Tucson Sculpture Festival 2012

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

Paint 3D (Windows 10)

👉PAINT 3D👈 -- this 3D program will open from this browser on a Windows 10 computer.


I really enjoy drawing the figure in Paint 3D!



Paint 3D is a powerful but easy-to-use 3D program:


One particular adjustment really makes a huge difference. By hitting "3" on the keyboard one will repeat the same 3D tool that he just used. Therefore I programmed one of the buttons on the Wacom stylus with "3," in order to continue using the last 3D tool.

 

PAINT 3D Animations

I posted all the Zoom model drawings I did this year in Paint 3D, as animations created mostly in Paint 3D, on the YouTube playlist below:



3D BUILDER

Paint 3D is even more powerful when used with 3D Builder, which is the companion 3D software that also comes bundled with Windows 10 -- check out these 3D Builder tutorials.  


Open 3D Builder from the "Start Menu,"
it is hidden under the "Windows Accessories" folder


**2D to 3D**

**REDUCING the Byte Size**
in 3D Builder

DECIMATING:  One can decimate the figures drawn in Paint 3D using 3D Builder, in order to reduce the file size.  Export the figure from Paint 3D in the native file format --  .3MF -- then import that file into 3D Builder.  

3MF
is the native 3D format of Paint 3D and 3D Builder


NOTE:  Exporting in GLB format from Paint 3D, then importing that GLB file into 3D Builder does NOT decimate the file nearly a well as transferring files with the 3MF format between the programs.


After decimating in 3D Builder -- Edit/Simplify/Reduction Level -- export the figure as a GLB file.  Lite GLB files are easy to share online, and are also necessary for creating experiences in Augmented Reality.  I have reduced some 3D figures down to as low as 90 KB.



AUGMENTED REALITY

I want to show my lite Paint 3D figures in the sculpture garden in front of the Albuquerque Museum, and have done that with Augmented Reality.








PAINT 3D
 Drawings

Below are examples of the drawings I have made this year in Paint 3D, using a Wacom tablet.  These figures are all drawn from live model seasons on Zoom.


Animated in Paint 3D as well



























I started using Paint 3D
during the first drawing session of 2021



BLENDER

BLENDER and Paint 3D are even more powerful together.



Blender is a robust free 3D program which I have blogged about before. The figures drawn in Paint 3D can be imported into BLENDER in the GLB format, to be further manipulated and animated in a 3D environment.  



While Blender is harder to learn than Paint 3D, there are a lot of great YouTube tutorials that hold your hand and explain the features.  I am keeping a list of all those Blender Tutorials referred to in my blog posts.


Other Free 3D Programs

  • An artist can also manipulate the Paint 3D figures online in SculptGL, if he first converts the GLB files into OBJ or STL files for import, either in Blender or in an online program like AnyConv.
  • Houndini Apprentice is free to download, but apparently very difficult to learn, though there are also YouTube tutorialsI believe Estaban Diacono made his fabulous animated GIFs in Houdini.
  • "T Shaped" figures in OBJ format can be animated in Mixamo online (sign up required)
  • Unity, the game engine software, is also free to download
  • 3D Scanning apps



EXHIBITING ONLINE
Interactively

It is not easy to display your Paint 3D figures online in the browser, where the viewer can move and interact with them. The best way is to upload the 3D figures to a special website like Sketchfab, p3d.in or Google Poly, and embed that figure in your blog or website.





Google Poly will cease to exist at the end of June, 2021, however I have uploaded some of my figure drawings there anyhow:

View on Google Poly



Windows VIDEO EDITOR

Windows Video Editor also comes with Windows 10, and is easy to use for creating a larger video from a bunch of smaller Paint 3D and Blender animations.





OBS (Open Broadcast Software) is great for capturing video from the monitor.  "File/Settings/Hotkeys" to choose the keyboard shortcuts to start recording and stop recording.



3D PRINTING
and Milling

I also 3D Printed my Paint 3D figures at Quelab hackerspace, though I have not pushed it much yet.




Back in 2015 we created a collaborative sculpture at Metalphysic in Tucson.  Daniel Hornung first freely translated one of my drawings into a digital object -- see the interactive final project  (plus  link to download OBJ file for download).Then it was milled out about 3 feet tall in Styrofoam (thank you Anthony Bayne), and painted by Ed Muren III.






I would love to make a life size sculpture from a Paint 3D drawing.


Previous sculpture posts:


HOLOGRAMS

This summer we should be able to view my Paint 3D figures on hologram displays:


*****


Downloadable GLB figures since the beginning of this year:



CONCLUSION

I LOVE drawing in Paint 3D, despite what Jazza says.  I think he is wrong to compare Paint 3D to MS Paint, which is like trying to make apple pie with oranges (btw, the old MS Paint also opens from the browser).

I want to draw my figures in 3D, and then push them through every method possible -- animation, augmented reality, Virtual Reality headsets, holograms, 3D printing -- even 3D projection mapping on large buildings.  Paint 3D really opens that process up.

Laptop/Tablet
Furthermore I would like to find a tablet laptop that allows me to draw with a stylus in Paint 3D, for when we go back to live life drawing sessions.  The Lenovo Yoga looks like it might sit well in my lap while running Windows 10.  The Microsoft Surface  seems like a pricier option.  All I really want is to be able to draw the model in Paint 3D; I can export those drawings to a more powerful computer for further editing.



Ultimately I would like to create a sculpture that one can control with their smart phones.




DOWNLOADs

Apparently Microsoft will no longer bundle the 3D art software with newer versions of Windows.  

However 3D Viewer, Paint 3D, and 3D Builder should still be available for download for free at the Microsoft store.

***

I took me years to even discover Paint 3D on my Windows computer, though I was aggressively looking for free 3D software.  Moreover I could not find any good art examples created in Paint 3D, though I think this is a really powerful art program.   I suspect that Microsoft did not properly advertise and promote the program, which is why it perhaps failed to catch on.   Apparently Microsoft is no longer updating Paint 3D.  Moreover Paint 3D Remix, for sharing 3D projects, was retired a year before I discovered the program.

Likewise Google is no longer supporting Tilt Brush.  Moreover they are taking down Google Poly at the end of June, 2021.😟

The good news is that there is a new big digital art gallery opening in Santa Fe on April 30, 2021 -- Art Vault.

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