AbnRanger

Great work, Andrew...on the voxels and fixing some of the Retopo issues. I did some more experimenting/testing to see what I can do differently to avoid some of the issues, and I discovered a couple of helpful tips.When I was working with the strokes tool, low density voxel models tended to have the strokes come out on the other end of the object, or just about anywhere it wanted. I was about to do another bug report on it, when I tried the same thing again with the higher density version, and the problem went away (for the most part). Also, I was having very similar problems with the Points and faces tool...not working. Again, I was about ready to send a bug report, but strangely stumbled upon a remedy...that is to adjust the "Additional Extrusion" amount until the problem subsides. I don't why that is necessary, but it worked. Hope that saves somebody from some of the frustrations I had been experiencing. Now, if only the merge times between Surface mode and Voxel volumes was minimized (so we could step between the modes without trepidation), we'd be set.

I got the same thing, but I noticed it only happens when the brush size reaches a threshold in size...I thought it was some new mechanism to accelerate the brush speed working with extra large brush sizes. I think overall speed is up somehow...not to even mention the multi-res tools. My only gripe is with the inconsistency in the Retopo tools currently, as you can tell.

You should be able to re-import the mesh into the Retopo Room and have it snap to the voxel model, without issue, as long as you didn't make any dramatic deformations

I had a similar incident about a month ago, where I spent the better part of the day wrestling with the same issues...and finally found it was some Points and Faces dots hanging out in space not too far from the model. How they got there, I don't have a clue...but I cleared the layer they were on and everything went back to normal. However, yesterday....I had no such luck. No dots hanging out in space and I even went so far as to delete EVERYTHING but the voxel model itself. I mean, I went into the Retopo room and went Nuclear on it. Then started with a fresh layer. From that fresh layer, you see the layer I was working on in those example videos, I linked to. I tried everything I could possible think of. Even installing multiple version of 3DC, going back to 3.2.01 EDIT:I posted some new video examples to show the results in the Retopo Bugs thread....Well heck, why not show just one for squirts and giggles?...In this video, it's just one example where I've tried 3 times to get the strokes tool to do it's job, and it decides it would rather fight me instead....waited 20 min the first time, and I exited the program...same thing for the next two tries. Is no one else having any issues? Just me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fhZR28qJmY

Seriously, I can generally work in Max most all year without having any kind of show-stopping issues like I've experienced with the Voxel and Retopo tools in the 3DC just this past month...

What's unworkable in 3ds Max...or ZBrush?

I did that several times, and still had the slow and unstable response in the Points & Faces tool, as well as the slow reaction times with the Quads tool. Instead of all of these workarounds, and "you have to do this when you get this" and "you have to reduce or increase this to keep this from happening," and such...the tools need to operate in a consistent, reliable manner. Every time I hit a snag, and have to go into troubleshoot mode, I always think about the poor soul who is brand new to 3DC and doesn't yet know all the "workarounds" they need to know.

I actually went back and installed all the way back to the first 3.2...and strokes worked better, but the quads and points and faces tool still took way to long to drop the polygons before letting you move on to the next. I spent more time troubleshooting bugs than I have getting work done.Another lesson learned the hard way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6gjIzZOreIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R802JE2c7ZY The strokes somehow work better in this video, and with "snap to outer surface"....but the quads and points to faces tool is still slow and from time to time, the points to face tool just refuses to work. Earlier today, it was absolutely unusable...period, on the upscaled model, that was only 4mill polys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gMPapF6pVA

It seems like every time something gets fixed in the Retopo Room, it gets broken again a few builds later. Looks like I'm going to have to learn my lesson once and for all, and just stick to 3DC as nothing but a Texture painting/UV layout asset...everything else is like playing a game of Russian Roulette. These bugs have have wrestled with me for days, trying to finish up the assets I have and get them out of 3DC. I guess I'll have to just do a straight export out of Voxels, and retopologize with WrapIt in Max.

