V3 RELEASE DATE INFO

[Andrew Shpagin]

Ive just purchased my upgrade.

With v3 finalised and up for sale it's time to look back for me. Ive always been a major fan of voxel sculpting (i fantasized about it well before you started on it)

You are the only programmer/(singleman)company that took on the challenge to create a digital sculpting application based on voxels. Zbrush originated digital sculpting, mudbox copied. You are the first man to revolutionize digital sculpting. You get my respect, and indeed, money for that.

Yes, i am still dissapointed you didnt finish voxel sculpting. At the moment its a few steps short of being a true alternative to zbrush and/or mudbox. While i think this is a waste, primarily for yourself and your company after all the effort you put into it, it doesnt change that whats running on my screen right now is the first affordable, userfriendly and indeed viable voxel based sculpting app out there. You have a gallery chockfull of great works to prove it.

So i want to thank you for your work. You have pulled of something awesome.

Sure i hope voxel sculpting will be finished to such a degree so i can toss zbrush aside, but even without that. Im certain, especially with the great pricing, 3dcoat voxel sculpting will get followers all on its own.

3dioot

I agree, some thing require more work like combination of surface and voxel approaches.

But this release is just milestone. Voxels will require many time to become really perfect product (as any other CG tool).

I have many ideas and many requests so this release means not end but milestone.

Release of 3D-Coat does not mean "get next small bugfix update in half of year". It means many free updates with essential growth of functionality.

This release means new phase of development, I think more responsible and professional.

And - so many peoples wait per pixel painting to be actually released, so I can't wait to much in regards to this release.

And thank you for really deep participaton in beta testing and sensible feedback. At least I know if you will tell that something is good - then it is really good.

[3dioot]

Howitzer,

Talk about this stuff backfiring ffs. Get it allready because its dirt cheap and the texture and retopo tools are worth the price alone. Ill get back on your pm but the only reason not to buy 3dcoat is if you only want to sculpt and use zb or mbox allready. Eventhen its probably worth it since i use it alongside zb. (tried mb and it wasnt my cup of tea)

I just made this to celebrate v3's release. Im not the greatest artist but if you doubt the validity of the voxel sculpting toolset you do not need to worry (just check out the gallery). Its just as i described above. A few steps short on the big boys.

Ciao

3dioot

[3dioot]

Your welcome Andrew.

Im glad you understand i do appreciate all your work. Thanks for allowing us (the userbase) to be this involved and taking up all the requests.

3dioot

[vibi]

Hello

We will add this option to "Buy page". Anyway it will not be 60+60

Very good, thank you Andrew, i think you have an exellent upgrade politics, and that isn't easy. Have you an idea of when this option will be add ?

Thank you

[howitzer]

Howitzer,

Talk about this stuff backfiring ffs. Get it allready because its dirt cheap and the texture and retopo tools are worth the price alone. Ill get back on your pm but the only reason not to buy 3dcoat is if you only want to sculpt and use zb or mbox allready. Eventhen its probably worth it since i use it alongside zb. (tried mb and it wasnt my cup of tea)

I just made this to celebrate v3's release. Im not the greatest artist but if you doubt the validity of the voxel sculpting toolset you do not need to worry (just check out the gallery). Its just as i described above. A few steps short on the big boys.

Ciao

3dioot

Ok, and yeah you're right... I just haven't really done anything with it and I've bought programs before and come to regret it. (I've NEVER regretted buying 3DC 2, in fact it's the best software purchase I've made) I'm selling a 3G modem I don't use anymore to make sure I can get it without messing up my already tight finances. heh, if I don't get it soon, I may never get it. Zbrush was new and cheap once too... now look at it.

Also, a couple days ago I was messing around with it (I don't have Nvidia, so no CUDA, and I only have 2gb of ram)... I managed to get somewhere around 15 million polygons! I can only get up to 2 or 3 million with Blender or Silo sculpting tools... which is not good enough to sculpt a whole body. I'm relieved I don't have to get a specific card and more ram.

[e214]

For me this app is a revolution.

(worked with Maya,zbrush,c4d etc)

Very well done,and the future will bring better polished app.

A joy to use.,keep it up.

