External Painting Software Live Link to Blender with Ucupaint

[@moltenbolt]

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE DEUCES CLUB MEMBERS FOR ALWAYS STICKING TO THE END OF THE VIDEOS! @max-lightmode6409 @seb0_la @low-keyterrible7859 @tommydang9510 @joanasantos3518 @nihilgaming7343 @BrightDawn-nh2kz @FireBazStudio @gnabeca @noeldobrota5709 @breadnewsbears @eveneyes2116 @mickdundee364 @MEDRAZCOOL @weez6575 @scribblingjoe @hoohoo4041 @miteshsharma3865 @user-bn1mk2qq5d Rauf Abdaal @kapo12321 @jacobmurphy412 @thebigwhiskey @therachelaustin @W0rldbuilder @unsettledtoast @syidm7840 @styloo_ @JayTheDevGuy @ravanin @rayfox1984 @beebiki5543 @Ikaros473 @Diertstarr @MKBergins @DeGrey @kkdd3844 @wadeeliason969 @charzulu @kevingardner7782 @davidbennettarts2205 @bluelantern1516 @rmjrmj4 @JdR2V_3D @anvari255 @AlexCarby @TheKevphil @NoahPaessel @remzart2481 @IlDarklI @SLAVKINGRED @Willimoutarde11 @efs3 @KhyrisEidan @nkanyisoinnocentkhwane3752 @zaphodak42 @LykMike @SomeRobloxCarGuy @CampbellRae @jesterartsdj3699 Kinta Naomi @RemotelyHuman666 @tammamjahjah5114 @Blazenridge @Rockhopper1 @repsejnworb @VillaVivace @marcreep @ondmunk @_LOGA_ @danieltoye9049 @themysteriousunknownrevealed @UgurGuver @fadepanther6224 @superimposer @Muffinmachine @prashantSinghGameDev @viktorkrc @stonestudios1727 @drawishes @joshuamarsh2618 @Uhfgood @beans40269 @bidoaymannabil9828 @DivideBy0YT @Eirikur_ @maku0669 @victorbied1 @afrancis7475 @onekn1ghtstands105 @GinoZump @ARK_GAMING480 @GregoryValentineAnimations @kellytwins462 @KokomopArts @Admissive_ @amarA1917 @Superimposer @lelandubs @Loopify3D @mind_of_a_darkhorse @S9universe @JoshuaMerrill042 @overseastom @figmenter @radielN1715 @w8a2nd90 @bigdickdragon666 @mikem727 @alex.nolasco @NeilMyatt @ToxicDerg @Guanji @kianusteve9633 @kingbaaka3D @wynnrawr @PCgmesforever @cs319103 @jdtx63 @2ayn4zad @MedioCurtAtBest @Koolskull @dheerparekh1305 @BladeSmith1928 @chris_thornborrow @Bug_Bait @gmlaster THANK YOU ALL! DEUCES ♥♥

[@Aggelosyea]

Your so talented! 👍

[@Aggelosyea]

also, when exporting a mesh for a game engine doesn't it need to be triangulated?

[@datnastysalad5616]

Knowing that there's an auto reload add on has fully rocked my world oh my god, thank you so much for this. It's such a brisk but thorough tutorial, I love you for this.

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you hahah 😁 yeah when I realized Blender could update in realtime my brain exploded a bit hahah

[@alexmcgreal836]

This is fantastic and really makes me want to jump back into hand painting! That addon to auto load the images looks like such an amazing time saver!! Thanks a lot for making this!

[@moltenbolt]

My pleasure 😁 thanks for watching!

[@mirandadrake3508]

As a 2d artist and blender newbie, I like this method because it means I get to use the program I’m already familiar with and I won’t need to redraw the texture every time I use that model. Of course I would probably just stick with mid tones since the direction of light can change depending on the scene/environment I’m drawing. Unfortunately, as a newb, I have no idea how to make UV maps so I guess I need to learn that first lol

[@moltenbolt]

I like having all the tools from CSP and PS as well. Check out youtube vids by Grant Abbitt on UV unwrapping. They are excellent tutorials for beginners 😁

[@fadepanther6224]

While a tad intimidating seeing you paint, this was very useful. Setting up the workflow is the bigger part of this tutorial in my eyes. For those of you using Krita and got confused about the rasterize thing, know that importing the image as a paint layer is the same thing (From what I've looked into) so go to [Layer] then [Import/Export] then [Import] and finally [as Paint Layer] and you're set to continue following the tutorial. ^^

[@moltenbolt]

Amazing, thank you FadePanther! I totally agree, setting up the workflow is, in my opinion, the hard part!

[@blenderdiscord]

I love using procreate for things like this because you can import the 3D model with the UV and just paint right on the 3D, and because you do it in procreate, you have all the common tools

[@moltenbolt]

I have got to get me an iPad so I can try procreate, it just seems so bonkers good

[@nikolaaskaas]

I've tried but noticed it's quite buggy (paint going where you don't want it, sometimes just not working at all). That was over a year ago though, is it better now?

[@blenderdiscord]

​@@nikolaaskaas I can’t say for sure, but you definitely need to plan the UV for it.

[@PixogenPixels]

@@moltenbolt Its insane. There's nothing else like it. However theres no way to turn off lighting on the 3D model lol. So you cant hand paint values. Black is gray cause the fill light so it becomes hard. Theres 4 pages of requests for it on the forums and its been ages and no word.

