Modern alternative to Vertex Chameleon?

Abelo

Hi,

I'm about to embark in a project with heavy vertex color painting, in Maya 2020. I used to love Vertex Chameleon, which had a neat suite of selection-based painting tools like a 2D program would have. Unfortunately, its compatibility with recent Maya versions seems discontinued since it went open source, so it doesn't seem like an option anymore. I've seen some plugin called SX Tools but it seems to lack crucial stuff (like brightening/darkening a selection without having to paint new colors, previewing the color adjustments in real-time and stuff like that). I know of no other tool for that purpose, the rest is brush-based tools like Zbrush etc.

With a lot of mobile companies games doing low-poly and vertex-color stuff, seems like a rare empty niche, and I wonder what they use or if they're forced to older versions of Maya. Do you guys know of any good selection-based software (plugin or external, paid or not) with good vertex-coloring tools? Really desperate.

Thanks in advance
Abel

edit: typo

Eric Chadwick

I've done a lot of vertex coloring work in 3ds Max, and in Unity.

The Vertex Paint modifier can be a bit clunky here and there, but it's pretty versatile. Check my Sketchbook for examples.

Unity store had a bunch of tools, at least a few years ago when I was using it. 

Abelo

Thanks Eric! I already have a Maya licence so MAX I'm afraid is out of the question. I hadn't thought of doing it in-engine, since I need quite some precision tools, not technical vertex colors to define channels or anything, but actual artistic gradients, lights, shadows etc based on vertex selections. Doing that in-engine seems curious but I'll check in case I find something. Cheers!

EDIT: Unfortunately, everything I've found in-engine is brush-based, as I expected rather than selection-based (choosing the vertices/edges/faces and applying the colors), so they're really imprecise. Good for technical effects, but not anything substitute of Vertex Chameleon.

g2mXagent

try this: 
http://cgjishu.net/blog-entry-318.html