Painting textures on obj? Too difficult. Too many failures

[DarkChorus]

I spent 2 hours trying to paint and export a cylinder. Nothing works. I won't list the numerous attempts and failures. If someone can actually put a color texture on a UV mapped OBJ cylinder, please list the steps on how it is done. I think my previous thread about trying and eventually succeeding at texturing an object was a random success.

[Sober Mans Secret]

I'll have a go for you now mate and get back to you :)

[DarkChorus]

Thank you! Nothing works for exporting textures as shown in YouTube videos or Udemy.

[Sober Mans Secret]

Have sent friend request - Have also just exported cylinder with texture ( *.obj *.mtl )

[Sober Mans Secret]

CYLINDER / PAINT / EXPORT PROBLEM SOLVED

1) CREATE CYLINDER
2) PRESS ENTER TO BUILD IT
3) GO TO PAINT ROOM
4) CHOOSE PAINT AND PAINT ON THE LAYER ( NOTE YOU MAY HAVE TO UNLOCK THE LAYER DEPENDING ON WHAT TEX / PAINT YOU'RE USING ) I APPLIED PAINT TO THE CURVATURE MAP.
5) SAVE FILE
6) GRAB A QUICK RENDER TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING LOOKS AS IT'S MEANT TO AND EXPORT TO PNG IF REQUIRED
7) GOT TO FILE AT TOP LEFT OF SCREEN AND SELECT "EXPORT OBJECTS AND TEXTURES"

MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE THE FILE IS GOING TO SAVE - IT DEFAULTS TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE SO BEST OPTION IS TO HAVE A DEDICATED FOLDER ON DESKTOP OR DOCUMENTS.

[Sober Mans Secret]

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1voL9X-Lwj6wclfHDOTxrLvcKT_wqQNex

[Sober Mans Secret]

Hope this helps. Sorry about the caps... i didn't notice til after i'd started writing the guide so just left it as it was. Keep me posted as to whether it works properly. will add save file to ^^ GDRIVE LINK ABOVE ^^ so you can have a look at what's what for yourself.

[Sober Mans Secret]

All files - UV map etc and screenshots in the Gdrive link i sent for you.
Hope it helps :)

[DarkChorus]

I am working on capturing a video of all of my problems for you to view.

Step 4: I do not know how to paint on any layer except the color diffuse layer.

6) Rendering always looks fine but I can never export a texture.

When I go to Export Objects and Textures, I can save the OBJ file but nothing else. Sometimes I do something that makes the "select textures to export" menu appear but that is very very rare. I do not know how to trigger the menu to appear.

It does not matter if I am working on a Voxel model or a Surface model or an OBJ model with a calculated UV map. It does not matter if I have used Retopology commands or not.

The only time I can make something appear in the UV area is if I use the Welcome Screen to add a UV map. Importing an OBJ with a UV map will not show the UV map in the UV preview or the UV room. The Unwrap UV buttons in the Retopology room and UV room do nothing at all.

Note: I can only paint on layer One in the Paint room (Layer Zero does nothing). If I have more than one layer in the Sculpt room, the paint room will paint on ALL visible layers regardless of what is selected.

I will download your google doc files and see if anything works. Right now, I am still unable to export any texture maps of any type from 3D Coat on a repeat basis. I think about 1 out of 20-30 attempts, I accidentally do something that saves a texture map of unknown resolution.

[DarkChorus]

Thank you. I just downloaded all the files you shared from the google drive. I will keep you informed about my progress. I appreciate all the help!! :)

[Sober Mans Secret]

I can always hook up with you on discord etc and see if we can work through it. Must be a solution and it's probably something daft ( it usually is in my case ) Add me up and we'll get issue solved :)

[DarkChorus]

Thank you for all your help and advice. Sorry it has taken me awhile to post my responses.

I discovered a complex, yet functional way to have 3D Coat save the maps and some of my errors along the way:

Before painting:
--A model must have a UV map saved first.
--UVmaps are made in the Retopo room using UVUnwrap. Then save the model and reload it
(without reloading, the program does not realize the UVmap exists)
--Don't use the UV room to create UV maps. The UVunwrap button in the UV room only works if there is a previously existing map that you want to edit or re-map. Otherwise, nothing happens

Painting:
--Don't use Layer 0. That is reserved by 3D Coat for its own purposes.
--Paint will only go on one layer that was selected in the Sculpt room. If your scene uses multiple layers in the Sculpt room, you have to select the layer that you will paint before switching to the Paint room
--If there is no UV map loaded (verified by being visible in the UV preview window), the Export Object & Texture window will not appear. It will only save the scene geometry. All the paint layers will be discarded during save.

Summary:
If I want to use the model or scene outside of 3D Coat, I cannot just model, paint, and export. A UVmap is mandatory for it. Without a UV map, only the geometry can be exported. The Export Texture window will never appear.