[ghib]

I'm with e214 on this.

I've been using 3DC more and more for my texture work since the Layers and Per Pixel stuff has been implemented and fixed. Retopology is now a dream to work with but I've yet to delve fully into Voxels. Hopefully I can figure out a workflow for creating seamlessly tiling textures using geometry as opposed to painting just the bump/normal info.

I already bought my v3.0 license but can't wait for the final release. Maybe once this is done Andrew can take a well earned rest from our trivial demands

[antsjoe]

I bought in in the late 3D-Brush 1. somethings and followed it through 2.x and now 3.0.

Andrew has listen to many request, ides and feedback. Having this access and upgrades/fixes/new or weekly releases with bug fixes and new features has been really awesome.

I am glad to know that there are people asking for fixes to Voxel Sculpting and many new features.

Being able to purchase the upgrade to me provides Andrew stability & income to keep making the growth of 3DC.

The jumps in between releases has been substantial and I have not been around forever in 3D and I am glad to see Andrew stand out in providing the number of Alphas before release V 3 and Betas 2.x to last one. I am confident that Andrew has a track record where few will eventually will have most every fix done.

In the mean time of fixes, I am only wondering what he may have decided to cap in V3 and we will see in V4(imagined&have no knowledge of a planned 4-just looking at the experience of being an owner since V 1 series).

Great Work Andrew - (hope the upgrades and new purchasers $$$ are rolling in)

[SonK]

And - so many peoples wait per pixel painting to be actually released, so I can't wait to much in regards to this release.

And thank you for really deep participaton in beta testing and sensible feedback. At least I know if you will tell that something is good - then it is really good.

I just bought my upgrade specifically for per pixel painting. I bought it because you seem to be addressing DP in your twitter blog:

"- clone tool in DP mode works correctly with alphas and respects pen pressure" this is awesome!

and also

"I found the reason why layers operations like show/hide took so much time and fixed it" sweet!

For what its worth i totally agree with 3dioot about the voxel sculpting and i hope you continue to refine and tweak it until it feels "right".

[Reactor]

Spend some time on a sculpting project that takes a bit longer and you will come to understand my point of view. At first glance its perfect. Just keep sculpting untill the first enthusiasm rush is over and you will find out that there are alot of "little things" that really disrupt workflow and productivity.

I'm sure there are a lot of little things. I'm also expecting there to be some big things. It's the first app out the door with this kind of tech, so it's to be expected. Is Zbrush free of bugs and workflow quirks? Obviously no- it's full of them. However, for both apps pushing into new areas of technological advancement, it'll take some time before things settle down. That's just life though, and people still get stuck into Zbrush, as I'm sure many will 3D Coat V3.

Another welcomed tool in the toolbox.

[renderdemon]

I think volumetric sculpt is a great tool for sketching ideas,it's true that the brush engine feeling is different(less sensible)than zbrush,but I'm not sure that without really big volumes(more than 100/500 millions) will be possible to have better brush.

3dcoat had to 2 disadvantages compared to zbrush.

1)Voxel is so isotropic and uniform that to do details you need really fine resolution(this is also and advantage of course)

2)there is a tessellation,a conversion to polygons on the fly(this flicker a bit,and I think change the brush behaviour)

We all are saying that Zbrush has a better brush engine,but we have to compare low resolution Zbrush strokes with 3dcoat high resolution strokes to really have a right comparison.

The true is that volumetric need much more resolution to give more feeling.

Btw,absolutely this is really innovative software

[kay_Eva]

I think what you guys need to recognize is that voxels aren't polys and what I mean by that is you shouldn't put details into the voxels, only the volumetric shape of the object, you are really at the moment supposed to paint the normal map directly on, as opposed to sculpting, then baking - it looks better anyway when you paint it onto low poly atm if you ask me

[3dioot]

I think what you guys need to recognize is that voxels aren't polys and what I mean by that is you shouldn't put details into the voxels, only the volumetric shape of the object, you are really at the moment supposed to paint the normal map directly on, as opposed to sculpting, then baking - it looks better anyway when you paint it onto low poly atm if you ask me

I dont think we need to recognize anything. I had this same discussion a long time ago when v3 was still in alpha. The tech was still in early development and no cuda was available and allready people said voxels werent ok for high res sculpting. You only know how far you can go by going too far. When you aim for something new you always aim for something you want, not something you -think- you know you can get. (or, more positively, aim for the moon, even if you miss you will always land among the stars) Now that the first generation of voxel sculpting if officially on sale here is a random grab from the volumetric wip category.

no HR sculpting?