[@moltenbolt]

@@PixogenPixels Dang, can't wait to try it out though!

[@ApplePie1529]

this is the exact tutorial i needed, I was getting sick of not being able to see my textures automatically in blender. Than kyou SO MUCH

[@moltenbolt]

Awesome! Happy to help, thanks for watching 😁

[@mszczesnik]

Man, I discovered UCU Paint thanks to you, and it's AWESOME. A UCU Paint + Dream UV combo makes working on game assets fun again.

[@moltenbolt]

Sweet, that's awesome to hear. Yeah it makes a huge difference when the tedious tasks are removed or made a lot simpler!

[@aolukuro]

you're hella underrated. i look forward to the stylised pbr tut!

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks! I'm still pretty new to making stuff on KZbin, but I'm growing slowly and surely 😁

[@crinhet.]

​@@moltenboltFor a new KZbinr your content is really good and entertaining! Looking forward to the good work!

[@moltenbolt]

@@crinhet. Thank you! 😁

[@weez6575]

your painting leveled up what the heck

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks Weez 😁

[@Niestrat99]

Just when I thought I found a great plugin to have layered textures in Blender, I stumble upon this video! I'm still kinda new to hand painting textures, trying to find a comfortable way to work on that, so I'll definitely give this one a try and see if this feels better to me! Thanks for making this video and thanks to the recommended page!

[@moltenbolt]

My pleasure! Yes, this method is considered kinda the old school way to do it, but I figured I'd let people know how anyway. Sometimes it gets better results. Cheers 😁

[@KaelthasProductions]

this is really helpful that means the painting can be done in photoshop also for those people who already have existing photoshop subscriptions

[@moltenbolt]

Yep, its kinda nice to have the flexibility 😁

[@kikon78]

As a very silent deuce I must say every new video of yours makes my day brighter!

[@moltenbolt]

Hehe thanks Don 😁 that's very kind of you to say!

[@Leonscott80]

Starting my journey into the blender 3d way and came across your channel, really informative and very well put together, thanks for the video! have my sub

[@moltenbolt]

Awesome, thank you kindly! 😁

[@tobycat7]

Excited for that PBR video, subbed!

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you kindly! 😁

[@Breadnewsbears]

Awesome! Clear and concise as always & its great to see you just kicking mire and more butt with every tutorial!

[@moltenbolt]

Thank youuuuuuu hehe 😁

[@mjdevlog]

I'm so lucky finding this up to date texturing tutorial in blender (and external software). Before i use Substance 3D, but it's more complicated, heavy, and not quite fitting since usually it's for PBR i think (my game is stylized).

[@moltenbolt]

Sweet 😁

[@bryanpritchard4709]

Very solid tutorial! I love how you walked through all the specifics at a great pace. I'd love to see a slower speed mode for the paint though. :)

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁 Im trying to incorporate feedback from the comments to make better tutorials hehe. The best time to see the painting in real-time is when I'm streaming (I haven't streamed in a while, but I'll be starting again soon). I also upload real-time footage as a perk on my Patreon

[@bowmanruto]

clear and concise video as always, keep up the good work, did not know about the bake features of ucupaint so I'll definitely have to look into that in future! one small change I personally use in this workflow is to make heavy use of autosaving, to essentially get 1:1 real time painting from krita to blender (by setting the image texture in blender as the autosave and setting the autosave interval and reload interval to something like 0.3-0.5 seconds), I have unfortunately not found a way to make that work both ways, its also pretty performance inefficient and can lead to bad habits so use this trick with caution!

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks for the tip Bowmanruto! 😁

[@TylPhumin]

I love you! been looking so long to directly paint in my beloved CSP!

[@moltenbolt]

Hehe thanks 😁 yeah it's neat that you can use them together!

[@xard64]

I think more fitting title for this video would be: "How to Avoid Handpainting Anything in Blender. It's easier than you think."

[@moltenbolt]

Lmao

[@gonderage]

Nah, the title is informative enough. This one is a little clickbaity

[@RocketPunches]

If you right click in the menu bar for a workspace (the bar where View, Select, Add, Object, etc are) you can open that viewport in a new window and then snap that window instead of the entire Blender workspace with the unnecessary UI on the right side.

[@moltenbolt]

Oh heck yes, thank you for the tip! 😁

[@user-nc9on4bp2o]

Excellent tutorial. Highly informative. 10/10.

[@moltenbolt]

Wow, thanks! That's very kind of you to say 😁 Cheers!

[@terragolemenjoyer8359]

This is way better than your old ucupaint tutorial, I didn't like that you said nhya here everytime you selected something in the other video, so hearing you be so straightforward here makes the video just easier to follow. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you! I am trying to learn from my previous mistakes and present better content as my channel evolves. It's nice to hear that I'm moving in the right direction 😁

[@GorblinRat]

I think the nyah was superior​@@moltenbolt

[@moltenbolt]

@@GorblinRat Some folks do! hahah thanks 😁

[@virturii2571]

Wow! Where has your channel been? Keep up the great work!

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁😁😁 hehe

[@luiztrindade]

@Molhenbolt Nothing like a proper pipeline! Thanks for share it, its really useful and easy to catch up.

[@moltenbolt]

My pleasure 😁thanks for watching!

[@maxvandercat]

Not often i leave comments, but g0ddammit, this is a extremely nice tutorial on these awesome tools! just was doing an animation/illustration, but i was looking on how to paint it without using the blender built tools (on my pc is slightly slow, maybe is like that everywhere) and it doesnt feel like the good old Krita. This is awesome! thanks man!

