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I totally agree. They should also be VERY intuitive, meaning that experienced users/artists can often read a tooltip and figure out how the tool works quickly. Some of the tools in 3DCoat really need to be re-written/rebuilt and polished. One of those is the CURVES/STROKES tool in the Retopo/Modeling workspace. If you want to make a simple loop selection (with the Curves panel) like you find with the regular Strokes tool, you MUST switch to the Sculpt room first. How much sense does that make? None at all. The tools in 3DCoat need to be well thought out and designed to require the least amount of effort, time and clicks. Another tool that is so difficult to use and even figure out is the SPINE tool in the Retopo/Modeling toolset. I even asked Alexander to please make the Transform gizmo function the same exact way the other Transform Gizmo works (when the Tool Option MODIFY with SPLINE is unchecked...but it remains unchanged and I still, to this day, have never been able to figure it out and it is the most unintuitive and difficult tool I have ever seen...in any application. This is the reason I never made a video tutorial about it. The Spline mode works well, but the Gizmo mode is the worst tool in 3DCoat apart from the Tweak Tools that are generally deprecated, if not broken. Selection is broken, the Transform Gizmos are way different than those in the Sculpt and Retopo Workspaces. They are very hard to use. I personally think they should be removed from the application entirely, if they are not going to be fixed. The Paint Objects panel is extremely deprecated too, missing 95% of the functionality you find in the Sculpt Room within the SculptTree panel. Both are OBJECT panels. The Retopo/Modeling panel is the same. Many features in the SculptTree panel are missing from it, too. No Multi-Selection of layers. No hierarchy or grouping. No Highlighting. No select + drag to merge the content from one layer to another. You have to use a different method, which baffles me. Why make artists learn to use different methods to do the same task? You have to select the layer first > select faces/mesh > select the layer you want to move it to > click the MOVE FACES TO icon at the bottom of the panel > Delete the old and empty layer. That is way too cumbersome and time-consuming, rather than just drag moving one layer over another with the SHIFT key held down, or RMB click the layer like the Sculpt Tree RMB menu and choose to MERGE WITH. Many things in 3DCoat are brilliant, while some of them make no sense and were never thought through. ALL THE MESH/OBJECT PANELS SHOULD BE BROUGHT UP TO DATE and MADE CONSISTENT WITH EACH OTHER. In fact, there should be ONE Object Panel period...with 3 sections for PAINT/RETOPO/SCULPT Objects, respectively. Each one should have the same COLLAPSE/EXPAND feature the Tool Panel has. This helps to consolidate the UI, make it more intuitive and make the UI look cleaner.  https://app.screencast.com/VUrH47uhfNLFB

Source... Open 3D Engine is a free and open-source 3D game engine developed by Open 3D Foundation, a subsidiary of the Linux Foundation, and distributed under the Apache 2.0 open source license.  The initial version of the engine is an updated version of Amazon Lumberyard, contributed by Amazon Games.  

The most important thing about 3D software is that it doesn't cause stress. No matter how great a feature is, it's useless if it only causes stress. The points that I've found to be stressful while using several 3D software programs are: - Requiring precise work - Requiring a lot of muscle movement before using a function Humans are creatures that avoid precise work as much as possible. Humans are creatures that want to use as few muscles as possible. People become stressed when precise work is required. For example, in many 3D software programs, you need to precisely click the XYZ arrows to move an object, which can be stressful. 3d-coat's retopo function has operations that require precise vertex selection, which can be stressful. The more muscle movement required to use a function, the more stressful it becomes. Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+C,V require very little arm muscle movement, so they are convenient for everyone. The farther apart the keyboard keys are, the greater the arm movement distance, which can be stressful for humans.

Bad parts of retopo/modeling: Free extrusion has been removed. Face deletion and edge deletion have been combined, so you now have to press keys twice. When doing a lot of work, the fewer times you press keys the better, but because edge deletion and face deletion have been combined, the number of times you have to press keys has increased dramatically, which is frustrating. No matter how great a feature is, it's useless if it causes stress.

This was the issue, I must have mis-clicked it at some point. Thank you for the help!