The Retopo tools are busted for me (Win 7 3.3.03 CUDA64). They take forever...strokes takes a bout a minute+ in between strokes, points and faces just flat out don't work. The Quads tool takes a about a 1min+ per poly. I tried absolutely everything (clearing layer and starting fresh, clearing every other retopo layer as well, exporting what I had and re-importing, etc) wasting hours trouble-shooting...and all I'm trying to do right now is just get everything out of 3DC until some of these bugs get squashed. I'm now officially back in unhappy camper mode ...had a deadline to meet and this is KILLING me.

Well...the good news in all of this, is that Andrew is back focused on the task, unlike the time he was heavily vested in Ptex. I'm just happy to get the ability to cache layers I'm not using. It makes it much easier now to work with higher detail sculpts...even without Multi-Res ability. It'll likely take a few builds to iron all the wrinkles out in Multi-Res. In regards to Splodge's comments, I agree about the Surface mode workflow. I try to avoid Surface mode because of the horrid waiting game going back to voxels. It's more of a point-of-no-return, finishing mode, it seems. With merge waiting time being the single largest problem with 3DC, it really should be addressed in the manual and Video manual, to help new and learning users know how to work around it...instead of letting them run headlong into it and grow frustrated like some of us have been.

What needs to happen, in my opinion, is to have a popup dialogue (like Andrew has for exporting and such), that asks you what resolution you want to merge it as, and perhaps have a tool tip that points out need to know info for new users (such as needing to close open edges, etc.). I think it's critical for Andrew to make the program as smooth as possible for prospective customers/new users, as many will get frustrated with a number of quirky methods used to accomplish the most basic tasks...like Transforming objects, anywhere in 3DC. When you import something into the Paint Room...if the axis is flipped, or is really tiny,etc., the person trying the demo will get really frustrated with 3DC and may just give up on it. It needs a thorough makeover in this regard...making it more intuitive. It's not intuitive to make a prospective customer have to waste time trying to find out where the transform gizmo is in the Paint Room (there isn't one, and there is no way to move your model in Paint)...the new user HAS to come to these forums to figure that out. That shouldn't be happening. Many people will find something annoying and it will just turn them off to the application immediately, never to touch it again. Making the application as intuitive (and using common commands) as possible will probably sell more seats than a major feature, like Ptex (although Ptex is cool and all).

Thanks Andrew...great work. Quick question...if we have a file that has volumes cached, do we need to copy the cache folder from the 3DC directory if we try to take the file with us (to another computer, at work, school, etc.)? I had an issue with such a scenario, yesterday. I guess it needs to be mentioned if the cache folder needs to go with the file, or if it's necessary to restore all layers before transporting them.

If you could spring a little extra, I would try and see if they could upgrade your order to a 260 or 275, as the 400 series cards have driven the 200 series down even further. You should be able to get a 275 for $180 or so...The naming convention doesn't sound like much of a difference, but for 3DC it's quite a difference, as the 275 has about twice the number of cores as the 250.The 250 is essentially a re-branded 9800gtx. I had that model (gts 250) before I upgraded to a 275 and I noticed quite a bit of difference. It's definitely worth the extra $30-$50, if you can swing it. EDIT: Just noticed that 275's are rare on the market now. I guess NVidia refuses to make any more. Nevertheless, you should be able to score on EBay for about $180 or less. http://cgi.ebay.com/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-275-896-superclocked-edition-OC-/130398987940?cmd=ViewItem&pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1e5c62a6a4

Make sure that it's not actually on a separate layer in the Vox Tree Panel. If it is, then you can hold SHIFT and drag that layer onto the sphere layer. That will merge them together.

