Jump to content
3DCoat Forums

[Solved] Imported OBJ gone from viewport - Help


cgiink
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Member

Hi,

I am not sure what am I missing here or maybe doing something wrong, but when I import the obj (a simple bust all quads retopologized from 3DC Retopo Autoretopo), at first the mesh shows up in the Sculpt tab but when I change tabs and back again to Sculpt, the mesh disappears, it doesn't show up in the viewport again.

Appreciated for any help please.

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Hi Tony,

Thank you, appreciated for your help.

But why after retopo and I Import then pick up retopo mesh in Sculpt tab, when I choose Grow or Clay (In Voxel or Surface mode), the mesh disappears again? 

Also, the mesh is not showing in UV tab.... I'm quite lost on the workflow...

Starting clean from scratch, I choose the basic bust option from the start screen. I see the mesh in Paint, Retopo,  Sculpt and Render tabs. However, is not showing in UV tab, I assume the model is in Voxel and is just impossible to work on any UVs. That actually makes sense to me. I can sculpt and use all the tools. 

The problem for me starts after doing retopo. In Voxtree, RMB over the mesh and I choose AUTOPO -> AUTOPO. Once the mesh has been converted to all quads, in Sculpt tab, Import (under objects dropdown), then in Tool Options, I choose Pick from Retopo then Apply. Now I can't use any of the Voxel Tools, neither Surface Tools, the moment I choose Clay or Draw brushes, my mesh disappears from the viewport.

I have updated my gtx card driver and still the same problem. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Contributor

You can get it back by selecting the Transform, Pose or Move tool. Because you have already created an object with a mesh, you can make big changes with those tools and snap the mesh to the new shape. Other tools are for surface details where no change in the mesh is necessary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A quick note:

  • Retopo Meshes show in only the Retopo Room
  • Sculpt Meshes show only in the Sculpt, Paint (for vertex painting only, not UV mapped) & Render Rooms
  • Paint Meshes show only in the Paint, Tweak and UV Rooms

It is possible to get some of these meshes from one room to another that they are not normally in (for example, Retopo meshes to Sculpt room). But otherwise the general workflows "don't allow" these other mesh types to be in those other rooms where they "don't belong", if you will.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Contributor

Yeah, I see some confusion with the term "mesh". In the Sculpt room the mesh consists of triangles and vertice painting allows it to be seen in the Paint room but you wont see it in the UV room because the UVs haven't been created. When you Autopo or manually create a quad mesh you can 'Bake' it for painting on the UV surface and if UV tweaking is desired, you can use this baked UV mesh in the UV room (where I never go).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Hi Javis and Tony,

Thank you so much for your help and explanation, definitely sticking this thread besides my desk.

@Javis, but since is possible to bring a mesh into Sculpt Room after retopo, it would make sense (in my pov) to be able to sculpt right away with all the tools from Surface tools set, no ? I don't understand why this was limited in 3DC. Like, after Autopo (Or Zremesh if you will), I would want to sculpt again. But the moment I choose any tool from Surface Tool , the newly remeshed (Autopo) mesh disappears from my viewport....... 

How can I sculpt with a quad mesh ? Or I can only sculpt in Voxel ? Thank you and again appreciated

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
14 hours ago, cgiink said:

Hi Tony,

Thank you, appreciated for your help.

But why after retopo and I Import then pick up retopo mesh in Sculpt tab, when I choose Grow or Clay (In Voxel or Surface mode), the mesh disappears again? 

Also, the mesh is not showing in UV tab.... I'm quite lost on the workflow...

Starting clean from scratch, I choose the basic bust option from the start screen. I see the mesh in Paint, Retopo,  Sculpt and Render tabs. However, is not showing in UV tab, I assume the model is in Voxel and is just impossible to work on any UVs. That actually makes sense to me. I can sculpt and use all the tools. 

The problem for me starts after doing retopo. In Voxtree, RMB over the mesh and I choose AUTOPO -> AUTOPO. Once the mesh has been converted to all quads, in Sculpt tab, Import (under objects dropdown), then in Tool Options, I choose Pick from Retopo then Apply. Now I can't use any of the Voxel Tools, neither Surface Tools, the moment I choose Clay or Draw brushes, my mesh disappears from the viewport.

I have updated my gtx card driver and still the same problem. 

Could you hit the ALT + SHIFT + S key combo to upload a screengrab, so we can see what is going on in the scene. When you choose "Pick From Retopo" in the Tool Options panel (Import tool), 3D Coat is going to copy only the meshes you have visible in the Paint workspace. If you hid the retopo mesh, that might explain it. My other guess would be that your VoxTree layer might have the visibility turned off or something. When you "Pick from Retopo" and hit "Apply" or the "Enter" key, look at the very bottom of the UI, in the statistics bar. The statistic all the way to the right shows how many polygons you have on an object/layer. If you see "0" that means nothing was committed, and it's an empty layer.

