Seams / Tiling when creating Smart Brush / Alpha res too small?

[For The Moment]

I recently bought some skin Alphas from Flipped Normals.

By default they had a thick black border around them which created huge seams so I cropped out the border in GIMP.

I am now getting very thin but noticeable seams and it appears to be because the alpha is tiling instead of wrapping around the entire Smart Brush mannequin like the default Smart Brushes do.

The alpha I am using is 712x767

Is it too small?

What is the standard res size for an alpha and, if too small, what would alphas at this size be good for?

[Carlosan]

When you import the alpha (pressing the + icon)... had you selected this option ?

[For The Moment]

4 hours ago, Carlosan said:

When you import the alpha (pressing the + icon)... had you selected this option ?

No, I had about twelve alphas to batch import so the way I entered them into 3DC was by emptying their folder into C:\Users\UserName\Documents\3DCoat\UserPrefs\Alphas.

Is there a way to edit them, one by one, in 3DC after the import?

Edited September 22, 2023 by For The Moment

[Carlosan]

Pressing RMB over brush icon let you to edit it on external editor

Related:

https://3dcoat.com/documentation/manual/brush-components/brushes/create-brushes-decals/

[For The Moment]

The problem might be that things have changed in the latest version of 3DC - I've noticed some options missing in '23 that are demonstrated in tutorial videos featuring earlier releases.

I've spent a good 1.5 hours watching videos and reading and I'm finding it near impossible to get a an Alpha imported as a Smart Material.

The best I came up with was importing simply into the Alpha brushes and using the drag tool or making a Stencil and constantly repositioning it so as to avoid painting too close the Stencil's end and making seams.

Ultimately what would be cool to see in Coat are custom brushes that can paint continuously without changing depth or leaving seams.

The method you've showed has helped, as an Alpha brush, but it doesn't provide a consistent stroke ...even with consistent stroke brush selected.

Edited September 23, 2023 by For The Moment

[For The Moment]

9 hours ago, Carlosan said:

Pressing RMB over brush icon let you to edit it on external editor

Related:

https://3dcoat.com/documentation/manual/brush-components/brushes/create-brushes-decals/

BTW - Is there a specific naming convention for the four layers created in Gimp for Height, Specular, Erase Alpha, Color? And is there a specific order the layers must be in when exporting to png?

Also the Smart Material Dummy has not been displayed when dragging my alpha into Coat and selecting Create Smart Material. Instead of showing the 'Poke Ball' with the image wrapped around it, it is displaying the image only as it does under Alpha Brushes....I'm not sure if this matters?

 

Edit:  Also, playing around a bit more I have had the best success using Airbrush set to Constant Pressure with the Alpha - I still feel a bit more could be done with a Smart Material however....such as being able to apply the fill layer tool.

Edit 2: For anyone else curious I almost achieved the type of brush I wanted - The following might seem rudimentary to most but was new to me:

Under Tool options 'Spacing' (towards the bottom of the menu) should be toggled onto 14 Percent by default. This causes a trailing smear hardly displaying any of the Alpha at all.

However upping spacing about Fifty Percent allows for most of the Alpha to print. You can go right up 100 percent but I found once you breach the 70% threshold that seams will begin printing.

 

 

Edited September 23, 2023 by For The Moment

[For The Moment]

After studying a few videos I concluded that the alphas I had purchased were not seamless from the get go.

Probably why I was able to get a bundle of 400+ for five bucks.

Playing around and editing one of those cheap alphas in GIMP I made a seamless copy which, afterwards,

works ok simply uploaded to the 'Normal' section of the Smart Brush creator.

Edited September 29, 2023 by For The Moment