Check out technical details of 3DCoat: Leading software for various 3D Modeling needs.
3DCoat is the one application that has all the tools you need to take your 3D idea from a block of digital clay all the way to a production ready, fully textured organic or hard surface 3D modeling. In other words, 3DCoat is a versatile program providing users with a number of convenient tools for digital sculpting, painting, texturing (including PBR support), as well as one of the best retopology tools available in the market today.
The program can also be used to modify imported 3D models from a number of commercial 3D software products by means of plugins called Applinks. Imported models can be converted into voxel objects for further refinement and for adding high resolution detail, complete UV unwrapping and mapping, as well as adding textures for displacement, bump maps, specular and diffuse color maps. Possibility to adapt and export your models to 3D-printing makes 3DCoat yet another useful application. Applinks supports many 3D and VFX softwares including Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, Blender, Unity 3D, SideFX Houdini, Blackmagic Design Fusion, Modo, Lightwave and more.
A huge thanks to Andrew Shpagin, Lead Programmer of 3DCoat, and team to made this interview happen.
Hi Andrew, welcome abroad. What was the push factor to create the software 3D-Coat?
I used to work for a video game development company where we developed our own technology (engine) for powering real-time strategy games. Part of the libraries for the engine included the level/map editor, as well as the character editor we designed. Those, as well as the understanding of the needs and pipeline of an artist working on game assets gave me a good starting point for the work on 3DCoat. At some point I decided to dedicate all my time to creating 3D-Coat.
I felt that it had the potential to serve well not only to artists involved in the games industry, but far beyond.
Let us about the core team of 3DCoat and how they developed it.
We started as a small group of enthusiasts and we still actually remain a quite small team. Nevertheless, for the last 10 years or so we managed to build 3DCoat as one of the frequently-updated and feature-rich tools serving the needs of digital artists worldwide. Initially I did all the feature development and there were three other guys on the team to take care of the rest – website and server support, marketing and communications.
3DCoat is largely a community-driven application, and even though we were updating the program every two weeks or so, there’s always been more features than we physically could deliver. These days I’m still doing major part of the development, but luckily there are other programmers on the team now who are catching up and helping us develop not only the main 3DCoat, but also various custom solutions, such as adaptations for dental or shoes industry, for example.
Kindly let our readers know; all they need to know about 3D-Coat in brief.
Well, in a nutshell the header of the interview explains it all. 3DCoat is a versatile tool for digital artists and actually all 3D art enthusiasts, thanks to the easy learning curve of the program. 3DCoat has been positioned as a perfect companion app as its 3D modeling and supported tools could contribute well to various pipelines, especially when it comes to sculpting, texturing, painting, as well as retopology, including the innovative auto-retopology feature.
Overall, our intention is to develop 3DCoat as all-in-one solution enabling users to have the full cycle, starting from sculpting with a block of digital clay up to the rendered or manufacturing-ready 3D model, be it organic or hard-surface one.
If you want to get a feel of 3DCoat’s possibilities, we encourage you to download our 30-day full functional trial for free. Also make sure to check multiple feature videos and tutorials available on our YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/PILGWAY3DCoat
In how many job categories of Pre and Post Production Pipeline 3DCoat can be used? Please explain in detail.
There’s quite a lot of fields where 3D-Coat could apply. This ranges from concept making, 3D modeling prototypes for production, modeling details for hobby and 3D printing, modeling and texturing game characters, all the way up to laser cutting, healing scanned models.
What are the major highlights of 3D-Coat that makes it stand apart from the competition?
I believe the fact that it’s very easy-to-learn, yet powerful as a professional tool, makes 3DCoat a good choice in the eyes of many artists. Voxel sculpting for quick prototyping, painting tools, extensive libraries of prefabs, support for real time PBR (Physically Based Rendering) and smart materials, one of the industry-best retopology etc. are definitely among the features that make it stand out.
What are the leading technological advancements behind production of 3DCoat?
First-hand, I would name Auto-retopology, Globally uniform UV mapping, fast Booleans, Live Clay technology. And soon we plan to deliver rich tools related to curves, similar to Corel, but in 3D.
You are part of academics in 200+ Universities and Schools globally. Let us know more about this huge success.
About five years ago we started our Academic Program, based on which we provide the educational establishments with 3DCoat for free. Our intention was to enable schools and universities give their students access to modern 3D graphics tools, so they could master and get practical experience of digital art while they learn their profession. The Program has been very successful and the network of universities willing to introduce 3DCoat to their students grows almost daily.
At this point we are also considering a more basic version of 3DCoat adapted for use by younger students at schools. We do believe this would allow more young people to unfold their creative potential and help building a strong pool of specialists for the industry’s future.
How 3DC Printing is integrated with 3DCoat?
We’ve done some thorough integration of the printing features into 3DCoat, available as a separate 3DC Printing or within a standard 3DCoat license starting from the Pro version. This primarily means the tools necessary to adapt your 3D modeling and make it print-ready, including a possibility of splitting your model into parts (in case it’s impossible to print it all in one go) with specific joints you can set with the help of 3DCoat, so you can easily connect the parts of your figurine when printed.
We’ve also taken into account the specifics of the printing process, for example the adaptation of the model’s edges required due to natural melting of the material during printing, or creating supports for your models during the 3D printing.
How 3DC Printing helps artists / companies to achieve the best output?
I think it does a lot, especially when it comes to 3D modeling, designing and manufacturing new products, ranging from shoes, for example, to cars and airplanes. Use of 3D printing technologies can help companies design new products faster, while doing that with higher precision and saving costs on prototypes. So ultimately the technology helps the industries evolve faster and improve the quality.
What are your views on future of 3D Printing?
I believe 3D printer could become a standard home appliance available in every household, just like a TV set or refrigerator. Would you need to replace a door handle, a new lamp cover or a spare part for your bicycle – 3D printer could help. So definitely that is something with a broad practical use potentially.
Keep looking this space for more updates on 3DCoat. Check out stunning 3D modeling and finished production outputs. All the art work belongs to their respective creators only. Find out more exciting images from the official image gallery.
