3D-Coat 3.1 updates thread

[ShnitzelKiller]

It's supposed to do that, if you drag from the sphere it creates a new curve. Try clicking and dragging outside the sphere, it will continue the current curve. Leigh explained it pretty well in his Curves video:

http://vimeo.com/6508309

I see, you have to press escape to get rid of the manipulator. But then it still doesn't let you extend the other end of the curve.

Shouldn't it assume the last curve handle you moved is the one to extrude a point from?

[JamesE]

Agree, twist should be there too... I will add it. Just not good that there will be odd amount of choices. What to add there to become even?

Awesome Andrew! I agree, it is odd though to not do it the same for the other modes so to keep it more consistent maybe whatever bind you use for the rotate around curve length feature could maybe be similar with the other 2 transform modes... as in related or constrained in some way to the length of the curve.

So for rotate it would revolve around it or twist. For move it could possibly move along the length of it, which would also be useful. For scale... What if it could scale the voxel volume around the length of the curve without afffecting the length itself. Currently if you scale a point it scales both the child and parent volumes where they meet up. This mode could perhaps allow you to hilight the curve based on which side you select from, like with the heirarchical shift toggle. Only this one just scales that volume and not the ends of the others that are attached to it. I think I could find a use for all of those if they were added, and they would definitely feel more consistent if bound to the same input or modifier.

I would propose using ctrl+shift as modifiers for this curve length constraint mode and leave the others alone, but if you have something better in mind, by all means.

Cheers

[T.H. ROCK]

I made a rig of curves and saved it for future use. I think I still have to work on the proportions though. One problem here after I made it I realized that it will always be symmetrical. There should be an "apply symmetry" for curves. That way I'd be able to set him up like this then put him in an asymmetrical pose.

heh heh

I just got the new Zbrush update and thought wow, pretty neat.

Then, I came back to this forum and notice what you had done with the curves tool.

Not being the brightest crayon in the box, I slapped my forehead and said to myself - "Geez, Andrew already made this in 3DC and I didn't even see it!."

Thanks for the heads up - my brain doesn't move very fast until it gets to the edge, then freefall discovery is quite rapid.

[philnolan3d]

I just got the new Zbrush update and thought wow, pretty neat.

Then, I came back to this forum and notice what you had done with the curves tool.

I actually made a normal feature request with an updated image of that rig.

http://www.3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3752

[JamesE]

heh heh

I just got the new Zbrush update and thought wow, pretty neat.

Then, I came back to this forum and notice what you had done with the curves tool.

Not being the brightest crayon in the box, I slapped my forehead and said to myself - "Geez, Andrew already made this in 3DC and I didn't even see it!."

Thanks for the heads up - my brain doesn't move very fast until it gets to the edge, then freefall discovery is quite rapid.

Don't slap yourself too hard, he JUST updated it recently. We're all still playing with this stuff for the first time too.

[philnolan3d]

Actually I had already tried this a couple of months ago:

http://vimeo.com/5586315

However the new update did make it a lot easier to work with.

[JamesE]

Yeah I did a few things with them myself but it was nowhere near as enjoyable an experience. What's here now is better than I ever had with zspheres. I think I may even prefer the simplicity and directness of them over the new ones in 3.5 as well.

[Psmith]

I, too, really enjoy working with curves the Andrew way. It does, however, leave me longing for more. Of course, people already have asked for the ability to make a "curve rig" permanent, and that it really function as a full-fledged "rig" instead of a kind of framework on which to add muscle, etc.

And, I'm sure this will come, in time. But, the spontaneity and fluidity of voxels makes me, naturally, want to see them extend their magic, even further, into the realm of animation. All of these creations of ours seem so much more valuable once they have a "life" of their own.

Greg Smith

[Ondrej Svadlena]

And, I'm sure this will come, in time. But, the spontaneity and fluidity of voxels makes me, naturally, want to see them extend their magic, even further, into the realm of animation. All of these creations of ours seem so much more valuable once they have a "life" of their own.

Greg Smith

Absolutely. The volumetric nature of voxels just begs for it to be rigged and animated - with true volumetric dynamics. The "cloth simulation" tool Andrew brought us during the alpha days proves it. I really wouldn't mind spending more time inside 3DC to do the rigging and animation part. Although some packages like Maya do have tools to emulate volume it never really feels satisfying - more like a water-balloon where you still feel the skin, not the volume...

