AbnRanger

By the way...don't forget, you can click on the Merge tool and browse the "Models" pallet for buttons, zippers, chain mail, etc. You have different categories to browse, by clicking the little downward pointing arrow in the upper-righthand corner of the pallet, and selecting the different categories. Make sure in the Tool Options Panel to click the "On Pen" button (I think that is selected by default), and you can use the different sliders in the Tool Options panel to orient/scale the object how you want. You have similar functionality with the "Curves" tool, with which you could create the Zipper (in the OK category), and I would use it to create any seams. It's round by default, but you could look under the SIMPLE category to select Rectangle to do the rectangular seams on jeans and such.

That seems odd. Auto Retopo brings you into the Retopo Room, and when you've gone through the wizard to where it's generated the mesh, you should automatically be on the layer it created in the process. I'm not sure as to why there would be a mesh beneath it unless you already had something in the Retopo Room. Maybe check before you run the Autopo routine, by going into the Retopo Room and inspecting the layer panel to see if you don't already have extra layers. Sometimes, when I've re-used a Voxel object (that I may have done some retopo work on at some point), I may forget that there is anything there. To Double-Check, you can go to "Windows" > Panels > Sub-Objects. If you have anything in that panel that shouldn't be there, you can click the red "X" to delete it/them.Before running Autopo, if you don't have any mesh already residing in your scene, then delete all layers (you'll be left with one by default...Retopo 1), and I like to hit the "CLEAR" button, just to make absolutely sure there aren't some stray verts that may get generated somehow (had that happen once or twice, but never with Auto Retopo...but it's good just to make sure your working with a clean slate). Also, for the best results, try to make sure your Voxel object has no open holes. If you are making a cloth object, for example, Autopo with generate geometry on both sides, and that is probably not what you want. To prevent that, close the ends/openings before running Auto-Retopo. You can do that by selecting your layer in the Voxel Room, and using Primitives to fill the ends (freeform primitives will let you custom shape it if needed). Once you have the primitive in place, you hit "Apply" or the ENTER key, and it will merge with your object in that layer. If an opening is identical on the other side (like a open end on a sleeve), you can make sure to enable symmetry (hit "S" key and choose appropriate axis) before you hit APPLY or the ENTER key. Once the holes are closed, right-click the layer and select "Fill Voids"...this will fill any voids that may not be visible and will make the object a solid volume. This is actually a good step to run, before doing Autopo, as there may be little open pockets (bubbles), that can cause problems at different points throughout the whole work process (such as generating Normal maps, and slowing down the Auto Retopo calculation, etc). I had this problem on one object, where I couldn't get Autopo to work on it, at all. This feature was a result of that problem. Now you are in business, and can proceed with the Autopo routine. I would go in and make a loop(s) around the edges of the opening, so you can delete the end caps, easily (either in your preferred 3D application, or in the Retopo Room...by choosing the SELECT tool > FACES (at the top of the UI) > DELETE Key. If that still doesn't help, could you do a video screen capture to show what exactly is taking place (if we can't help, Andrew can usually spot what is wrong, just by observing a screen capture)?

