dbonejones

Got it. Thank you thank you thank you. It's so easy to go crazy trying to figure something out that absolutely MUST be possible.

Thank you for your help! I want each retopo layer on a different UV map. So, do I create a separate UV set for each layer and THEN select islands to put on them?

How do UV unwrap a single mesh when there are multiple meshes on different layers in the retopo room? Everytime I try to do it, it tries to unwrap every mesh on the same map regardless of layer visibility. Help!

Unfortunately the Extrude % field doesn't work for setting a depth with the last 6 brush types in the "E" panel. Your other tip about using the coordinates is great though, thank you. What I want to do is be able to trace a background reference image to create my initial volumes. It's already possible with the grow tool and one of the last 6 brushes in the "E" panel, but without a usable depth setting. This seems like the absolute easiest way to start a hardsurface model, why mess around with primitives that are not the exact shape you want when you can just draw a volume that is the right shape? So far my best workaround is drawing the shape, cloneing it, stacking them as many times as I need, and merging. Still hoping that someone knows the answer to this riddle, it seems inconceivable to me that there's no way to set a depth with those brushes. Thanks

Oh, please! There must be some logic behind this function! Andrew? What other tools do people use to accomplish this task? How do people make initial volumes for hardsurface modelling?

That was the best title I could think of for this question. Basically, I love to use the grow tool with a point picking brush rather than a pressure brush to follow contours on a background image and create the first volumes for sculpting. My problem is, I can't figure out how to set a depth for these tools (or a height of the created voxels for that matter). I've gotten around this by starting with a really high res volume and then transform scaling that volume up or down to get the depth I need, the problem with that though is that it always ends up rounding the edges and ruining the volume for hardsurface use. I attached a video to illustrate, it shows me creating a volume with the grow tool and pick point brush. How do I choose the depth? Why when I create a second volume is it the same depth but higher? Any help is appreciated!

Hi, I'm fixing to purchase the academic/hobby version, but I see that version 4 will be out "soon". When I look at the BUY page there's no price listed for upgrading this version. Is it possible? Or will I need to spend another $100 (or more) for version 4 again?

This is a CONSTANT problem for me. It's not that I can't navigate in reverse, just not nearly as fast. I get all caught up adding detail and then when I go to bottom of the model I have to make this mental shift. It's pretty much the only time I have to think about the software anymore. I would LOVE a fix. Just wondering if there is a fix for this that anyone has come accross... it would make my life easier for sure. Otherwise, 3DC navigation has always felt beautifully intutive to me. Sculpting with my tablet is fun, easy, fast, and even relaxing compared to poly-modelling. Retopo is like a game instead of slogging through a relentless bog, and painting a 3D model feels like painting a 3D model finally. I love this program.