[@moltenbolt]

My pleasure 😁 glad it was helpful!

[@hotsauce7124]

Learning more about texturing per in a blender would be cool. Thank you.

[@moltenbolt]

Allow me to locate a monolith-sized Blender hahah 😁

[@kkoal1]

I am kritas #1 gal frfr free program and consistent updates, the pattern wrap view so you can make tiling patterns super easy, gradient maps back when it was just a photoshop thing, open source, good stuff

[@moltenbolt]

It is awesome, it's true. I've been learning more about Krita, might make a tutorial on some neat stuff it can do in the future! 😁

[@DailyPaily]

Lovely Shield ! a normal map to be perfect !

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁 next tutorial will cover stylized PBR, which will have all of the normal channels and stuff!

[@Helgrind44]

Wow this is so fucking good. I was looking for something like that forever (i don't like having to switch to 3D Coat). I was hoping that one day Blender would fix their texture paint tools but of course the community did it first.

[@moltenbolt]

As far as I know Blender is working on their own modern texturing system. But yeah, Ucupaint is an insane addon! 😁

[@Nathan_RM]

I'm really looking forward to that PBR texture painting video 😭😭😭

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks Nathan! 😁

[@Yumemocchi]

Thanks for this video! I learned a lot ! The workflow seems really cumbersome compared to just painting in Substance or 3D Coat, and you also need perfect UVs, so it might be even harder on complex objects, but at least it provides a free and viable alternative compared to Blender's texture painting!

[@moltenbolt]

You're welcome, thanks for watching. And yes, exactly. Blender is too generalized to really excel at texture painting, but with the right combination of addons and external software you can get a lot done for free. It's just a pain to learn to set up 😜

[@tnturnip]

Awesomely informative video! I'd love to learn texture painting and UVs another time, and I'll be revisiting this when I do. 3:23 I'd like to point out that in Blender 4.1 onward, installing add-ons with "Install from disk" requires you to select the .py file located inside of the .zip file. At least for me, clicking on the .zip file directly no longer installs the add-on. Hope this helps!

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you for your kind words and also for the addon install tip 😁 Cheers!

[@alesbrewery]

This is such a fantastic tutorial

[@moltenbolt]

Awesome, thanks! I'm glad if it was helpful 😁

[@aruharu]

Thank you so much! I needed this!

[@moltenbolt]

You're very welcome 😁

[@LollyPoppi]

It will be really hard to make some other maps (normal, spec., rought...) with this technics. But it's a really good work!

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks 😁 For sure, this video covers just the emissive shader method. For a tutorial on how to use Ucupaint with PBR maps, check out my more recent video on the subject here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpDEoYt_o5Waa9k

[@low-keyterrible7859]

Outstanding! Can’t wait to see more 😊

[@moltenbolt]

Thank youuuuuuu 😁

[@mickdundee364]

i love the style of that shield! reminds me a lot of WoW

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you! Been trying to learn that kind of handpainting. Slowly improving 😁

[@SirpumpkingtonArt]

Bro youre my f*** savior! thx god, i was looking for subtance painter to traslate paints but its really annoying learn a specific software when i love paint on photoshop.

[@moltenbolt]

Sweet, I'm glad it was helpful 😁

[@aminuteofhappiness6852]

waiting for that stylized pbr tutorial. 😊😊😊

[@moltenbolt]

It's in the works 😁

[@Shalfatk01]

rly nice piece! video and shield as well.

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you kindly 😁

[@ravanin]

You should make vids on ucupaint updates. Like testing new stuff and whatnot

[@moltenbolt]

Next video is gonna be ALLLL about Ucupaint hehe 😁

[@AlejandroAguirreMontoya]

Hey friend, thanks for these videos. They are really of great help.

[@moltenbolt]

You're very welcome, and that's awesome to hear, thank you 😁

[@c47_erik45]

Its a very good tutorial, but is there also one for objects where you need to make/have seams in places that dont have hard edges aka where both sides of the seam need to match up in order for the seam to not be noticable in the final product? cause if I unwrap a cylinder for example, I have to run a seam at least in one place of the "tube" part, so I then can only texture it in blender in the 3D viewport or would have to use a 3D texturing software like substance painter or very painstakingly match both sides of the seam up in the 2D texturing Programm. So my concrete question is "Is there any way to make the drawing program recognize the seams and continue your stroke on the other side of the seam, even though the the edges of the UV arent touching in the texture, like blender Is doing if you texture in the 3D viewport?" or, "Is there a way to place seams that the UVs are still not distorted or overlapping, in absolutely any situation and for any Object?" Which I highly doubt, but maybe ive been placing my seems wrong all this time. Edit: I just noticed that you should be running into that very problem in this video as well, because the shield is a very short cylinder in some way.

