Hard Surface Workflow 3DCoat and Blender

[ESMedia24]

Hi there, basic question, please. I was digging through a lot of tutorials and forums recently but did not find basic workflows explained. So my question is, what is the best workflow concerning hard surface models (Space Ships, Ships, Buildings, Items etc.) for 3DCoat and Blender?

I would use those hard surface models for illustrations, so I need to be able to light them within an environment in Blender to get different render passes etc, that I can use in Photoshop later. So what is the best way to tackle this?

1) Start in 3dCoat, retopo and export to blender?

2) Start in Blender (low poly), export to 3dCoat and back?

3) Start and stay in Blender (maybe with Hard Ops and Boxcutter)?

4) Just do the high poly and throw it into Unreal Engine (but then no render passes) for overpainting later?

My problem is that my time for learning new things is pretty limited at the moment and I do not want to waste a lot of time figuring out, what works and what does not. So right now I feel a bit lost, to be honest :-)

I hope, this question is not too basic. Thanks for reading.

Eric

Edited July 19, 2022 by ESMedia24
Forgot something

[Carlosan]

Hi

Could you show some example of the complexity of your projects to have an idea of the path to follow ?

[ESMedia24]

Hi there, yep, I can.

The attached examples are all photobashed (covers of my novels). Photos, 3d renders, manual illustration work. But I would like to work more in Blender, which I am learning as well at the moment, to get better bases for overpainting. So I assume I would need 3dCoat for hard surface stuff (spaceships etc.), environment pieces (Temples or whatnot) or to change Daz3d models etc. (clothing, proportions). If that makes sense.

Thanks

[Carlosan]

All the ways you mentioned are possible.

Unfortunately there is no sure way because it depends on the comfort of each artist, it is a trial and error until you find your best way to express yourself.

Yes some take longer than others because the learning curve is not the same for every tool, it depends on the complexity of the tool and the use you want to give it.

Hard ops and boxcutter are based on boolean operations, similar to what you can do by sculpting voxels in 3DC.

To give you an idea, I collected some examples of artists using both tools.

If it was my decision -and seeing your previous works- I would start with 3DC using voxel mode (not surface sculpture to save time) and then I would send it to blender to render for dressing, lighting and render passes preparing it for photobashing. (Amazing work by the way!)

There is also a DAZ plugin that allows you to send daz models to blender without problems, that is also a timesaver.

Hope this help

 

[Carlosan]

 

[ESMedia24]

Thanks for your input and the vids. Then I'll start the way you recommended :-)

Concerning the Daz Plugin: The one from Daz does not work that great, but there's another one from Diffeomorpic and that works really well.