Photoshop vs Blender vs 3D Coat: Texturing

[Darryl]

I've been looking for a way to do some simple texturing on store bought or original models. I'm not really into PBR as I usually postwork my finished art for an illustrative look. I would be very happy to just create Diffuse, Specular, Alpha and Bump/Displacement maps. Old school, and with that hand painted look on occasion. I'd also like to paint directly on the model and UV maps in the same program.

I already own Photoshop. It has a familiar tool set but I found it clunky and sluggish to work with. It's not really optimized for 3D work and I found it lacking.

Tried Blender. It has it's advantages but I didn't like how it handled it's various Diffuse, Alpha, and Bump mapping channels. It seems overly complicated and doesn't export well to PSD for finishing.

I'm working with the 3D Coat demo right now and I like it a lot. I can paint multiple channels at once and it has a number of tools specifically for 3D texturing. Its interface is also fairly easy to understand. It is a full sculpting, UV and texturing app though, so the price reflects that. A bit more than I'd like to pay just to use the texturing features.

I wondered if anyone was using 3D Coat for Poser or Studio and knows whether it plays well with those apps. I'm aware of other software including Reality Paint (don't like interface), Quixel (PC only), and Substance (seems complicated). Anything I'm missing?

 

[Jay Versluis]

Hi Darryl, I know what you mean about the Photoshop 3D features - they could be so much better (I miss a symmetry feature for example). Perhaps one day, ey?

Just thought I'd add another program to the mix you may enjoy for texturing: ZBrush. Definitely pricey, and perhaps overkill if you only want to use it for texturing, and difficult to learn, but an extremely creative tool for any 3D pipeline. It works by storing surface information as "pixols" rather than a texture map while you work. The idea is that once you're happy with your work, you then export it as maps. So the UV mapping doesn't have to be done until you're finished paining.

They sometimes have a trial, or you can buy the app and ask for a refund within 30 days.

 

[Darryl]

Hey, thanks for chiming in. I am familiar with Z-Brush (by reputation) but it will be a bit overkill for my needs. If 3D Coat came out with a texturing only version at reduced price I'd be all over it. By the time my trial period is up though, there's a good chance I'll buy it anyway.

 

[AllenArt]

3D Coat has a personal/amateur version that's only 99 dollars. Not too bad, in the scheme of things .

 

[Darryl]

3D Coat has a personal/amateur version that's only 99 dollars. Not too bad, in the scheme of things .

Yeah, and I believe they define "non-commercial" as earning less than 10k per year. If I could earn 10k yearly off this hobby I'd buy two versions, just for the heck of it, lol. On the other hand it adds a restriction of 7 paint layers or some such. Not sure if it would cramp my style. I could probably work around it.

 

[David]

I've been using 3dCoat for texturing (as well as uvmapping) for a while now. I've had no problems as far as using it with Poser. There are several short tutorials on using 3dCoat with Poser here

John Holding

I've recently started playing with 3dCoat's sculpting and retopo functions. Potentially fun stuff once I get my head around it. I got the full version, and yes it's a bit expensive, but the updates are free and fairly regular.

 

[AetherDream]

Hi Darryl,
I have also thought a lot about using 3DCoat, but the cost is a problem right now. I primarily use photoshop, but there is another program that is great for working with clothing textures and it is really cheap called StitchWitch. I am not sure if you have tried it out at all, but it is a pretty handy tool for doing textures for 3D. It is an older program and does not have Photoshop capabilities, but there are actually some things that it does a little better. I sometimes use it for initial set ups using clothing templates and then bring them into photoshop for refinement.