[@moltenbolt]

TLDR: Do most of your hand-painting in Blender, then export hand-painted texture for finishing touches in 2D software. Thank you for your kind words! To answer your concrete question, as far as I'm aware there is no way to make a 2D program automatically jump from one seam edge to the correct seam edge on a different UV island. For context, my usual process for hand-painting does not use the external 2D method - I usually do most of the hand-painting in Blender where the jump from UV to UV while painting happens automatically, then I'll go in and touch up the final in 2D. This video was just to show how this process can be done in real-time, using entirely free software, and totally in 2D software if people prefer that. Oddly enough, some do. I took care to arrange my UV's in as sensible a manner as I could manage before exporting them to the 2D software. There's just no other way. Your UV's need to be legible and organized. In other words, it's a lot of work to set up - but if you paint super fast in your 2D software, and that's your preference, it might be worth doing. Hope that answers your question 😁

[@mementomori9391]

Really good tutorial but you should try to bake some high map on it. For exaple if you had sculpted the metal part it would be finish (with your amazing skills) in just arround 15 mins for sure. Have in mind that Warcraft artist use high poly too in order to bake those maps and save tons of time. In order to keep it free you can sculpt and bake thise maps in blender too so give it a try. If you need some guides dont esytate to ask😊

[@moltenbolt]

Hey 😁 thanks for the advice! I am familiar with the processes used to make stylized assets - blockout, sculpting, retopo, UVs, baking, texturing, export etc. and yeah, using curvature maps and stuff for masking saves a TON of time. I just haven't made a video on the entire sculpt and retopo workflow yet. Also Blender can be very tricky to get good bakes from, so for a lot of baking I use InstaMat, which is also free!

[@mementomori9391]

@@moltenbolt you are doing 3d on hard mode XD. No pirate things just free stuff and show it to the people. Cool... Anyway I have to make a bit of research on your channel, but I will ask anyway. ¿Could you make a tutorial for render stylizes stuff? Because when I render mine looks awfull, don't know why, in substance base color looks really cool but when I render in blender it looks too off

[@moltenbolt]

@@mementomori9391 probably has to do with the color management mode in Blender. You could try switching from AgX to Standard and see if that helps. Hahah I do plenty of high to low stuff using maps to make it easier, but it still always feels like hard mode!

[@Its.Cube.]

Question as a Newby: Why do you have "lighting" and those highlights drawn on the shield? It's 3D and you never know where the light will be comming from later, right? (thats what i thought about it) So what is the idea behind drawing it? Coudln't figure it out. (if i missed the explanation in the video, i am very sorry)

[@moltenbolt]

All good, it's a good question. The shading method I am using in this video is "Emissive", meaning that the object doesn't require any 3D lights to show up. This method is used for pure hand-painted assets because it ignores the 3D world's lighting information. The method of rendering that Would care about lights is called PBR, or Physically Based Rendering. You can see an example of that workflow here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpDEoYt_o5Waa9k

[@MathieuJedoux]

Nice tuto, thanks !

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you very kindly 😁

[@bovineox1111]

Nice video. I’d have shown the unwrap and I found the diagonal triggering me that it wasn’t aligned to cardinal axis.

[@Арп-ж4е]

Awesome video, dude! I'm currently learning to draw in 3DCoat, but it was interesting to watch this video because it replaces a paid program with a free opportunity to draw textures. I have a question about drawing textures and materials in general. Where and how did you learn this? I often get frustrated and start over because my work doesn't look like the references. I think I need a foundational knowledge base for this. Can you recommend anything for that?

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁 I've learned to draw and paint just by studying and practicing a lot, really. And it's normal when you are learning for your work to not look like the references, it takes practice to get used to breaking things down into simple shapes. But for general learning resources I can definitely recommend a few: Books: How to Draw / How to Render by Scott Robertson YT Channels: @YTartschool @marcobucci I also made a video a long time ago that covers free art teacher resources: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKmZcqaQqMRrfK8 Hope that helps!

[@bensdecoypoondummy1189]

What would your advice be for using this method on a more organic shape with a lot more parts? Like a character with boots, hands, face etc. should I try to lay out my UV's so that they're all "front facing" so when I paint in krita they don't get distorted? or does this method not work too well with more complex shapes

[@moltenbolt]

This isn't my usual method for texturing because the downside to this method is that you can get lost with the UVs rather easily with complex shapes. It's probably best to do as much texturing/painting as you can in Blender (using Ucupaint to make it easy), then touch up the painting and details in Krita.

[@bensdecoypoondummy1189]

​@moltenbolt lol I was hoping to avoid painting directly in blender :P but that does make sense. Thanks for the advice, I'll try it

[@LiucKLuca]

Great stuff man!! I wish a could paint/color that good, i feel like i have issues with these kind of stuff, i can't even draw xD

[@moltenbolt]

I know its a cliché but practice makes perfect. Just draw and paint lots and you will see improvement! 😁

[@LiucKLuca]

@@moltenbolt :D I'll try, i've been doing plenty of modeling but for some reason i like to keep it with the default mesh colors xD then i just pass onto something else. Thank you for taking the time to reply to a random nobody over the internet, much appreciated man!

[@moltenbolt]

@@LiucKLuca hehe thank you for the comment and for watching! I appreciate it as well

[@NickEnchev]

Hey, I worked on an application for hand painting artists like yourself that lets you load up your UV mapped model and assign a KRA or PSD to it. You move the preview window wherever you want on your screen (its always on top) and draw in your painting program. As soon as you hit save in Krita or Photoshop, it will quickly refresh and display it on your model. Let me know if you're interested in giving it a try, would love to get someone testing it other than myself. This works directly with the PSD or Kra, so you can use all of the layering, blending etc tools in Photoshop.

[@moltenbolt]

If it's on github, link it up and I'll take a look. Might simplify this process

[@NickEnchev]

@@moltenbolt The tool is using a renderer and game engine I've worked on which aren't open on GitHub (yet), I can send you a test build of the tool, any way to contact you directly?

