Pixelmachine releases TopoGun 3 | CG Channel

Pixelmachine has formally launched TopoGun 3, the primary main replace to the pioneering standalone retopology and map baking software for over a decade, after three years in beta.

The replace provides a variety of latest instruments, together with each guide retopology instruments and a strong new Patch instrument that bridges the hole between guide and automatic retopology.

It is usually now potential to bake a wider vary of texture maps from high-resolution meshes.

The official return of one of many unique devoted retopology instruments
On its launch within the late 2000s, TopoGun turned one of many first instruments for retopologising high-res meshes, enabling artists to show sculpts into lower-res, extra animation-friendly property.

Though nonetheless extensively used, the software program appeared to enter a interval of dormancy after the discharge of TopoGun 2 in 2012, with little public exercise till the beta launch of TopoGun 3 in 2020.

Three years on, TopoGun 3 has lastly moved past beta, and was formally launched yesterday.

TopoGun 3: new guide retopology instruments
Workflow in TopoGun begins by importing a high-resolution reference mesh to retopologize: sometimes a sculpt or a 3D scan. In TopoGun 3, it may be imported in FBX in addition to OBJ format.

Customers can plan out the brand new topology they wish to create utilizing the Information Traces instrument to attract strokes on the reference mesh to determine total edge move.

The brand new geometry can then be drawn out straight over the floor of the reference mesh, and adjusted utilizing a variety of editing tools, both just a few vertices at a time, or through the use of the pressure-sensitive Brush instrument to maneuver or chill out bigger picks of vertices.

It’s potential to limit edits to sure components of the mesh through the use of the Mask instrument to color masks.

New instruments in TopoGun 3 embody Slice and Cut, for reducing into mesh geometry, and Circle and Shell, the latter of which can be utilized to generate clothes from the mesh floor.

The Tubes instrument, for retopologizing cylindrical components of the mesh like limbs, has been rewritten.

New Patch instrument bridges guide and automatic retopology workflows
Though TopoGun is geared in direction of guide retopology work, it additionally helps automatic retopology for components of mesh the place exact vertex placement is much less essential, akin to ears.

TopoGun 3 makes it potential to mix guide and automatic workflows in new methods, because of the Patch tool: one of the crucial fascinating new options within the launch.

It allows customers to sketch out new topology for the most important areas of a sculpt following anatomical landmarks, as proven within the picture above, and have TopoGun generate new topology inside them routinely.

Patches can then be joined to create a steady new low-poly floor for the complete sculpt.

Higher mesh subdivision and map baking
Different key options in TopoGun embody Subdivision, which subdivides the low-res retopologized mesh to protect tremendous particulars from the reference mesh.

It is usually potential to switch element to the retopologized mesh through texture maps baked from the high-res reference mesh: TopoGun 3 can generate regular, displacement, ambient occlusion, colour, curvature, transmission and cavity maps.

Each subdivision and baking are extremely multithreaded – TopoGun 3 helps as much as 256 CPU cores – and baking ambient occlusion maps is now GPU-accelerated through OpenGL.

Pricing and system necessities
TopoGun 3 is appropriate with Home windows 7+ and macOS 10.13+.

Now that the brand new model is out of beta, node-locked licences price $149.99, whereas floating licences price $349.99. Upgrades from TopoGun 2 price $29.99 and $74.99, respectively.

See more demo videos of TopoGun 3 in the TopoGun Vimeo channel

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