Another way to quickly bring a copy of your low poly base (Retopo) mesh into the Sculpt room, is to go to the Geometry Menu of the Sculpt Room. Choose Retopo Mesh to Sculpt Mesh, and it will immediately create a copy. When you are sculpting in 3D Coat, you will have to get the quad-based sculpting minset out of your thinking. 3D Coat is just a different creature, because it uses a different technology. Voxels and Dynamic Subdivision; which I think is the future of digital sculpting. The artist has less need to step up or down subdivision levels when they can simply let the brushes they sculpt with subdivide or decimate locally on the fly.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor

....in fact, I would not be surprised at all if ZBrush didn't introduce some new form of the same feature in the next full version or so, since they bought Sculptris. That tells me they have an interest in it. Whether they can pull it off with their current architecture is another matter.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
1 hour ago, cgiink said:

I did this short video to illustrate what happens. I am not sure if I have missed something.....

Video: https://youtu.be/ewLviifwWn4

What am I missing ? Sorry but I don't know how to get around this. 

Thanks for the video. It helps to get straight to the problem. What happened was, you had the original high-poly layer still selected in the VoxTree layer panel, when you clicked APPLY. That means you attempted to place a mesh on the same layer as another mesh. 3D Coat instead just created the copy as a child layer. You hid not only the child layer, but all layers. The only thing that is visible is the Preview Object that appears whenever you use the IMPORT tool. When you chose a different tool, that preview object is no longer active/visible.

Basically what you want to do is, before you click APPLY, create a new layer in the VoxTree layer panel, and have it selected when you hit APPLY. 3D Coat will put the committed object to that layer. The VoxTree panel is basically an Outliner panel. It just shows the hiearchy of objects in the scene. Sculpt Layers (per object) are supposed to be high on the To-Do list and will hopefully will be done by V5.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
17 minutes ago, cgiink said:

Hi AbnRanger,

 

Thank you for your help, that worked. Thank you for explaining the "preview object" concept. 3DC sure has its way of working.

Thank you :)

Yeah, it's intended to be temporary, and you can apply either Catmull Clark Subdivision ("Subdivide" button in Tool Options panel, when Import tool is active) before committing it to a layer (Apply button), or you can apply Flat Subdivision, which will not smooth the model in the process. Just subdivide it like it does in the Retopo Workspace. That is a button in the same Tool Options panel.

Just a quick note, I talked with Andrew about adding Artman's presets as default brushes in the Tool Panel (on the left side of the UI), and creating tool groups just like Photoshop's Tool Panel. This way brushes that are somewhat similar can be grouped under a single button with a small arrow in the lower right part of the button to access the group menu. He said he would. So, this should make things a little more comfortable for users coming from other apps. I also asked him about adding the CONDITIONS menu in the Paint workspace, to the Sculpt workspace, only when the Freeze (masking) tool is active. This will allow cavity (convex/concave) masking directly in the Sculpt workspace. To do that currently, you need to step into the Paint workspace and use the freeze tool with conditions. Should make masking much more intuitive and easier to use for that purpose. So, stay tuned for those changes

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Hi AbnRanger,

 

Thank you so much for all the help and sculpt layer will sure be useful no doubt.

However, for the last hour I've been pulling my hairs.......... I'm back from work and first thing was to try and replicate what you told me. It's not working. OMG what is wrong here..... I don't seem to get around this. For many years, my workflow has been the same:

1. Start with a quad mesh bust.

2. UVMaster or Unfold3D for UVs

3. Import and start sculpting right away.

Some of my works: http://cgi.ink

So far, with all your helps, I can now at least do the basics 123 steps inside 3DC.

Just a quick question though, anyway the mesh only shows quads in Sculpt Room? :)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
2 minutes ago, cgiink said:

Hi AbnRanger,

 

Thank you so much for all the help and sculpt layer will sure be useful no doubt.

However, for the last hour I've been pulling my hairs.......... I'm back from work and first thing was to try and replicate what you told me. It's not working. OMG what is wrong here..... I don't seem to get around this. For many years, my workflow has been the same:

1. Start with a quad mesh bust.

2. UVMaster or Unfold3D for UVs

3. Import and start sculpting right away.

Some of my works: http://cgi.ink

So far, with all your helps, I can now at least do the basics 123 steps inside 3DC.

Just a quick question though, anyway the mesh only shows quads in Sculpt Room? :)

 

 

If you import a quad mesh into the Sculpt room, it will come in looking exactly like it did in your host application, if you import it as a Surface mesh, rather than voxel. Try the W or 4 key to toggle wireframe on/off. This video might help explain things a bit.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Hi AbnRanger,

Thank you for sharing this video and all your help really. You have been very helpful and I really appreciated.

