Carrara 3D Painting vs Blacksmith 3D
Rashad Carter
Posts: 1,799
I am strongly considering purchasing Blacksmith 3d for its painting abilities. I currently use Carrara for 3d painting and I'd like to know how the two products compare. Or better stated; is Blacksmith 3d a worthy investment for someone who already has 3d painting in Carrara? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
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It really depends on what type of 3D painting you do (or want to do). For human figures, BS3D has a much better tool set than Carrara does. BS3D makes painting on the 3D figure directly from the reference photo quite easy (this same process can be used for any model that you want to transfer the photo texture directly to the model). In general, I feel BS3D has a more feature rich and refined tool-set for painting/texturing 3D models than Carrara.
In most cases, you would want to do your UV mapping in either Carrara, or another application, because BS3D makes an "exploded" UV map (for lack of a better term) where all the polygons maintain a consistent scale, but are literally scattered all over the UV map This is great for painting on the model, but unusable for working in a 2D program like photoshop.
There is a free demo, you should give it a quick test run to make sure it does what you need (just go to the BS3D forum over at Rendo, and you can find the link to the download there). What I like about it is it is fairly easy to learn, is really designed to work well with Poser content/figures (cr2). and makes the process of transferring textures directly from photos onto the model quite simple (though for fine details you might still want to use photoshop, gimp, etc.).
Other options would be Blender (much greater learning curve) and 3DCoat (you can get the Personal/Educational version for $99 - but your texture size is limited to 2048x2048 and non-commercial use). But at the current sale price, I think BS3D is a very good deal.
Wow. I haven't checked out Blacksmith in a L O N G time. Not sure if this helps, but just in case, Mec4D is giving away Deep Paint, but charges a dollar for web server.
I believe the correct term is Atlas UV :)
Thanks guys. I went ahead and purchased it. I've been eying it for a few years now and with the sale I couldn't resist. I will look into Deep Paint as well, thanks for that link, Dart!!!
you can get it here too -
http://www.photo-freeware.net/image-editing.php
Thanks for the link. I'd still love to paint on objects but that is out of my budget at the moment. :)
I like 3D Coat myself and the Educational version is only $99.
The interesting thing about the Education version is they offer it to hobbyists, the unemployed and to Senior Citizens for the same discount. Not many companies are willing do that.
I also have Zbrush, but almost have to re-learn everything every time I use it. :)
I also have Zbrush, but almost have to re-learn everything every time I use it. :)
Thats what I was going to suggest is 3D-Coat Edu version.
Awesome! So you've bought Blacksmith 3D?
I hope you come back and let us know what you think!
I have finally got myself to the point where I like to be with Carrara's 3D Paint tool, so I doubt that I'll be joining you with that... but who knows, right? GKDantas and Ringo Monfort sell some cool brushes for Carrara's Paint, and so I've bought them all, and find "the more, the merrier" to be very true when it comes to brushes in 3D painting. But more so, I have also been honing my UV Mapping skills too, since 3D painting turns out much more as expected with a good UV Map.
I can't wait to hear how you like it. I'm excited when I buy a cool new app like that!
you can paint in Sculptris too
You can paint with Carrara? What version of Carrara allows painting.
Thanks
You can paint with Carrara? What version of Carrara allows painting.
Thanks
"Pro" versions of Carrara at least since Carrara 6 have the 3D Paint tools. Page 632 (644 of the pdf) in the Carrara 7 (rev G) manual, which now ships with Carrara 8.5 (available Here) has instructions on its use.
WARNING: 3D Painting can become HIGHLY addicting!
WARNING: 3D Painting can become HIGHLY addicting!
I have an older version that is not pro which I bought off a friend. Too bad, I loved carrara.
But there is also another way: Look for a book called "Figures, Characters and Avatars", by Les Pardew.
Not sure if it will work properly, but Here's a Link to it at Amazon
There's a 'Second Edition', but I don't know if that one comes with the DVD. I would also avoid Kindle or other non-paperback versions, as it's the DVD you want, as it includes a legal installment of Hexagon and Carrara 6 Pro along with DAZ Studio 2.3 and a whole pile of excellent DAZ 3D content. When I added that link, Amazon was selling the book in the US for 23.51 to 28.95 for a New copy. Then just contact DAZ support and mail them proof of purchase. That way you'll get 'Upgrade' pricing if you ever have the opportunity to slip into a newer version!
But the book is pretty cool, too! Les did a good job!
EDIT: I just noticed that, at the bottom of the home page at Carrara Cafe, on the right under "Useful Links" is the same link as above, so it should work! ;)
But there is also another way: Look for a book called "Figures, Characters and Avatars", by Les Pardew.
Not sure if it will work properly, but Here's a Link to it at Amazon
There's a 'Second Edition', but I don't know if that one comes with the DVD. I would also avoid Kindle or other non-paperback versions, as it's the DVD you want, as it includes a legal installment of Hexagon and Carrara 6 Pro along with DAZ Studio 2.3 and a whole pile of excellent DAZ 3D content. When I added that link, Amazon was selling the book in the US for 23.51 to 28.95 for a New copy. Then just contact DAZ support and mail them proof of purchase. That way you'll get 'Upgrade' pricing if you ever have the opportunity to slip into a newer version!
But the book is pretty cool, too! Les did a good job!
EDIT: I just noticed that, at the bottom of the home page at Carrara Cafe, on the right under "Useful Links" is the same link as above, so it should work! ;)
I plan to take a closer look at this Carrara today. It on a windows 7 computer I bought off a friend and the software was on there. When I ask, they said I could keep the software however I only bought the computer to render on and never gave it a second thought. But I really want to try my hand at painting on object so I going to get second look to make sure what version it is. However I pretty sure its very old version. I tossed every last dime into 3D Artist Network (web design is my strong suit) so there no way to afford an update at this time. I guess I'll have to start saving for it. :) Thanks for the book link, I will call the locally library and see if I can get a copy for the city sent out.
Currently 8.5 is on sale for $120 but with a PC+ you can get it for about $60.
I just picked it up to try and see how it goes.
I just looked and the the pro version that allows painting is $171.00 which is way out of my price range.
I just looked and the the pro version that allows painting is $171.00 which is way out of my price range.
is that price in your cart ?
is that price in your cart ?
That's the price for 8.5 Pro that's in the store with no discounts or Platinum Club
is that price in your cart ?
That's the price for 8.5 Pro that's in the store with no discounts or Platinum Club
I don't have a Platinum Club membership any longer. I hope to get it again one of these days. :)
What you could do that would make it easier to afford is to get the PC+ quarterly for $24 to get the discounts wich is still cheaper.
and the 'real' price doesn't seem to show till its in the cart either
A package THIS COOL for SO LITTLE?
Sure... it's still a pile of cash, to be certain. But compared to other software, that's a steal, even if you don't count the loads of content that you get along with it!
I own Blacksmith3D but I don't use it. I can not stand the interface. It is a very awkward UI for me. I am a big fan of 3DCoat. It's UI is very familiar. It's like an extension of Carrara and Photoshop in many ways. It's UV tools are outstanding. You can generate a near perfect map in minutes, and its 3D painting tools are top notch as well.
Of course 3DCoat does much more than just map and paint. It's a pretty decent voxel sculpting app as well. :)