Full process of the asset creation: modeling, sculpting, retopology, baking, texturing.  

Maybe because you have it disabled.

+ Also tried all the troubleshooting from the AI chatbot on the Pilgway website. (of course nothing useful)

Hi, I've tried to search for a solution, but I haven't found anything yet. Issue: I started painting on a model and after I did a color pick, my tools stopped working. I don't think the issue is related to color picking- because I've had issues with 3D Coat (textura) before where my brush would stop working. I can't seem to find a solution.   Tried reopening Tried reinstalling Tried running program as administrator Had this issue on version 2025.09, updated to 17 and I continue to have this issue.  When I start a new file with a cube or sphere, painting still doesn't work Fill tool stopped working as well along with eraser (likely other tools don't work too) Tried with both mouse and pen, neither work. Tried painting on the texture editor - doesn't work either. Here's a quick screen capture video: I feel like I've had this issue happen a few times and re-opening had done the trick... Not this time. It's time to fix the root issue instead of putting a bandaid on it.  Hope someone can help my issue, thank you!  

NSIS: Nullsoft Scriptable Install System NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution. Being a user's first experience with your product, a stable and reliable installer is an important component of succesful software. With NSIS you can create such installers that are capable of doing everything that is needed to setup your software. NSIS is script-based and allows you to create the logic to handle even the most complex installation tasks. Many plug-ins and scripts are already available: you can create web installers, communicate with Windows and other software components, install or update shared components and more.

