AbnRanger

Personally, I don't buy all this "get things done in LW faster" business. I never ever hear specifics as to "How" it's faster...just vague generalities = fanboy speak. If there were any real substance to that, then there would be a larger number of studios using it. I'd rather model in Max than any application out there. I think FPrime was LW's saving grace for the past several years, and maybe that's one of the reasons people would claim the speed advantage, but there are now interactive renderers all over the place.Fact is, talented and productive artists will crank out work fast no matter what they are using. I think LW 10 might encourage some former LW users (who have since switched elsewhere) to comeback, or many current users to stay onboard...but there is nothing there to entice users of other applications, in my opinion. I think LW's biggest competition is actually Blender, which has been dipping it's finger in LW's pudding for a few years now.

Andrew just multi-threaded the Paint Room and UV Room, so make sure you download the latest build (3.5.2). The painting is really fast now, and his adding the new Intel libraries has sped up brush speed throughout the application just in the last few builds.What I would like to see is the bone posing method. It's really not practical to try and pose a character in 3DC at the moment. You have to either use ZB, MB or skin/rig the character elsewhere

Personally, I'm glad to see Rob get things back on track. I've said before that the best thing Newtek could've done was to split the development team up...2/3's working on CORE and 1/3 updating/upgrading the the current architecture as much as possible. That way they can still keep a bit current until CORE is more fully developed. I think CORE is still about 3-5 yrs away from being a full-fledged, full-featured application. I also think it looks more like a professional application without all those default hokie colors in the UI (yes I know you can change the scheme yourself, but the default is the face of the application, and it looked like poo until now (in my opinion), and has a more standard medium-dark grey scheme.I'm sticking with 3ds Max though, even though LW 10 is headed in the right direction and the VPR looks pretty sweet. iRay and integrated PhysX is already out for subscription customers, and it's GPU/CUDA acclerated (w/ Multi-Card support). I think each userbase has enough goodies to keep them happy.

You can find all kinds of helpful tutorials on Youtube and elsewhere (3Dgameman.com is another good site with helpful video reviews and tutorials on installing components), to help you in the process. Once you put one together yourself, you won't want for a store-bought one again.As for what is best for 3D Coat....RAM, RAM and some more RAM . That and as many CPU cores as you can afford. AMD has a six core CPU that beats all the Intel i7's, except the most expensive model (which happens to be a six core itself), and for a sweet price at about $265 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849 good motherboard for that CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130236R A 470GTX or better video card (with 448 processor cores, which makes the biggest difference with CUDA performance in 3DC). Personally I would try to go with 12GB's, or more, of the fastest RAM you can afford. DDR3 modules are pretty affordable, so shop around a bit to get a good deal.

Sounds like a good time to take find a trustworthy local shop. That's why I said even if you don't have the time or patience to build a system yourself, you can still take them the components and have them install and OC (if you want that done) it. That way, you'll have some piece of mind that it's professionally done and you have some level of support should something go wrong.I don't think they would like having someone buy all the parts themselves (instead of buying through them), but I would just tell them that you had planned to put it together yourself, yet have since changed your mind.

You guys that have 470-480GTX's...should DEFINITELY see a difference. I have a 275GTX, and I can tell a massive difference between my desktop and laptop (i7) that has a discreet ATI 5730 card (1GB dedicated VRAM). CUDA scales in performance with the number of GPU cores. The 400 series has double that of the 200 series.

That sounds like it's an issue on the software side, then. Did you ever attempt to format your HD and re-install the OS (backing up critical files first, of course)? I've built my own systems for almost 2 decades now and I've had relatively few issues. I've bought 2 store-bought desktops in that time, as well, and one had both the CPU and MB go bad....took almost a month to get the PC back. So, even if you have support and a warranty, it won't help you while it's in the shop. You normally have 5yr-lifetime warranties on graphic cards and MB's. Can't remember how long the CPU's are, I think they are lifetime (barring signs of misuse) as well.

