Findus

Thanks, AbnRanger! Should I write an email to Andrew? (Can"t write in the feature request forum.)

Doing retopo again and stumbling over this very problem once more. What"s the usual workflow, here? Moving edges doesn't seem to make any sense to me. I'm constantly switching tools for small corrections.

Thanks, will look into it! Does this happen because of different resolutions (E. g. a layer with 10x has different transforms than one with 5x) and can the resolution be changed independently of layer transforms? Edit: Wait, I think I get it. Layers are objects in 3d-coat world.

Has this changed in the meantime? Being able to move vertices directly in quad mode would be much more useful to me than moving edges.

Hi Carlosan, no, will install that if I have a bit more time. Like I wrote above the problem seems to be resolved if I import into one of the existing layers or their copies.

Yesterday I imported several models I set the scale of the first on to 2000 in the import tool, since I couldn't zoom close enough to them otherwise. (It's irritating btw. that this field is immediately reset back to 100. I'm not sure what's happening at this point in time and that's a bad thing. I guess the scene scale as a whole is changed, since the scene scale under geometry is now 20, but this is not what I would be expecting from changing the scale of an imported model and the changes should be apparent and displayed in the import dialog.) I then imported the other models which worked fine without having to adjust the size (another hint that the scene scale has been changed). I closed the scene and reopen it today. I try to import further meshes. (Just like yesterday, I create a new layer and import). The meshes have seemingly random scales, positions and pivots. I tried some of the ones who worked yesterday Please advise. Edit: Fixed it by duplicating into one of the old layers (cloned and emptied) so the problem is no longer urgent. Please explain what's going on, here, though. Do layers have their own transforms? And why would a newly created layer have some odd transforms?

For anyone stumbling across the same bump in the road: Calculating curvature maps works fine with vertex colors, but the settings are only applied with an unwrapped mesh and pixel painting. Not sure if this is a bug or technical limitation.

Found it! It's possible to create curvature maps in the Paint Room as well (textures menu), with some more control and without artifacts.

Thanks, Carlosan, but then I don't have cavity at all, do I? When I render, the artifacts get a bit better / blurred (seems like many variants overlayed) but they don't go completely away.

That depends on the nature of your problems with subdividing, I'd say. Theoretically it shouldn't make a difference aside from you having to add your support loops again. Not having experience in Cinema and little in 3d Coat and depending on the number and density of your cuts, I'd probably still try to make the UVs in 3d coat, and experiment with navigation options like different rotation centers etc. (In the camera rollout at the top right of the viewport). If you pick a corner and zoom in, you should be able to pick three edge loops pretty quickly. You could use the shortcuts for framing the object (shift a) and zooming in on the area under the brush (shift z) In Cinema you probably could do the same, though, and maybe split the shells more easily by angle etc. (3d coat has automatic unwrap modes, too, that might give you a good starting point with an angular model.)

I have a hard time getting a really clean mesh for materials with cavity or bulge. Most of the time there are some minor mesh artifacts or stepping and moiree from voxels. Cavity doesn't seem to have a setting for size/detail or angle limits and simply blends the one available option in and out, exaggerating the artifacts. Wondered if this is a realtime preview, but a quick render test didn't seem to change much. (But I have yet to take a closer look at rendering in general.) Smoothing in Voxel works fine in principle, but introduces new artifacts around the edge of the brush (and I would prefer a completely automatic method.) Smooth All in Voxel and Surface mode actually worsens the problem most of the time especially with more iterations and introduces new edge artifacts / stairs all over the model. (I tested with a simple sphere with a bit of sculpting) Increasing the resolution doesn't get rid of the problem (seems a really good way to introduce checker patterns, see second image) Converting to Surface changes the artifacts around a bit and gets almost rid of the checker patterns caused by a subdivision operation, but doesn't get rid of them completely/introduces new ones. Tested various Smooth All methods and Clean Clay tool options without much luck. Tried increasing the Voxel resolution (seems a really good way to introduce checker patterns, see second image) , converting to Surface (reduced grid patterns noticably, albeit not perfect) and resampled to a lower resolution Maybe an auto retopo and reprojection (if that's possible)? Edit: Small noise is from the normal map. Should have probably deactivated that for a clearer picture. Edit2: Smooth with a small brush works well in Voxel mode as mentioned, but as soon as the brush gets bigger, the same artifacts as with Smooth All appear. Not sure if these are actually mesh errors or just display problems. Slightly tapping with a small smooth brush will make the artifacts go away (with new ones appearing at the edge of the brush) longer strokes can lead to more artifacts.