Source... Some features, such as Python support, may be available in newer versions; these features will be commented on separately next to their description. AppLinks are intended to simplify data exchange between 3DCoat and other applications. AppLink is a plugin written for the specific application. 1. The exchange path. In your plugin you should compose path to exchange data. It is My Documents\AppLinks\3D-Coat\Exchange\  You need full path, so it will look like (but not exactly, it differs from PC to PC) C:/Users/UserName/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/ See the Application 3 how to get this path. Other way is to ask this path from user, but it will be less convenient. Best option is to fill it by default and let user possibility to change it. Let us call this full path exchange_path. 2. List of AppLinks in File->Export To-> In the exchange_path you need to create Folder that corresponds to your application, for example Blender. Like exchange_path/Blender Each folder means that there will appear the item in File->Export To-> Within the folder you should create files: run.txt The file is mandatory, it should exist. It may be empty, but if there is path to executable file, it will be run each time you choose in 3D-Coat File->Export To->...your app... extension.txt Contains extension for export. If file not exists, OBJ is taken. params.txt Parameters that passed to executable from run.txt except path to object preset.txt The name of export preset that will be used for export *.xml Any xml file in this folder will be treated as export preset. It will be copied to presets folder and used as default preset for this applink. You may refer this preset as file name without extension. 3. First scenario: Application -> 3D-Coat and back There are several scenarios of Applinks usage: First scenario: sending object from Application (say Blender) to 3D-Coat and back. Next steps. Let user created some model in Application, wants to drop it to 3D-Coat. First, as soon as user wants to drop model to 3D-Coat from the Application, you need to export object from Application, say the full path is exchange_path/exportfile.obj You expect that after all job over the model 3d-coat will create file with path exchange_path/returnpath.obj (generally name may be any different, this name is just for instance) Create import.txt like exchange_path/exportfile.obj exchange_path/returnpath.obj [ppp] [export_preset Blender Cycles]   [ppp] means that you need to open file for perpixel painting. There are a lot of other options how to open the file. See the list below: Paint mesh in 3D-Coat using per-pixel painting [ppp] Paint mesh in 3D-Coat using microvertex painting [mv] Paint mesh in 3D-Coat using Ptex [ptex] Perform UV-mapping in 3D-Coat [uv] Drop reference mesh to 3D-Coat [ref] Drop retopo mesh as new layer in 3D-Coat [retopo] Drop mesh in 3D-Coat as voxel object [vox] Drop mesh in 3D-Coat as single voxel object, all objects will be merged together in one volume [voxcombine] Drop mesh in 3D-Coat as new pen alpha [alpha] Drop mesh in 3D-Coat as new merging primitive for voxels [prim] Drop mesh in 3D-Coat as a curve profile [curv] Drop mesh in 3D-Coat for Auto-retopology [autopo] The last line [export_preset Blender Cycles] means that you will choose  Blender Cycles preset in export dialog when user will export. Generally you may refer to any preset, even to your own. !! import.py is supported since 3DCoat version 2025.12 or later. !! Alternatively, you can use the import.py file to execute a python script for import via AppLink. Simply place the import.py file in the same folder as import.txt. After importing, both files will be deleted. If import.txt is empty, import.py will simply be executed and the standard import dialog from AppLink to 3DCoat will not open, allowing you to perform silent imports or custom dialogs. You may place additional commands into import.txt. There is one useful example. Say, you need to run some script after importing the object. In this case write after [ppp] or [export_preset ...] [python text_of_python_script] or !! The "pythonfile" property is supported since 3DCoat version 2025.12 !! [pythonfile path_to_script_file] The pythonfile property should point to the python script corresponding to 3DCoat, Older versions of 3DCoat used a "script" command that was executed using Angel Script, but as of version 2025.12 the "script" property and Angel Script have been deprecated, it will still work but will automatically be converted to Python for execution, we recommend using "python" instead. !! The "scriptfile" property is not supported since 3DCoat version 2025.12 !! Older versions of 3DCoat used a "scriptfile" command that pointed to an Angel Script file, but as of version 2025.12 the "scriptfile" property and Angel Script are deprecated and will not work. Example of useful script: For example, after importing object into 3D-Coat you need to pass textures additionally. In this case write [python ImportTexture("$LOADTEX","Uv_Set_Name", “Path_ToTexture”)] "$LOADTEX" is identifier from Textures->Import->Color/Albedo map. You may take any identifier from Import/Export menu. Use MMB+RMB to extract identifier (it always starts from $ sign). Other examples of identifiers $LOADTEX - Textures->Import->Color/Albedo $ExternalAO - Textures->Import->External AO $ExternalCavity - External Curvature $LOADMETAL - Textures->Import->Metalness Map $LOADEMISSIVE - Textures->Import->Emissive $LOADEMISSIVE_BW - Textures->Import->Emissive Intensity $LOADLOPOLYTANG - Textures->Import->Normal Map $ImportOSNormal - Textures->Import->World Space Normal Map $LOAD_LAYER_DISP - Textures->Import->Displacement Map In Roughress/Metallness workflow: $LOADROUGHNESS - Textures->Import->Roughness In Gloss/Metallness workflow: $LOADSPEC - Textures->Import->Glossiness Map In Gloss/Specular color workflow: $LOADSPECCOL - Textures->Import->Specular Color If you need to switch to specific texturing workflow, use any of commands before textures importing commands [python cmd(“$GlossSpecular”)] //Textures->Textures Export/Import workflow->Gloss/Color Specular [python cmd(“$GlossMetallness”)] //Textures->Textures Export/Import workflow->Gloss/Metalness [python cmd(“$RoughnessMetallness”)] //Textures->Textures Export/Import workflow->Roughness/Metalness Let us continue describing other parameters of ImportTexture Uv_Set_Name is name of Uv-set where you want to import texture. Passing “any” means first UV-set of the model. Path_ToTexture is full path to texture. Generally relative paths allowed as well, but path should be relative to MyDocyuments/3D-CoatVxx/. Important! It is better to pass all paths with “/” not with “\”. You may use “\” but you should pass “\\” instead of “\” due to python syntax used for scripts. This is just example, you may use any script commands there. There are several additional commands that you may use in import.txt, the list is in Application 6. Important! You should create all object files, textures and only after all create import.txt because import.txt creation is signal for 3D-Coat to start importing. After creation of the file import.txt 3D-Coat will import your file. In the case above - for perpixel painting. Then user will edit the file, create textures, modify etc. After the edit process user will trigger the File->Open in original App In this case 3D-Coat will create set of files that will indicate that export finished. The file exchange_path/export.txt will be created. The file contains path to exported model file. It is the same name that you passed previously using import.txt. In our case it is exchange_path/exportfile.obj Also the file exchange_path/textures.txt will be created. It contains references to textures created during export Name_of_material_1 Name_of_uv_set_1 Texure_uage_1 Absolute_path_to_texture_1 ….same for second and other textures …   Texture usage is taken from the export presets tags, so you may easily identify type of texture. If Export constructor is not used then tags color, specular, displacement, normalmap are used**.** It there is tag displacement additional floating number will be written below – scale factor for displacement, it looks like displacement 1.345 When you will detect that file export.txt exists and is not empty or locked - read the file, use it’s content and delete. The file export.xml will be created as well. It contains complete export settings. No need to use this file if you don’t need to analyse export settings. So, you finished complete loop Application->3D-Coat->Application 4. Second scenario: 3D-Coat -> Application There is menu item File->Export To->....list of applications… in 3D-Coat. In the Section 2 we described how to add items there. Afterl user will choose File - > Open in original App the file exchange_path/YourAppName/export.txt will be created. You should monitor when the file will appear and then read it. The export.txt contains the path of the object to import. After reading you need to delete the export.txt. Together with this file the exchange_path/textures.txt will be created. You may read the list of exported textures as described above. Pay attention that export.txt and textures.txt located in different folders. 