Well, you can always take it to a local shop and have them try and diagnose it. When certain components act up, they generally show different signs. You could try and run a software memory test (aftermarket motherboards usually have this utility on their software disk). Sometimes it may be as simple as a faulty memory chip, or miss-matched modules. If you tried to OC your memory timing, it sounds like the voltage is on the weak side and needs to be bumped up a tad.There is a certain threshold you can reach in memory clock speed before you have to increase the voltage. In general, to OC the CPU, you increase the FSB (front side bus) speed , and it will increase the RAM speed accordingly. That is usually the only setting I will adjust. You could always go into the BIOS and back the memory clock speed down one notch and see if that helps. Memory is the most finicky part of all the components. One little thing is off just a bit and it can cause issues. Everything else is fairly hassle-free. I had to wrestle with my RAM a bit and ended up having to back it off the listed speed (1066), manually in order to get it stable. You'd be surprised at how much help you can glean from Youtube. You can type in something like "overclocking memory" and get all kinds of tips.

Robert, there are a host of reasons why you should almost always go the custom build route. The only reason to buy one of the shelf is if you don't know how to build your own and just don't have the time. Nevertheless, there are a number of companies that have custom builds, with all aftermarket parts. Check Ebay first. There are plenty of brick and mortar stores that happen to have a storefront on EBay. Many of them let you pick everything that goes into it, and none of them are OEM parts.The main reason is that you will get EXACTLY the components you want and aftermarket parts are ALWAYS a cut above the OEM stuff you get in off the shelf builds (DELL, HP, etc). They also have extensive warranties on them. You have absolutely no overclocking capability in OEM parts. The Motherboard BIOS won't allow you to access CPU/GPU/Memory timings and voltage. The second reason is there is almost no room to expand in a pre-built case. Poor cooling and often no room to add a beefy card and definitely no room to add a second card (there are a number of renderers on the market now that take advantage of multiple GPU's...such as Octane, Arion, and Max 2012 will have iRay that will utilize multiple cards, as well as PhysX). Both AMD (black box editions) and Intel CPU's have a significant amount of overclocking capability...which is like upgrading to a much higher end model without the added cost. Most aftermarket Motherboards come with overclocking software that lets even the novice tune it without any OC experience, all within the Windows environment. You just want to ensure that you buy a decent aftermarket CPU cooler (Zalman, Thermaltake, and CoolerMaster are usually good choices), and pick a case with good airflow (most come with fans in the front and back). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118036 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106103 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887023 http://www.newegg.com/Store/BrandSubCategory.aspx?Brand=1647&SubCategory=574&name=Zalman-Tech-Co-Ltd-CPU-Fans-Heatsinks I would also make sure that you buy a Graphic Card that has aftermarket cooling on it...not the standard (reference) box. The reason is that these cards not only have much better cooling, but they generally have higher quality memory chips and GPU's that have a much higher overclocking yield. They generally are about the same price or very close. They are worth it. You can get a 470GTX and overclock it to perform like a 480, without it ever breaking a sweat. Again, the card will come with overclocking software that makes it easy for even a novice to work with. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125338 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127513 If you don't know how to build one yourself, and don't have the time, I would still shop for the components, and take it to a local Computer shop (that you trust) and let them build it for you...and have them overclock everything for you and test it for stability (they have software utilities that run long stress tests to ensure stability).

Whenever you get that type of look in voxels, you know you need to either scale the model up or click "Increase Resolution." It's like sketching/drawing...block out with rough shapes and increase resolution or detail as you go

You can PM him or "Support@3D-coat.comI think he would appreciate your input and ideas.

Cool stuff, Bay. Could you contact Andrew and point out some of the things you'd personally like to see in 3D Coat, especially the brushes/sculpting tools...where they can be refined and improved? I think he (and us all) would benefit from your input/feedback, in this regard. For example, your idea about using cavity maps as an option to indicate edgeloops could help make the auto-retopo tools faster and more accurate.

That's music to my ears.