Voxel sculpting has proven a viable solution for hr sculpting (well before the official release actually). And here is the interesting thing. While processing power improves zb and mb will still be inherently held back by their technology. Voxel sculpting scales perfectly and will take much better advantage of increased processor power.

Also remember there was a time everybody felt zbrushes memory requirements were insane? Is that still a problem today when you buy a new system with 6 gigs default?

Alot of the "lack of control" or "sensitivity" issues stem from the tools. Its like we have gotten a great new kind of paint but have to apply it with sticks. Voxel resolution is not what is holding 3dcoat's voxel sculpting back at this moment. I can perform sculpting operations well within the resources of my workstation and they still lack the control and predictability ive come to expect.

I just consider this a new field for Andrew. As he stated its a milestone in new technology. The next step will be to tackle the brush engine (along with the brushes; they cant really be treated seperately imho). The fact that it took mudbox a whole new release to rewrite the brush engine from their first (which was crap) shows this is a field on its own. I hope Andrew takes it on with as much enthusiasm as he has taken on the voxel core that he has created so far.

If he does, then i have no doubt, that 3dcoat will be able to fully stand on its own compared to zbrush or mudbox and this entire "feeling" discussion will have become a matter of preference instead of a true difference in quality (as it is now).

GrtZ 3dioot

[kay_Eva]

I dont think we need to recognize anything. I had this same discussion a long time ago when v3 was still in alpha. The tech was still in early development and no cuda was available and allready people said voxels werent ok for high res sculpting. You only know how far you can go by going too far. When you aim for something new you always aim for something you want, not something you -think- you know you can get. (or, more positively, aim for the moon, even if you miss you will always land among the stars) Now that the first generation of voxel sculpting if officially on sale here is a random grab from the volumetric wip category.

no HR sculpting?

Voxel sculpting has proven a viable solution for hr sculpting (well before the official release actually). And here is the interesting thing. While processing power improves zb and mb will still be inherently held back by their technology. Voxel sculpting scales perfectly and will take much better advantage of increased processor power.

Also remember there was a time everybody felt zbrushes memory requirements were insane? Is that still a problem today when you buy a new system with 6 gigs default?

Alot of the "lack of control" or "sensitivity" issues stem from the tools. Its like we have gotten a great new kind of paint but have to apply it with sticks. Voxel resolution is not what is holding 3dcoat's voxel sculpting back at this moment. I can perform sculpting operations well within the resources of my workstation and they still lack the control and predictability ive come to expect.

I just consider this a new field for Andrew. As he stated its a milestone in new technology. The next step will be to tackle the brush engine (along with the brushes; they cant really be treated seperately imho). The fact that it took mudbox a whole new release to rewrite the brush engine from their first (which was crap) shows this is a field on its own. I hope Andrew takes it on with as much enthusiasm as he has taken on the voxel core that he has created so far.

If he does, then i have no doubt, that 3dcoat will be able to fully stand on its own compared to zbrush or mudbox and this entire "feeling" discussion will have become a matter of preference instead of a true difference in quality (as it is now).

GrtZ 3dioot

lol nice, but I was talking about where they are currently not future voxels, present day voxels, of course it can change - it's technology - fact is that in the current state in my opinion smaller details should be painted on instead of sculpted because as I've said (present day) voxels are different than (present day) polys - think about it if you increase resolution or smooth or clone and degrade at any point you will lose approx 15-30% sharpness of voxel sculpted fine detail. It just all around makes more since, with (present day) voxels to not compare apples to bananas because the workflows should be different between voxels and polys as they are presently quite distinct from one another in how they are being implemented in present day technology. Hope that clears it up.

[Digital777]

Will the price go up for the discount later? is it a limited time thing and we should do it right away or can it wait a bit? I will probably just order soon though.

Edit - I have now updated