5. Examples Example1: User pressed “Paint mesh in 3D-Coat using per-pixel painting [ppp]” in your AppLink Let exchange_path is c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/ place some OBJ/LWO/FBX file there like sample.obj (mtl and textures too if need) create file c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/import.txt and place 3 lines there: [look the end of document how to locate the folder for OSX/Linux] c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/sample.obj c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/output.obj [ppp] [export_preset Blender Cycles]   Note that you may drop multiple objects simultaneously, you should separate them with ; sign. They will be merged together before import. There should not be extra spaces between names and ; signs. Example: c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/sample1.obj;c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/sample2.obj c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/output.obj [ppp] [export_preset Blender Cycles]   Once you will save file 3D-Coat will show import dialog for per-pixel painting and delete file import.txt. Press OK, draw something. Then use File->Bring object back (Open in original app). 3D-Coat will store file c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/export.txt This file contains full path to the output object. This is the same name as was specified in import.txt, so you will get one line in this file: c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/output.obj Also 3D-Coat creates file c:/Users/Andrew/Documents/AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/textures.txt With lines: cube1_auv cube1_auv diffuse c:\Users\Andrew\Documents\AppLinks\3D-Coat\Exchange\output_diffuse.tga cube1_auv cube1_auv reflection c:\Users\Andrew\Documents\AppLinks\3D-Coat\Exchange\output_reflection.tga cube1_auv cube1_auv roughness c:\Users\Andrew\Documents\AppLinks\3D-Coat\Exchange\output_roughness.tga cube1_auv cube1_auv normal_map c:\Users\Andrew\Documents\AppLinks\3D-Coat\Exchange\output_normal_map.tga cube1_auv cube1_auv emissive c:\Users\Andrew\Documents\AppLinks\3D-Coat\Exchange\output_emissive.tga   Creation of the file export.txt is signal to other application to import files and replace object in scene by the object that was exported from 3D-Coat. Your plugin should delete file export.txt after reading it. Note: Objects may contain several sub-objects, several materials and several uv-sets. UV-set may contain several materials. You should handle this general situation. Appliction 1. Seeking for exchange folder for OSX common function for all OS: void AppendSlash(char\* s){ int L=strlen(s); if(L){ char c=s\[L-1\]; if(c!='\\\\' && c!='/')strcat(s,"/"); } } char str\[512\]; FSRef F; if(noErr == FSFindFolder(kUserDomain, kCurrentUserFolderType, kCreateFolder, &F)) { FSRefMakePath(&F, (unsigned char \*)str,512); AppendSlash(str); strcat(str,"AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/"); }   Application 2. Seeking for exchange folder for Linux char str\[512\]; strcpy(str,g_get_home_dir()); AppendSlash(str); strcat(str,” AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/”);   Application 3. Seeking for exchange folder for Windows TCHAR Path\[MAX_PATH\]; if(SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPath(NULL, CSIDL_PERSONAL | CSIDL_FLAG_CREATE, NULL, 0, Path))) { AppendSlash(Path); strcat(Path, "AppLinks/3D-Coat/Exchange/"); }   Application 4: The general supposed architecture of plugin** Initialisation section: Get and store path of Exchange folder Create folder Exchange/YourApp/ and file run.txt [must] and params.txt [optional] Create timer/thread to check if file import.txt exists. If threads or timer is not available, skip this step. Processing section: Once in 1 sec you should check if any of files Exchange/import.txt and Exchange/YourApp/import.txt exist. If plugin has no timer callback or threads it has some processing cycle anyway. In this processing cycle you may check if 1 sec passed since last check of files. It is supposed that plugin should not run 3D-Coat because there are many different versions and it will be difficult to determine what version user wants to use. But it will be helpful (but not required, optional) if plugin will check if process 3D-Coat is in memory and suppose to user to run it if process is not run. You should seek process that has substring “3D-Coat” in it’s name. There is sample of function to determine if 3D-Coat is in memory: #include <tlhelp32.h> bool Find3DCoat(){ HANDLE hSnapshot = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0); PROCESSENTRY32 pe; if(!hSnapshot)return false; pe.dwSize = sizeof(pe); for(int i = Process32First(hSnapshot, &pe); i; i=Process32Next(hSnapshot, &pe)){ HANDLE hModuleSnap = NULL; MODULEENTRY32 me; hModuleSnap = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPMODULE,pe.th32ProcessID); if(hModuleSnap == (HANDLE) -1)continue; me.dwSize = sizeof(MODULEENTRY32); if(Module32First(hModuleSnap, &me)){ do{ char temp[MAX_PATH]; strcpy_s(temp,MAX_PATH,me.szExePath); _strupr_s(temp,MAX_PATH); int p=strlen(temp); char c=0; while(c!='\\' && c!='/' && p!=0){ c=temp[p--]; } char* s=temp+p; strupr(s); if(strstr(s,"3D-COAT")){ return true; } break; }while(Module32Next(hModuleSnap, &me)); } } CloseHandle(hSnapshot); return false; }   Application 5: Possible problems while making plugin. If you decided to seek if 3D-Coat’s process is in memory and run 3D-Coat (this step is optional) you need to run 3D-Coat as administrator on Vista/7 You are specifying the export path and file name for 3D-Coat in import.txt. If you are specifying the same path to the output object for different scenes it can cause problem because textures will be overwritten with textures from the new scene. You should specify path that will depend on user’s scene/name of object or so to avoid this problem. Application 6: Extra commands for import.txt Import.txt may have additional options in additional lines of the file. [SkipImport] allows to skip import dialog, default options will be used. [SkipExport] allows to skip export dialog. Previous settings will be used (works in 4.8.16 and later) [TexOutput:… texture path there…] allows to specify textures output path. It should end with “\” or “/”. This option does not work with export constructor. When export constructor used, textures paths are determined by object export path. Set of export options could be changed using command like [Option=value] There is set of possible options and values:   Option Value Works for export constructor? ExportColor 0 or 1 No ExportSpecular 0 or 1 No ExportNormalmap 0 or 1 No ExportDispl 0 or 1 No PickSourcePositions 0 or 1 Yes ExportSpecularColor 0 or 1 No ExportEmissive 0 or 1 No ExportEmissivePower 0 or 1 No ExportMetallness 0 or 1 No ExportRoughness 0 or 1 No ExportAO 0 or 1 No PickDepthFromLayer0 0 or 1 No CoarseMesh 0 or 1 No DisplDepth 8 bits, 16 bits, 32 bits No DisplNorm GREYBASED, ZEROBASED, ZEROBASED_NORM, ZEROBASED_ABS No DisplExt BMP,TGA,PNG for 8 bit displacement TIF for 16 bit displacament TIFF, EXR for 32 bit displacement No ColorFileExtension TGA, BMP, PNG, JPG**, TIF, TIFF, EXR, PSD** No SpecNormExtension TGA, BMP, PNG, JPG**, TIF, TIFF, EXR, PSD (only specular extension will be assigned with this command, normalmap is TGA by default unless specified directly)** No SpecExtension TGA, BMP, PNG, JPG, TIF, TIFF, EXR,PSD No NormExtension TGA, BMP, PNG, JPG, TIF, TIFF, EXR No ExportResolution LOW-POLY, MID-POLY Yes [field field_id=value] Set field value in export dialog. This command generally replaces all of previous commandes. You may set any field in export dialog. Example [field $ExportOpt::UseExportConstructor = true] To get field_id click LMB+RMB or MMB+RMB over the required field in export dialog. Yes [click control_id] Click on any control in export dialog. Example - choose Unity preset - [click $COMBOBOX_Unity (Specular)] To get field_id click LMB+RMB or MMB+RMB over the required field in export dialog. Yes Generally it is much better to operate using export presets, way through “Options” is deprecated.

