marble51

Does the Textura version have the link to Blender or is that only for the full 3DCoat application? Also, does Textura have UV unwrapping? [EDIT] - I think I have the answer from the product page - both the blender AppLink and UV unwrapping are mentioned.

Well, you guys are an example to me - I'm inspired to carry on and learn more. Maybe 64 isn't so old after all and I hope I'm still learning at 80. By the way, things started to click and fall into place last night and I started to get the hang of materials. I created a new one from a Filter Forge sample. It is lace but I'm scratching my head a little as to how to make the holes transparent. Is there a transparency/opacity map feature? If not, it isn't really a problem because I can use a grey scale image again in the DAZ Studio opacity channel.

Thanks again. I'm used to seeing Gloss and Specular channels - I don't do gaming. There seem to be quite a lot of DAZ Studio and Poser users who are happy with 3DCoat which is one of the reasons I downloaded the trial. When I get brave, I'll attempt to model some figures but I'm an old dog and learning new tricks takes a while. I have Blender too but, again, a lot of new learning to do there.

Thank you, I will try that. I take it from what you say that the fabrics that come with the program install are special PBR materials and are meant for internal renders - not for export? At least not for export to something that does not recognise these materials? By the way, is it not possible to create the Normal map from a greyscale image within 3dCoat?

Yep - I can see why I am labeled Newbie and you are labeled Expert.

After posting the above, I found some more tutorials explaining smart materials so I'm in the process of going through them now.

HI. I have downloaded the Demo of 3DCoat with a view to using it in conjunction with DAZ Studio. The first thing I wanted to try was to re-texture a clothing object. I exported the dress as .obj with its UV Map and imported into 3DCoat for per-Pixel Painting. I then started selecting Smart Materials and painting them on the dress. However, as I tried different materials, I was constantly being told that it needed to calculate AO and other values. I assume these are to do with PBR but all I want is a simple texture image (such as denim or lace or tartan) along with, perhaps, an opacity map and a normal map for wrinkles and cloth weave. I don't know why I need metallic roughness and the other complex surfaces. The dress will eventually be rendered in either DAZ Studio using 3Delight or Luxrender (I don't use their IRay PBR). Luxrender has its own material settings which may or may not be compatible with the 3DCoat settings - I have no idea. I could use Gimp and paint directly on the UV templates but that doesn't give me a good representation of how it looks in 3D as I'm painting it. Also, it can be a pain to line up seams, etc.

Sorry to have mislead you - I used 'trial' as a convenience. I recently retired from a computer company and had access to a lot of software and a PC at home. I still go in some days but that won't last much longer. The PC has been returned and I now have a Mac at home (my retirement gift to myself). Now I have to buy my own I am somewhat careful about splashing out cash. I am now thinking again about Blender. Perhaps it is worth spending time to learn it though it is rather daunting.

Thanks again for the advice. I guess I can only try the demo version and see how the results come out. Just to be clear though, my hobby is not gaming. Most of what I do is akin to still photography but using 3D characters and scenes. This gallery at deviantART will give you an idea of what I mean (NOT my work - I'm still a novice): http://luxrenders.deviantart.com/gallery/37637218 So animations rarely come into it - although animations are possible with the software I use and I have tried a few. As you indicate, though, texture quality is not so important for animations. Nevertheless, I rarely produce close-ups where, for example, the texture of pores would be important. Most are full-body or upper-body shots. The reason I mentioned the 4K skin textures I have from DAZ is that I'm not sure how the import/export works. Is it possible to import a character complete with maps (texture, bump, displacement, specular) and add features? I'm thinking wrinkles, scars, wounds, maybe even body hair, etc.? If so, those imported maps (the torso and the limbs) would be 4096x4096. So even if I could import them, would I be able to export them back again? Perhaps it might be possible to create a 2K resolution overlay layer with the wrinkles, etc. and then merge that with the original in photoshop? The displacement or normal maps don't need to be high resolution, I'm pretty sure.

Seems I have 1 post remaining for today so this is it. Tony, many thanks for your reply - I understand now. My main use initially would be to modify/morph objects exported from DAZ Studio so I don't think I would be sculpting from scratch. The people on the DAZ forum who have tried 3DC seem to appreciate the painting and UV features and that's also what was attracting me. But I think they are commercial artists and would have the Pro version. Now that I look at the product pages, most skin textures for DAZ characters are 4096 x 4096 and the Education Version we are discussing here is limited to 2048 x 2048 so I'm afraid that is probably a show stopper. That's really a pity because I was getting quite excited at the possibilities opening up. EDIT: Now that I have posted this, the message tells me I can now make 35 more posts. Should I just ignore that message?

OK - it seems I am limited to the number of times I can post on this forum so I'll ask one more question and perhaps I'll be able to follow up tomorrow. The videos I have seen so far - even one that is called "starting from scratch" actually starts ahead of where I'm at: I have no clue what voxels might be. I've read the wikipedia definition but am no wiser. I just don't know how voxels relate to things I'm used to such as polygons, displacement, bump and normal maps. What happens when I import a model (.obj I presume) from another application? Do I need to convert the polygons into voxels? And how about exporting it back again? Do other apps need to support voxels? I arrived at 3DCoat by way of DAZ Studio and ZBrush (with excursions into other modelling programs such as Hexagon). None of them mention voxels as far as I am aware. But coming here it seems to be taken for granted that everyone knows what they are and how they fit in the big scheme of the 3D universe. Is there a *really* basic tutorial which covers this, please?

Good feedback, thanks. I had the ZBrush trial and got completely lost in the UI. I know that many people here use both 3DC and Zbrush - is there a good reason for that? Or would 3DC and Scupltris be a good combination (I haven't tried Sculptris)? Anyhow, I have a lot of videos to watch and then work through some small projects. Any tips or tutorials from anyone who has DAZ Studio would be gratefully received.

Many thanks. That's good to know but I'll have to wait until my next pension payment comes through. I'm wondering how much of a restriction are the limitations of the "Student" Version? Someone on that DAZ forum said that 2K textures look fine (although I can understand why vendors need to use the higher resolution). But what about the number of layers? Looking at some of the tutorial videos, they seem to use dozens of layers. Is the 7 limit a big issue?

Hi, I have downloaded the demo version and am looking at some of the video training. I'm interested to use 3d-Coat in addition to DAZ Studio for creating morphs and textures, etc. This is purely a hobby for me. I retired this year and live on the UK state pension so I cannot afford the Pro price. My question is: according to the "Buy" page, the Education Version is available to people such as myself - do I need to provide proof of any kind (obviously, I don't have a student card)? I don't foresee any possibility of using this or any other similar software for commercial projects - it will never be more than a hobby. I hope it does work with DAZ figures but I did check on their forum and a few people seem to be using 3d-Coat. Thank you in advance.