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Can I paint on 3d figures in CS6 extended

AlphinaNovaStar

Energetic
Can I paint on my3d figures in CS6? I think I know how to put a 3d figure into Photoshop but I do not know how to paint it once it is in there?
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly. I haven't upgraded my PS CS past version 2, so I don't know if CS6 has the ability of accepting a 3D model.

That said, what I do, is bring the UV template into PS and paint on it in layers, and then export the UV template for use with the model in Poser, DS, Carrara, or whatever 3D app I happen to be using.
 

AlphinaNovaStar

Energetic
Not at my computer at the moment but waiting for my ride home. I should be doing something productive though. Maybe I can go to bath and body works as I have a coupon for a free fun size item.
 

Rae134

Renowned
CV-BEE
Contributing Artist
I haven't tried Alphina, but do a youtube search, I watched one a little while ago about it but it would be too hard to try and explain.

Miss B, CS6 has a 3D mode now so you can bring in a 3D model and paint directly on it (I think you could do it in CS5.5 as well).
 

kobaltkween

Brilliant
Contributing Artist
Just to warn, it makes a map for every zone. The content community is unique in not following the 1:1 zone to map convention, and having extra zones on the off chance that someone will use the zones rather than maps and masks (even though pretty much no one does). Also, my guess is that they were thinking mainly about game content. 3D painting in Photoshop is pretty resource intensive even at a medium resolution. Trying to work at the norm of 4096 x 4096 on a figure where it uses a whole other map for the lips and the face might make painting loggy and awkward, depending on your computer's capabilities.
 
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Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
In addition to what @kobaltkween has said, I find it VERY cumbersome to move around the model to paint it, even with a 3D mouse. It uses projections to paint, so it's very easy to end up affecting other parts of the model we don't want to change, and also to get perspective distortions around the painted areas.

There are also the lights in Photoshop that need to be moved around so we can actually see what we are doing. It becomes obvious that the process wasn't very well thought. It is possible, but it's also cumbersome.
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Sounds like I'm not missing out on much. I think I'll stick to my texturing of UV Map templates.
 

kobaltkween

Brilliant
Contributing Artist
Yeah, that would be my suggestion. I use Blender when I need to 3D paint due to seam issues. My guess is that 3D Coat and Zbrush would be even better. But 2D work in something like PS gives you the best control.

IMHO, Blender is really easy for particular tasks. I started with it doing sculpting. All I had to learn to do was go into sculpting mode. Everything from there except for masking was obvious, and even that's not complex. I found 3D painting required a bit more research and learning, but it's still pretty straight forward.
 
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Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
I prefer zBrush for 3D painting when it comes to seams. The major bummer is that it still refuses to support 3D mice, even when basically all other 3D applications already do. It's good to have options, though. I would use Photoshop if it weren't so cumbersome.
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Yeah, that would be my suggestion. I use Blender when I need to 3D paint due to seam issues. My guess is that 3D Coat and Zbrush would be even better. But 2D work in something like PS gives you the best control.

IMHO, Blender is really easy for particular tasks. I started with it doing sculpting. All I had to learn to do was go into sculpting mode. Everything from there except for masking was obvious, and even that's not complex. I found 3D painting required a bit more research and learning, but it's still pretty straight forward.
You know, sculpting is the one thing I haven't tried in Blender. I've tried Sculptris and a couple of others, and I guess it's just not my thing, as the saying goes. In fact, as of a few months ago, I didn't even realize Blender could do sculpting. I guess I should try it out one of these days.

My question to you KK, is how do you do 3D painting in Blender? I know you can set up material zones, which I do all the time, and then you can attach textures to them, but I don't consider that 3D painting, so what am I missing?
 

kobaltkween

Brilliant
Contributing Artist
You know, sculpting is the one thing I haven't tried in Blender. I've tried Sculptris and a couple of others, and I guess it's just not my thing, as the saying goes. In fact, as of a few months ago, I didn't even realize Blender could do sculpting. I guess I should try it out one of these days.

My question to you KK, is how do you do 3D painting in Blender? I know you can set up material zones, which I do all the time, and then you can attach textures to them, but I don't consider that 3D painting, so what am I missing?

