If you don't have a really good UV Mapper, then that would be a really good reason to use 3DC. Another reason for me is to be able to quickly go from polys out of NURBS to voxelize, add distress, and then paint like
@You : "...If you don't have a really good UV Mapper, then that would be a really good reason to use 3DC..."
I totally agree!
IMHO 3D-Coat with this new version 4.8 (actually in beta test) it is increasingly becoming a killer app!
Under 400 USD it's really hard to find better alternatives.
And if you don't need exporting outside 3DC but what you want to do is a super fast production of prototypes and concepts,
I strongly suggest you the fastest workflow actually available inside 3DC :
1) voxels (also in surface mode) : modelling directly in Sculpt Room or importing models created outside (for example obj exported from Moi)
2) Apply Shaders in Sculpt Room
3) Use PBR builtin render.
No UV, NO retopo, NO texturing, NO exporting, nothing.
Of course, using that workflow you can't get photorealistic results, but in less than 2 hours you can create a complete
model, for example a of a medium complexity mechanical object, from scratch to render.
Thanks for the info Chip and Marco, much appreciated. The cannon looks great! This brings me on another possible reason to go for 3D Coat: how good is its capacity to auto-generate a hollow model with just the right wall thickness?
In ZBrush you can use the Dynamesh Shell function to create a wall thickness based on voxels, but in practice the Shapeways 3D print auto-check still finds weak areas with insufficient wall thickness, so ZBrush Dynamesh Shell isn't the one-stop solution I'm looking for.
Talking about again the old and ever green Bryce 7, I'm glad to tell you
that David Brinnen has completely redesigned from scratch his excellent https://www.bryce-tutorials.info/
You have 3 possibilities of nature styles - Deep, Thin, Dream : in one you can input your own images as support of style so infinite possibilities!
and a result with a standard style "Deep" (less 3 minutes)
with "Deep" + my own style (less 3 minutes)
With "Thin" + a style(s) standard (less 40 seconds)
With "Dream" (less 40 seconds) : the original concept of the computer vision in clouds! ;)
4 Possibilities : Standard, Spirit, Neuron, Valyrian, Your own!
Here standard
"3D Coat: how good is its capacity to auto-generate a hollow model with just the right wall thickness?"
Very simple with 3D Coat. In fact I would suppose voxels are the absolute best for complicated shelling as the voxel unit is so small and offsetting it mathematically is fairly simple (I believe). In any case, I've never seen any problems with even the most complicated shelling offsets...positive or negative.
It's one reason why I use 3D Coat for complex 3D Printing of models.
Chip and Marco: I've bought 3D Coat! I hope you're proud of me now. ;) I expect to spend the next few months not sleeping but watching about 8723984 3D Coat video tutorials, including yours, Chip. :)
