I can agree, especially for organic modelling, but i wonder if polygons are still more practical for hardsurface, mechanics, architecture ? I don’t see traditional modelling disappear anytime soon. however voxel sculpting is great! i’m all for it.
Oh yes, VOXEL sculpting is the way to go IMHO !
ZBrush would be unmatched with the following workflow:
1 create base mesh with ZSpheres
2 convert to VOXELS and sculpt general form with voxels
2 retopo (with better retopo tools than currently available)
3 sculpt finer detail on retopoed mesh (which ZBrush already does greatly)
When you see what’s possible with voxels in 3DCoat, then surely Pixologic can not longer ignore this!?
Unfortunately : I’ve searched the 3DCoat forum and IMO 3DCoat still is too buggy.
So I hope that
- Pixologic introduces something like that, OR
- 3DCoat becomes a stable and mature app.
If 2) comes true before 1) then I won’t even bother with ZBrush anymore which would be a pity …
My main concerns with voxels is that while you can create a model rapidly, you’re then left with no no choice but to retopo it. So the initial speed gain of voxels is ultimately lost. I feel I could create a game engine asset quicker in ZBrush because I’m not forced to retopo. And because of subdivision based modeling I’m given a free set of LODs too.
Voxels will definitely be great for the less geeky folk that don’t want to fiddle with meshes and topology. 2D illustrators don’t need to care too much about the underlying topology.
dude free lods from sub levels ? No retopo ? Do you seriosly make good game models or just throw out half assed stuff ? You waste so many tris using subdivisions as lods its crazy, also a retopo is a must for a good model for animation.
Anyway 3d coat is far more adwanced and better than zbrush as a softwere, but its just to early for it, its just to slow even on the simplst models, also the lack of polygons makes it asy to destroy your model and merge two separte objects you dont want to.
I make the best game models in the business! :mad:
You can check out my latest work here
I’m a pro dammit!! :mad:
Guys , … , please … , no fighting :lol: …
Of course, it would be great if voxels were addded into ZBrush as an option, but an option that you choose so that those who don’t need them aren’t forced to use them, and those who do want them can use them.
It’s not because some users do not need retopoing that everybody can live without, no ?
Anyway, I’ve been testing 3DCoat for the past couple of hours and stability seems to be great so far.
Voxel sculpting is great and retopoing is in my experience the best I’ve ever encountered compared to Modo and even ZBrush.
leet pong!
All voxels do is give you more creative freedom on the fly.
Its like 2d concepting but in 3d. It wont be replacement ,but should be addition to the zbrush tools.
Plus only one guy is making this program and already has half tools zbrush has. To be in competition with zbrush now that is really something exceptional on his part.
I tried my hand on the retopo and the Voxel, and find it rather disappointing
The Voxel is too intuitively slow.
As for the retopo, it’s good and all, but I can’t make full sculpt in ZBrush and use retopo while retaining the HiRes Mesh.
So, the best workflow I could find is
Create mid res with ZSphere
Retopo in 3DC
Sculpt find details in ZBrush
I haven’t tried out the texturing functions though.
Could anyone brief me on how it goes?
@Kravit : you’re abolutely right !
@Zenneth : you’re partly right : sculpting the general form is easier with voxels : I’ve created a complete figure (fingers and toes and all) starting from only 1 sphere !
And yes : for the detailing ZBrush is unmatched !
BTW : I’ve experienced no slowdown in 3DC, not during sculpting and not during retopoing.
I’m on XP 64 bit and I’ve encountered no problems so far.
But if you read the 3DC forums, yes there are other people complaining about speed issues.
All the more reason for Pixologic to add voxels to ZBrush !
Happy sculpting …
I dont really think voxels are needed just yet.
Let 3dcoat work on the voxels and let pixologic steal the concept pnce its advanced more.
GoZ and the ability to add and take are a perfect voxel workflow with much greater control.
I just cant wait to build cars on human heads ^^
Disco Stu, you might be on to something here …
I’m on Windows, so I haven’t had a change yet to test GoZ and hadn’t thought of it anymore …
I hope that with GoZ and Modo I have all the necessary tools I need, so I’m definately going to wait for GoZ before purchasing yet another application.
