Autopo - acting strange

[Jonas_D]

Hey guys, sorry to kick in on this forum with this as my first message, but I've got a little problem.

I've sculpted a vest in Zbrush, decimated it, and exported it to an obj file so I can open it in 3Dcoat and retopologize it.

(fig 1. = the vest as it should be)

However, when I import it for AUTOPO, it's got holes and a zebra pattern (quite fancy if it had to be that way ) (fig 2. = the vest imported for autopo)

I tried to make the best of it, and put some strokes on it, but when I exported it and opened it in 3DsMax, it also had lots of missing pieces.

note; I couldn't retopo it on my laptop (maybe because it's too weak?) but on my desktop it went pretty smooth (the export that is, I still got the same hole problem)

Any help is really apreciated

Greetz, Jonas

[Taros]

Welcome to the 3DC forums.

You have to increase the voxel resolution before importing your model for autoretopo.

[AbnRanger]

Yeah, before you hit "APPLY" or the ENTER key (that will convert the model to Voxels), you usually want to hit the "Increase Resolution" icon at the bottom of the Vox Tree panel (layer panel), at least once...if it still doesn't look like it captured it correctly, hit UNDO and try it again...but this time, Increase the Res an additional time. It also will be more accurate if you scale it larger on the grid. The larger it is on the grid, the more Voxels it has. You will get a prompt to ask if you want to keep the original scale upon export, so don't worry about scaling it up in the viewport. However, be careful that you don't scale it too large. Otherwise it will be slow working with a model that is too dense. Also, you will want to close the ends of the coat, because I have found that Auto Retopo will try to make the object double sided, and that may not be what you want.

One other nifty tool at your disposal is that you can import your character into the voxel room, and then use the Cloth (Simulation) tool to get that coat to drape better. In the Cloth tool options you can select your coat mesh from its directory location or from the Retopo room, if you have already topologized it there. It's good to at least get some natural weight and tension. You'll have to play with it a bit to find a good result.

[Jonas_D]

Hey guys and thanks for the fast replies! I increased the resolution and it was already heaps better! However, my computer ran out of memory somehow and the screen turned white :/ I'm gonna try this tomorrow on a better pc, I'll keep you updated ^^

[AbnRanger]

Hey guys and thanks for the fast replies! I increased the resolution and it was already heaps better! However, my computer ran out of memory somehow and the screen turned white :/ I'm gonna try this tomorrow on a better pc, I'll keep you updated ^^

Yeah...that's why you want to increase it one level at a time, before you hit "APPLY" or the ENTER key. As far as scale. If it's tiny on the grid, it needs more resolution, but if it takes up a large portion of it, then you will have a slow go it. So, maybe a scale where it's somewhere between 10-30% of the grid

[crumbaker]

Yeah, before you hit "APPLY" or the ENTER key (that will convert the model to Voxels), you usually want to hit the "Increase Resolution" icon at the bottom of the Vox Tree panel (layer panel), at least once...if it still doesn't look like it captured it correctly, hit UNDO and try it again...but this time, Increase the Res an additional time. It also will be more accurate if you scale it larger on the grid. The larger it is on the grid, the more Voxels it has. You will get a prompt to ask if you want to keep the original scale upon export, so don't worry about scaling it up in the viewport. However, be careful that you don't scale it too large. Otherwise it will be slow working with a model that is too dense. Also, you will want to close the ends of the coat, because I have found that Auto Retopo will try to make the object double sided, and that may not be what you want. One other nifty tool at your disposal is that you can import your character into the voxel room, and then use the Cloth (Simulation) tool to get that coat to drape better. In the Cloth tool options you can select your coat mesh from its directory location or from the Retopo room, if you have already topologized it there. It's good to at least get some natural weight and tension. You'll have to play with it a bit to find a good result.

I'm actually having the exact same problem as the op. I've looked and looked and can't find these options you're talking about. Is there another way to autotopo other than using the import to autotopo function?