[@dude2542]

I have a lot of questions. Can you hand paint normals? Here you didn't need it because you painted your own lighting, however if someone still wants dynamic lighting on their models for better effects they will need normals. Also can you somehow manipulate how the shield gets lit? Thank you.

[@moltenbolt]

All good questions! Since this is a purely hand-painting workflow, there is no dynamic lighting - that's why I used an emission shader setup. All of the light information is painted in and can't be changed without repainting. If you want the asset to react to light normally, you'd want a PBR workflow, which is the subject of the tutorial I'm editing right now. The PBR workflow uses the Principled BSDF, so your asset reacts to light and you can hand-paint normals 😁

[@dude2542]

@@moltenbolt You can?! That is awesome. Sadly I cannot do this stuff, because I dont have a tablet to work with. May I ask how you paint while looking at the monitor? Was it hard to learn? Lastly how much time does it take to create such a simple object with your skills?

[@moltenbolt]

@@dude2542 You can do it without a tablet, it's just less precise and sometimes slower. When I'm concepting things out I just bash out a shape using the mouse - all the tools are there. Painting while looking at the monitor just takes practice - your arm and your eye will link up with a little time spent doing it. Yeah, it was hard to learn hahah. Drawing and painting is really difficult, mainly because you have to accept that it takes a long time to improve. But if you like doing it, and you are intentional and consistent, it speeds up pretty quick. That shield painting took about 2.5 hours for me to do from start to finish, which is slow because I'm only just starting to get better at painting. It takes less time now hehe

[@pottokmkzi8132]

Bro posts this literally the day after I drop $260 on substance painter. I'm so cooked.

[@moltenbolt]

I've had this comment before, and I'll tell you the same thing I told that person: You now own the Cadillac of texturing software. Dunno if that's any consolation or not, but if I could afford substance right now, I'd still be using it for more complex stuff.

[@pottokmkzi8132]

thanks for the reassurance man, was really worried about the purchase but the more I use it the more I see what you mean.

[@roofoofighter]

260? Where did you buy it? It’s only $199 on Steam

[@InteractiveDNA]

That is the HUGE problem with Blender. A TONS of steps to do a simple thing.

[@moltenbolt]

True, Blender's learning curve is massive, but every software has a learning curve and at the very least Blender is free. I do wish one didn't need to hop around the interface so much to find things, for sure. I have to take notes in a document when I learn to do something new just to remember all of the steps and locations of things. Also if you use a workflow frequently, it becomes far less daunting to get from point A to B, but it can still be a pain.

[@Terribleguitarist89]

​@@moltenbolt as a newbie the other thing that kills me is how the layout has changed over the years. I'll find a killer tutorial but then spend hours trying to find where things have moved since the version the vid creator used.

[@JakubSK]

It being free chances everything.

[@patty4449]

Well unless you just know how to use scripts or write them... I usually just make the tool I need like MultiSculpt or Depthdraw for Normals

[@manmadeartists]

Thats what I kind of love about blender.

[@kianusteve9633]

excellent video as always. stay strong

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you kindly! 😁

[@chaosordeal294]

Quixel Mixer is a bit underwhelming, but it's free and allows you to paint right on the 3D model with layers and a decent material maker. I found it a little buggy, but I plan to use it and clean up and punch up with Clip Studio Paint.

[@moltenbolt]

There's also InstaMat, which last I checked was free, and is a brand new contender to the Texture Painting game. I haven't messed about in it too much, but it's essentially the entire Substance Suite in one package from what I can tell, Painter, Designer, etc. Worth checking out perhaps 😁

[@FictitiousCtrlGames]

I just overlay 3D shapes and curves over the uv and export it as a new image with the camera facing down over it. I suppose if you like manually painting. I’m more of a ‘Dick around with shaders’ type of person.

[@moltenbolt]

To be clear, this isn't my normal handpainting process. It just blew me away that it could be done. Usually, I'll do most of the painting in Blender and then make any final edits in the painting software 😁

[@FictitiousCtrlGames]

@@moltenbolt Nothing wrong with that. Probably leads to more stylized paints. Just not my cup of tea, personally. Too many steps. Its good if you want to get that feeling of hand painting, I'd imagine.

[@moltenbolt]

@Assortment54321 100%. I've honestly never really jumped into nodes too hard, but I can definitely see the appeal there, too

[@kakkak1]

Hey man, great video. Only reason why i don't swap to blender for texture painting is the falloff? not sure if that's the correct word to use here but, for example. If i'm painting character's legs and go over the edge it leaves jagged edges to the sides of the mesh that turns away from view. Usually in the shapes of polygons or pixelated, even with high resolution image and good uv's. Have you found a fix for this or is this just how blender currently operates?

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁 yeah the falloff can be a pain for sure, I hate that painting is based on camera projection. The only workaround I know is to decrease the falloff value from the default 80 in the brush falloff settings, I find around 60 usually works but it depends. It just helps to prevent the paint from going over the edges and creating jagged bits.

[@HurricaneModding]

Hey mate, i've got an issue when installing the auto reload plugin v3.0.3 in blender 4.2.2: There is no such buttons to add my painting software .exe, the "donate" and "check addon updates"-buttons are missing too. Instead there are some more check boxes... Either the newest version works a little different and i cant figure out how or it misses some key functions from the previous plugin you used (v2.0.3). I found this workflow very impressive and it could save me a lot of time to have a direct link from the painting software to blender... I would highly appreciate if you could take a look into that if you find the time! You're doing an amazing job with these tutorials, straight to the point. Keep it up!

