Clay studio at the GDC

Delaney King

Ive been trying out claytools for the SensAble guys (I was showing off the tool at the GDC). The feedback I was getting on the floor was awesome, but would love to hear what people thought about it.

Also, who here has one?

Eric Chadwick

I tried it a few years back. Was really interesting, but difficult to control. They probably have made great leaps in the tool since then.

What does the mesh flow end up looking like? Anything like the nice flow you get with ZSpheres? Or is it more like the mess you get with metaballs?

robioto

I'm curious about whether the haptic feedback is worth the extra cost. The last I checked the system was $2750. while a seat of Zbrush 2 would be just under $500. Add a new Wacom tablet and you're at $1000-1200. Is it any more productive a system?

Delaney King

Eric... yep, you need to try the latest version. Very easy to use. You can output splines as well as mesh, so you can build perfect mesh flow and then surface it in max... takes no time to build the splines since you can collide with the surface as you draw. Way cool.

Robioto... Its really a different way of working than z. Because you can swap and reuse body parts easily in clay, and tweak topology really easily I find it very cost effective. It also takes a few hours to master, so if you have to cost training downtime to Z-brush I would say it works out to be waaaaaaaaay cheaper.
However, I would say that having z around the studio is a good idea. Clay doesnt do non-organic stuff like tanks, so if your just looking for rivets, mud and scratches on the normal map for a robot, say, then z would be the weapon of choice. I use both. I suggest you give it a whirl and see if it suits your project

Steve Schulze

This sounds really interesting. Any more literature available... or a demo perhaps?

Delaney King

If your over in melbourne, I have a setup in Canberra I could bring up and show you. If you want to arrange something send me an e-mail.