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We are pleased to present the Preview version of a major update to 3DCoat, which fundamentally changes the approach to creating materials and textures. The main novelty of this version is the powerful, fully procedural Node System, which opens up endless possibilities for non-destructive texturing on UV (Per-Pixel Painting). Key innovations of the update: - Non-destructive texturing (Node-Based Workflow) No more limitations of classic pixel painting! Now you can create materials, masks, and effects using a visual editor (Node Editor). Any element — rust intensity, base color, glossiness, or scratches — remains editable at any stage of work. Change parameters and instantly observe the result on the 3D model in real time. - High-performance GPU nodes (NGL) Under the hood of the new system, dynamic compilation of nodes into optimized shaders based on NodeGraph Language (NGL) is working. All procedural magic, mathematical operations, and noise generators are calculated directly on the graphics card (GPU). - A new generation of smart materials, masks, and other presets: NGMaterials: Procedural smart materials that perfectly adapt to the curvature, shading (Ambient Occlusion), and other properties of your model. NGMasks: Procedural "smart" masks for generating realistic wear, dirt, scratches, etc. NGModifiers and NGFilters: Powerful tools for geometry deformation and procedural post-processing of current layers. - These materials support approximately 30 channels; you can read more about them in the documentation, in the PBM Channels section. - You can find more detailed documentation on these features in the Node System and GPU Texturing sections; the documentation will be updated. Updated User Interface New windows have been added for convenient work: Node Editor (the main space for building logic), Node Inspector, and Object Inspector. You can pin any node parameters (using the "eye" icon) in the general object or layer parameters and easily change them via the Object Inspector. This allows for configuring complex materials with convenient sliders without constantly diving into the node graph. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A short video demonstrating the main functions: The first video lesson on the basics of the new system: Huge thanks to everyone for participation, patience and feedback! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The links to download: This is a beta version. Not recommended for use in production environments. Windows, 2026-04 (Beta GPU Per-Pixel Painting) 3d-coat-2026.04.zip (Just unpack and run 3DCoatGL64.exe or 3DCoatGL64Legacy.exe) 3DCoat-2026-04.exe (Installer) Windows, 2026-03 NS (Beta GPU Per-Pixel Painting) 3d-coat-5-27-2026NS.zip (Just unpack and run 3DCoatGL64.exe) Windows, 2026-02 (Preview GPU Per-Pixel Painting) 3d-coat-5-16-2026.zip (Just unpack and run 3DCoatGL64.exe) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Other changes (besides those announced above) made after 3DCoat-2026-01: 3DCoat-2026-04 Beta Sat Jun 13 03:19:24 2026 -0700 - The executable file 3DCoatGL64Legacy.exe has been added; it retains the legacy texturing approach, without support for GPU layer blending or the node system for Per-Pixel Painting. - A new, important tool called the "Splitter" is now available! Line cutter allows to split object into several parts using the lines lasso, freehand lasso (non-closed), curve or any other E-mode modifier. Preferable is lines lasso or freehand lasso. - Fixed: An issue where an annoying "Several UV sets are sharing the same name" warning would mistakenly appear in scenes containing only voxel or surface objects. - Added "Import Multiple UDIMs" tool. Import multiple UDIM tiles as textures. Select one or more files representing a UDIM tile (e.g. 1001), and the tool will automatically load all channels across all tiles. - 3DCoat now automatically updates outdated room configurations in the background to ensure you always have the latest toolsets, while safely prompting you for permission before overwriting any manual customizations you have made. - Introduced the new ProjectFolder feature—an isolated workspace directory that locally stores all your custom assets, materials, and textures—allowing you to easily archive and transfer entire projects across computers with all their dependencies intact, simply by selecting it as your active folder in 3DCoat. - An InlineNode mode has been added. When this option is enabled and a node has only one output connection, its interface is displayed directly next to the input property to which it is connected. The node's properties and definitions will automatically synchronize with the target node. - A separate folder named 3DCoat2026 is used in the Documents directory to avoid conflicts with data from previous versions. - You can specify a separate directory in "Documents" for each build by listing it in the doc_folder.txt file. - The ability to control an object's transparency using node-based materials—regardless of whether the layers beneath it are transparent—enables painting with transparency or creating transparent materials (such as in-game glass) that