Bloodsong

all righty! that methodology also fixed my scaling problem! unfortunately, i really want to use the surface sculpting tools to create morphs. i did manage to export the retopo-to-voxels object from the voxel room with proper scaling and right number of vertices. just... in the wrong order. which is hopeful. but that's another topic for another time. thanks a bunch!! i still have a lot to learn!

okay, i thought i had a methodology worked out that worked for me, but... going through the same steps is giving me different results. is it me, or is this some kind of bug i need to report? OVERVIEW: i'm trying to make a morph for a poser figure. problem number one for poser obj's is that they are incredibly microscopic compared to the universes of other 3d tools. problem number one for making morphs is keeping the vertex order and count of the object the same. here are the exact steps i followed, and the anomalous results i got from them. Version: 3D Coat V4.00.b15AGL ======================== ROUND ONE TEST 1: No Symmetry Start in Surface Modeling Mode (i figured this would preserve the obj surface without mucking around in all those voxels) Open/Import the base OBJ file. The Transform Tool is selected when the OBJ is brought into the scene. Move the Gizmo Only to 0,0,0. Scale 200% five times. (Note: my scaling math is off during this part of the test, so of course the position and scale of the resulting morph is FUBAR, but i'll include it here for the sake of completeness.) Select the Surface Tool: Expand Click 2x on the Right Forehead (i'm using a head model base) Select Adjust: Transform Tool (note: if I select the Transform Tool I saved in my presets, it tries to change me to voxel mode) Move Gizmo Only to 0,0,0; Scale 0.25% five times. (yes, totally WAY wrong.) Export OBJ, hit Cancel on mesh density reduction. TEST 1: Results Load Morph Target in Poser; turn on Attempt Vertex Correction. yeah, the scaling is FUBAR, but... the important thing, the vertex order is clearly correct (I can see the shrunken, misplaced head is not exploding). However... i don't see the lump on the forehead. ??? it just looks like the base object. TEST 2: Mirrored Since I know Sculptris totally FUBARs the vertex order when going into symmetry mode, i'm testing symmetrically painted morphs separately. Undo the Previous scene 5x, until the object is un-shrunken, and undo the forehead lump. Turn On Symmetry X. Use the Surface Tool: Expand 2x on the forehead. Two lumps are created. Repeat the same (incorrect) de-scaling and exporting as TEST 1. TEST 2 Results Load the Morph Target in Poser. This time, turn OFF Attempt to Correct Vertex Order (just to test) Results are the same... exactly the same. First, hooray! the vertices are all in the correct order and the morph doesn't explode. Secondly... uh... still no lumps on the forehead. EXPERIMENT ONE Undo the file back to the base head that was scaled up and has lumps. Attempt the de-scaling 4x, then 1x, try to figure out where my percentage math is screwed up. EXPERIMENT ONE Results the 4x descaled head was still a pinhead. the 1x descaled head was too high/large (naturally), and also exploded. NOTE: why is it now exploding, when before it was perfectly fine? ROUND TWO at about this time, i figured out my scaling routine is wrong. duh. yeah, so sue me, i'm not a math major. i calculated if i just scaled the object up 1000%, then i should scale it down 2.5% TEST 2.1 Start new scene, go to New Surface Scene. Import the base OBJ file. Use the Transform Tool (gizmo at 0,0,0) to Scale 1000%. PROBLEM: why is the object not scaling up where i can see it, like it just did before? (okay, doing 200% 5x vs 1000% 1x is probably different, but... that different? if i hit the scaling at 1000% again, then the object was large enough to see. did it ignore my first scale-up? did i put it in wrong? i restarted 3dcoat a couple of times, because it appeared to not be working as expected. TEST 2.2 i decided to scale up 2000% and scale down 1.25%. here are my notes on this attempt: (okay, stupid newbie mistake: always say yes to merge) Turn on Symmetry X. Surface Tool: Expand 2x on forehead. Resize (Gizmo @ 0,0,0) 1.25% Export OBJ, Cancel on reduction. TEST 2.1 Result: PROBLEM: target geometry has wrong number of vertices. 38,246 vertices instead of 38,290 it has 112,857 polygons instead of 38,354 and it is all triangulated! (which the original OBJ is not.) NOTE: i have not changed my import/export/sculpting/scaling methodology. why am i now getting wrong number of vertices results? i checked the original exported mirror test obj. it, too was triangulated, and it, too, had almost twice as many polygons as the original OBJ file, but... it had the correct number of vertices in the correct order. PROBLEM: when i imported the obj into poser, the head was not the right size/position as expected (could be my scaling math. i used to have a program that did poser obj scaling and de-scaling, but i no longer have that.) however, i DID see the knobs on the forehead, unlike previously. TOO LONG; DIDN'T READ: importing and exporting an object for a morph resulted in a morph that worked, except the sculpting that was done on it did not appear. exporting the same object again resulted in a morph that exploded. importing and exporting an object again, in a new file, using the same methodology as before, resulted in a morph that didn't work because of wrong number of vertices. but did have the sculpting appear on it. bloodsong needs help scaling an object up to work on it, and then back down so it is in its original size/space (it is not centered in the universe) for export. what, exactly, of my system specs do you need and where can i get a dump of them for you? thank you for your extreme patience.

