If you’re like us here at InspirationTuts, you must be passionate about 3D, ArchViz, Digital Graphics and anything artistic and inspirational really. When it comes to 3D, however, most of the giant names of the industry keep popping up everywhere: Blender, Maya, 3Ds Max, Houdini…, etc. We cover these a lot ourselves, and there’s nothing wrong with this.
Today, we decided to shed the light on a 3D software that isn’t brought up that often: 3D Coat. Despite the fact that you probably don’t hear this name slided in conversations that frequently, it’s actually pretty impressive. You might be asking yourselves: what is 3D Coat used for? is it really worth it?
3D Coat software is one of the most underrated 3D packages, but it still displays a huge potential that is continuously improved. You can do pretty much anything with it: modeling, sculpting, texturing, retopology…, etc.
Before we dive deeper into the use cases of this software, let’s have a brief overview on what it is in the first place. You can check the video on our YouTube channel to have a closer look at the interface, workflow and the features on a practical level.
What is 3D Coat Software?
3D Coat software is an all-in-one program that allows you to do many tasks including Sculpting, Retopology, Baking, UVing, Texturing… etc. The difference between 3D Coat and the other sculpting programs is that instead of using polygonal meshes it actually uses voxels. Voxels are like 3D equivalents of pixels so you can assume they can create very flexible shapes and models…etc.
How it works? While the term voxel comes from combining the term pixel and volume, it actually produces a virtual grid in the 3D space and the mesh then occupies sections of this grid to form its shape.
Official Website: https://3dcoat.com/
What is 3D Coat used for?
Many people consider 3DCoat to be an excellent software due to the fact that it has many outstanding tools features. Features from modeling, UV Unwrapping, Texturing to others such as the number of brushes that it offers. Also, the way of working with voxels makes the creation of 3D models even easier.
The materials it offers are high quality, in addition to the lighting and the camera settings that make renders look even better by giving you greater control and freedom.
The 3D Viewports feels good, and it is easy to move through the models using the tools the software offer. The interface is also quite beautiful and doesn’t feel crowded but you still have everything on your hand.
Breaking down 3D Coat features
1. PBR Texturing
First of all, it has good Realtime Physically Based Rendering in the viewport. When it comes to materials, it has smart materials with easy set-up options that will allow you to save time and be more efficient. So we can say that this specific task is part of what is 3D Coat used for efficiently.
3D Coat actually texture painting features include a rich toolset for all kinds of painting tasks, and you can rely on it to create high-quality results. There are different approaches to painting in the 3D viewport such as Microvertex, Per-pixel, or Ptex painting approaches.
With the ability to work on Texture size up to 16K of course. It’s fantastic when it comes to working on super-detailed characters or environments with close-up shots.
In addition to that, it has Multiple paint Layers. Popular blending modes. Layer groups. Also a tight interaction with Photoshop which is great if you want to add specific detail especially if you are old school and you know to use it properly.
2. Digital Sculpting
3D sculpting is a fascinating way to bring characters, monsters, and all kinds of organic shapes to life. While many 3D modeling programs focus on precision, 3D sculpting apps are all about turning a piece of visual clay into a stunning 3D print. It can be used to create busts, animals, and other free-form designs. It lends itself well to a number of artistic applications, including game design, character animation, film, engineering, and product design.
3D Coat sculpting features will turn out to be handy and advanced. We can distinguish a few categories that set them apart.
Voxel (volumetric) sculpting key features
Even though 3D Coat is not the best 3D software for sculpting, it can offer you a great experience with No topological constraints. You can Sculpt whatever you like with Clay whether it be characters, animals, monsters you name it.
Interestingly it has Complex boolean operations which will allow you to gain speed and create complex details in no time with the least effort possible.
It has an amazingly Fast kitbashing workflow that allows you to create complex models whether it be vehicles, ships, or even large environments which is usually time-consuming.
Traditional sculpting features
The first thing that is worth mentioning here is the Adaptive dynamic tesselation such as Live Clay. In addition to that, there are Dozens of fast and fluid sculpting brushes that will give you a lot of control and freedom when working on different projects.
Like in Volumetric sculpting, the Boolean operations in traditional sculpting will help you create beautiful shapes with crisp edges.
3. Retopology
3D Coat retopology features include a lot of advanced tools and features that will improve your workflow tremendously. For example, there is Auto-retopology with user-defined edge loops.
There are also extremely fast and easy-to-use manual Retopo tools such as Smart Retopo, which allows you to retopologize by drawing lines and the software will fill surfaces accordingly.
Furthermore, there are Retopo groups with color palettes for better management. This comes in handy when working on complicated models.
You also have the option to use your current low-poly mesh as your Retopo mesh.
In addition to that, there is the possibility to import reference mesh for Retopologization and advanced baking settings dialog and more features and tools as well.
4. UV Mapping
When it comes to UV mapping, 3D Coat has a professional toolset for creating and editing UV sets. This will allow you to create UVs for your models without the need to use third-party plugins or addons.
There is also a Native Global Uniform unwrapping algorithm that helps achieve optimal results automatically. A good thing is that 3D Coat also has Multiple UV-sets support and management. You also have the ability of individual islands tweaking. Lastly, it is fast, easy, and fun to use.
With 3D Coat software, You can choose individual parts of a model and edit them separately if they haven’t quite gone as planned. artists strongly recommend looking into this part of the software since it can really speed up your workflow as you can import models from other programs like 3Ds Max or Maya.
5. Concept Art
Concept art is actually the starting point in any creative project whether it be video games or movies. Nowadays it is very convenient now to use 3D software in the concept art production pipeline. Usually, it starts with rough or detailed 3D blocks, separate 3D objects, or even complete 3D scenes with later paint over in Photoshop or another 2D image editor.
3D Coat concept art creation features are really something. The software is great for making 3D environments for Concept Art, because it’s fast and has a ton of tools in modeling that makes this possible.
In addition to that, the fact that it’s excellent and fast when it comes to sculpting makes the work of a concept artist even more efficient and easier. Because a concept artist doesn’t care about Topology, UV unwrapping, Polygon count, none of that stuff. Due to the fact that 3D work as we said is going to 2D software for painting and finalizing the concept art.
Texturing is much easier with 3D Coat software and doesn’t need wide technical skills and preparations, which is quite important for concept artists. For example, Substance Painter requires knowledge in game production and the preparation of a model for game engines. In 3D Coat you just need to open a model and draw hand-painted or use PBR textures.
Materials adjustment is quite intuitive – works with moving sliders and changing distribution zones. Note that the Drawing tools are familiar to any CG artist whoever opened Photoshop – brushes, Eraser, Filling, etc.
Easy!? Right! Most artists are quite satisfied with standard materials and their modifications which are enough to work with game sketches and complicated texturing of realistic ZBrush concepts. Combined with ZBrush, 3D Coat is really something!
Conclusion and final thoughts
As with any other 3D program in the world, there are pros and cons. But most of the time, it is just a matter of time to get used to a tool or it will receive updates. 3D Coat software has a nice updating routine, so if you don’t like something today, you might like it with the next update.