do not distort the background through refraction. - Added support for Screen Space Reflection & Illumination when rendering polygonal objects in the render room. - Expanded the coat.PaintRoom Python API with new methods (GetUVSetsCount, GetUVSetName, RenameUVSet, GetUVSetResolutionX/Y, ResizeUVSet) to allow scripts to directly query and modify names and texture resolutions for individual UV sets. - Fabric materials scanned using Scanimat technology have been added. - Added integration with Antigravity 2.0. Other minor changes: - Render only a single preview when saving the node graph - Fixed baking nodes to sculpt object vertices - Source selection in the Object Inspector (Layer or Object) - Fixed component reordering in the Object Inspector - Automatic conversion of Samplers to UVWTexture nodes in existing materials - Per-channel inversion in image loading settings - Automatic conversion of Samplers to InlineNodes - Modified SingleVertexSelection usage - Modified MultiObject::Tips() - Fixed color conversion from LAW formats - Updated Python API and API documentation - Fixed shaders - Added option to replace or add Displacement in the Mask node (Component type) - Added support for screen-space reflections and lighting when rendering polygonal objects in the Render Room - Added ability to create materials that control surface transparency (e.g., for game glass or low-poly model outline transparency) - Restored missing tools for multi-resolution and proxy modes - Added ability to invert individual channels in the Invert node - Added Saturation node - Removed Samplers from the SimpleMaterial node - Fixed PBRTiler extension Windows, 2026-03 NS (Beta GPU Per-Pixel Painting) - Retopo/Modeling Room: Added option "Switching Pen Mode to Rectangle After the Select Transform Activated" - New nodes are now created at the location where the right mouse button was clicked to invoke the menu—rather than at the location where the mouse cursor happened to be at the moment the node was created. - The "Soft Displacement" property has been added. This is a displacement effect designed to be used in conjunction with a normal map: Soft Displacement shifts vertices without affecting shading, and its impact on shadows is reduced by half; the normal map is then used to define the orientation of each pixel, ensuring correct shading. This feature is crucial for creating high-quality fabric materials. - Retopo/Modeling Room: "Polygon Tree" has been improved. Speed up work for large files. - Retopo/Modeling Room: tool Cap - bug fixed and improvements. - Node header default colors are now category-based (each category has its own distinct color). - Normal Map Support in Node-Based Materials - Fixed a crash that occurred while clearing the Node Graph in the Node Editor. - Fixed selection of multiple nodes using a rectangle or CTRL. - Added the ability to select multiple painting layers, move selected layers within the painting layer tree, and group, hide, unhide, duplicate, or delete them. - In GPUPPP mode, layer masks affect based on brightness, rather than exclusively based on transparency. - SoftDisplacement, combined with Sheen, can simulate fur, while FWSNormal defines its direction. To enable support for PPP texturing, "Show Displacement Mesh" must be enabled, and tessellation must be configured. - A tool for extracting MicroprotrusionsColor based on pixel brightness has been added to the PBRTiler extension. 3DCoat-2026-01 Tue Feb 17 14:13:36 2026 +0200 - Better style of no-modal input, same color as UI in general, no windows-style OK button. - Node source codes have been moved to the UserPrefs/Scripts/GPUNodes folder - The node system has been updated to prevent links between incompatible properties. The material preview renderer has been updated. A button for inverting input channels has been added. Required maps, such as AmbientOcclusion and Curvature, are now automatically calculated. The ability to use input channel correction curves in the node source code has been added. - Python on Windows has been moved to ProgramData, which avoids incorrect operation in some cases. - Correct supports rendering - New important UI feature! Press CTRL-F or use Popups->Search in UI to find and execute any accessible item in UI in the current room. - In Curve subtool was Added Check "ShowPoints" - Retopo/Modeling Room: Tool "Select Transform" has been modified - Restored GROW tool depth on pressure dependency icon - New SPACE menu approach (older may be got back from settings) - type to find tool quickly. - Added a color selector extension based on QT. - Fixed a crash when using cStr in Python, including in cIDE, the expression editor, and node source code. - Retopo/Modeling Room: The tool "Delete Face/Edge" polished a lot. Pre-selected edges or faces are removed. - Fixed crash in live booleans (when unghosting) - Fixed too small-scaled STL-s import - Eraser with CTRL works correctly on frozen area (ppp) - Retopo/Modeling Room: The tool Welding has been improved. - Sculpt Room: for tool "Blob" - "Do Filling" was sped up several times. For "Smart Hybrid". - Sculpt Room: Tool "Blob". A new option for lasso placement has been added to the "Smart Hybrid".