Member raydale Posted September 15, 2009 Member Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Hi guys, I have been looking into buying a sculpting program that will work well with C4D. I have demos for both 3D Coat and Zbrush and am looking for some advice (without a flame war). I really like the concept of using Voxels to sculpt topology free. However, I also like what I have only seen with ZSpheres 2. My main question though is because I have hit a brick wall with my limited understanding on workflows without having used those apps for more than a few weeks: What extra does 3D Coat give me when going back and forth between C4D over ZBrush? I am pretty impressed with GOZ, but by the same token - I love what I see with the retopo tools in 3D Coat! UV Mapping and painting in 3D Coat also looks useful (though I am not sure that it gives me anything above C4D and Bodypaint). GOZ looks to work well, but I think that once at a detailed sculpting level in ZBrush I lose some flexibility to retopologise (?? - please correct me if I am wrong here). Whereas, with 3D Coat I can easily retopologise no matter how detailed I go with a sculpt? Like I said my experience is limited here so these are assumptions from a complete noob with an interest in getting the best workflow. Does anyone here have experience of using 3D Coat AND Zbrush with C4D? I am looking to concept sculpt and detail characters and then go to C4D to add hair and animate - if that info is helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Pixelpantscher Posted September 15, 2009 Member Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 I'm using C4D (10.5), ZB and 3DC. 3DC is in use now for just 3 weeks and I'm mainly in to technical stuff and not caracters, so I'm for sure not the right man to tell you all the pros of 3DC, but I can tell you some reasons why I decided to use 3DC in my workflow. 3DC can import STL which ZB can not. 3DC has no problems with tries which ZB has. Up to here I never observed any normalmap which was not realy fitting from 3DC, but had sometimes problems with NM from ZB. This is to say it clear a problem of C4D - at least in version 10.5, as the same model and map in Blender is coming OK and the same can happen with displacement maps. I have not yet checked any DP map from 3DC so no idea if this works propper. If the question comes to texturing, you can ask the question in two directions: What are the advantages of ZB over Bodypaint - what are the advantages of 3DC over ZB - and this all vice versa So I think this is more a matter of feeling then technic. For me ZB is more comfortable then BP and 3DC is as comfortable as ZB and in some cases even easier to handle (please bare in mind that this is only what I feel for my way of working and not based on any technical things) On the modelling side for me 3DC is unique. Naturally there are things which you can not do with voxels, but after seeing how Andrew works this is more a matter of time. For me both apps are great tools and I would not like to miss either. Not sure if this was now of any help Hans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member raydale Posted September 15, 2009 Author Member Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 I'm using C4D (10.5), ZB and 3DC.3DC is in use now for just 3 weeks and I'm mainly in to technical stuff and not caracters, so I'm for sure not the right man to tell you all the pros of 3DC, but I can tell you some reasons why I decided to use 3DC in my workflow. 3DC can import STL which ZB can not. 3DC has no problems with tries which ZB has. Up to here I never observed any normalmap which was not realy fitting from 3DC, but had sometimes problems with NM from ZB. This is to say it clear a problem of C4D - at least in version 10.5, as the same model and map in Blender is coming OK and the same can happen with displacement maps. I have not yet checked any DP map from 3DC so no idea if this works propper. If the question comes to texturing, you can ask the question in two directions: What are the advantages of ZB over Bodypaint - what are the advantages of 3DC over ZB - and this all vice versa So I think this is more a matter of feeling then technic. For me ZB is more comfortable then BP and 3DC is as comfortable as ZB and in some cases even easier to handle (please bare in mind that this is only what I feel for my way of working and not based on any technical things) On the modelling side for me 3DC is unique. Naturally there are things which you can not do with voxels, but after seeing how Andrew works this is more a matter of time. For me both apps are great tools and I would not like to miss either. Not sure if this was now of any help Hans Lol, no problem Hans , it was good and useful information, thanks. Indeed, I would love to have both ZB and 3DC but my budget at the moment can only stretch to one of them as I don't create characters for my day job, yet. It was interesting to hear your thoughts on BP vs 3DC and ZB (that's a lot of acronyms). Most of the time I find BodyPaint to be intuitive - but sometimes clunky and would definitely enjoy a faster process in some cases. Also, a good tip about ZB not handling tri's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philnolan3d Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 I can just say I used BodyPaint for a while a few years ago and I found it very clunky and it didn't have a good workflow. So since then I used Photoshop exclusively until 3DC came along. To me 3DC feels just like working in Photoshop with added benefits, like painting nicely on the 3D models and being able to paint any combination of color / spec / normals at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted September 16, 2009 Contributor Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 I'm using C4D (10.5), ZB and 3DC.3DC is in use now for just 3 weeks and I'm mainly in to technical stuff and not caracters, so I'm for sure not the right man to tell you all the pros of 3DC, but I can tell you some reasons why I decided to use 3DC in my workflow. 3DC can import STL which ZB can not. 3DC has no problems with tries which ZB has. Up to here I never observed any normalmap which was not realy fitting from 3DC, but had sometimes problems with NM from ZB. This is to say it clear a problem of C4D - at least in version 10.5, as the same model and map in Blender is coming OK and the same can happen with displacement maps. I have not yet checked any DP map from 3DC so no idea if this works propper. If the question comes to texturing, you can ask the question in two directions: What are the advantages of ZB over Bodypaint - what are the advantages of 3DC over ZB - and this all vice versa So I think this is more a matter of feeling then technic. For me ZB is more comfortable then BP and 3DC is as comfortable as ZB and in some cases even easier to handle (please bare in mind that this is only what I feel for my way of working and not based on any technical things) On the modelling side for me 3DC is unique. Naturally there are things which you can not do with voxels, but after seeing how Andrew works this is more a matter of time. For me both apps are great tools and I would not like to miss either. Not sure if this was now of any help Hans Hans, I use C4D 10.5 with 3DC on a routine basis. I don't have ZB (way too expensive for my budjet) but I can't imagine a better prototyping medium than voxels. You are also getting in on the ground floor with one of natures best progammers, so the future is very bright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Pixelpantscher Posted September 16, 2009 Member Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Hans,I use C4D 10.5 with 3DC on a routine basis. I don't have ZB (way too expensive for my budjet) but I can't imagine a better prototyping medium than voxels. You are also getting in on the ground floor with one of natures best progammers, so the future is very bright. Tony, one more good reason for 3DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member raydale Posted September 16, 2009 Author Member Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Thanks for the input so far. What are the relative merits of using voxels over the new zpheres. I know that cutting holes for instance is obviously possible with 3DC, whereas zspheres you have to 'build' any holes in a volume. Is that the extent of the differences (on a practical sculpting level)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member raydale Posted September 17, 2009 Author Member Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Okay, I have finally decided to stop sitting on the fence and bought 3D Coat. I am impressed with the speedy development and reasonable price. Quite a few errors with the order process though - so it took quite a while. Thanks again for your help guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted September 17, 2009 Contributor Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Okay, I have finally decided to stop sitting on the fence and bought 3D Coat. I am impressed with the speedy development and reasonable price. Quite a few errors with the order process though - so it took quite a while.Thanks again for your help guys Good choice! You'll be another "Fanboy" in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member raydale Posted September 18, 2009 Author Member Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Good choice! You'll be another "Fanboy" in no time. Sheesh, it could get tiring; I'm already a 'Fanboy' of Cinema 4D - I don't know if I have enough time to be one for 3D Coat at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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