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Thanks for the explanation, Dream Cutter. I wishlisted ZBrush for now. Since I got the Blacksmith 6 Pro upgrade,
I will stick with it for a while and see what one can achieve with it.
Frankly ZBrush far exceeded my expectations in many dimensions, value being the greatest. Its a hugely capable program that does 2.5 - 3D modeling, design and illustration however its built as a 2.5D ART package rather than a true 3d Modeler, It has a 3d modeler to edit 3d primitives in a zillion ways within a realtime 2.5D render engine. It IS NOT a figure development system, however its GOZ interface allows for 3d figures to be modified as Morphs (no vertices count change) between several figure systems including DS, Poser and Carrrara, Because it is so versitle, much can be accomplished HOWEVER because it is not a TRUE 3D Figure Editor, it is lacking some necessary functions NOT supplied by ZBRUSH (OR Blacksmith for that matter). Capabilities like rigging, poly group blending, and other figure centric needs.. However you will find theses features are handled by Poser,m DS, Carrara ane even further game figure tools like FragMoSoft and UUW 3D.
SO to say what will work for you for a given need is complex. Its all about defining your end goal requirements and working backwards from thier to your source primitive mesh to create a 3d development pipeline that works for your needs.
Zbrush and GOZ have been one of my main tools for years with morphs nothing beats it, but Zbrush's main failture is it doesn't pixel paint it only poly paint's and that's hit and miss. ZB 4.7 has a Sub-D mode now so instead of guessing what it's going to look like in DS you can see it on the spot. It's new low poly modeling stuff is impressive circle insert is amazing I haven't seen any software do that! It's UV Master unwrap tool is the best on the planet, but I still cut the seam externally in modo then unwrap in UV Master. I use 3D coat for pixel painting and base meshed for clothing. So I have a lot of tools that really speed me up. Where I can see BS3d coming in is fine tuning the seams and texture work and it just adds to my arsenal of tools.
Blacksmith5 up does have per pixel painting. In ZB I usually adjust the topography to get desired density - but UV's can still bleed , especially two parallel surfaced (inner/outer layer). Sometimes though, resurfacing with even poly distribution or retopo can be a nightmare and one that's not worth the hassle. You may experience this in converting a architectural and vehicles into toon or lowpoly game figures. - like a detailed sketchup building converted to closed mesh poly. So I guess BS (or 3DC) for that per-pixel painting feature alone has a purpose in a ZB modeled pipeline.
Frankly ZBrush far exceeded my expectations in many dimensions, value being the greatest. Its a hugely capable program that does 2.5 - 3D modeling, design and illustration however its built as a 2.5D ART package rather than a true 3d Modeler, It has a 3d modeler to edit 3d primitives in a zillion ways within a realtime 2.5D render engine. It IS NOT a figure development system, however its GOZ interface allows for 3d figures to be modified as Morphs (no vertices count change) between several figure systems including DS, Poser and Carrrara, Because it is so versitle, much can be accomplished HOWEVER because it is not a TRUE 3D Figure Editor, it is lacking some necessary functions NOT supplied by ZBRUSH (OR Blacksmith for that matter). Capabilities like rigging, poly group blending, and other figure centric needs.. However you will find theses features are handled by Poser,m DS, Carrara ane even further game figure tools like FragMoSoft and UUW 3D.
SO to say what will work for you for a given need is complex. Its all about defining your end goal requirements and working backwards from thier to your source primitive mesh to create a 3d development pipeline that works for your needs.
Just to be clear on a few things.
It is not a true 3D modeler, though ZBrush is adding capabilities closer to it with 4R7, when it's released. However, even then, it has that odd, yet all-too ZB slant of how it does things. What it will afford us is the ability to do much more lower-poly work in a cleaner fashion within ZB.
Figures can be developed within ZB, but it really comes down to what you mean by development. You can develop and sculpt a figure in ZB and then retopologize it, so it can have proper poly flow and be rigged. In addition, when you use it to modify existing mesh to create morphs, you can, indeed change the vert count depending on what you do, but you mustn't in order for the morphs to work. You may have meant this, but I wanted to clarify what was said. While you cannot rig for use in other programs, ZB does have a rigging system that will allow you to pose your models so that you can create and render scenes within ZBrush.
Most of us use ZBrush, for the purpose of Studio and Poser, to create morphs, high poly sculpting to use for texturing and HD morphs, texturing in general and many other varied reasons. It is its own unique brand of program and keenly suited to the artistically inclined.
With any software, it is a good idea to download the demos and work with them. Keep in mind, that ZB definitely has a learning curve, but one worth the effort.
