| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 20 Jan 2025 : 14:07:01
Several years back, I got into playing with blender for a couple years. I had a lot of fun doing this. Sadly, I've probably forgotten half of it because I haven't touched it for a while. But, painting 3d models in blender was for me.... a pain in the arse (at least older versions). So, I turned to Microsoft's Paint3d for windows 10, which was intuitive as hell and very much fun. It couldn't do the detail I really wanted, but it was good enough for A) Free and B) someone just playing around to make a 3d model that they could add "labels" to for tattoos, heraldic symbols, etc... Don't get me wrong, there were a LOT of problems with it too. Sadly, though, Microsoft has chosen to stop supporting this software, having never imported it to windows 11 and stopping downloads. I'm trying now to setup a new laptop and want to get something to use with it (and downloading the newest version of blender as well, so maybe that will be better).
So, my question... and maybe noone here will have an answer... anyone used anything else that's free and SIMPLE? I see some stuff talking about adobe's substance painter, an "armorpaint" software, and a quixel mixer. Of these, substance paint requires a monthly subscription it looks like, so its out. Armorpaint LOOKS like it was made with someone like me in mind, but that doesn't mean its without issues, and it looks like it may have a slight cost now (like $20). I so far don't even see where to download quixel. I'm probably going to download armorpaint for now, and I'm looking to see if there's a free version.... but I know how software is... since the videos I was looking at were from 4 years ago, I wouldn't be surprised if there's something else I may want to try. |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 12 Mar 2025 : 12:26:33
quote:
Originally posted by gimox
Do you need layers and procedural painting tools, or just simple hand-painting? Blender's texture painting has improved, but it can still feel clunky. If you just need basic painting, you might not need something as feature-packed as ArmorPaint.
When I was doing this all the time for fun, I was just hand painting (i.e. click a brush and color in spots). There were a few times where I was painting inside of blender by coloring each individual object and putting it together, but that was with things that I pretty much built all of it (for instance a picture of an open book that I created a cover for and put text on the inside pages as a 3d object, etc...), but I must admit I haven't tried a newer version of blender. I guess I'll download the latest version and see what that's like. |
| gimox |
Posted - 12 Mar 2025 : 10:08:34
Do you need layers and procedural painting tools, or just simple hand-painting? Blender's texture painting has improved, but it can still feel clunky. If you just need basic painting, you might not need something as feature-packed as ArmorPaint. |
| kateupton |
Posted - 08 Mar 2025 : 07:44:42
Hi Sleyvas,
Given your preference for free and simple, Quixel Mixer is likely your best bet in 2025. It’s free, downloadable via Epic Games, and offers an intuitive interface for painting 3D models without overwhelming you with options. If you’re willing to spend $20, ArmorPaint is a fantastic alternative that’s tailor-made for your use case—casual, direct painting with minimal fuss. |
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