to own a perpetual license.

It won't matter when, now that you would be within the window of the 2021 Professional license offered as a free upgrade, for current purchases of V4.

You have to pay annual upgrade costs for nearly all software you own, to one degree or another. Yes, ZBrush and Blender are exceptions, but with ZBrush, the focus is primarily on Sculpting alone and the upfront, lump sum cost is much more than 3DCoat. So, even if there were an annual upgrade (maintenance) cost of let's say $75, it would take several years to reach that $900 upfront cost in ZBrush, not factoring in the Painting, UV layout and Retopo toolsets. A more accurate comparison would be between 3DCoat vs ZBrush + Substance Painter (which has a maintenance of $150 per year, IIRC).

It's $100USD off the regular price. It's been that way for years, during Black Friday and Christmas deals.

There is no subscription model, just a new Rent to Own OPTION (certain number of monthly payments rather than on lump sum cost upfront)...again, it is an OPTION. Perpetual licenses will still be the main license model. There is a 10% discount on the Amateur license for the Black Friday deal....however, when 2021 is released, there will be no future versions of the Amateur license, as it has been a terrible business model for Pilgway (too many professionals buying it for retopo, UV's and Voxel modeling/sculpting only, where it had no limitations; only few Paint-related limits). There will only be a Professional license and an Apprentice version (that is much more scaled back on features than the current Amateur license....much like ZBrush core is). Anyone with an Amateur license will be given a short window to upgrade to Professional with a very enticing offer of about 50-60% off the normal upgrade rate. Pilgway added a lot of development help in the past 2-3yrs and they needed to adjust their business model accordingly, so they can not only keep the help they have, but have the ability to bring in additional help where it may be needed.

I don't think the staff has yet determined it, because of all the preparation for it. Lot's a major new features, a new website, purchase options (like a rent to own policy, and end of the Amateur version, etc.) and even a Texture Paint (Paint, UV and Render Room) only version. A GPU brush engine is an example of features being polished. Hopefully before the end of the year, I think.

Perhaps this tool can be linked to the Tool Options panel, and let the User customize the hotkeys with the different tools they may normally use? It should have a RESET to default button, too, I think.

I think that is by design. Auto Pick will only pick what is visible.

Yes, it is.

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When I have trouble getting the applink to work, the first thing I do is delete or move the BLENDER folder from MYDOCS/APPLINKS/3D-COAT/EXCHANGE. Then, export something from Blender to 3DCoat, to re-establish a connection.

Pilgway is always extremely fair about things like this. They usually will offer free upgrades within at least 90 days of a major release. The only reason they haven't yet announced a "Buy Now and Get the 2020 version Free" is there are some HUGE additions, and they have a tentative target date early this fall, but in software, things are always subject to change...plus this whole Corona-Virus mess makes things even more fluid. As far as I know, there probably will be a change to a yearly release cycle, but the upgrade cost would/will be substantially lower than it's current rate. The main reason for this is because they have added a LOT of development help over the past 2 years, and they may be looking to add some more, but they obviously need the resources to keep and possibly expand their development staff. They will definitely offer perpetual licenses, no matter what, but there may be a subscription option added as well. I think they are going to do away with the Amateur/EDU license and offer something else. We will have to wait and see. In the mean time, it would be a good idea, as Carlos mentioned, to send an email to Sales@3DCoat.com and copy/paste your questionnaire in it, so the Sales/Licensing staff knows this is a legitimate concern of prospective customers.

I think the best solution is to now move the Paint tools to the Sculpt Room, with a Toggle for the Paint tools directly to the right of the Button Display Toggle at the very top of the Tool Panel. Merge the Retopo and Paint Meshes, so they are one and the same. This might take a lot of coding work, but it will prove to be incredibly beneficial, as it consolidates the "Rooms." No more Paint or Tweak room. Just Sculpt/Paint, Topo and UV