[AbnRanger]

I'm actually having the exact same problem as the op. I've looked and looked and can't find these options you're talking about. Is there another way to autotopo other than using the import to autotopo function?

He was told that increasing resolution would be the solution, and it is. What specifically isn't working for you? You can't find the Merge command, or can't find the Increase Resolution icon? I think the UI team has been changing some of the names of the tools a little. One of those is the "Increase" (Resolution) button in the vertical toolbar on the left. In the lower left-hand side of the UI, it looks like it's been re-named "Res+". However, the icon at the bottom of the Vox Tree Panel is still there (the Tooltip says "Increase Resolution"), and that's what I always use. Hope that helps some.

Upon merging a model into Voxels, you can scale your model, before you hit the ENTER key, to increase the resolution, as another means. Just be careful that you don't scale it up too large. Again...no more than 50-60% of the total grid size, and the model should be manageable. 10-30% of the grid is optimal, in my own experience. You just don't want to be around 10-20million polys (polys as in a skin that essentially acts like shrink wrap for the voxel volume beneath), when you are roughing out your forms. You can see how many polys and object/layer has by looking toward the bottom center of the UI.

[crumbaker]

He was told that increasing resolution would be the solution, and it is. What specifically isn't working for you? You can't find the Merge command, or can't find the Increase Resolution icon? I think the UI team has been changing some of the names of the tools a little. One of those is the "Increase" (Resolution) button in the vertical toolbar on the left. In the lower left-hand side of the UI, it looks like it's been re-named "Res+". However, the icon at the bottom of the Vox Tree Panel is still there (the Tooltip says "Increase Resolution"), and that's what I always use. Hope that helps some.Upon merging a model into Voxels, you can scale your model, before you hit the ENTER key, to increase the resolution, as another means. Just be careful that you don't scale it up too large. Again...no more than 50-60% of the total grid size, and the model should be manageable. 10-30% of the grid is optimal, in my own experience. You just don't want to be around 10-20million polys (polys as in a skin that essentially acts like shrink wrap for the voxel volume beneath), when you are roughing out your forms. You can see how many polys and object/layer is by looing toward the bottom center of the UI.

I can find merge but it just has me open another model. All I'm trying to do is use the autoretopo tool, and import to autoretopo leaves me with a messy mesh. I was just wondering what option you select instead to initially open the model then move on to starting the auto retopo process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcZ7N_-8NFM&feature=related I can't even figure out how to get to the initial options on the right shown in this video. I'm good with zbrush so I'm used to complicated UI's but this just has me baffled and I'm right at the starting point.

[Psmith]

Crumbaker:

To make use of AUTOPO on an object you wish to produce topology the very first time, just start by clicking the "folder" icon in the 3D-Coat opening "wizard", and, when you get the Transform widget, enlarge your imported object about 150 per cent and click "enter".

In the resulting Voxel Layer, on the right, you will find the menu that contains AUTOPO in its various forms - by right clicking on the layer name.

The names of the functions are different, now, than when that video was produced - but you can start with "AUTOPO". Try running the algorithm without giving it any guidance in the opening dialogs - other than setting the desired resolution to something like 6000 - leaving everything else at its default. Don't provide any density shading or guides, at this point, (just click the "Next" button twice).

Let it run and check the result. Then, tell us about it, here.

Greg Smith

[crumbaker]

doing all of those steps, after I hit the autopo option and next twice I get a fatal error out of virtual memory. I tried it even on a restart with nothing opened same thing happened. This is on a Q9550 (quad core) @ 3.6ghz with 3gb of ram on a 700k poly mesh. Does it also when I use the opengl version or when I try to subdivide the mesh. This happens on 700k decimated mesh or the high poly version.

edit: Figured it out. For anyone that's having trouble I used the auto scale function 150% would not work for me for some reason, or any other number I tried. I also had to select the merge as skin option and mess with the thickness, think I got it from here. Thanks to everyone for the help. If anyone knows how to then edit this topology in zbrush that's all I need to know now