[@moltenbolt]

Hey, thank you 😁 You actually are the second person to mention this problem. I'll look into it tomorrow and see if I can find a solution!

[@binglet0n]

I couldn't get it to work either, and also tried v2.0.3 on blender v4.0 and couldn't get it to work there either (they only have the source code available for the pre-v3.0.0 add-on so I think that's why it won't work with the older blender version.) Pretty sad that this doesn't seem to work anymore, I can't find any good alternative solution at the moment either

[@moltenbolt]

@@binglet0n I wasn't able to get it working either, but I'll definitely be looking for a solution. You can still do the same workflow, you just need to hit Shift+R in blender to manually refresh the textures when you want it to update

[@binglet0n]

Well of course only a few minutes after commenting this, v3.0.3 works just fine for me on v4.2LTS. It just doesn't work in the shield tutorial .blend for some reason. Can't tell why, but try setting it up on a new .blend file and see if it works

[@moltenbolt]

@@binglet0n oh nice! I'll give it another try, thanks!

[@colettebezio1913]

Maybe I missed something as a total beginner, but when I exported the baked edges file, it saved it as a PNG file (without giving me any obvious option to name it or change the file type.) So it doesn't update. (Unless I'm meant to paste it as a layer into my map file.) On the other hand, I'm not sure why it was all necessary, since it seems that you can change the edge color and width right in the menu. Otherwise, this has been a super useful tutorial so far, thanks!

[@moltenbolt]

You can indeed change the width and color right in the menu, but I thought it would be useful to show that you can export specific baked maps if you want to edit them in your painting software 😁 and that's awesome, I'm happy if it was helpful!

[@denniscarballo4151]

so awesome video!

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you kindly! 😁

[@christinejademontera9586]

I have a problem with mine T_T whenever I try to save my csp/psd file, it keeps saying it failed to save, but it works just fine when blender is closed.

[@moltenbolt]

Hmm. The only time I've encountered issues with failed saves is when I'm using the 'save as' function and give the file the exact same name that it already has. Aside from that, it should work 🤔🤔🤔

[@Grapfruitidet]

this is so obtuse i love it

[@moltenbolt]

It is a weird, kinda old workflow, but its possible to do in Blender so 😝

[@TheRoadTraveledByFew]

Excellent video. Tx for making it.

[@moltenbolt]

You're welcome, thanks for watching and happy painting 😁

[@MichaelGame_Dev]

Really interested in the course you mentioned. Any other recommendations for blender for game dev resources? Most of the courses/tutorials are asbout how to do everything in Blender, which doesn't always translate to a game engine.

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks 😁The course is going to take a while to make to the quality I want. Hm, there's a few, but the only channel that comes to mind immediately is Jayanam, some of his tutorials on modeling/animating in Blender and exporting to engine are excellent!

[@MichaelGame_Dev]

@@moltenbolt Thanks I'll check that channel out! It's just so difficult to even understand what I'm trying to ask sometimes. much less know if what they suggest I do in Blender will translate over to my game engine of choice (godot right now). And trying to figure out what to do in Blender vs in-engine is so tricky! Feels like I'm slowly figuring things out.

[@moltenbolt]

@@MichaelGame_Dev hehe keep at it, you'll get there. Every new skill or technique I learn feels like it unlocks a whole new world, and that feeling becomes very addictive 😁

[@Ftsh1100]

Yo bro good tutorial ! I just want to Ask im new to texture painting and idk how to use Krita im about to get deco mini 7 tablet so i can learn more about painting any advices on how to start learning or do u recommend any yt channels thanks ❤

[@moltenbolt]

Hey, thanks! 😁Yeah I actually made a video a while ago about some good resources for people wanting to learn art hehe. Here ya go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKmZcqaQqMRrfK8si=MfW0F15IalOF8iMi

[@Ftsh1100]

@@moltenbolt yo thanks

[@moltenbolt]

@@Ftsh1100 np!

[@damidraws_vt]

I was so excited for this, but I have no option under the addon preferences to pic my clipstudio program :( there's no option at all available and I'm using blender 4.2

[@moltenbolt]

The exe for Clip Studio Paint is hard to find, its usually buried in the Celsys folder in Program Files. Try looking there. I remember having a hard time finding it as well. Hopefully you can track it down!

[@damidraws_vt]

@@moltenbolt Oh I know where the exe file is, I have no option to choose a file location. under the addon preferences :'D there's no "search folder" it's just the check boxes and info.

[@moltenbolt]

@@damidraws_vt You don't link the external software through the addon, you do that in Blender's Preferences> File Paths > Applications > Image Editor. The auto-link updates because the image's filename is the same in Blender and CSP. Hopefully that actually helps lmao

[@CountCocofang]

Does this work with an external tablet? Like, a random Galaxy pad hooked up to the PC through USB. Android doesn't use exe so I wouldn't know where to link it.

[@moltenbolt]

Hm. I think that as long as whatever you are using can connect as a tablet then it should work, but not 100% on that 🙃

[@CountCocofang]

@@moltenbolt What do you mean with "connect as a tablet"? It sounds like you aren't referring to simply plugging the tablet through an USB cable into the PC and calling it a day. You mean something that the PC recognizes the tablet not as external hardware (like a phone or media player) but as usable hardware?