Daniel Seebacher Just an intermediate update, since I’ve been receiving some questions about the current status: There is nothing new to report officially right now, but we are working on several topics internally. Among those are the ongoing code cleanup and preparations, setting up necessary deployment pipelines and repositories, preparing future documentation for contributors and so on. So, work is well under way behind the scenes, but until the preparatory work is finished, it might still take a few months. And only then will the code be eventually open sourced. I’ll keep everyone updated on news pieces which are worth to be reported. Since by now this thread has gone kind of viral across several news outlets and through videos, I would like to point out that I am posting here as a former Bentley employee, now private person. This has been misreported across several websites. I was still at Bentley when I replied to this thread in 2024, but I left the company a year ago. Nowadays, I am involved as a core community contributor in getting the open source project off the ground together with other former colleagues, but I am not a spokesperson for the company. Also, there have have been campaigns where people were asked to tag Bentley on Social Media. Please refrain from doing this. It is actually detrimental, because Bentley is such a large company with so many projects that neither the social media team nor many other departments at Bentley are involved in or even aware of this open-sourcing project helmed by a specific department. Thus, if anything, it causes internal confusion and prolongs the process. For this reason, there is the specific contact e-mail eon-questions@bentley.com which forwards all requests and communication to the correct place. Thanks guys! I love the interest and excitement which you have expressed so far and your support for this endeavour