I'm going to try and do more and see what I can come up with.

Cheers mate, again thank you very much for all the help and your patience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
14 minutes ago, cgiink said:

Hi AbnRanger,

Thank you for sharing this video and all your help really. You have been very helpful and I really appreciated.

I'm going to try and do more and see what I can come up with.

Cheers mate, again thank you very much for all the help and your patience.

Glad to help, if I can. Normally, you don't need to import your low poly original into the Retopo room first, then send a copy to the Sculpt room, but it's a good idea when you want to be able to ensure large-scale changes to the sculpt are simultaneously made to your Low Poly baking target (Retopo) mesh:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Nice video AbnRanger!

One question though, how did he manage to show the mesh in quads only in Sculpt Room?

Also I find 3DC very good and easier than Zbrush for Hardsurface modeling. But somehow for organic sculpting, I still prefer Zbrush due to its fluidity, it just feels natural.

However, for Hardsurface it blows my mind. The cut tool works exceptionally well and clean cuts, is very intuitive to use. It is so easy to add details and create new ones just blew my mind. I am not a hardsurface Artist at all, this definitely will make me wanna start hardsurfacing sculpting.

Been checking these videos for hardsurface:

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
44 minutes ago, cgiink said:

Nice video AbnRanger!

One question though, how did he manage to show the mesh in quads only in Sculpt Room?

Also I find 3DC very good and easier than Zbrush for Hardsurface modeling. But somehow for organic sculpting, I still prefer Zbrush due to its fluidity, it just feels natural.

However, for Hardsurface it blows my mind. The cut tool works exceptionally well and clean cuts, is very intuitive to use. It is so easy to add details and create new ones just blew my mind. I am not a hardsurface Artist at all, this definitely will make me wanna start hardsurfacing sculpting...

The Conform Retopo mesh feature just shows the Retopo wireframe for visual reference. As I mentioned earlier, when dealing with models in the Sculpt room, you are going to have to flush the Quad Mesh mindset from your thinking. You said ZB is better at organic, things, and I won't argue that point, however, 3D Coat has some advantages of it's own, in this regard....and they are HUGE advantages. One of them is that you absolutely do not have to waste on single second or thought about topology...which is a HUGE issue still in the Quad-based sculpting. Case in point:

 

You also do not need to store SubD levels, nor even bother to step down in resolution nearly as much, because the dynamic Subdivision built into many of the brushes and tools allow you to keep your overall mesh ridiculously low poly while you sculpt intermediate to high resolution levels right under your brush. This also means you don't have to split your model up or hide parts, nearly as often, for the sake of performance. The brushes in surface mode are pretty sweet when you tweak the settings the way you want. Including, brush pressure (icon to the left of the Radius parameter in toolbar) Flattening Curve and Normal Sampling. Store your own set of brushes for the type of strokes you like to use (Clay, ClayBuildup, DamStandard, hPolish, TrimDynamic, etc.).

When you import a low poly mesh into the Sculpt room, in Surface mode, the mesh will look identical to the original....until you start subdividing the model. When you are done sculpting, you can actually export from the Sculpt room File Menu, that dense mesh as DENSE QUADS, and see if you can get ZBrush to Project all the detail from that dense quad mesh to your original low poly mesh. Just an option. But in 3D Coat, you could just consider your low poly mesh copy in the Retopo Room, as your base quad-mesh and Conform Retopo merely reprojects the changes on a localized level and on the fly.

Another thing that drives me nuts about ZBrush is no 3dconnexion device support. If you've used one with 3D Coat and/or other 3D apps, you will know what I mean. You don't realize how much slower and less natural it feels working without one, in ZB. So, does slightly different feel in the brushes offset all these advantages? For me it does not. And with the PBR shading, it's so much easier to visualize the end result even at a low resolution state. Even true SSS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

To be fair, you do not have to worry about topology either with Zbrush via Dynamesh.
Via online docs:
" DynaMesh is a perfect solution for free-form sculpting because it removes all need for focusing on topological constraints."

Just throwing that out there to avoid confusion.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Both softwares are great in what they do. But for the little I know and understand, building hard surface is far much easier and intuitive in 3DC then in Zbrush. I am sure will be splitting my workflow still using Zbrush for organic, but helmets and armor, will try and do it in 3DC. 

I think the huge advantage 3DC has over Zbrush is really the Render PBR tab. That is something the whole world is hoping one day Zbrush will have, until then, 3DC wins with all hands. Every Artist works differently, while for many Zmodeler is a god sent tool, tweeking vertices and retopo in Zbrush is a pain in the butt. 