That there's 3D painting in Blender.;) You know that pull-down menu on the 3D view interface that generally says "Object Mode" by default? Check out those other modes. Edit Mode is for modeling and creating new parts (polygons, vertices, control points, etc.), Sculpt Mode is for sculpting a mesh (either dynamically generating topology or not), Weight Paint mode is for weight painting (which can control a host of different properties), and Texture Paint.

To Texture Paint, you should first UV map your mesh (of course) and then create a new image to paint on.

IMHO, the main problem with 3D painting using textures is the way Blender handles "textures". So if you're in Texture Paint mode, and you have your tool panel open (T or View > Tool Shelf to toggle), you probably want to set your Texture to Stencil or Tiled mode. Then you should to go to your Properties panel, select textures (the checkerboard), choose Brush Texture from the pull down menu, and load a texture.

Use the Options tab of the Tool Shelf to set things like the angle it will paint to (default is 80) and whether or not you want cavity occlusion.

When you bring your brush over the object, you should see the stencil if you're in stencil mode.

To control the stencil
Right mouse button to move (RMB)
Shift + RMB to scale
CTRL + RMB to rotate

You can also add a mask to your brush, but I haven't played with that.

Here's the 2.7x documentation on texture painting.
Options — Blender Reference Manual

Unfortunately, it's not as specific as the old 2.6x documentation, which includes information about controlling the stencil and the masks.

Here's a couple of tutorials:
And here's an addon to make sculpting and painting easier. It has a free and a paid version, where the paid version has more features and costs about $45.
 

Darryl

Adventurous
I've been trying to learn texturing lately and looking for a program to work with. I tried PSCS6 because i own it, Blender cause it's free and 3D Coat because it's fairly robust for the price.

As Ken mentioned CS6 is extremely cumbersome, it's set up like a 2D program with a 3D component wedged into it to create 2D images. It bloated my files and had a nasty bug with its temp files that ultimately was a deal breaker. Still my goto for cleaning and modifying 2D files though.

Blender works like a 3D program with 2D texture painting wedged into it. The number of buttons and modes needed to paint was somewhat confusing. It worked better in some ways than PSD but for some reason it won't allow you to erase to transparency on a 2D image and had issues saving out to PSD and other programs. Also a deal breaker as I'm very used to a PSD painting style. It may still have a place in my pipeline though.

3D Coat I find to be exactly what I wanted. It allows you to do things specific to 3D texturing such as paint only in crevices or project textures over all sides of a model. It also allows painting diffuse, displacement, and specularity all in one stroke. It uses many of PSDs key commands and can sync directly with Photoshop. Downside is it has many functions unrelated to texturing and its price reflects that. Still a great value for the full package if you'd like to use those tools as well. There's a light version that is less expensive. Not sure if I could live with those limitations though. My 1 month demo is about to expire so it remains to be seen if I'll pony up.
 

kobaltkween

Brilliant
Contributing Artist
I would get the paid version but afraid I will end up misplacing the key or something.

I know what you mean. I try to keep track of all my serial numbers and such. It would be nice if software management and authentication were a little easier.

Blender works like a 3D program with 2D texture painting wedged into it. The number of buttons and modes needed to paint was somewhat confusing. It worked better in some ways than PSD but for some reason it won't allow you to erase to transparency on a 2D image and had issues saving out to PSD and other programs. Also a deal breaker as I'm very used to a PSD painting style. It may still have a place in my pipeline though.

3D Coat I find to be exactly what I wanted. It allows you to do things specific to 3D texturing such as paint only in crevices or project textures over all sides of a model. It also allows painting diffuse, displacement, and specularity all in one stroke. It uses many of PSDs key commands and can sync directly with Photoshop. Downside is it has many functions unrelated to texturing and its price reflects that. Still a great value for the full package if you'd like to use those tools as well. There's a light version that is less expensive. Not sure if I could live with those limitations though. My 1 month demo is about to expire so it remains to be seen if I'll pony up.

The creator of 3D Coat explicitly and politely asked people not to use his program if they wanted to make works that violated his beliefs about nudity and sex, which he based in his Christianity. I thought his request was very respectful and honest. As someone who not only tries to use nudity artistically, but also does occasionally incorporate some "sexy" qualities in their work, I won't use 3D Coat. I empathize with the creator's wish to have his work create the positive change he wants to see in the world, even if I have a different definition of positive and negative imagery. I totally understand ignoring his request (a lot of people got offended by it), but that's not something I want to do. For me, it's just not too difficult to follow his wishes and use other tools for my work. Maybe that will change one day, though.

