Voxel Stickiness?

[illincrux]

Hi, I'm new to 3D-Coat and are currently using the trial version to see if it's a viable alternative to zBrush.

So far I'm very very impressed and might actually migrate by the end of my trial...

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So here's the deal, I wasn't really sure where to post this, but this is both a feature request and a question.

1)Is there a way to adjust how sticky voxels can be before they merge together?

It would be nice to have voxels actually press up against one another without actually merging to create overlaps.

Perhaps, I'm missing a part in the workflow of it all, but this is the problem I'm getting within the armpit area:

Every time I smooth it out, the voxels seem to merge together from the arm to the rib cage...

[cakeller]

the surface is a representation of the voxels. the voxels is really just a 3D image...

so, when you blend nearby surfaces together you're actually merging them.

while for some operations (as you were referring to them pressing up against each other)

it's a prohibitive curse of the concept of voxels. but it's also what allows you to build with complete topological freedom,

connecting and disconnecting areas, etc. because you're not limited to an original topology, or surface.

The work a round is to construct separate parts. You can retopo over multiple voxel objects too, in fact anything visible in retopo.

in addition to being able to make things press up against each other, you can also have areas of tighter/finer detail, and areas with lesser detail.

Also this concept of making multiple parts allows you to copy say, a piece of tight clothing, and use it to subtract away from the flesh of the body,

then smooth gently. creating a really nice indentation/buldge around the clothing.

the copy/clone brush allows you to clone material from other objects which will allow you to blend into them and clean up the interface between.

adding material up to, and removing material down to, the neighboring surface (copy/clone has a zBrush analog,

although I can't remember what it's called it looks like a gridded sphere and cube I think, in the brush thumbnail)

anyway... short answer, the stickiness is inherent in the voxels. don't be afraid to break your models apart.

also, you can use the hide brush (not cell hide) , and then voxel -> separate hidden part. the hidden part is still in the original part,

but you just created a separate part from the hidden material. it makes it really easy to part out your voxels... at least I think so.

good luck! hope this helps.

[illincrux]

Thanks for the insight!

I'm working on 20 different character models right now and striving to create them within this program feels like it's going to be a breeze. It's the closest I've gotten to feeling like I'm working with real clay digitally. It's as if I don't even have to push poly to come up with a base mesh for sculpting upon anymore. I can just use a solid voxel cube and then chisel them out the traditional way!

I can definitely see that I could get just about everything done within it...I'll be sure to post wips of my base sculpts which should be towards the end of my trial.

[edit]

If I have any more questions, I guess I'll post them within this thread just to keep things centralized...

[cuffins]

the surface is a representation of the voxels. the voxels is really just a 3D image...

so, when you blend nearby surfaces together you're actually merging them.

while for some operations (as you were referring to them pressing up against each other)

it's a prohibitive curse of the concept of voxels. but it's also what allows you to build with complete topological freedom,

connecting and disconnecting areas, etc. because you're not limited to an original topology, or surface.

The work a round is to construct separate parts. You can retopo over multiple voxel objects too, in fact anything visible in retopo.

in addition to being able to make things press up against each other, you can also have areas of tighter/finer detail, and areas with lesser detail.

Also this concept of making multiple parts allows you to copy say, a piece of tight clothing, and use it to subtract away from the flesh of the body,

then smooth gently. creating a really nice indentation/buldge around the clothing.

the copy/clone brush allows you to clone material from other objects which will allow you to blend into them and clean up the interface between.

adding material up to, and removing material down to, the neighboring surface (copy/clone has a zBrush analog,

although I can't remember what it's called it looks like a gridded sphere and cube I think, in the brush thumbnail)

anyway... short answer, the stickiness is inherent in the voxels. don't be afraid to break your models apart.

also, you can use the hide brush (not cell hide) , and then voxel -> separate hidden part. the hidden part is still in the original part,

but you just created a separate part from the hidden material. it makes it really easy to part out your voxels... at least I think so.

good luck! hope this helps.

very nice explanation!