Blender Sculpties: Prim.Blender vs Domino

The thing is, this thread is about Blender. The title says so, the OP says so, and so on. It's a Blender thread.

I haven't seen anyone talking about Blender as if it's the only option, in any thread, really. Sure, people (Including me) talk about it like it's great, if that's their opinion of it, but I have yet to see anyone act as if it's the only option, or try to force it on anyone.

As for the complete packages for sculpties.... I was curious, so I went through the 3d Software page on the SL wiki, and found 11 programs that offer sculpty support and texture baking.


AC3D (Though for texturing, I believe it requires additional plugins, beyond the now-included sculpt support)
Hexagon
Lightwave
Softimage
Modo
Carrara (Texture baking requires an additional plugin)
Cinema 4D
Maya
3DS Max
Blender
XSI Mod Tool

Not gonna lie, that's more than I expected.... also, I didn't include Plopp or Archipelis, due to their alternative methods of modeling.

As for those that also include a 'true sculpt' mode (A la ZBrush, though less powerful), that brings it down to these, which are the only ones of the above that I can confirm have that ability:

Blender
Modo
Maya (Why was this so hard to find? Only found thanks to a video, and my knowledge that it was there.)
3DS Max (Again, hard to find)

Also, of those four, all of them support user scripting, with Modo being the most universal, accepting LUA, Perl, and Python. Maya is perhaps the most useful for itself, including both Python and MEL. Blender supports Python, and 3DS Max supports MAX Script, which is in my opinion least useful, as it doesn't support any preexisting language, as far as I can tell.

For a couple other useful things that I've used for sculpts, softbody/cloth and particles are supported by Maya, 3DS Max, and Blender, but not Modo. Maya Unlimited supports hair, as does Blender and 3DS Max, but Maya Complete does not.

Modo does not offer any form of multi-prim sculpty export at this time, while the other three do.

Maya costs $1,995, or $4,995.
3DS Max costs $3,495
Modo costs $895.
Blender is free.


It seems like I'm saying Blender is the best, I'm sure, but I don't intend to. This is truly the information as I've found it. Beyond these base features, each program has its own unique perks and downfalls, and everyone has their own favourite.

I don't think Modo is a complete package for sculpties as its sculpty exporter is more of a hack.

I would consider ZBrush and 3DS Max to be as complete as Maya and Blender. ZBrush's weak texture baking is compensated by the strong sculpting tools. and I'm sure 3ds Max will have a sculpting tool plugin of some sort that could compete with Maya's thing.

All the so called complete packages have their weaknesses. Depending on the type of stuff you make will determine which you run with.

I dare say some will run with 'em all!

ZBrush doesn't support any form of advanced modeling outside of sculpting, I believe, though, and hardly any basic modeling, either, IIRC, and I finally did find a bit about 3DS Max for a sculpt tool, just was hidden away. So, 3DS Max is included, and I'll be changing my above post to reflect that.

Also a factor in my lack of ZBrush inclusion is that at this point, I believe there still is no built-in or plugin support for sculpt map creation, instead requiring you to export the object and use a converter or different program to bake the map. (If this is incorrect, please let me know, but I can't find any evidence to support anything else at this point)

As I understand it, Modo's ability to create sculpt maps is essentially a form of texture baking, just a bit different than other programs, so I'm still including.

If you're used to traditional poly modeling (edge loops etc) then you may struggle with Zbrush. Although newcomers will find it easier to get their head around it. I personally can model anything in ZBrush. But I have talked to old school poly-modelers that have burst into tears while trying to make a cup. I sympathize.

ZBrush has a sculpty plugin that can even export a model made from several parts (including color textures) and rebuild it inworld for you. Search for 'ZSculpty' on these forums.

Modo can't export a model made from several parts like Blender, Maya, ZBrush or 3ds Max. It's a hack. Take it off your list or I'll beat you.

Glad to know ZBrush does have a plugin now, I do believe the wiki needs an update there (And, boy, do I suck at wiki editing, so it won't be me)

I'm still not going to include ZBrush, because it's not in the same vein as the others. ZBrush is a more specialized program, focusing on the sculpting aspect, and has very little support for traditional poly modeling, which many people (Including myself) prefer over clay-like sculpting.

As for Modo, I'm going to leave it on the list (Beat me all you want), because at no point in that list do I mention multi-part sculpties. The reason for this is that I've seen both Maya and Blender with broken multi-prim object support. I don't know if Maya's is fixed, it's been about 6 months since I used it, but I do know that Blender has proper support for it, but haven't used it myself with any pleasing results (Lack of knowledge on the use being my reason, I haven't tried again since I've learned more.)

I figure, since Modo does have user-scripting capability, it's only a matter of time before somebody considers it mainstream enough to create a proper plugin, and includes multi-part support. It's currently capable of creating SL sculpted primitives without any secondary program, and that's enough for the list above.

To please you (Oh mighty mightiness of might), I'll add a note to the list, though. Because I'm so very sure that list will be a standard for people for years to come.

It's only a matter of time before most of the programs become super awesome sculpty makers. Let's stick them all the list!

Anyway, I'm gonna make my own list. So there!

That'll teach you!

I'm also gonna pay Ponk to poop on your Blender threads.

Modo has the capability to do everything else. Texture baking, true sculpting, traditional poly modeling, rendering (For previewing sculpts), and so on. Along with that, it's becoming more popular, in my opinion, and has support for user scripting, three times over. Considering the sheer volume of plugins for programs of lesser quality and complexity, I think it obvious that at some point, someone will create a plugin to bake sculpties 'properly', and along with that include multi-prim object support. Modo 401 (In development) also has support for fur/hair, as do the others, as well as some more awesome features that would be useful for sculpties.

Just because it doesn't have a plugin to bake sculpts doesn't mean it's any worse off than any of the others (How, exactly, are they baking those sculpts with plugins, by the way? Is it hugely different than manually doing it in Modo?). Lack of multi-prim support is a very trivial difference, especially when you say that ZBrush is in the same quality as the others, when it's a different type of application.

Modo is as capable a modeler as the others, and will soon be at least as capable with texturing (Currently I don't consider it as capable due to the lack of hair/fur). I see no reason to hide an up-and-coming quality program just because it lacks a multi-prim object export ability.

orly?