The  NCCA Graphics Library (NGL) is a C++ library used for teaching programming and 3D graphics, primarily at the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at Bournemouth University. It is designed to simplify OpenGL programming for students, abstracting many of the complex setup tasks.    Key Features Purpose: NGL is a teaching-focused library. Its design prioritizes the clear explanation of graphics principles, object-oriented programming, and C++ techniques over raw performance or optimization. Technology Stack: It is built around modern OpenGL (version 3.x and above) and uses the Qt framework for creating windows and user interfaces. Functionality: The library includes C++ classes for common graphics tasks: Basic mathematics (vectors and matrices) Image handling for textures Vertex Array Objects (VAOs) for loading data to OpenGL Shader loading and management Python Bindings: NGL also has Python bindings, known as PyNGL, allowing some of its functionality to be used within Python scripts. Open Source: The source code and development details are publicly available on GitHub.    Related Library Note that there is another, unrelated library also referred to as "NGL" in some contexts:  NGL Viewer: This is an interactive 3D molecular visualization library used for viewing protein data bank (PDB) structures in a web browse

Hey 3D Coat friends, I created a node material that I use for 3D printing and I just upgraded my 3D Coat to the latest version and I that materials don't work any more. I looked and there seems to be a rewrite of how nodes work and am wondering how I can use my old material. I don't seem to have the same access to nodes in the new node editor.  Any help directing where to look next to figure this out would be greatly appreciated.  https://imgur.com/a/7mvF66l 

Hi! This is a trick that used to work on older version of 3DC. Where you could paint complex and precise falloffs and shapes with the layers then right click Freeze painted Pixels" while in Voxel mode. In the recent stable update it doesn't seem to be a thing anymore. The Mask never gets generated. Can this please be fixed?