So, let me see what sort of hardsurface armor I can come up with in time ;) , I'm definitely very interested in 3DC in this camp.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
39 minutes ago, RabenWulf said:

To be fair, you do not have to worry about topology either with Zbrush via Dynamesh.
Via online docs:
" DynaMesh is a perfect solution for free-form sculpting because it removes all need for focusing on topological constraints."

Just throwing that out there to avoid confusion.
 

There is no confusion...except on your part. What was the date on that video I just listed? 2015. Dynamesh has been around much longer than that. Watch this video "and get back to me."

The point here is, Dynamesh isn't going to change the need to be concerned about topology. It only mitigates it to one degree or the other, depending on the situation. In some situations it isn't going to help you, and you have to turn to another countermeasure....ZRemesher. Regardless, in 3D Coat you don't have to funk around with countermeasures to address the need for clean topology.

I'm still waiting for you to take me up on that challenge, so we can both show everyone whether your claims have any real basis or if it's just uninformed bluster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

Yes, thats the first video that pops up when you youtube dynamesh. Congrats.

One does not have to worry about topology in so much as one does not need to worry about topology in 3DC, they both have their solutions and they work fine. Not only do you have access to two algorithms relating to dynamesh (hold alt + dynamesh gives the second one), but easily followed up with zremesher if one needs to use it and on top of that it can pull from guides which the user can set themselves based on curves, furthermore since its all quad based the user can subdivide on top of all that and keep those subdivisions.

I'm not going to get into this again with you bud. There shouldnt be anything to argue here. Both have solutions to the same problem and they work fine.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
56 minutes ago, RabenWulf said:

Yes, thats the first video that pops up when you youtube dynamesh. Congrats.

One does not have to worry about topology in so much as one does not need to worry about topology in 3DC, they both have their solutions and they work fine. Not only do you have access to two algorithms relating to dynamesh (hold alt + dynamesh gives the second one), but easily followed up with zremesher if one needs to use it and on top of that it can pull from guides which the user can set themselves based on curves, furthermore since its all quad based the user can subdivide on top of all that and keep those subdivisions.

I'm not going to get into this again with you bud. There shouldnt be anything to argue here. Both have solutions to the same problem and they work fine.

I wouldn't call having to rely on "countermeasures" a solution compared to an app that doesn't even have to concern itself with the problem in the first place....Bud.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

And both are winners! I mean Zb and 3DC. :):):) 

On another note, 3DC is definitely a winner when it comes to Hard Surface (For me it is). I'm totally blown away how easy is to create new hard surface shape. The cut tools just works as one expect and Vox Hide, Objecti-fy... Oh boy Oh boy!

I'm taking these two courses:

Udemy - Hard Surface Modeling and Sculpting Course in 3D Coat

and

3d Coat Sculpture Modelling, Retopo , UVs and Paint

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

I have a question though....... I am not sure if I should get 3DC now or actually wait for v.5 since we are already on version 4.7.......

It would be good to know if I would to buy v.4.7, it would also include v.5 when release...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
27 minutes ago, cgiink said:

And both are winners! I mean Zb and 3DC. :):):) 

On another note, 3DC is definitely a winner when it comes to Hard Surface (For me it is). I'm totally blown away how easy is to create new hard surface shape. The cut tools just works as one expect and Vox Hide, Objecti-fy... Oh boy Oh boy!

I'm taking these two courses:

Udemy - Hard Surface Modeling and Sculpting Course in 3D Coat

and

3d Coat Sculpture Modelling, Retopo , UVs and Paint

You might also consider taking Jama's course over at Learn Squared, there are a lot of professional concept artists taking his course, and creating some amazing shots from it. It primarily uses 3D Coat because it handles all the 3D content in one app. That is why he teaches it. No need to learn ZB and Substance and Topogun, etc. Just one app.

https://www.learnsquared.com/courses/intro-3d-concept-design

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

hehe, for organic I still prefer Zb ;) 

Wow, Thank you for sharing Jama's course. He has some interesting courses there. Let me finish these two courses from udemy first before jumping into that. 

I mainly do portraits as my time is very limited, but let see what the future holds with this new tool ;)

Cheers mate.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Reputable Contributor
4 minutes ago, cgiink said:

hehe, for organic I still prefer Zb ;) 

Wow, Thank you for sharing Jama's course. He has some interesting courses there. Let me finish these two courses from udemy first before jumping into that. 

I mainly do portraits as my time is very limited, but let see what the future holds with this new tool ;)

Cheers mate.

 

If you would...just as a test, clear your preset panel (go to the upper right corner of the Preset Panel and click on the toggle > Clear All). But you might want to save what you have (same toggle > Save Presets), so you can reload it later. Once cleared, go to the File Menu > Install Extension > click on the attached file. The ones with an "am" prefix are Artman's updated ones, and the rest are mine. Some of the default brushes are nice, but these are a bit more customized/tailored.

Artman_ABR Sculpt Brushes - Copy.zip

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...