In search of a workflow

[ErichSchreiner]

Hi there,

i read the manual recently and now - of course - i have a few new questions.

So i will use 3d coat mainly for helping me get my environments / sets done for the daz / poser store. After reading the manual and some posts in different forums, i imagine the whole process like this (correct me please, if i am wrong):

1) I will lay out the set in modo with basic geometry, just to get the big picture right (many objects on many layers).

2) I decide which objects of the set should be sculpted and painted and import those directly into the voxel room (one at a time for sculpting, retopo, UVing and painting). Maybe i will have to scale some objects to get a better resolution for sculpting.

So could i start with live clay right away after importing or is it better to start with voxel sulpting, then go to surface mode and then to live clay?

3) I get the bigger shapes done in the voxel room (including res+ or resampling if needed) and switch for the fine detail work into surface mode / live clay.

4) Next step is merging the sculpted modell into the retopo room. Here i will retopo and UV it.

5) Then the model will be merged into the painting room. Per-Pixel-Mode for detailed and precise textures but without displacement or micro vertex mode for displacements.

I read that you can export displacement maps in per-pixel mode as well (just standard, no vertex). But all in all the per-pixel method seems to be a lot better than the micro-vertex method - or am i missing something?

Standard or vertex displacement maps for export When do you use what?

6) After everything is finished i will export the low poly model and its maps back to modo where it replaces the basic geometry of the set that i started with.

Is it possible to get the model back to modo where it was (position, size etc)?

Sorry for the many questions and thanks for your help.

Eric

[The Candy-floss Kid]

So could i start with live clay right away after importing or is it better to start with voxel sulpting, then go to surface mode and then to live clay?

Make your initial choices depending on the advantages offered by the options within both environment - then move finally to surface mode for fine details or leave this to painted normal maps. Mostly my retopo use is generic with loops considered for definition but not detail - the fine details transferred to normals.

I read that you can export displacement maps in per-pixel mode as well (just standard, no vertex). But all in all the per-pixel method seems to be a lot better than the micro-vertex method - or am i missing something?

Per-pixel is what I use. Not sure on V4 as I've only just loaded it up for testing. Hopefully somebody a little more technical by persuasion can help you further.