UV's in Modo vs 3d Coat

[iceage]

Anyway I bought Modo and was constructing a base model to sculpt on in it.  Mostly I just wanted to see how it works and how a subdivision surface model would compare to a voxel model. 

 

So I went to UV my model in Modo.  You have to do this if you are going to use an open exr file for sculpting.  Also it will subdivide your UV's for you if you have them laid out ahead of time for subdivision modeling. I must say the first couple of tries I made to UV my model in Modo left me sadly disappointed.  Maybe it is just the fact that 3d Coat does UV's quicker and more efficiently than any other program I have ever used. I kept working at it till I got a decent set of UV's in Modo.  

 

I was just curious if anyone else uses Modo and how they go about doing their UVs.  I really wish you could just add seams like in 3d Coat and hit unwrap.  Would be so much easier. 

[ajz3d]

So I went to UV my model in Modo.  You have to do this if you are going to use an open exr file for sculpting.

Hey Iceage, I'm sorry but you lost me here. Could you please explain what you meant in those two sentences? What does unwrapping the model in Modo have to do with using OpenEXR for sculpting? And, most importantly, what does OpenEXR image file format has to do with the sculpting process?

[iceage]

Open EXR files let you do sculpting using a texture rather than subdivision surfaces.  It is not true sculpting, but you can convert it to a sculpt later if you want to.  That is my understanding anyway.

[AbnRanger]

3ds Max had a major revamp of it's UV tools a few versions ago, and it's nice and all...but they still don't hold a candle to 3D Coat. Plus, 3D Coat is the only UV toolset with the Globally Uniform algorithm. It's something Andrew developed, himself, and it is significantly better than the ABF++ unfolding algorithm and anything I've seen. I always do my UV's now in 3D Coat. Even if I switched to Mudbox or ZBrush for sculpting and Texture Painting, I'd still use 3D Coat for the UV editing tools. It's the cream of the crop in my opinion 

[AbnRanger]

....plus, if you need to edit your UV's for any reason, after you've already done your texture painting, 3D Coat is the only app I know of that gives you a "get out of jail free" card, as it were. You'd be screwed if you tried to do that in 3ds Max. It's pretty remarkable how 3D Coat can relocate the pixels for you.

[ajz3d]

Open EXR files let you do sculpting using a texture rather than subdivision surfaces.  It is not true sculpting, but you can convert it to a sculpt later if you want to.  That is my understanding anyway.

So they're used as 32-bit masks for sculpting? By "not true sculpting" do you mean painting displacement and then converting it to point positions? I'm sorry for asking (and probably derailing the thread), but I'm curious about this process that Modo offers.

Edited March 10, 2015 by ajz3d

[iceage]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baUhzOCBP_Q

 

Not sure I got my idea right on Modo and sculpting. This video explains it better than I could. 

 

Much like you ABNranger I prefer to do my unwrap in 3d Coat.  5 or 10 minutes usually gives me far better results than I can get in any other program after an hour or two. 

[Javis]

I use Modo and 3DC together, extensively.

 

Right now, I prefer to mark seams and do a general unwrap in Modo, no relaxing or anything like that. Then bring my mesh into 3DC to use the unwrapping with the GUUV method. This assumes I modeled in Modo first.

 

If I work retopo in 3DC, then I'll just unwrap it in 3DC first. The thing about Modo's UV seams marking, is that they are just plain better at the moment. You can save selection sets of edges for UV seams. More easily get into hard to reach areas in Modo. Then when complete, unwrap (it doesn't matter how bad it is, just as long as you have seams), then import to 3DC for a better unwrap with the seams. I work on the basis of, "use what works best for the situation", as a general rule.

 

 

For what it's worth, to help clarify, the method of sculpting used in Modo you're describing is displacement texturing. It's pretty nice in Modo, but 3DC excels here as well, in most cases.

[ajz3d]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baUhzOCBP_Q

Cool, thanks for the video. So I was right, they use 32-bit image format as a medium for sculpting [vector] displacement information that you can use for sculpting details on a UV-ed mesh. I'd really like to see this in 3D-Coat, because this feature simply feels powerful.

On the other hand, I can't stop myself from commenting on how long did it take to retopo this simple rock mesh in Modo. With 3D-Coat, the time could probably could be cut in half if not more.

Nevertheless I'd really like to lay down my dirty hands on the soft, if only they offered the modelling module at a lower price.

Edited March 10, 2015 by ajz3d

[iceage]

I use Modo and 3DC together, extensively.

 

Right now, I prefer to mark seams and do a general unwrap in Modo, no relaxing or anything like that. Then bring my mesh into 3DC to use the unwrapping with the GUUV method. This assumes I modeled in Modo first.

 

If I work retopo in 3DC, then I'll just unwrap it in 3DC first. The thing about Modo's UV seams marking, is that they are just plain better at the moment. You can save selection sets of edges for UV seams. More easily get into hard to reach areas in Modo. Then when complete, unwrap (it doesn't matter how bad it is, just as long as you have seams), then import to 3DC for a better unwrap with the seams. I work on the basis of, "use what works best for the situation", as a general rule.

 

 

For what it's worth, to help clarify, the method of sculpting used in Modo you're describing is displacement texturing. It's pretty nice in Modo, but 3DC excels here as well, in most cases.

I would love to see how you go about a uv unwrap in modo.  I haven't done it that often and wonder if I am doing it right or wrong and if that is what is slowing me down. 

 

Just so you know I bought Modo last month.  It was the only "professional" software I could afford other than Lightwave and I just like to model the most so it is what I got.