I understand there's still a huge demand for tools to create the "pointy-eared fairy with huge breasts in armor" (z-sphere-like shape creation, mesh masking and extraction for the armor, trillions of polys to "detail", rendering a still frame to place on the countless i-galleries displaying such "art"). Nevertheless, it would be really great, and quite revolutionary, to see "living" voxels in movement in the near future.

Ondrej

[T.H. ROCK]

I understand there's still a huge demand for tools to create the "pointy-eared fairy with huge breasts in armor

Ondrej

haha! I just about wet myself reading that statement - thanks for the humorous observation.

[kay_Eva]

lol yeah count me in too, if andrew added animation to 3dcoat it would be the beez neez. I'm sure it would rival NaturalMotion and Motionbuilder.

[Reactor]

Motionbuilder is primarily used for handling mo-cap data. Why on earth would Andrew and the gang make an animation app to rival Motionbuilder, when the vast majority of 3D Coat users aren't in the market for that kind of functionality? I know you're excited about making things move, but...

[philnolan3d]

I kind of agree with Reactor. I have no doubt Andrew could do animation features but 3DC just isn't that kind of a program. When you consider how much is involved in animation it amounts to a huge undertaking when 3DC already has plenty of possibilities with the kind of work it already does.

[Ghostdog]

Yes I agree that whilst animation would be nice it would introduce too many other variables that could negatively impact our overall experience

Is anyone else like me in that after a certain amount of time sculpting on object you start to think two or three moves ahead? I get a bit focused at times and can even animate in my head the next bit of sculpt

[T.H. ROCK]

Perhaps when Andrew is satisfied that 3DC is a complete tool that needs just some minor tweaks, he can start on Andrew-mation. a fully functioning plug-in interface for major 3D apps to and from 3D coat.

[kay_Eva]

Motionbuilder is primarily used for handling mo-cap data. Why on earth would Andrew and the gang make an animation app to rival Motionbuilder, when the vast majority of 3D Coat users aren't in the market for that kind of functionality? I know you're excited about making things move, but...

I think you're being a bit literal

[LJB]

To be completely frank (And I usually am here) I think the Addition of animation IK rigging would be extremely detrimental to the way 3D Coat is viewed and its developement cycles. I cannot see it being anything more than a gimmick. what i do agree with is that the pose tool could do with improvements of this nature. Leave animation to a softwares that is aimed at that precise process and concentrate on improving what we have. 3d Coat is proving to be one of the best content creation tools out there. To continue to flourish in the professional market, tweaking and improvements should be prioritised and I feel that the addition of animation is just one thing too many. I hope we see that its addition would tear 3d coat away from it primary application and would take time to impliment of a fashion that would be useful or camparative to oher more suited softwares. [edit] I meant comparative

- leigh

[Reactor]

I think you're being a bit literal

Yes, yes I was.

I agree with leigh about the focus of 3D Coat. Animation is a huge thing to tackle. Most people into CG have zero idea about the true complexities of rigging and animation. It's a seriously complicated business, and the tools which pro animators work with are often little more than a pile of scripts, designed to get around the myriad of issues which arise. A professional animation program is a lot more than a bunch of nice looking tools. If 3D Coat were to go down the animation route, I doubt it'd be accepted as anything more than a casual animator's toy.

What I'd like to see now is some rock-solid stability of 3D Coat, and those nagging few usability quirks taken care of, such as conflicting keyboard shortcuts.

[LJB]

the tools which pro animators work with are often little more than a pile of scripts, designed to get around the myriad of issues which arise. A professional animation program is a lot more than a bunch of nice looking tools. If 3D Coat were to go down the animation route, I doubt it'd be accepted as anything more than a casual animator's toy.

Exactly, And I dont mean this as a challenge, or speculation, This is why Content creation applications do so well primarily focussing on what they are ment to do. Maya, XSI, 3DS max all lack the speed and workflow enhancements that dedicated modelling applications have in abundance. Just look at what a glorious level of detail can be achived in Both 3D Coat, zbrush. Primarily because that is their main focus. Try and cram too much and the tool becomes tepid, and lacks finesse. This should not happen with 3D coat. This is no disrespect to Andrews abillity Its just simple sense.

