Farsthary update channel

[philnolan3d]

Very excited to see what's coming.

[stevecullum]

The new smoothing algorithm looks awesome.

[JimB]

where is liveclay,let us play!

Yes just a little taster will do.

[Heath_3d]

Hi Farsthary,

It's really exciting to see you working on these features for 3dcoat. I have a few questions regarding your work.

• Are these features slated for 3d Coat V4 or are they intended as part of a point update to V3?
  
• What sort of mesh res will we be looking at with these features? Will this toolset allow for micro details and sharpness on par with Zbrush?
  
• Is the surface sculpting going to be a lot like sculptris, and would it be worth while familiarising ourselves with that tool in order to hit the ground running when these features are implemented in 3d Coat?
  
• To clarify the eventual goal: We'll have the ability to work with high frequency details on a voxel object by switching it to surface mode. We will then be able to return to voxel mode and these high frequency details will remain intact over our low frequency voxel model(similar in a way to a texture on a low poly object). Is this right?
  

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I look forward to your reply.

-Heath

[spacepainter]

If I may say, I've heard, Farsthary is having a very busy schedule lately and will have to struggle getting some sleep.

[Psmith]

Heath:

Because of Raul's slow connection in Cuba, he asked me to forward his reply, (which he sent to me via email):

>

Are these features slated for 3d Coat V4 or are they intended as part of a point update to V3?

Currently I cannot answer that, that will depends on Andrew's release plans, the full functionality may require some deeps changes but on the other hand some parts may be released punctually to get feedback.

What sort of mesh res will we be looking at with these features? Will this toolset allow for >micro details and sharpness on par with Zbrush?

I hope so dynamic subdivision is suited for anisotropic detailed models (i.e models where details are clustered in different zones) but it won't replace traditional sculptings if you want evenly detailed models.

Is the surface sculpting going to be a lot like sculptris, and would it be worth while >familiarising ourselves with that tool in order to hit the ground running when these features >are implemented in 3d Coat?

Well, I haven't tried a lot Zbrush to tell, I will check it soon, the workflow will be just as it is now

To clarify the eventual goal: We'll have the ability to work with high frequency details on a >voxel object by switching it to surface mode. We will then be able to return to voxel mode >and these high frequency details will remain intact over our low frequency voxel model(similar in a way to a texture on a low poly object). Is this right?

That's the ultimate goal, currently, if you switch to voxel model the high frequency detail get lost, in orer to allow full interchangeability (the goal) then a LiveClay module for voxel model should be implemented, but the longest journey begins with a step, first the surface liveClay will be released, then will be the turn of Voxel LiveClay that will require some internal changes.

Cheers

Raul

[Heath_3d]

Wow! Thanks for the reply! I just saw the new videos on Rauls blog(farsthary.wordpress.com/)

The progress looks amazing and should really resolve some of 3dcoats current limitations as an end to end solution.

Thanks again Raul and thanks Psmith for passing this on.

[spacepainter]

http://farsthary.wordpress.com/

[Digital777]

One thing i am wondering is with the really high subdivision will there be a way to smooth at the same time? In one of the videos there is what seems to be low res details and in the wireframe view it increases a lot in subdivision but the details remain the same, i know this is a feature but if we wanted to soften the surface as it increases would that be possible with a slider/user options also?

In a video you subdivide areas but can you brush really high details instantly? i guess what i am asking is if the general workflow is subdivide a area you need then use the brush or if you can just use the brush directly or maybe just either method, i am guessing you can just use either way which will be great.

The last thing i am wondering is as you can increase the subdivision so much will there be some sort of detail reduction options also? if yes this would make it great for making low poly game objects also.

Anyway though this will be really cool when it's available and i am looking forward to using this, great work Raul

[philnolan3d]

I believe he's making some sort of smoothing feature as well, so perhaps that's what you're asking for.

[Digital777]

I think that is slightly different as that feature (from one of the earlier videos) seems to relax/smooth the whole layer/model. In the latest videos (Extreme subdivision no displacement test) there is brushing which adds a lot of subdivision detail but it appears to keep the same details that were there before, so looks low res but actually very detailed.

What i was asking is when doing this brushing to add a lot of subdivision if it's possible to smooth/relax at the same time. So rather than keep the lower res look but actually have a higher detailed surface you just have a very high detailed but smooth and relaxed surface instantly as you brush in the extra subdivision.

I guess i just need to wait for the beta versions with this to test

[Psmith]

Digital 777:

Raul's reply is as follows:

One thing i am wondering is with the really high subdivision will there be a way to smooth at >the same time? In one of the videos there is what seems to be low res details and in the >wireframe view it increases a lot in subdivision but the details remain the same, i know this >is a feature but if we wanted to soften the surface as it increases would that be possible with a slider/user options also?

Definately yes, the current code smooth but it preserves shapes, so the polygons "flow" over the surface without shrinking it, but offcourse there will be an option to allow the shrinkage effect and full smoothing

In a video you subdivide areas but can you brush really high details instantly? i guess what i >am asking is if the general workflow is subdivide a area you need then use the brush or if >you can just use the brush directly or maybe just either method, i am guessing you can just >use either way which will be great.

I'm not sure I understand this question but the workflow is (subdivide/reduce)->smooth->deform on every LiveClay stroke , for the second video I disable the deform part intentionally just to show the subdivision engine, which by the way, I have improved a lot since that video

The last thing i am wondering is as you can increase the subdivision so much will there be >some sort of detail reduction options also? if yes this would make it great for making low >poly game objects also.

Well, I guess I have answered that in the previous point: yes, in fact I will focus on the reduction part very soon and is a must

Thanks for the user feedback and opinions.

Cheers

Raul

[Digital777]

That sounds really great thanks Raul, also thanks to Psmith for forwarding the reply's.

[stevecullum]

Any more news on these features yet?

[Psmith]

Raul is very busy implementing a hoard of brushes that work with LiveClay. He is also digging very deep to find the source of a bug that causes some face disconnection.

Shouldn't be too long, now.

Greg Smith