[@moltenbolt]

@CountCocofang If you mean you want to paint in your painting software on the tablet, and direct Blender to Auto Reload the file from the tablet, that might work. It should, provided the file is a .psd and the PC can find it on the tablet via the USB connection. Hope that helps!

[@patty4449]

Also a Pro Tipp, I learned this from a designer who worked on larger games... Make asset walls... Like Wooden planks just as a Base n stuff as a tool to have... Having a foundation like that saves MONTHS of work... Genshin designers for example did that for the 1st and 2nd region to speed up lots of the things... Its worth it, trust me

[@moltenbolt]

I have been looking at making myself an asset library of pre-baked and handpainted trim sheets to save time. Definitely gonna try it out

[@rechargegamesstudio2803]

i would love to have a set of brushes like the ones you are using please

[@moltenbolt]

Check out Marc Brunet's free brush pack, that's mainly what I use 😁

[@StevenDiLeo]

I am at a loss why you would paint directly onto a 2d uv map. It works ok with a simple model like this, but what to do with models with seams that need to be covered up? Or many UV split parts, why not paint directly on the model to avoid dealing with many uv islands and seams?

[@moltenbolt]

I didn't do it in the video, but you can paint past the margins of your UV's, or use a dilation filter to deal with seams and fill the gaps between painted bits. The main reason I use external software is for precise selection tools and speed. Like I said in the video, this is all completely doable in Blender, I'm just showing that using your normal digital painting software for textures, in realtime, is a possibility😁

[@StevenDiLeo]

@@moltenbolt I appreciate the time showing your workflow! I know you can draw past seams, my concern is when the seam needs to be not seen and the seam might be in a not so great spot. for example let’s say I had a seam going down the middle of a model of a human face. If I draw in 3d, I can paint over the seam no issues. Now if I draw in 2d directly over the UV maps, somehow, I need to blend each edge to be able to match up with each other to make it look seamless. Which is very tough to do. This is my main concern when introducing this idea of drawing directly over 2d UVs

[@moltenbolt]

@@StevenDiLeo 100% it can be tough to line up and blend the seams using a purely 2D approach, even if you are super careful with planning how you unwrap. That's the downside, really - in some areas Blender simply can't compete with Substance Painter and 3DCoat.

[@cerkuenik]

I think there’s a way of painting a projection of what you in see in the viewport. Kinda like a screenshot, then you paint in photoshop for example, save it and it will update the texture

[@moltenbolt]

@cerkuenik I made a video on this, it's called Quick Edit, and it lets you paint on a screenshot in an external application, then uses camera projection to apply it to your model. P handy

[@learningtodrawstudios4773]

really hope blender works on texture painting for there next update. The fact substance painter is the best but is also owned by adobe is so its incredibly unfortunate. I hope its some well made layered texture stuff

[@moltenbolt]

I think Blender is reworking their texturing setup, supposedly sometime this year it might get an overhaul. Will def be looking out for it 😁

[@SK-bn5xk]

Great Tutorial!!, I tried installing the addon but it dosent show up on my list. Then i tried installing it manually no still not showing :(

[@moltenbolt]

There were some issues getting it to show up in 4.2+. I think someone solved the issue in the comments though 🤔

[@SK-bn5xk]

@@moltenbolt im using it on blender 3.0.1

[@Zarth32]

auto reload has changed. the image editor selection path thing doesnt exist anymore. what do i do with it now?

[@moltenbolt]

I just updated auto reload today, but I haven't tested it out yet. If I figure out a fix for the issue I'll let ya know

[@Zarth32]

@moltenbolt ok thanks. It seems I can't get it to auto update without that option.

[@kirbtime5333]

Why does your default cube look cool?

[@moltenbolt]

I've changed the "Cavity" settings in the viewport shading mode, and also use a MatCap instead of the studio material 😁

[@heartlessbrainiac]

So, will it work with SP? Probably not, cause you need to to make separate fbx + export textures

[@moltenbolt]

Substance painter? I think there's a paid plugin called substance link or something to that effect that will synchronize the two, but generally there wouldn't be much need since you can paint directly on the Uvs in substance.

[@heartlessbrainiac]

@@moltenbolt yes, but it would be great to see result instantly in blender, because lights in substance painter work a bit differently + you can paint something like alpha layer and see if it worked. However, video is still great and thanks for the tip about substance plugin, I'll check it later

[@shinigamiauthor]

well......... this is an instant subscribe

[@moltenbolt]

Nice, thanks! 😁

[@3Rton]

Pretty cool, but why is the channels name Molten bolt and not Molten rupee

[@moltenbolt]

Hehe 😁 it has to do with my IRL name, but it is slowly becoming cannon that I am a sentient rupee lmao

[@goblinman3010]

Like ur work bro but the main thing am waiting for is porting it to game engines ( my case unreal engine ) and seeing how it works

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you. And I'm not sure if you watched to the end of the video, but uh.. I export the shield and bring it into unreal engine 😅

[@goblinman3010]

😅😅 i didn't no i got excited when i saw u draw the textures and told myself to wait till i can port it and not commit already ... , guess i have no excuse now..