heyas, guys! still watching hours of tutorials and demos (thanks!)... have some newbie questions that i hope haven't been asked 100 times before. PS: i'm using 4beta14a1GL 1: Smooth Tool how come sometimes this aggressively melts the model down to nothing, and sometimes it barely does ANYthing? i've tried different strengths, sizes... it just usually ends up doing the opposite of what i want? (ie: melting my mesh when i want a faint little adjustment, or barely doing anything noticeable when i want the mesh to melt.) 2: Pinch Tool & Creases the pinch tool isn't behaving the way i expect. not sure if this would be a bug or feedback/complaint. it pulls the mesh together in the middle, but it also creates a dent around the stroke. i don't want the indentation. i tried to make a crease by using the extrude tool (inverse mode, of course), with a sharp pointy brush tip. that created a decent little trench. but then i wanted the pinch tool to pinch the sides of the trench together to make a skinnier trench, it actually made a wider, yet shallower trench. so what's a technique for creating creases? 3: Tools that Go into Voxel Mode i threw some presets on the preset floater. the move tool, and the translate tool. sometimes when i switch to the translate tool, it pops up and says "This preset will switch your [sic] to voxel mode." sometimes it doesn't. sometimes the move tool makes this pop up. the thing is, i thought i was IN voxel mode and never left it. i haven't switched anything to surface mode. that i know of? i'm not using the tools in the surface subsection. i never change room tabs. nothing ever pops up and tells me i'm leaving voxel mode, or entering surface mode. 4: Translating in Symmetry how come this tool doesn't obey symmetry? like, say if i paint in a sphere for an eyeball, and i want to move the eyeballs closer to the centerline. i don't want to smush them or parts of them over with the move tool, i want to actually translate them side to side. but the translate tool appears in the middle of the two eyes. and even if i move it to one side of the centerline or the other, it just moves both sides in the same direction. 5: Mannikin Parts Symmetry on different Layers i wanted to turn the humanoid mannikin into a digigrade mannikin. so i was monkeying around with the left lower leg. and the stuff i did there didn't translate to the right lower leg, because it was on a different layer. except the posing tool, which affected both parts. can someone explain the different symmetries going on? and give me some pointers on how to edit the shin, then duplicate (clone?) it to make the shank, and then how to get the corresponding right side parts? i found the clone command, but there are different clones that weren't explained very well on the wiki, and i'm not sure which ones are linked clones and which are just independent copies? thanks a bunch!

thanks, abn, for the actual name of what the dip i was talking about. (got to remember to have the program open when trying to explain stuff.) Ambient Light Note: today i ran v4beta15A in open gl mode (without cuda), instead of directx, and the ambient light control IS working. also, turning off the Grow On Pen Motion makes the airbrush (et al) start working on click. however, they still don't keep on working (growing) when not moving. just to clarify, at least what's going on today. (file created in 4beta15A). oh, hang on... Grow On Pen Motion = ON Grow tool: click and hold, and it grows and keeps growing. Airbrush/other brushes: click and hold, it paints one "dab" and stops. Grow On Pen Motion = OFF Grow tool: click and hold, it grows one dab and stops, and only keeps growing if you wiggle the pen. Airbrush/other brushes: click and hold, nothing happens. it only starts working if and when you move the pen.

thanks, phil! it's just the brush description that is confusing me, then. oh, i also noticed a preference checkbox for something like 'brush has to move to start sculpting' or suchlike? i tried turning that off, but still got the same results. so not sure what that option is about. also re the ambient light... i also tried it in beta 4 and noticed that no matter what i do on the ambient light adjustment, the scene lighting does not actually change. the spot light and the move light work, just not the ambient slider. could be me and my video card, or my os, or direct x, or whatever.

heyas! just started playing with the voxel sculpting -- am loving it so far! couple stoopid noob questions.... 1: the Airbrush and Build brush descriptions say they 'constantly grow' the surface. you know, like an airbrush, you hold the lever down, you get more 'paint' building up over time. um, but in actual practice, they don't? i click on the surface, and nothing happens. it only 'grows' the surface when i wiggle the cursor, like the other tools. i tried the different tool/pressure types, they all behaved the same way. do i have something turned off or on that makes them not behave the way i expect them to? i'm using 3d coat um... 3.what's the latest stable build. and i'm using the directx mode. also using an old nvidia geforce 275 and windows xp, if that is a problem. 2: i saw on the videos how to increase the ambient lighting so you can see the model better, and don't have harsh, dark shadows. well, i turned that setting up (it only goes to 100 :X ), and i still have a really BLACK shadow on the model that i wish was more mid-grey. i did turn down the 'spotlight' thing so the model isn't blindingly white over most of the surface and i can see the details as i sculpt. just that really black shadow is bothering me. is that also because i have an old video card? or because i didn't try the 4 beta? thanks a bunch!