Retopo Tutorial with current UI step by step?

[Rectro]

Hi there.

Zbrush and C4D user.  I want better retopo tools and had checked out 3DCoat few years back, liked it but never took the plunge.  Now having another look, got the demo and cant use it from intuition alone.  I looked for tutorials on Youtube and found plenty of timelaps, and older UI versions, and not a step by step from bringing in the mesh to using the Retopo tools.

Can anyone please direct me to such a tutorial, free or paid for so I can make a educated assessment on the updated version of 3DCoat on the basis as a pure Retopo set if tools.  Trying to work off my own intuition and logic 2 hours later I gave up, but want to give it a good go.

 

Thanks,

Dan

[AbnRanger]

1 hour ago, Rectro said:

Hi there.

Zbrush and C4D user.  I want better retopo tools and had checked out 3DCoat few years back, liked it but never took the plunge.  Now having another look, got the demo and cant use it from intuition alone.  I looked for tutorials on Youtube and found plenty of timelaps, and older UI versions, and not a step by step from bringing in the mesh to using the Retopo tools.

Can anyone please direct me to such a tutorial, free or paid for so I can make a educated assessment on the updated version of 3DCoat on the basis as a pure Retopo set if tools.  Trying to work off my own intuition and logic 2 hours later I gave up, but want to give it a good go.

 

Thanks,

Dan

There are videos for practically every Retopo tool, on the 3DCoat Youtube Channel. Just because they were created during the v4 cycle, it doesn't mean they are any less informative or helpful than new ones would be, because the tools are largely the same except in cases where there are improvements added, and when there are new tools/features added, there is usually a new video covering the changes. An example is the Smart Retopo toolset. They are largely the same, but there was a number of improvements in the 2023 release, so video tutorials for that are currently being worked on, as we speak.

 

[Rectro]

Thanks, its these new tools that has got my attention.  At the moment Im a little confused what option to select bringing in my high poly mesh being that all tutorials so far start with the mesh already in there.  I chose Reference mesh.  Modle comes it miniture, exported from C4D as real world scale in CM.  Cant seem to find a a simple way bring it in larger, it must conform to the mesh I have inside Zbrush and C4D scale.  The only reason the UI options are troublesome is the naming of some initial options for import are different, the workflow is different from a new user standpoint.

Next problem was, strip mode I think where you draw lines, the spacing points between are huge, where can I get access to these tool floating pallet settings, I assume this issue of huge gaps between is due to scale of model too small for 3D Coat. Once I get the model in, have it correct scale, and have the options to the brushes and tools I should be ok.

 

Thanks.

Dan

[AbnRanger]

20 hours ago, Rectro said:

Thanks, its these new tools that has got my attention.  At the moment Im a little confused what option to select bringing in my high poly mesh being that all tutorials so far start with the mesh already in there.  I chose Reference mesh.  Modle comes it miniture, exported from C4D as real world scale in CM.  Cant seem to find a a simple way bring it in larger, it must conform to the mesh I have inside Zbrush and C4D scale.  The only reason the UI options are troublesome is the naming of some initial options for import are different, the workflow is different from a new user standpoint.

Next problem was, strip mode I think where you draw lines, the spacing points between are huge, where can I get access to these tool floating pallet settings, I assume this issue of huge gaps between is due to scale of model too small for 3D Coat. Once I get the model in, have it correct scale, and have the options to the brushes and tools I should be ok.

 

Thanks.

Dan

Try importing your high poly sculpt mesh to the Sculpt workspace because you have more options and it is easier to modify it than using the old legacy REFERENCE MESH option. Go to the Sculpt workspace and in the GEOMETRY menu, you have DEFINE MEASUREMENT UNITS option, where you can set it to Centimeters. Then go to the Tool panel on the left > scroll down to the OBJECTS section and click the IMPORT tool button > look in the Tool Options panel and click the SELECT MESH button. What you will see next is essentially a Preview version of the model. You may want to first bring it in, in Surface mode rather than Voxels...because Surface mode will be just like it was in your host application, except 3DCoat converts the quads to triangles. To commit it to the scene just hit the ENTER key or the APPLY button in the Tool Options panel.

Once it is committed to the scene, you can start building your Retop mesh on top of it, in the Retopo workspace.

 

[Rectro]

1 hour ago, AbnRanger said:

Try importing your high poly sculpt mesh to the Sculpt workspace because you have more options and it is easier to modify it than use the old legacy REFERENCE MESH option. Go to the Sculpt workspace and in the GEOMETRY menu, you have DEFINE MEASUREMENT UNITS option, where you can set it to Centimeters. Then go to the Tool panel on the left > scroll down to the OBJECTS section and click the IMPORT tool button > look in the Tool Options panel and click the SELECT MESH button. What you will see next is essentially a Preview version of the model. You may want to first bring it in, in Surface mode rather than Voxels...because Surface mode will be just like it was in your host application, except 3DCoat converts the quads to triangles. To commit it to the scene just hit the ENTER key or the APPLY button in the Tool Options panel.

Once it is committed to the scene, you can start building your Retop mesh on top of it, in the Retopo workspace.

 

Thank you, I will try that.  If I get along with it and purchase it I will make some videos myself to help fill the gap with Video tutorials.  My Channel is CGDreamsTutorials.

[Rectro]

Quick update.  Last night I got something going and so far am seing the potential for its retopo tools over other tools I have used.  Im also looking at its other features to warrent the expence for just a retopo tool and can see it has alot to offer besides Retopo.