Just upgraded from Blacksmith3D standard version 5 to standard version 6, for $33. Mostly interested in a "cheap" tool to paint across texture boundaries, that I can pick up and learn without a steep learning curve. I did not like version 5 because the interface was not laid out in an intuitive way, but it was all I knew about when I picked it up on sale earlier this year. Version 6 is much better, although not perfect; UI still has a dated look. But, without knowing much about how the program is supposed to work, I was able to import Cthulu from a "duf" file, splash some ink around, export the resulting color maps and render, with less than an hour of fussing around and without watching any BS3D tutorials. It did not crash in this simple test.
So it passes my "ease of use" test and version 6 may be a tool worth using for some types of 3D painting or contouring, for those not wanting or able to invest in z-brush or anything comparable for a while. Personally, I have my eye on 3D-Coat which has a much slicker interface and advertises many more tools, plus has more free training resources online. Cheaper price too if you do not need the commercial version. Because 3D-Coat is offering educational licenses, regular price at $99, BS3D 6 regular price $110 (without texture transformer and limits on presets and export resolution) seems overpriced to me. I do not know whether BS3D 6 has capabilities that can't be found in 3D-Coat. Perhaps the ability to copy textures from one model to another (clone brush?).
Am I to understand that this program allows us to export a duf figure, mess about with it, and reimport it into Daz3d? A trial version (no save, no export) is currently available free, so I am wondering about trying ti out. But if it is just another graphics program, I can probably live without it.
Hi,
I use Blacksmith 3D mostly for morphing and painting across UV's. I am pretty sure it does not use the DUF formats. I export OBJ's and sometimes CR2's for morphing. With DAZ's Morph Loaders it is easy to import the morphed meshes back into DAZ. The textures can be imported with in the surfaces tab. I have then saved as DUF presets for re-use later. The problem I keep forgetting about is to change the Mesh Resolution to base before exporting the OBJ so that the Morph Loader can do its job. Also, if you try the trial version most of the tools have a Strength parameter. They default to 100 which seems too strong for the changes I wish to make. So I would recommend dropping it to 20 - 30 just to get familiar with each of the tools.
Version 6 of Blacksmith 3D can import .duf and some other formats besides OBJ directly. I've played around using .duf in Studio, per my post above, and it seemed to work well. http://www.blacksmith3d.com/?p=2112
Oh that is good to know. I have been using the same work flow from the last version or two of Blacksmith3D. Is it just for import or does it export in DUF also? Either way, it looks like a quicker/easier way. Thanks JStryder
Version 6 does not export .duf that I know of. It will export Cr2 and other formats. For changing texture, it is not necessary to export anything but the color map, as a jpeg. Once in DAZ Studio, load the object as you would normally. Then, under the surfaces tab, just replace the color map for the object you painted on with the jpeg exported from Blacksmith and voila! Being able to import the object into Blacksmith directly from the .duf file makes this easier, and reduces clutter.
It is well designed, but I have been unable to do a simple task. Perhaps someone knows how to do this?
Project, make a 3d object flat and cut like a cookie cutter, specifically to make a rug the shape of the Daz millenial big cat skin. I got the shape okay by laying out flattened primitives and welding them into one object. However, when I apply a texture, it replicates into as many faces as there were primitives. I thought Blacksmith could lay one face over the whole, a single tile or whatever, but nothing I have found does that. (This forum will not accept my file Rug Big Cat.obj, sorry.)
I think the best, cheapest toolset out there that isn't ZBrush, and the price reflects that, is the Allegorithmic Substance Suit that includes Substance Painter. You do have to export as obj or fbx though.
Depending on how realistic you want it, you don't need Blacksmith for this at all. Just overlay the cat's main texture on a flat plane, and create an opacity map. You may need to do some tweaking or use the cat itself in addition to make some elements pop like the head would, but that should be easy enough.
Here's a rough idea of what I mean w/ the maps. Obviously you'll wanna do some better refinement around the edges, but you get the jist.
Sounds like you need to UV unwrap the finished 'rug'...
To Pixelygon and mjc1016, thank you both. I'm back comparing Blacksmith 7 pro (lots new here) and Zbrush, but this is just a thanks.
Yes, I had to learn about unwrapping UVs. In the process I learned to use GIMP to make an SVG file starting with the target skin shape. With that extruded into an object in Blender, and then unwrapped, I was able to fit a jpg to it so that voila, a perfect animal skin rug object. I can't always retrace my wandering, but one or both of you held out a sign to help, so thanks!