At the bottom of the Vox Tree panel, you have an icon to duplicate the layer, to which you could then right-click > "Extract Skin" > Make Hull (Surface or Voxel...your choice). You could then right click that layer again and select "Extrude"... 2-4 units may be enough. You could then use the Transform tool to scale it uniformly just a smidge, to offset it from the body. You'll just have to play with it a bit.The other option, and this may be your preferred option is to go into the Retopo Room and build geometry where you want the clothes to be, and do them separately on different Retopo Layers (make sure to name them correctly, as you'll need to know which one to select later on). In the top portion of the UI, you will see a slider for offseting the layer, called "Additional Extrusion". This is perfect for clothes. Once you have this, you can now go back to the Voxel Room, make a new layer (click the little "New Layer" Icon at the bottom of the Vox Tree panel), double-click it and re-name it "clothes." Then click the little "+" on the clothes to create a child layer, and rename it whatever clothing layer you want (shirt, pants, Coat, etc.). By making a master "Clothes" layer, you can use it like you would a "Group" layer in Photoshop. With one click, you can hide and unhide all the child layers by clicking on the visibilty (eye) icon. And you can expand/collapse all those layers, like you would a Group layer in PS, when you're done with them, to keep the layer panel nice and tidy. Once you have your layer and you're ready to work with it in the Voxel Room ( to add further elements like buttons, pockets, seams, etc., or sculpt wrinkles and such), you can merge and select "Pick from Retopo Room" in the Tool Options panel. You could also choose the Cloth Tool, and do the same "Pick from Retopo Room"...subdivide it as much as you need to and run the Cloth Simulation on it. It actually works pretty well for shirts, robes, coat's, etc. But one thing I have found from experience is that if you have a folded collar, I would leave it out until after you've done the sim, and then construct it in Voxels or when you move it to your preferred 3D package. I think Phil has a little demo of using the Cloth Tool on Vimeo and Youtube....you could search those sites with "3D Coat, Cloth" or something similar.

The second you move your cursor outside the menus it disappears. Nothing different than Maya's hotbox.

What you want to do is use volume to build up to a medium resolution, and then Surface mode thereafter. If you need even more speed for things that make volume mode slow down, then cache the layer you're working on and make those changes to the lower res proxy. When you un-cache it will apply those changes to the original layer state. It's how 3DC does Multi-Res. It's really fast and let's you use very large brush radius' without any real penalty. You'll probably want to use Multi- res on a frequent basis. I tried doing a demo video showing all of this, but it seemed to run too long, so I gave up on it.

From here on out, if you have anything to say to me, do it via PM. I'll do the same. No sense in having a peeing contest here in public, and going way off topic.

Try going to your 3D Coat Directory in "My Documents (in Windows...assuming), and delete the "Options.XML" file. Once you open 3D Coat again, it will generate a new one. There is some funny behavior at times, related to that file...I'm not sure why. But it does help to fix some strange behaviors. Beyond that, you can also just try to keep your brush radius down a bit more when in Volume mode (indicated by the little square icon in the Vox Tree layer). If you want more speed, switch to Surface Mode or cache your layer and try to work on the proxy. The sculpt speed there is very fast and the changes will be applied to the original when you uncache. If you have some anomalies or stray artifacts, you can try right-clicking and select "Fill Voids"...sometimes there are hidden holes in the object and this helps clean things up. Oh, really? And just what are you doing with this post?

So, for the record, then...explain how you come out of nowhere with your first post, once your name is mentioned in this thread. All within a 24hr period.

You know me...I'm only a one-trick pony. If someone comes here to bash the application and/or Andrew, I tend to speak up.

Need I say more, Greg? Funny how he just magically appears (out of nowhere) when the word "troll" is used.

Greg...it's very clear what a troll is:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll "One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29 "In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion." In this case, it sounds like it very well could be the infamous Troll, Veehoy...who delights himself in trolling everywhere he goes. The one post and slamming a software is a dead give away. Nevertheless, I made allowances for the case that the OP may be sincere, and addressed what may be their problem.

Can you show us a video screen capture of this example? Til I see it with my own eyes, I won't believe it...with only one post and already trying to slam 3DC , it smells like a Troll to me.But just in case you are sincere, you have to understand that there is a general workflow you need to adhere to in Voxels, not unlike ZBrush or Mudbox. You start out blocking in your forms at lower resolution levels and add resolution ONLY AS YOU NEED IT. So, in Volume mode, you want to get to a medium to medium high resolution level and switch to surface mode for higher levels of detail. Use Multi-Resolution for even greater speed, when making large edits. You never mentioned what version/build of 3DC you were using, by the way. Also, with the 9800 you don't have a lot of cores on the card, and the Manual states that CUDA doesn't really start to make any difference until you're beyond 64 cores or better...and the performance scales with the # or GPU cores. I noticed a good difference just going from a GTS 250 to a 275 GTX.

