PhotoSculpt

[Gaieus]

Hehe...

Maybe I should merge the two topics and move the whole thing here?

Yes, Mike, that little subforum is kind of hidden from the sight. What do you think?

[Pilou]

Does this work on Mac by the way?

I am affraid that will be only for PC (wait the visite of Hipe-O
But for mac exist some method (dual exploitation system, Virtual PC etc...

[hipe-0]

Hi Guys,

my name is Hippolyte from http://www.photosculpt.net

I'm new to your forums and many thanks to Pilou and Mike for the multiple invitations.

I've used sketchup a lot last year. I'm a total fan of this application.
I'm a design engineer, I know also most mechanical CAD packages (Catia 4&5, proe, ug, ideas, etc) and Sketchup blasted me as it was so userfriendly in comparison. I never thought this would be possible to design something that cool. Good job devs!

To your questions :
Mac version: I'm sorry that's not possible now. I'm working full steam on the PC version. If this version work, they maybe I'll work on the mac version.

Price question: I'm doing a market study, that's really too soon to reply. Let's say I want the price to be 'normal'. Gaieus is right, what is 'normal' in every user's mind? That's a mystery now.

low/hi polygon extraction is a feature of PhotoSculpt.
Pressing the < > buttons on the PhotoSculpt interface divides or multiply model size by 2. You get immediate feedback on screen.
Additionaly a friend of mine have requested the 'save multiple' option. So you can now save whatever multiple polysizes with whatever maps in one go.

Archaeological use: That's a very good question, I have contacted people that work in this domain, I really think as you do Gaieus that my software can help them documenting findings in 3D. Some of them actually do that already. Some are using high end lasers, other use cameras and beamers to project bars, but they usually all describe something really cumbersome and expensive.
On my side I have made some experiments on the site of Plagne, France, close to Geneva, where they recently spotted dinosaur foot steps. I got wonderfull results in no time as I shot the entire site in 12 minutes (about 50 shots). I can share that.

to Jolran: you seem to have a lot of expectations about PhotoSculpt. You or anyone else please don't hesitate to send me your wish list, I may not be able to do everything, but just keep asking, that's really the only way I can make the soft improve.

Any other question? Please do not hesitate!

Now my questions about sketchup pro, can someone help me?
1. What is the practical polycount limit of sketchup pro when importing obj files (or stl files)?
2. Can you use normal maps with sketchup pro? Can you do with another renderer?
3. can you use displacement maps to push geometry with sketchup pro?

Thanks everyone! Thanks for your invitation!
--
Hippolyte from http://www.PhotoSculpt.net

[Pilou]

1 I am affraid to say that I believe that
SU PRO import only 3ds (so 65 535 polys max by objects) , dwg, dxf, Collada (Dae), KMZ, formats
So maybe a converter must be used
and for the other I believe for the moment that is
2 No Yes
3 No
with the current version : maybe a day some plugs can makes that

[Gaieus]

Hi Hipe-0 and welcome (finally)

I would have a question about keyboard strokes you mention. You obviously know that non-English keyboards tend to vary from country to country. On my (Hungarian) keyboard layout for instance, I have to use the Alt+Ctrl (or AltGr on the right) plus some other letter keyboard combination in order to get the < and > symbols. Would this affect the use of the software? (Currently I am unable to use some of the features of SketchUp because of this).

As for polycount in SU - it can depend on a lot of things. A whole archaeological site could obviously not be presented this way but there are workarounds like TIG's matrix proximity or Fredo's GhostComp plugins to display more complex geometry when it's near and simpler versions when they are in the distance.

Photo-realistic rendering with bump and displacement maps are generally done in external apps (or apps that - though plugins - work in SU itself). These are not "interactive" however although LightUp for instance "bakes" such info into the SU model and the you can walk around or export to other applications - so there are endless possibilities.

[hipe-0]

I agree with you about keyboards Gaieus, I have a french one and it's a mess sometimes. Concerning the < and > I meant the buttons on the interface, not the equivalent key on your keyboard.

I've just updated my web site with many more information about PhotoSculpt Textures plus about 70 images and free seamless textures.

Go to:
http://www.photosculpt.net and click menu/photosculpt textures/gallery

Let's discuss?

[jolran]

Well I suspect a workflow similar to Zbrush. With lower-mesh to higher-mesh normalmap extraction.
And then using normalmap(or displ.) + textures on a basemesh with realtively low polygoncount.

Otherwise its quite useless

Im sorry. I must make it clear that I ment it would be hard to use for SU users with big polygoncountmeshes.
SU is 32 bit as well.

How are UVs made? Polypaint and then UNWRAP?

[Gaieus]

OK, thanks, Hippe-0! I will check out all those things, promise, before coming up with a silly question again!

[hipe-0]

To jolran, don't be sorry that was a good question!

UV:
This is simple: it's a regular grid flat projected onto the model, based on the camera main axis.

I like this as it basically gives best results: it always work, it makes no seams and all textures you create are directly fully usable onto the model.

UVs are automatically created when exporting the model.
So you don't really mess with them. If by any chance you need to change something, you can still do it within your own 3d app.
You cannot for instance polypaint or unwrap within photosculpt.

Hoping this made sense?

[mitcorb]

I notice system requirements mentions DirectX 9. Here's my naive question:
What does this mean relative to SU's use of OpenGL, and some video cards? Does this create any limitations?

[jolran]

That make pefect sence. Its like "Cameramapping" in XSI.

Sounds great!

And for all people who doesent have PRO version(majority) import of obj might be problematic.
One can use Ultimate Unwrap3d or Okino. The mentioned first is cheaper and has UV editing, good companion to Photo sculpt
maybe

[hipe-0]

I notice system requirements mentions DirectX 9. Here's my naive question:
What does this mean relative to SU's use of OpenGL, and some video cards? Does this create any limitations?

I'm not entirely sure to understand your question Mitcorb, sorry?

PhotoSculpt uses the DirectX9 api from Microsoft.
Those Dx9 functions are part of dx10 and dx11 too and run with no problem if you have them installed.

One limitation is if you have dx8 only, whitch is rare, then it won't work.

I have no plan to make use of opengl today, do you need that?

I hope to have answered your question?

[mitcorb]

Well, I did say it was a naive question.
I am not even sure if Directx and OpenGL have any compatibility issues or not, or whether some graphics cards are dependent on one or the other.
I just need to do some more research for my own understanding.
Thanks for your reply, hipe-0.

[hipe-0]

Well, I did say it was a naive question.
I am not even sure if Directx and OpenGL have any compatibility issues or not, or whether some graphics cards are dependent on one or the other.
I just need to do some more research for my own understanding.
Thanks for your reply, hipe-0.

Don't worry, there are no "naive questions". Hoping to have helped you or reassured you. I tested the software on xp, win 7 , vista, 32, 64 bits it runs on all configurations.
I don't know about graphic cards that are opengl only. That may well exist on pc or maybe only with unix workstations. Anyone knows?

[Pilou]

Video of the Interface