[SOLVED] Voxel resolution for hardsurface sculpting too low

[Elowan]

hello,

 

I saw some video on you tube, regarding hardsurface in 3DC. Mainly there were some voxel-shapes, worked on with the cutoff tool.

Now I try to do the same - but the resolution is too low for decent hardsurface work

 

I already did up the res 4x but still get small jaggy-edges...

 

Maybe I have to set some AA options elswhere (gfx driver or 3DC?)

 

Got NVIDIA GTX770, which is not the worst card, I think!

 

 

Cheers

 

[Malo]

Maybe you need more resolution 8x or 16x or more.

If your PC cant handle that much polys, you could switch to Surface Mode.

 

But be aware, if you want to go back to Voxel Mode, you lost your Hard Edge or you have to increate the Polycount dramaticly.

[Elowan]

Hmmm, got an i5 3500, 8GB RAM and a 2GB GeForce 770 GTX ... Running 64-bit Win7 and 3DC in x64 DX Cuda mode...

 

I remember above "4x" things are getting really sluggish and stutter quieta a bit in viewport... (says something about 1.4GB Memory at that point, only got 1 sphere drawn in viewport)

 

So maybe I should not do hardsurface in 3DC with that PC and stick to other app

[Carlosan]

Hi

 

Voxel is Dynamesh equivalent, good for organic shapes but hard surface. You need a very high density layer and a powerful machine to get crispy edges at Voxel mode (i7 or Xeon with 32GB at last).

 

Which model type do you need to replicate ? any pic could help to understand your possible workflow.

 

I suggest to work voxel mode to kitbashing or rough sketch, surface mode for base details and LiveClay to add fine details.

[Malo]

You dont need to switch the App.

Work with Surface Mode. You need much less polys and gets sharp edges with Cut Tool.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Malo

[Elowan]

hello,

 

I refer to this video, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw2qQFh64UI

You dont need to switch the App.

Work with Surface Mode. You need much less polys and gets sharp edges with Cut Tool.

 

Oh, ok... did not know, there was also a cut tool in surface mode

[Elowan]

What I do not get - he is working in Voxel Mode, just upped the res 2x - and gets sharp edges on his sphere, when using

the cutoff tool...

[Carlosan]

At that layer [3x] the object tris are 650.000 -aprox- at the beginning

 

[digman]

Yes, do not count voxel cutting out just yet...

In the picture on the left is an appox. 350,000 voxel sphere. Cut and one overall smooth applied...

In the picture on the right is an appox. 1,000,000 voxel sphere. Cut and one overall smooth applied.

 

E-Panel settings border width set to 40...

25% falloff in the upper tool panel

An alpha that has a softer fallout itself.

Edited December 18, 2014 by digman

[AbnRanger]

Yes, do not count voxel cutting out just yet...

In the picture on the left is an appox. 350,000 voxel sphere. Cut and one overall smooth applied...

In the picture on the right is an appox. 1,000,000 voxel sphere. Cut and one overall smooth applied.

 

E-Panel settings border width set to 40...

25% falloff in the upper tool panel

An alpha that has a softer fallout itself.

Good tips, Digman.

[Elowan]

Yes, do not count voxel cutting out just yet...

In the picture on the left is an appox. 350,000 voxel sphere. Cut and one overall smooth applied...

In the picture on the right is an appox. 1,000,000 voxel sphere. Cut and one overall smooth applied.

 

E-Panel settings border width set to 40...

25% falloff in the upper tool panel

An alpha that has a softer fallout itself.

 

looks promising... (and so this responsive & friendly community does )

 

Ok, so how to apply "one overall smoothing" - I will try to tinker with the settings you mentioned and look for an alpha... btw. I like to use a tablet+pen for 3DC

 

Oh and a total noob question: I thought, voxels would be ideal for sculpting - but surface mode seems to be potentially better?

So is Voxel mode for ruffing out/ block in rough shapes? What´s it´s purpose?

 

 

Cheers!

Edited December 18, 2014 by Elowan

[digman]

"Smooth All" is at the bottom of the left side tool bar...

The cut off tool will use any alpha to cut with regardless of shape but I out of habit like to choose a softer one.

 

A workflow that is used a lot is:

Block in to a medium resolution in voxels.

Switch to surface mode for the finer work.

 

Voxels are great for boolean type of operations as well... Surface mode boolean operations because of polygon intersection can fail...

 

Again switching to surface mode or staying in voxels depends upon what your final result is going to be used for... A object far from the camera in a scene would not need tons of fine details, so it really depends upon the use of the object in the scene / animation etc...

Edited December 18, 2014 by digman

[Elowan]

 

 

Voxels are great for boolean type of operations as well... Surface mode boolean operations because of polygon intersection can fail...

 

 

 

... so that´s a (main?) purpose of voxels - having some kind of "MeshFusion"?

 You would use voxel mode for things like punching holes thru and such?

 

cheers!

[Tony Nemo]

Use voxels for joining parts without difficulty. If the parts can remain separate, then surface mode is very useful and uses fewer resources. Also, big stuff can be handled with the volume in proxy mode , 

[digman]

Yes you can punch holes etc... many uses for voxels some work up to 50,000,000 voxel count or beyond, it all like I said depends upon your use of the model and limitations of your hardware..

 

The medium resolution blocked in alien gladiator scene here is appox 6 million and now ready for surface mode work or if your hardware allows you can keep working in voxel mode.

 

::: Yeah this guy has been on the back burner for so long... LOL

Edited December 18, 2014 by digman

[digman]

Check out Garagarape's old style robot, it is all voxel work so far...

http://3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6720&page=43

[Elowan]

Thanks digman!

 

Ok, I´ll give Voxel a 2nd shot tonight..

[Elowan]

Ok, I do not know what went "wrong" before... but now I manage to get good results with "x4" Voxel res.

 

Thank everybody for the hints!

 

/Solved