I'm able to assign shortcut keys to 3DX with my Space Pilot. I think you may need to save out your profile and toggle to your 3DC config. It usually does by default when I open 3DC. One thing that might be throwing you off is if you have Max or Photoshop open while 3DC is open...sometimes 3DX gets confused which app you're using. Still you should be able to toggle to the configs you have saved. I have one for 3DC in general, and a few different ones for Voxels, Retopo and Paint.

No problem...you can still get a vector displacement map for the low poly mesh by importing the hi-res first and under "Texture" > "Export" "Vector Displacement Map."When you thereafter import the low poly version, you can go back to the texture menu and import that map

I understood the OP to be asking about a model coming FROM ZBrush, to paint in 3DC. I think he's trying to apply a regular displacement map (generated in ZB), as a Vector Displacement map in Microvertex mode. That would be like trying to import a bump map as a normal map.

A vector Displacement map is colored, much like a normal map. You were able to export a Vector Displacement map from ZBrush (and it was colored?)? I wasn't aware that was available in ZB....just Modo, 3DC, and Mudbox.http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=51237&page=2&pp=15 No problem...just import the hi-res mesh from ZBrush and export a vector displacement map from the paint room and use that for your low res mesh.

I just wonder if the Nvidia rep can get someone to help Andrew utilize CUDA for most if not all multi-threading tasks in 3DC...not just a few functions in Voxel Volume mode. Can you imagine how much faster painting and sculpting could be with 400+ processing cores chugging away with each stroke, if CUDA is running the multi-thread operations?

I like your series and Greg's little Ghost series. Even if I know how to do it, I always seem to be able to observe a nifty little trick or technique that I hadn't thought of or tried before...and they are especially helpful for anyone trying 3D Coat out or new to the program. Thanks again for sharing with the community here.

Isn't that what I just said?

I did that recently with a PoP display...sculpted out the concept/shape in 3DC; did a straight export to Max, and simply traced the object with Curves using PowerNurbs. Went from there to the production dept.

Some of us have been pushing for the Sculpting tools/Engine in Surface mode to get mirrored to the Sculpt Room. This way you could choose which method to Sculpt in, and enjoy the benefits all 3 methods offer (Voxel Clay, Poly-based and Image-Based Sculpting). I think he will before too long. There has been so much work to do with Multi-threading throughout the application and overhauling the brush engine. It's probably wise doing those things first, before ripping the guts out of the current(Poly) Sculpt Room. It's more efficient (system resource-wise) to do ultra-high frequency detail using image based sculpting, anyhow. The blending capability is fantastic.

Actually, I think it is an invitation for other developers to collaborate with them to utilize the technology within their software...maybe it's aimed at Autodesk products like their other products. I have a seat of one of their products, PowerNurbs, and it's pretty amazing. It has me considering retopologizing hard surface objects with it, from now on.

I personally don't use Auto Retopo much, unless the objects are not going to be animated or going to be distant to the camera. Sometimes the result is remarkable, and other times I realize it would have been better to do the work manually. The Retopo tools are so good that I go that route, because I can get all the control and still get it done pretty fast. Similar thing between Ptex and doing UV's manually. The UV tools are so fast and the result is great...so I haven't even felt the urge to use Ptex yet.

And you can output a Vector Displacment map by going to the "Texture" Menu > Export > Vector Displacement

There has been some significant brush engine changes, so download the latest update (3.5.04B)...the brush speed and feel is much improved.http://www.3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6634&st=0 Paint speed shouldn't be an issue now. Prior to 3.5.1, it could get slow if your brush radius was large (how large is largely dependent upon your video card and VRAM). But Andrew added Multi-threading to the Paint Room.