[@miteshsharma3865]

Thx a lot is really an amazing tutorial and i will subscribe to your paterion

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you, that's very kind of you! 😁

[@Azzazel_]

It's kind of funny seeing blender users discovering how people used to paint stylized textures 15 years ago, and also a little bit sad too.... quick tip, try 3d coat or even substance painter..... don't be afraid of using some professional tools

[@moltenbolt]

I have used both 😁 I also like them both, though 3D Coat feels better for painting. Btw, this video wasn't meant to be some massive revelation. It was just to show another workflow 🙃

[@ArksideGames]

1 minute in :D This is good , subscribed

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you kindly 😁

[@cc95g85]

This vídeo is so amazing How do you learn to paint?

[@moltenbolt]

Thanks 😁uhh I learned to paint just by studying and practicing a lot, reading art books and watching tutorials

[@cc95g85]

@@moltenbolt thanks

[@d1x13deck8]

really good

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁

[@AINIMANIA-3D]

Damn, that’s quite a lot of steps. It shouldn’t be so hard, but Blender hates humanity and free time.

[@moltenbolt]

Everything in Blender is a lot of steps its true lmao

[@chronolecte4388]

I can't seem to find the auto reload add-on unfortunately :

[@moltenbolt]

I just followed the link in the video description for the auto-reload addon and it took me to the right place to download it. It should work for you as well 🤔

[@chronolecte4388]

@@moltenbolt Yes i might be very dumb thank you

[@moltenbolt]

@chronolecte4388 ive been there hehe 😁

[@zzeekkey]

Not even close to "like a boss" ))

[@moltenbolt]

Engagement helps though, thanks! 😁

[@gyatsolix]

what is it that lets you see the actual 3d model on the side at explorer screen in 23:33 ?

[@moltenbolt]

I think it's called 3D Viewer? And I think I got it from the microsoft store 🤔

[@gyatsolix]

@@moltenbolt thank youu i ll check it

[@vivekcharan417]

Is that some kind of link with blender and photoshop

[@moltenbolt]

Blender can work with .PSD files as images, so yeah, you can work in any digital painting software that can export .PSD's and have it update in realtime in Blender.

[@aev1an728]

do you think quixel mixer is as good as blender with ucupaint? dont know if i should learn that program for texture painting since it also has other useful things

[@moltenbolt]

Quixel Mixer is a perfectly good piece of texturing software, and it's free as far as I know, though I don't think it has been updated for some time 🤔 there is also Instamat, which is free and worth checking out. The main reason I love Ucupaint so much is because it has most of the tools I need and it's contained within Blender. Makes the workflow faster 😁

[@roofoofighter]

Quixel Mixer is basically dead.

[@moltenbolt]

@@roofoofighter that's pretty well what I thought. Sadge

[@aev1an728]

@@roofoofighter any good alternatives for texturing software?

[@aev1an728]

@@moltenbolt thats what i thought but i still had some hope :/ kinda says that since there is no tutorials on it, might have to bite the bullet and crack substance

[@erkling5865]

does this work for version 3.6LTS?

[@moltenbolt]

It should, as far as I know. It doesn't rely on anything that was introduced later I don't think 🤔

[@GenericInternetter]

strange, you an literally do all of this natively in blender without any extra tools if you use custom brushes and wire up the shader nodes yourself, you have far more control than in any other typical editor

[@moltenbolt]

True, and for the most part, I hand-paint using only Blender with the Ucupaint addon. Kinda neat that one can straight up paint in digital software if they prefer though. Some folks are allergic to node spaghet 😁

[@GotenxAura]

idk why my edge detector is a full image without alpha channel help

[@moltenbolt]

I dunno why that would be either, but you can ask Ucupumar (the addon's creator) for help on the Ucupaint discord. He's very helpful! discord.gg/CNGK3QrA

[@parallelhighway4191]

great tutorial sad part is that i cant use it becouse i cant paint sadly. I wish i could learn it but its like dark magic to me

[@moltenbolt]

Thank you 😁Yes you can paint, it just takes practice to get better, that's all. I believe in you! It's still like dark magic to me even now muahahahah

[@parallelhighway4191]

@@moltenbolt but you have some foundation and i never did draw even as a kid i bought graphical tablet but everything a draw is very very bad and if i try to make chracter from my drawing its always coming out so bad. Thank you for response i will be still trying but for now i am waiting to motivation to come to me.

[@moltenbolt]

@parallelhighway4191 we all have off days, but if you keep at it you will improve. Just remember to have more fun painting and worry less about the result!

[@piotrmazek540]

Clickbait title. You're not painting IN Blender, but instead you're using an external program to paint in.

[@moltenbolt]

Semantic argument, but reasonable position.

[@rokasb9441]

Sub, i'll need your wisdom in the future ;)

[@moltenbolt]

Hehe I'll do my best 😁 Thanks for watching!

[@victor.novorski]

Dwag, be real with me was this worth the time?

[@moltenbolt]

Yes, because it's actually only 3 steps. It seems like a lot when you learn it for the first time, but it's actually just: export UV image, convert to PSD, reimport. Doesn't take terribly long

[@victor.novorski]

@@moltenbolt 💀

[@victor.novorski]

@@moltenbolt I usually would set up a basic bsdf for all parts of the mesh and them I cook it and then bring UV + Base Albedo to ps and make new detailed texture and roughness.

[@victor.novorski]

It's usually because I struggle to pack all my UVs correctly and proceed to forget what is where, this is helpful with high poly models

[@moltenbolt]

@@victor.novorski for sure. My usual handpaintin process is done using only Blender with a bit of quick edit and Ucupaint, then touching up in ps or csp

[@amaraha-17]

thx

[@moltenbolt]

Np, hope it helps 😁