Personally, I don't find it much of a hardship to use Blender's paint once I get going. Getting set up is always a PITA for me. It always takes me a while to figure out stenciling again, since I just don't use it that much (though I think I will be soon). And I've _always_ found the way it handles textures somewhat annoying. But I've never found it difficult to use once I get everything into place and start painting.

You can erase to alpha in Blender. My first hit in Google when searching "blender texturing erase transparency:"
Texture painting on the alpha channel (2.73)
And you can use the cavity mask option with its curve to control both how it falls off and whether you paint the high points or the low ones.

Personally, my biggest issue is just plain control and detail. I've yet to find anything that compares to 2D painting in PS. Especially because of paths. So I just pair Blender and what is now an older version of PS.
 
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Darryl

Adventurous
I know what you mean. I try to keep track of all my serial numbers and such. It would be nice if software management and authentication were a little easier.



The creator of 3D Coat explicitly and politely asked people not to use his program if they wanted to make works that violated his beliefs about nudity and sex, which he based in his Christianity. I thought his request was very respectful and honest. As someone who not only tries to use nudity artistically, but also does occasionally incorporate some "sexy" qualities in their work, I won't use 3D Coat. I empathize with the creator's wish to have his work create the positive change he wants to see in the world, even if I have a different definition of positive and negative imagery. I totally understand ignoring his request (a lot of people got offended by it), but that's not something I want to do. For me, it's just not too difficult to follow his wishes and use other tools for my work. Maybe that will change one day, though.

Personally, I don't find it much of a hardship to use Blender's paint once I get going. Getting set up is always a PITA for me. It always takes me a while to figure out stenciling again, since I just don't use it that much (though I think I will be soon). And I've _always_ found the way it handles textures somewhat annoying. But I've never found it difficult to use once I get everything into place and start painting.

You can erase to alpha in Blender. My first hit in Google when searching "blender texturing erase transparency:"
Texture painting on the alpha channel (2.73)
And you can use the cavity mask option with its curve to control both how it falls off and whether you paint the high points or the low ones.

Personally, my biggest issue is just plain control and detail. I've yet to find anything that compares to 2D painting in PS. Especially because of paths. So I just pair Blender and what is now an older version of PS.

Right. I had forgotten about their request regarding responsibility. I applaud anyone who puts their personal beliefs on at least an equal footing with their desire for profit. That said, their request (and it was a request not a directive as I understood it) was very open ended. 3D Coat's creators did not explicitly lay out their guidelines as to what they would consider a violation. Hivewire has done so, 3DC did not. Do people who create pinups or nudes (Michelangelo for instance) believe they are violating Gods law? Should every piece of 3D art be aimed at or disseminated to children? Do various religions advocate, condone, or overlook questionable acts in the name of God? Is violence used in self defense (whether personal or societal) wrong in God's eyes? Where is the line between nudity and pornography?

To each their own, but if one feels their art is running afoul of God's law, the creators of 3D Coat are the least of their problems. Perhaps the company owners would agree that only God can judge in the end.

Sorry for going off on a tangent (and off topic). These are questions I've grappled with from time to time, especially and specifically in regards to the kind of art I've viewed on various Poser/Daz galleries. One thing I like about Hivewire galleries is that I can view them with my kids in the room or at work (during my lunch hour of course). It's actually more unique in that way.
 

kobaltkween

Brilliant
Contributing Artist
3D Coat's creators did not explicitly lay out their guidelines as to what they would consider a violation. Hivewire has done so, 3DC did not. Do people who create pinups or nudes (Michelangelo for instance) believe they are violating Gods law? Should every piece of 3D art be aimed at or disseminated to children? Do various religions advocate, condone, or overlook questionable acts in the name of God? Is violence used in self defense (whether personal or societal) wrong in God's eyes? Where is the line between nudity and pornography?

To each their own, but if one feels their art is running afoul of God's law, the creators of 3D Coat are the least of their problems. Perhaps the company owners would agree that only God can judge in the end.