I feel for you on the MAC front...and I asked the guys at Siggraph about getting a MAC 64bit version, and they said they would get on it. From what I understand it's being currently worked on. At least that's more than you get from Pixologic.As for the CUDA card...you don't HAVE to have one of those to get good speed out of Voxels (particularly the Surface tools). It's even faster with the 3.5.1 release. The painting is wicked fast now, as is Surface mode sculpting (with the multi-thread Intel libraries)...and Andrew said that's just the beginning. So, there is some degree of tradeoff no matter what application you choose (including Mudbox...which I think is very appealing just on the pure sculpting side). Each person has to determine which ones they are willing to settle with.

Like I said...that's no excuse to still be stuck in a 32bit app. Not one that is supposed to be leading edge. You're saying the guy couldn't even open 3DC on the laptop? When ZBrush can handle Volumetric data, then you can compare that orange to this apple.Sure it's efficient for what it does, but it still has it's limitations and makes use of RAM in a big way. If they would get with the program and release a 64bit version, imagine how much further could you push it. The lack of 64 bit, the foreign UI, and the lack of 3DConnexion device support (after pages and pages of users asking them on the forums for it) keep me away from ZBrush for the time being.

I'm not clear what to expect with this....are we waiting on volunteers to step in an write a link, try and do this ourselves, or will there be options in a menu to link to given programs?

I still find it puzzling why a company that trumps it's innovation is still stuck in a 32 bit environment. Sure it's efficient, but that is just no excuse for being this far behind in that regard. Just about every CG application out there has a 64bit version. I thought surely they would have gotten it in gear with v4.

Well, I think the story was what was missing, more than anything. It started out good, but the ending blowed, in my opinion. It's like giving candy to a baby, then snatching it away just as the toddler puts it to his mouth. If they were going to have the dragon die, it would have been better if it happened trying to defend his friend. Then seeing the little baby dragon follow the girl home.

Probably so....but with all the changes/new tools added since then, I think Andrew would give you another 30 day trial at this point, if you e-mail them (sales@3d-coat.com) and ask.

My apologies...it's just that the complaints in your first post seemed like someone just looking to bash the software. Andrew has worked very hard to speed things up, and it troubles me to see someone come along and and seemingly try to rain on his parade, for whatever reason. If you're on a deadline of some kind, it's helpful to post the issue in the right thread here and see if you can't get a quick solution. But, if that doesn't work in a timely matter, then please try to use a video screen capture utility (Jing is free and host's a site to upload to), and email Andrew at support@3d-coat.comIt may also help to send him a copy of the file. What this does is it allows him to see exactly what's going on as you encounter this problem, and it allows him to get to the root of it MUCH quicker. If he is aware that the issue is holding up production, he generally treats it very urgently.

Andrew mentioned they did some recent work on Applinks, but it seems it is still being placed in the hands of volunteers. I wish that weren't the case. Some users will have someone step up while others won't. I would if I were any kind of a programming/scripting guru, but I'm not, so I can't.

I'm not totally positive, but I seem to recall Andrew mentioning early on in the v3 Beta period that 3DC only utilizes one card. That's pretty much the case everywhere in CG apps. with only a few exceptions. It would be nice and maybe Andrew could address that at some point, but I think he feels there are currently bigger fish to fry.

I never use the AutoUV's. Making your own seams it incredibly fast, and you simply click "Unwrap." I don't know if your model is already subdivided, but as you may well know, it's best to do your UV's before you subdivide it. You'll get much better results with lower polys, than otherwise. It will save you time, needless work and frustration.

Why is it insulting to take issue with the the totally false assertion that Voxel Sculpting is ultra-slow? Such negative comments can mislead and adversely color other's perception of the application...especially new or prospective users.

http://www.3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6634&st=0Ultra-slow? You're kidding, right? Ultra-slow, sculpting a Rock? What are you using it on (OS, System, including RAM)? EDIT (for PC reasons): Based on your previous posts and this one, it sounds like you're trying to run full speed with the software before you've had a chance to get more comfortable with it, first)...and that can be a major source of your frustration(s)...especially when you have deadlines involved.