[How to get rid of single Triangles left over in your model]

Hi, thank you for this advise.  The critical selling point for 3D Coat to me was it's Autopology toolset.  I was hoping to be able to generate good, quick retopo meshes as it is only a 2 person team working to create all the assets for a 3D game we are developing.

 

Based on what you are saying and my experience and research, the ONLY way to get rid of that remaining triangle is to painfully shift it's position up to meet it's mirror partner and then join them in a seam location that won't matter too much.

 

I might even be able to turn them into mirrored Quads once I get them to meet in the middle.. shame it's at the tip of the figure's toe right now.

 

This all being said and done, there are other free programs that allow for very quick and painless retopology if you are to do it manually.  When I say very quick, I mean in comparison to slower manual retopology.. not Autopology.

 

Hopefully in the next release this type of issue is alleviated.  Worst case if the remaining Triangles in the mesh must be there, if they could auto translate somehow from X position to Y position that would be great too.  So you select the triangle face you want to shift.. then select the quad or tri face where you want it to go.. press enter or something and it does all the mini shifts to get it there.

 

Wow actually adding something like that would drastically improve things and it wouldn't really be that big a deal if you had a tri located in the wrong area.. you can quickly bring it to the mirror seam and fix it up

[How to get rid of single Triangles left over in your model]

I started a thread looking at a possible bug where the object was not allowing me to close up gaps left from Autopo.  http://3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14954

 

At the end, I was left with 1 Triangle on it's own and am now trying to find a way to get rid of it.

 

The only way I can think to achieve this goal would be to painfully shift the triangle's position from where it is up to the groin area on my model so it' meets with the Triangle from the other side... at which point.. I can merge them together though this will destroy my symmetrical seam that I have right now and isn't ideal.

 

What other way is there to fix such an issue?

 

I am going to try some things and if I get a solution I will upload a video showing how I did it for others.  Hopefully someone has already faced this problem before and knows the way to fix it. 

[If I knew what I was doing with autotopologuy]

Yeah that Ghost Game series you are both talking about is te one that I was doing too.  It was going great until my program kept crashing.  I figure it was trying to apply a texture to a mesh that had gaps in it.  After watching the UV tutorial further it shows how to UV a glove it shows the usage better and I will be able to put the pieces together

 

I was more trying to say that a single video series based on the currently available version of the software that does a run through from 

Part 1 : Things to consider when exporting / how to import a mesh into 3d Coat Vx

Part 2 : Using Retopo Tools with keystrokes and mouse clicks being used displayed or vocalized.

*wouldn't even need to do a lot just simply show where in the menu you go to access the tools and how they are used on a few poly's  or a small patch etc.. then show how to adjust things*

 

Part 3 : What to do with your retopo mesh ... Where to click or go or press so you can create a normal map etc.. 

 

Part 4 : Howe to bake this normal map onto the low poly retopo'd mesh and then a brief on painting.

 

Part 5 : Exporting .. what to do and how to ensure it can be opened up in software such as ... Blender or Maya or 3Ds Max

 

I wanna thank you guys for helping by providing the information and links to tutorials that you have.  I'll follow them and do my best.

[If I knew what I was doing with autotopologuy]

I have watched hmm is there a way to find the number easily?  I don't honestly know I didn't keep a running tally but I've been looking for tutorial videos from anywhere I can find them, not just exclusively the 3D Coat youtube channel.  I didn't even realize there was a 3D Coat channel until I was someway through the searching process.

 

I found 1 video more recently that shows a good workflow for the actual Texture Baking process which is really nice and I will be working my way through that one soon.  The only problem is that I can't find a linked tutorial for how they import into the software and set things up with retopology to arrive at that point.

 

I also haven't been able to find a secure way to remove single points from strokes that are being used to show Autopo where I want loops to flow as sometimes the strokes get too many points or connect to the wrong points and control clicking them has unpredictable results.  These are the sort of things that would be handy to locate in a to the point tutorial set.

 

I'm getting the sense that it's frowned upon to request this type of instructional content for free to better evaluate a product or am I reading that vibe wrong?  I understand that it would be unrealistic to expect instructional tutorials on using advanced workflows that combine features in a unique way as this is somewhat an individual's intellectual property or unique idea and I think it's great to find a way to profit from this and so they should.  The intended workflow however would be beneficial to sales and positive consumer response if it were clear and readily demonstrated.

[If I knew what I was doing with autotopologuy]

I'm using version 4 as per available from the website since the last 48 hours.  The video showcases a lot of the features, yes, however it doesn't show me how to properly use those features.  As someone that is new to a new software package, one of the biggest hurdles to get over is a brand new user interface and understanding how each function works and where they are located.

 

This requires either detailed text and graphic based tutorials (similar to what is free and available for Blender) or some narrated video tutorials where they display any shortcut/hotkey's being used so the viewer can follow those special moments where something goes not as expected and is then swiftly fixed by the person hosting the tutorial video.

 

The uncertainty for me is that unless I buy into these pay to learn tutorials so I can grasp the basic functionality of the software.. I won't know if the workflow is really for me in the first place and the whole point of a free trial is so that I can determine this without having to spend actual investment money into a product until I know the workflow and toolsets perform effortlessly like they appear to do in the youtube feature rundown video.

 

Don't get me wrong that feature rundown video has it's place.. it lets me know at a quick glance if the software even has a chance of being right for me, it just doesn't enable me to experience if it is the right software for me.  I don't know how many times i've seen a product promote a feature saying "and it just works" and then you give the trial a go with video tutorials.. and it just fails 50% of the time on the specific tasks you are wanting to apply the process towards as it has a very limited scope of usage with no real freedom to detour from that limited path.

[If I knew what I was doing with autotopologuy]

Is there a special location we can go to find clear step by step tutorials on how to use key features of the software such as the Autopo tool set as my trial download did not come with any manual and i've scoured the internet, forums etc for a clear :This is how you make a game asset in 3D Coat V4 starting from an imported hi-poly model and finishing with an exported low-res OBJ and matching normal map and texture map files.

 

It's very hard to determine if the software is worth putting money into when there is no quick way to start testing out it's features considering the short window of time we get to use the trial version.

 

My workflow is : Sculptris => 3D Coat => Blender  (or at least my intended workflow is that)

 

If I could find a good tutorial on using 3D Coat's sculpting features .. I may just throw that out the window too as I've been well impressed with the painting system.. it was quite smooth and offered a similar workflow as experienced in Sculptris.

 

But as a very low-on-coin indie games developer, just starting out.. the last thing a potential customer should be expected to do is shovel out extra cash to see instructional videos on how to use highlight features with narration or at the very least access to a text based tutorial that explains the workflow in easy to follow steps so that we can feel confident that this is the right software for purchasing.

 

At the moment, my attempts to follow old youtube tutorials have lead to software crash after software crash, which is likely due to trying to mix new features with old methods of workflow :S