Need workflow help for sculpting after doing Retopo

[RobH2]

I'm sort of new to 3DC but not new to 3D in general. I use 3D Max and exported a complex and somewhat messy model from Max as an .obj and used Retopo in 3DC to create a nice new mesh. Now I need to sculpt on it. I can't determine from searching this forum nor from the 3DC Manual how best to approach this. It appears I can't convert it to Voxels and use those tools. What is the best workflow to use so I can sculpt details on this Retopo mesh inside of 3DC?

[Psmith]

Rob:

Using the opening "Wizard", select your file for merging into the Voxel Room first. This option appears when you hover your mouse pointer over the "Voxel" area of the Wizard, with the option appearing at the bottom right of the window.

Make sure to start sculpting with a reasonable amount of resolution - I recommend scaling the "merged" mesh till it fills about 3/4 of the default viewport.

If this seems sluggish to you, try again by scaling up to a lesser degree.

Add all the details that still hold their resolution using the starting resolution - only using "Res+" when the details won't hold.

Once finished with sculpting you can either use this voxel model as the "base" for adding topology manually - or, try using AUTOPO from the right click "Vox Tree" menu. Experiment with adding density shading and guidelines to influence how topology is added automatically.

That's the recommended workflow if you want to add additional sculpting to an imported mesh - voxels first, topology second.

Greg Smith

[RobH2]

Greg,

Thanks a lot for that. It gives me a good and accepted way to proceed. I've been playing around and not getting very far. I appreciate your direction. It's not a workflow that's well documented or easy to find for some reason.

Regards,

Rob

[L'Ancien Regime]

Greg,

Thanks a lot for that. It gives me a good and accepted way to proceed. I've been playing around and not getting very far. I appreciate your direction. It's not a workflow that's well documented or easy to find for some reason.

Regards,

Rob

yeah documentation is sparse and frankly few of the Kurv videos are very good. L J Bamforth's are the exception to that rule. His videos are outstanding.

This should lay out the workflow for you on the Merge tool in 3d coat;

[RobH2]

yeah documentation is sparse and frankly few of the Kurv videos are very good. L J Bamforth's are the exception to that rule. His videos are outstanding.

This should lay out the workflow for you on the Merge tool in 3d coat;

Hey,

Thanks for this. I appreciate it.

Regards,

Rob

[Javis]

yeah documentation is sparse and frankly few of the Kurv videos are very good. L J Bamforth's are the exception to that rule. His videos are outstanding.

This should lay out the workflow for you on the Merge tool in 3d coat;

http://vimeo.com/5208577

I agree that Leigh's videos are great, from what I've seen. But the above reseller has many, many issues, including that of not paying Leigh for his videos that are sold, among other issues.

[RobH2]

That's too bad that the reseller is not fair with the content that helps them grow. Too much of that going around these days. What's worse is all of the app hacking. A guy was developing a really good plug-in for Max a few years ago for character animation. I bought V1 and wrote him last year to see if there was an update. He said that once the hackers got it and threw it on the warez sites his sales plummeted and it wasn't worth keeping up with all the intense coding. It's a shame because it was a really nice plug-in.

Back on topic now. I just viewed several of Leigh's videos. They are really nice and he doesn't get all mired down in tech stuff. He is very laid back and says "just play." I like that. I'm getting better with 3DC and really like it. I had played with ZBrush and just couldn't quite get used to the interface. 3DC is much more intuitive. I'm sure there is a place in the world for both but I much prefer 3DC to ZBrush for now.

I'm good to go now with merging meshes for Voxel work. It's working nicely for me. Here's a sample of my recent model (for a job). I had a rough model I'd made in Max, exported an .obj, imported that into 3DC, retopoed it and exported it. I then wanted to make some detailed changes and that's when I realized I needed to get it back into 3DC and posted. The client is very happy with the result and it's my first work in 3DC. It's only uphill from here.

Thanks All...

[L'Ancien Regime]

That's too bad that the reseller is not fair with the content that helps them grow. Too much of that going around these days. What's worse is all of the app hacking. A guy was developing a really good plug-in for Max a few years ago for character animation. I bought V1 and wrote him last year to see if there was an update. He said that once the hackers got it and threw it on the warez sites his sales plummeted and it wasn't worth keeping up with all the intense coding. It's a shame because it was a really nice plug-in.

Back on topic now. I just viewed several of Leigh's videos. They are really nice and he doesn't get all mired down in tech stuff. He is very laid back and says "just play." I like that. I'm getting better with 3DC and really like it. I had played with ZBrush and just couldn't quite get used to the interface. 3DC is much more intuitive. I'm sure there is a place in the world for both but I much prefer 3DC to ZBrush for now.

I'm good to go now with merging meshes for Voxel work. It's working nicely for me. Here's a sample of my recent model (for a job). I had a rough model I'd made in Max, exported an .obj, imported that into 3DC, retopoed it and exported it. I then wanted to make some detailed changes and that's when I realized I needed to get it back into 3DC and posted. The client is very happy with the result and it's my first work in 3DC. It's only uphill from here.

Thanks All...

Nice, are those night guards or for contact sports?

[RobH2]

Mouth guards for sports. I do a lot of dental work. There is some other stuff on my site if you are curious.