[Routb3d]

I apologize for This being off topic is off topic..

Do any of you know where to find info on how to make new profiles for the Curve tool?

IC

[philnolan3d]

I apologize for This being off topic is off topic..

Do any of you know where to find info on how to make new profiles for the Curve tool?

I haven't done it for a long time, but just try making your shape so that it fits in a 1 meter cube. Just that space of course, not a real cube. I believe it should go along the Y (up and down).

[Paint Guy]

Andrew, great work on 3.1.05. I'm having a few issues. Not sure if all are bugs.

The Box is importing wrong. It imported fine in 3.1 but in 3.1.05 the box imports vertically. (see inset image)

In 3.1.05 the UVs do not change color when a loop is closed. I selected "Clear Seams" then when I create new seams using the Mark Edges the separate UV's do not change color any more. Isn't this supposed to happen like it did in 3.1?

When I delete an edge here (see image) the UV loop does not change to become all the same color like it did in 3.1?

When I select Unwrap the resulting UV map is all "stacked" even though I marked al of the seams. This may be due to something I am doing wrong or a bug. Any ideas?

Thanks

[vil]

I have an idea how to improve largely the voxel workflow.

It is still an issue, that sometimes small long tube artifacts appear. It is also easily possible to have some invisible inner space on the object.

I'd love to have some comands(in comands section or voxel menu) enabling cleanup of these automatically, since now I have to smooth them all the time.

It could be 'remove all separate' which would have these options - inner, outer(or both), and 'how many objects should stay' which would, if you have e.g. 2 'islands'in your sculpt which you want to keep(usually it's only 1 per voxel object), so that everything smaller than 1-2 biggest islands would get erased.

[Ratchet]

The last version really rock

Toolpaste tool is outstanding and can be used for lot of things.

Some sort of hair i quickly mad with it and the roof brush :

[philnolan3d]

I think you mean Toothpaste.

[philnolan3d]

I noticed the Rasp-File tool is now called Flattner. Just thought I'd add that should be "Flattener" with an E after the T's.

[Routb3d]

I haven't done it for a long time, but just try making your shape so that it fits in a 1 meter cube. Just that space of course, not a real cube. I believe it should go along the Y (up and down).

Thanks for the assist.. Will try it..

IC

[philnolan3d]

You can also look at the current ones for reference. They're in the folder: [3dc root]/VoxStamps/Splines That's also where you should put yours.

[amcmahon]

I would just call it Planar tool. Since there's a flatten brush already.

One thing I noticed when working in Voxels is that if you want to import a mesh it has to be closed or you get some unforgivable errors. Any chance of having it close holes better? Not an easy task most likely but if it could work like any cap or fill tool in most 3d apps that would be great. For instance if I import a body with the hands cut off instead of it capping the two holes on the wrists it tries to merge the two together creating a block between the two.

Another feature sorely needed is the ability to center the pivot to an object. What I mean is that when you enter transform mode many times the axis is way off the mesh. Right now you have to check the box to move the axis only and position it to the mesh then uncheck. Having a single center pivot/axis button would be tremendously helpful.

While not critical I was wondering if it would also be possible to import objs into voxel layers at their existing tesselation. Currently you have to increase the res of the layer by guessing the rough amount the obj is at when importing to maintain detail. There's also a scaling issue when bringing objects into 3dc. At least it seems like it. Everything tends to come in really small. Makes it hard to work with when bouncing between apps.

Sorry this is kind of all over the place. Just writing it down as I think of it so I don't forget. 3DC is a brilliant app and has been pulling me away from ZBrush more and more. Thanks Andrew.

[philnolan3d]

While not critical I was wondering if it would also be possible to import objs into voxel layers at their existing tesselation. Currently you have to increase the res of the layer by guessing the rough amount the obj is at when importing to maintain detail. There's also a scaling issue when bringing objects into 3dc. At least it seems like it. Everything tends to come in really small. Makes it hard to work with when bouncing between apps.

I don't know if this would be possible. The existing tessellation of a cube for example is 6 quads or 12 triangles, but voxels need a much higher number of triangles to keep the edges sharp. In the same way I could import an extremely dense 3D scan and it could come in with much fewer triangles and looks as good. They're just two different animals.