Thanks for the reminder 
.
My prayers have come true, … , I almost can not believe it : ----->
ZSPHERES TWO :eek:
THAT’S EVEN BETTER THAN VOXEL!!!
…RETOPO…Is there a NEW + BETTER RETOPO system???
I have tried 3d-coat latest version, and let me tell you, zbrush 4 HAS TO HAVE VOXELS and a all re-engineered interface, or it will be doomed… 
Not only modeling voxels is amazing, the texturing tools in 3d-coat are all of you ever desired.
also if you are lazy to retop manually you have a option called “quadrangulate” that makes retopo for you, you can make adjusts manually too. This is great for making game assets (lowpoly).
automatically are created uv coordinates (that once again, you can tweak manually). and they are very similar to what you get when you create uv’s using a unwraping tools, great!
moreover export to 3dsmax the lowpoly with normal map, diffuse, specular was cuestion of 2 seconds!!! (you can export normal maps to maya and light wave too!)
give it a try before you talk!!! :evil:
, at least give a read to the manual: http://www.3d-coat.com/files/manual_pdf/3dcoat-manual.pdf
finally the interface rocks!!!, very intuitive and with proffuse contextual help text.
Cheers
“Voxels” like in the title of this here - does it really mean the discussion of 3DCoat?
Because, with the announced and new ZSpheres, with the well working, actual version of DecimationMaster - there is (or will bee soon) enough in ZBrush to forget about 3DC?
Andrew from 3DC stated something like that 3DC was meant as a tool that might let you paint/texture/displace/retopo/UVmap your models in an easy and intuitive way, and from working with 3DC I have seen he’s absolutely right!
Voxels - as they are now - are a nice toy to play around with, but in the end you will have to deal with a mesh that - more often then not - will need further care.
We still will have to see how easy it is to get from the announced and new ZSpheres to a refined model - but: how often has ZBrush left you only half the way?
Volumetric Voxel based modeling is exactly where Zbrush needed to sojourn.
Topology should be the last thing the Artist tackles when they create something.
How many times have you created a basemesh, and started sculpting on it in Zbrush- only to find out that some of that topology wasn’t planned out well enough to provide you with enough poly’s to get the shape or texture work you needed done on certain areas of that mesh. Now you find yourself reworking the topology all over again, just to get that extra shape or detail into that area where the original topology failed.
I come from the real world of sculpting in clays and waxes.
I want to see that “Make any shape as smooth and as detailed as you desire” realized in Zbrush without all those “Basemesh topology not good enough” issues. In the real world, clay forms are created through drastic add and take actions. Pre-planning with a basemesh never made a lick of sense to me. Sculpting it dirty, shaping things out until you get the shape you are after, and then refining it. That’s how it should be. Going in with a pre-shape is not the answer.
Let me sculpt whatever organic shape I want without the need to worry about the topology layout until I’m done sculpting it. If I want to snake hook pull me out a pair of 36 point antlers on my model, so be it. Seems like Voxels lets you do silly stuff like that with out punishing you for not having a topology flow to allow it to work.
I haven’t tried this 3d Coat yet, but the videos on YouTube make my jaw drop. I can think or several times where this no worry about starfish poly’s, bad poly flow, or under shaped basemesh issues could have been avoid using this Voxel based sculpting method- saving me hours and in some cases days of frustration. I agree if Pixologic doesn’t figure out a way to incorporate this in Zbrush- they will be surpassed. I love Zbrush, the interface and the work flow is godlike.
This Voxel stuff, it’s world changing. Sculpt first, topology later. I very much want it to become a part of Zbrush. (Fingers Crossed)
theres a free demo, try it out
“it’s world changing. Sculpt first, topology later.”
Ur talking about zbrush 
Seriously though sculpting in 3dcoat feels like waking up after a long
night drinking, running a marathon and then trying to paint a rembrandt.
yeah it feels really hard for me too, its like somthing totatly new, i got just so used to sculpting using flat projection with the way zbrysh tools work, that i cant do even the simplest forms in real 3d, i lose the feel of deppth, and and up adding to much or not enough mass ;f