Personally, I think Andrew is already stretched pretty thin, as he is essentially the only developer working on this software. He has some help, I think with other OS's, but from what I've gathered, he is all there is. That being said, it's one reason why, despite my frustrations with the application from time to time, I still try to promote 3DC. The better it does in sales, the better chance we have at seeing additional manpower being brought into it's development. Dave Cardwell was one of the Original Co-Creators of Mudbox (which originated out of Weta's in-house toolset...used on Lord of the Rings and other productions), and he was the lead guy at Autodesk for the Mudbox community...but departed sometime last year. I don't know what the circumstances were, that led to his leaving, but I personally think him and Andrew, working together on this application would make it twice as strong as it is today. I think if Andrew could get someone like him onboard, that he could not only help on the development side, but also help with the promotional/community side in North America (and perhaps part of Europe and Australia). He knows how to run and set up booths at Siggraph and such, and has deep connections in the film industry...connections that could help get 3DC into major production pipelines. I know it's wishful thinking, but hey...a guy can dream, can't he? Even when Andrew introduces new features, there always seems to be new bugs that come with it and things that were once working correctly, no longer do...so it seems he's having to spend too much of his time chasing down bugs to take on major core changes, and that's why it's probably as frustrating for him as it is us.

Haven't tried that yet, but Andrew just uploaded a last minute series of fixes on this latest build (3.3.02B)...fixing some issues with volumes sometimes disappearing when un-cached/restored, and some issues still with the split tool. So, I just thought I'd mention that so everyone can download it and avoid any of those problems.The best thing to do with bugs is 1) use something like Camstudio or BB Flashback to create screen recordings of your issue and 2) zip a sample file and send it or a link to it to Andrew, and try to describe how to replicate the problem, and your current 3DC version & OS...you can PM or E-mail him with those things and it really helps him be able to isolate the problem. You can also list the issue in the appropriate bugs threads so others can confirm or deny whether they are having the same issues. That also helps to nail the problem down, if it's happening across platforms and different hardware.

If you retopo from surface mode, there shouldn't be any issues with voxel chaff between the fingers...that's why it's better to work in surface mode when smoothing areas that are close together like that, and you don't want them building volume between them in the process.

Yes...in the manual, where it describes CUDA and what it does, it mentions that it is BRUSH speed related. Doesn't mention anything about CUDA being used to help calculate merge operations...if CUDA did, it certainly would make a world of difference...but it doesn't.

I just wanted to mention a major bug, as the scene I'm working in is deteriorating fast. Volumes start disappearing at random. One just disappeared when I clicked to restore volume (uncache). I posted it in the critical bugs section, but thought I'd warn others to be careful with this build...and to save incrementally and often, so you don't end up losing hours of work.

I noticed yesterday that mysteriously a voxel layer was no longer present/visible in the viewport...no matter what I did. I saved and exited and when coming back to the file today, I had the very same thing happen twice...one of them was caught on this video. Toward the end, I am pointing out where the missing window volume was supposed to be. When I accidentally moved the transform gizmo, I hit "CTRL Z" to undo, and BAM, the house structure disappears. Not good... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF6S_4t1fQ4 3.3.02A Windows 64bit w CUDA

Yeah, the new shaders you customize are extremely bright and don't seem to match the look of the actual shaders. I think there needs to be a default "XRay" shader that is simply a default gray with transparency adjustment in the shader setting. That way every user gets it and can see from the thumbnail that it is for that very purpose (semi-transparent for see through ability).By the way, can someone please explain what is in the "Extension Pack" that was supposedly added months ago. I try to use it every once in a while, but I never have any luck accessing it. I downloaded and installed it, and try to access it from the file menu, but it's like there is nothing there.

I'm referring to the ability to have a heavy model (20mill poly's+) cached and use just the cached layer to work with in the Retopo room (until you're ready to bake)...as your RAM footprint would be much smaller. Everyone won't need to do this, but those that want to push the limits with as highly detailed a Voxel sculpt (guilty as charged) as possible, this is a great news.

I would think that you can also use a proxy layer as well to Retopologize on...and once you're done, switch to the uncached original, with all the details, to bake down your normal and displacement maps. This way you can cache everything in Voxels, while Retopologizing, and keep your resources as low as possible.