Lol, I think he was trolling... Mudbox and 3D Coat are good choices, 3DC is great for Retopology and UVing as well, for hand painting stuff I'd say its unrivalled.
+1 for 3dcoat! I actually really like painting on flat UVz, but bouncing back and forth between 3dc and photoshop is super easy, just hit ctrl+p in 3dc and it pops your texture with layers into photoshop, ctrl+s and it updates in 3dc. When you throw adjustment layers and masks into the mix it gets weird, and I don't think layer folders work; but the way I see it, it's motivation to keep a small number of layers.
I've been doing some texture painting in manga studio 5 recently too. The watercolor brushes blend together super nicely
Mari is by far the most powerful 3D painting package out there. It has a layer setup similar to photoshop, but improves upon it to work better with multiple texture channels. You can paint across all your texture maps with one brush stroke which is insanely helpful for speeding up your work. With the recent update it has full PBR right in the viewport which makes it even better for texturing.
Substance Painter is looking really impressive. I haven't used it for actual work yet but I'd like to after I mess around a bit more. http://youtu.be/-fpW9C5il_U
Does 3DCoat paint based on verts like zBrush does? If I want to do low-poly 3d texture painting, I don't want to have to subdivide my mesh several times just to paint, then downres again.
That's the main reason I don't like zBrush for texture painting.
Sounds pretty powerful for more realistic work... especially brushing across different maps all at once.
I'm looking for just painting diffuse maps and baking light gradients (light top, darker bottom).
Most important to me: which one is the easiest to pick up and learn and start working in a short amount of time?
Good controls?
I would still say Mari is the most powerful. Its brush system is basically photoshops, and you can even import your photoshop brushes. It also has a masking system so you can control the paint not going to places you don't want. So when the faces are moving away from the screen you don't get that annoying stretched out painting effect like other packages. It has full blend modes, making, and adjustments just like photoshops, and it feels really good to use. After watching a tutorial for a couple hours I was on my way texturing.
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EDIT: Your painting is incredible
I've been doing some texture painting in manga studio 5 recently too. The watercolor brushes blend together super nicely
Thanks for the info!
I'm looking for just painting diffuse maps and baking light gradients (light top, darker bottom).
Most important to me: which one is the easiest to pick up and learn and start working in a short amount of time?
Good controls?
From the 2013 version, you can even paint on your flat 2D Uv's and switch back and forth to 3D painting.
http://youtu.be/-fpW9C5il_U
That's the main reason I don't like zBrush for texture painting.
I would still say Mari is the most powerful. Its brush system is basically photoshops, and you can even import your photoshop brushes. It also has a masking system so you can control the paint not going to places you don't want. So when the faces are moving away from the screen you don't get that annoying stretched out painting effect like other packages. It has full blend modes, making, and adjustments just like photoshops, and it feels really good to use. After watching a tutorial for a couple hours I was on my way texturing.