Sorry for going off on a tangent (and off topic). These are questions I've grappled with from time to time, especially and specifically in regards to the kind of art I've viewed on various Poser/Daz galleries. One thing I like about Hivewire galleries is that I can view them with my kids in the room or at work (during my lunch hour of course). It's actually more unique in that way.

I like that about the HiveWire galleries, too. I like that it honestly promotes lots of different types of work. I find more diverse works here than anywhere else in the content community. Even places that have similar rules, like DAZ, still tend to use t&a to sell everything.

The HW galleries are rare in the content community in having lots of different subject matter. I love the content community, but I want more out of art than aesthetics. I want to see stories, images with concepts, works with more than one layer. HiveWire is the only content community site I know of with a larger focus than 20-something female characters that look like fashion models from America.

You seem to have complex, graded, and layered views on the intersection of nudity, sex, and art. I think I can understand that. I'm in a similar space. My concept of visual art emerges from a lifetime of exposure to fantastic and classical art, as well as art from around the world. I'm very aware that the ubiquitous male gaze influences my work as much as my identity as a woman.

I could go into detail about my own distinction between nudity and porn. As much as I would enjoy that (I'd be the only one), it's irrelevant to my decision not to use 3D Coat. I don't have to agree with his perspective to respect it. He made it about what he wanted to put out into the world. He just didn't want his tool used to violate his values. Which he described as against promoting sexuality at all.

You're right that they weren't guidelines or rules, but that's because it was done as a personal request. IMHO, the request was quite quite specific. No nudity. At all. Or pinups. Or anything sensual. Anything that contributed to sensuality or the sexualization of anyone, but especially women, was something he didn't want his software to be a part of. To me, his request was unambiguous and clear.

I empathize with his wish not to contribute, even indirectly, to something harmful. I've never worked on anything even remotely or tangentially useful for war, but if I did, I wouldn't ever want it used to hurt someone else. That would be really important to me, regardless of how eternal or vast the problem of war is, or how little of a difference it might make. I wouldn't want my work to harm anyone. It seemed to me that all he was asking was for people not to use his software in a way he sincerely believes is hurts people. I'd be going against my own personal beliefs if I ignored that request.
 

Darryl

Adventurous
I like that about the HiveWire galleries, too. I like that it honestly promotes lots of different types of work. I find more diverse works here than anywhere else in the content community. Even places that have similar rules, like DAZ, still tend to use t&a to sell everything.

The HW galleries are rare in the content community in having lots of different subject matter. I love the content community, but I want more out of art than aesthetics. I want to see stories, images with concepts, works with more than one layer. HiveWire is the only content community site I know of with a larger focus than 20-something female characters that look like fashion models from America.

You seem to have complex, graded, and layered views on the intersection of nudity, sex, and art. I think I can understand that. I'm in a similar space. My concept of visual art emerges from a lifetime of exposure to fantastic and classical art, as well as art from around the world. I'm very aware that the ubiquitous male gaze influences my work as much as my identity as a woman.

I could go into detail about my own distinction between nudity and porn. As much as I would enjoy that (I'd be the only one), it's irrelevant to my decision not to use 3D Coat. I don't have to agree with his perspective to respect it. He made it about what he wanted to put out into the world. He just didn't want his tool used to violate his values. Which he described as against promoting sexuality at all.

You're right that they weren't guidelines or rules, but that's because it was done as a personal request. IMHO, the request was quite quite specific. No nudity. At all. Or pinups. Or anything sensual. Anything that contributed to sensuality or the sexualization of anyone, but especially women, was something he didn't want his software to be a part of. To me, his request was unambiguous and clear.

I empathize with his wish not to contribute, even indirectly, to something harmful. I've never worked on anything even remotely or tangentially useful for war, but if I did, I wouldn't ever want it used to hurt someone else. That would be really important to me, regardless of how eternal or vast the problem of war is, or how little of a difference it might make. I wouldn't want my work to harm anyone. It seemed to me that all he was asking was for people not to use his software in a way he sincerely believes is hurts people. I'd be going against my own personal beliefs if I ignored that request.

Ok. Sounds like you're striving to follow your personal code as much as the software creators are. No problem with that. 3DC is good software though, intuitive, powerful, reasonably priced. For those who feel they won't violate the creator's wishes it's a pretty good choice.
 
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