I’m currently using Cheetah 3D which does everything I need, but if there was a tool that took the next step in modelling it would save me a lot of time.
In Cheetah you build your mesh, then you add a texture to it, and map the UVs to the texture, then you paint your texture. This is fine for simple things.
But I am building fairly complex scenes where the terrain and buildings are all part of a single mesh (for performance reasons in the game.)
I’d like a tool where I can build my mesh, and then take a palate of different textures and “paint” them onto my mesh. The tool would then copy part of the texture painted into a composite texture for this mesh, and do the mapping automatically.
Thus I could grab a wood texture, a rubble texture, a picture of a door, and place them on the mesh in the appropriate spots, then add grass and paint the grass next to the rubble and blur them together in some way. Then the UV would map to a texture that the program created that was a composite of these textures. With the Doors’ polys mapped to the door. The rubble to the rubble, with tiling. (Something I can’t do at all now) and where the grass and the rubble mixed there’d be a composite of the two textures that it mapped here to blur the edge between the two.
I can do most of this manually, but, for instance, tiling an area and not tiling other parts you can’t do, since tiling is for the whole texture. Which means that for big areas the textures get blown out and stretched and you lose detail.
Yeah, you’re asking too much. 3D art requires a lot of manual labor as computers are still… just computers.
Besides, I wouldn’t want some machine making art for me!
Having said that you might take a look at one of the new preview videos for yet to be released Zbrush 4:
I’d like a tool that mows and edges my lawn without me being there to hold it. I recently bought a shiny new trimmer and the damn thing still expects me to hold it while cutting. Go figure.
The make art button is still a ways off, as is the mow lawn button.
neo, I think Maxon’s BodyPaint would be your closest bet, which comes with the Core version of Cinema 4D. In simple terms you use the BodyPaint UV wizard to generate the UV map, then Projection paint directly onto your 3D mesh using Photoshop style layered materials and even Photoshop brushes/blending effects.
EDIT: If you are considering getting Cinema4D/BodyPaint, now would be the best time as they currently have a 50% off sidegrade offer. Not sure Cheetah 3D qualifies but contact your local Maxon dealer anyway and ask.
With Maya you can also paint on your model and painting all kind of texture. This is great for resolving seams problem!
But to tell the truth, nothing will replace the layers work on Photoshop with a good UVs work!
Look into Modo, you can model your scene as one entire mesh and then use some rather simple auto UV tools, then paint textures inside as you stated you wanted to. It wont do anything for you, but it does work as you stated you wanted to.
