Nemoid_

I've thought a bit to how ZB operates IMO(no expert tho) ZB partially substitutes open GL/DX with its own visualization engine, made through pixols. That's why its CPU /memory dependant but not so much graphic card dependant. i see many apps video card dependants that have probs because of drivers , and new features added to them, but ZB has not that many problems in its case. only small quirks in 3.0 version. it doesn't generates normal or disp maps on the fly, i guess. it just visualizes polygons thorugh the pixol environment so that it can be very rapid and powerful in sculpting response. the app is also very optimized to work also oin common machines, and becomes really rapid when you have enough of ram and a good cpu. could be wrong here, but apps like Modo , Silo and for now 3D coat are less powerful and smooth in sculpting for a similar reason. but, the workflow is also what counts. ZB is wonderful for creating characters and models from scratch with z spheres, sculpt and detail em to very fine levels, but its not the same in texturing/painting. no layers, depends on poly resolution, no classic uv unwrap and also doesn't accept overlapping uvs. its not that u can't texture with it, btw u can do wonders and has z app link for what's missing, but workflow is convoluted and just weird in this area for now. 3.1 retopo tools, as for now, work, but aren't on the same level of a Nex or of what 3d coat is going to have soon.

big companieshave huge amounts of money to pay programmers, but you also become a part of a gigantic machine that often doesn' allow for real innovation by one only programmer. also i find that often , real innovation comes from small companies. apps like Hexagon or ZBrush and 3D Coat are just the demonstration of this. as i see since some time its evolution, 3d coat is growing rapidly and well, simply because andrew is a great programmer and so responsive to users and their suggestions. IMO there's nothing better than this approach, because the app can grow upon real and practical user needs. a thing that big companies can hardly have. Also while you can find great tools everywhere,in app A , B or C its difficult to find tools that make a complete and efficient set . Yes, you can find a great idea in Mudbox, another great one in ZBrush, for example but both miss something the competitor has, and this is very common considering the variety of 3d apps in general. Guided from users from different packages , Andrew can get real inspiration from different suggestions , gather ideas coming from different packages and give life to a fantastic sculpting/painting app ! so i wish to 3d coat a bright future ! And no Autodesk at all! should really become a scary competitor for Zbrush, Mudbox, and Bodypaint too instead.

yeah the name spin quads is misleading. sorry for that. it comes from Lw, btw, where first you select polygons, then it spins edges. its called quads becaiuse in Lw it basically works with couples of quad polygons only, not tris. more appropriate term is spin or rotate edge, also because being able to rotate edges rerlated to quads and tris is way better than quads only. it is used alot in box modelling techniques, but it is also useful because it allows to change your polyflow with less operations. for example : delete edges + add edges into another configuration. extender also is a misleading term. i would call it extrude edges, or something. in this case it extrudes edges, but who knows, maybe andrew can decide to let us be able to extrude even faces hehe.

hehe i was referring to this video http://207.44.140.6/~dcoat/Tutorials/3dc_retopo.swf is it yours? sorry if i missed some point about current tools in the beta, but i have to download 3d coat yet and test it. however i think that with your screenshots and mine Andrew now has enough reference for some little enhancements that will make workflow blowing fast!!

hey thanks for your help philnolan!

thanx for the very quick reply! very cool! didn't saw in the vid, so i assumed there wasn't . GREAT! yep it is !! added some LW screen shot where it works only with quads. basically, what you do in Lw is select faces and spin quad tool rotate the shared edges. what i'think could be useful in 3d coat is being able to simply select an edge and rotate it be it with tris and quabs polys. added screenshot . lets say i have 2 meshes and want to combine them, i could do it merging vertex, but also do it faster joining edges added screenshot about extender. this will speed workflow even more as it is quite a modelling tool ! used alott or organics btw. you can perform it also with rings btw some of the screenshots i made in subdivision surfaces, but i ask to perform it only in polygons for retopo purposes.

Autodesk is the evil! :lol: too great company and they heve mudbox yet too. I'd like more that 3D coat can grow as a standalone app and enter even more into real competition with ZBrush (some of 3d coat tools are actually more intuitive and effective than ZB, especially painting so competition is there yet hehe) as a small suggestion i'd say that, from what i see ,as it grows, 3d coat needs a bit more elegant UI from a purely visual standpoint. i also don't know yet how much customizable it is in colors,fonts and icons (size, look and more)., making user customized layouts and be able to store them Making UI better and adding these possibilities will become a very valid selling point ! all the rest i've seen is incredible and very intuitive more important: you add on the fly features users aske for years for other apps ! GREAT !

Hey Andrew ! I'm looking forward to test your program ! It really looks great! i saw a cool retopo vid about 2.10 this morning and it was actually exciting. couple requests for it if isn't possible yet 1) add a split polygon tool, like in maya (edge slice in Modo), with possibility to cut inside of polygons, and snap to vertices if u need. this can be very handy if user deleted some edges and have to reconstruct polygons. 2) spin edges , something liek spin quads in Lw, but working with tris too - very useful 3) merge vertex - i saw u planned for it yet i'd make it valid for edges too. 4) from discussion i read i don't remember if you planned to add this so i add it however: something similar to LW extender plus. select bunch of edges and extend em hope these can help you and make your app even better! p.s. sorry for the quote i meant to add a reply only