Not sure what you're asking, exactly, to be honest. The model is done and you wonder if you should do the uv-cuts in Cinema4D? You are asking for future models and wonder if you should do your support loops after you did your uvs?

Thanks, Carlosan! Andrew confirmed the bug with using multiple texture/uv-tiles and plans to fix it for the next release, so I just might wait that out since I don't need it urgently at the moment. (My hard disk is pretty full as it is.)

Hi Carlosan, I assume you mean 4.7.37, the newest version?

3D coat 4.7.35 I get no visual feedback when trying to select faces with the Ptex local resolution tool. (The counter at the bottom of the tool options indicates that faces are selected, though.) When I subdivide the faces, I get quads in different shades of grey all over the object (probably destroyed normals or smoothing group) and trying to paint on any such quad results in a crash. Steps: Started 3d coat new, created a sphere, retopoed it, Bake/Retopo->Ptex with standard settings (no baking) I can paint on it in the paint room but no selection shows up when I activate the local resolution tool and brush over the mesh. Mesh isn't locked and I tried all kinds of brush modes and settings. Wireframe on and off. Tried both DirectX and OpenGL Anyone else using local resolution selection in PTEX with more luck? Edit: Seams like the problem with the destroyed quads occurs if there are many different uv-sheets. When the whole mesh fits on one sheet, those problems disappear. So I can locally subdivide under certain circumstances, but the selection doesn't show up. Updated graphics card drivers to the newest version: No change. Edit: Works in 4.5.4.

Thanks ajz3d, Seems like an easy refinement isn't possible, but I can break a vertex and insert another spline piece. (Somehow I didn't think of that at first, duhh.)

Thanks a lot for your answer, AbnRanger! My main concern is to get a joined package of sculpt and retopo mesh that I then can copy and move around many times. Importing another 3b file seems to be the only way to get that. (Aside from cloning both the sculpt and retopo mesh separately.) It's tedious to set up, though. (But the merging and distributing of objects is fast after that.) Or do you mean I should move the retopo mesh to the sculpt room? I assume I could make several copies of a parent child group like that and then have to get the retopo meshes back to the retopo room then.

So I tried to find a way to copy mesh-parts including their corresponding retopo meshes. What I do right now is to delete all other parts of the mesh and retopo mesh move the mesh out of the way with Conform Retopo Mesh activated and safe the part as a separate 3b file. When I then use "import 3b file" into the original file I get a copy including retopo mesh. Is there any quicker way to accomplish this?

Works for me (4.7.35) Might be scale related. (Seems like the texture editor has its own scale)

I thought I'd make a thread where I can put all future question that might come up in regards to 3d Coats's retopo tools. Is it possible to refine stroke guides after they have been created? (Insert additional vertices) Is it possible to manipulate cross sections added with the Strokes tool? (Only thing I found is that I'm able to delete them) I like the Additional Extrusion option for the retopo mesh, in fact I like it a lot better than the Z-Bias option, because I see better what's actually going on with the mesh. However it seems like vertices get projected through the mesh (probably to the other side) frequently when this option is activated. Similar experiences, workarounds?

Thanks, AbnRanger, that solved it! (Scene scale was 1, but there was a lot of shift) I don't know how it happened, though. Started from image planes created in 3d coat and curves. Will moving (transforming) an object result in a shifted scene?

To clarify: This is what I'm getting when I apply the primitive on the right. In a newly created testscene it doesn't happen. (Reference mesh hidden for legal reasons.) The Mesh is displaced/offset in two axes.

Thanks a lot! Took me a while to realize I had to activate Beta tools, but exactly what I was looking for!

What might be the reason for the actual retopo primitives not appearing where the ghost primitives are when hitting apply, but far off?

Hi, A bridge function like requested e. g. here hasn't been implemented yet? Also is there a way to cap a hole with quads? Like e. g. here