3.6 Paint Tools

From 3D-Coat Wiki

While in Paint Mode you can use set of tools located in the left side panel. You can also press SPACE for quick access (pic.2). Listed below are all of the painting tools in the left panel.

Draw with a pen. The Brush icon is the default drawing painting method.
Draw with expansion. The Airbrush icon is a mode of drawing with accumulation. It is highly dependent upon the “draw by spots” pen option.
Color Operations. This tool has 10 different color adjustment options. They are:

Desaturate. (color reducing) When you press CTRL the opposite action is performed – colorize.

Saturate. (increment of chromatic level) When you press CTRL the opposite action is performed – desaturation.

Darken. (color darkening) When you press CTRL the opposite action is performed – lightening.

Lighten. (increment of brightness) When you press CTRL the opposite action is performed –darkening.

Sharpen. (sharpen the color) Use CTRL to smooth.

Smoothing. (soft smoothing) Use CTRL to sharpen the surface.

Increase hue. Increase hue (use CTRL to decrease hue). The transparency determines the degree of hue change.

Decrease hue. Decrease hue (use CTRL to increase hue). The transparency determines the degree of hue change.

Subst hue. Substitute hue from current color instead of hue in current layer.

Hue&Saturation. Substitute alternate hue and saturation from current color instead of hue and saturation in current layer.

For example, draw on an object using color then choose the Darken command. Draw again on the object in the same place to see how your current color darkens. Try different color operations modes. It is highly dependent on the color channel’s transparency.

Magnification or reduction of layer height. Choose the operation on layer height (increase or decrease). When drawing, it is only the current layer height that is changed. Press CTRL to perform a inverted operation. As pen shape, so as line and material are taken into account when drawing. There are two operations for this tool (holding CTRL will invert their function):

Magnification. The layer height is increased while drawing.

Reduction. The layer height is decreased while drawing.

Degree of change slider. This responsible for the degree of height change. The maximal value (100%) corresponds to height increase or decrease two times. It is located on the top panel.

Shift layer in tangent space. This tool allows you to smudge, collapse and expand the area under your brush. All operations will be applied in screen space, so you should try to place modified place at the best view position. This tool is intended to move only small details over the layer, don’t use it to move large sections.

Smudge. Smudge layer along motion.

Collapse. Collapse layer.

Expand. Expand layer.

NOTE: You must click LMB to apply the last two operations.

Clone tool. This tool is quite expansive, so please read and test it out carefully to learn more about it. Press CTRL+LMB to mark a source point for copying. Then draw using LMB. You can copy not only with round pen, but also with frame and contours (press “E” for brush types). Additional options in the Clone tool menu (Top Left Image). You can clone with a number of methods, the are:

Translation. In this mode press CTRL+LMB to select the source point.

Dx - The horizontal shift of source point.

Dy - The vertical shift of source point.

Mirroring. Copying with reflection of a plane. Press CTRL+LMB to select the point for the plane to go through. (See above)

Inversion. Copying with inversion against the point. Press CTRL+LMB to mark the center point of inversion: Center X and Center Y - positions of pivot point on screen. Press CTRL+LMB in corresponding place to change it.

Clone sector. Copy a sector rotated at a selected angle against the pivot point. Press CTRL+LMB to mark the rotation center point. This mode can be used to multiply a pattern drawn in one sector all around. Center X and Center Y are positions of control point on screen. To change its position, press CTRL+LMB in corresponding place.

Amount of sectors. Amount of sectors when cloning a pattern in a sector.

Counter clockwise. When enabled, the sector will be copied counterclockwise.

Symmetrical copy. Symmetrical copy allows to copy surface from one side of model to symmetrical one. Press “S” and activate symmetry before using this tool. This tool can be used on any of the three axes to copy symmetry. (Image left)

Copy using pen. Copy using pen allows to copy using topological symmetry. You should setup topological symmetry before using this tool. Topological symmetry can be defined in Topological symmetry tool by selecting two symmetrical faces.

Transform/copy tool. Drag the frame and select an area to be transferred. The frame acquired can be dragged, or rotated. Use SHIFT to preserve proportions. Use CTRL to drag vertices independently of each other. Press ESC to cancel the transformation and ent er to apply it. This mode is good to use in combination with frame, circle and curves (press “E” to open the draw types menu). The border width determines the edge softness when transforming. By disabling channels (depth, diffuse, specular) you can transform the remaining channels only. In the transform mode the surface area gets erased from its old place and copied onto the new one.

In order to simply copy without deleting, do not tick the “Erase old position” option. It is possible to transform whole block of visible layers and paste them merged or separately. You can select what to copy not only with rectangle but also using freehand selection, drag rectangle, etc. The options for this tool are:

Depth modulator. Additional depth modulator for transformed area.

Opacity modulator. Additional opacity for transformed area.

Specular modulator. Additional specular modulator for transformed area.

Export. Export to PSD – file.

Import. Import from PSD – file.

Edit. Edit image with external editor that should support PSD - files. By default it is Adobe Photoshop.

Save. Save transform parameters and image to InstallDir\User-Data\StoreData\Rects\

Load. Load transform parameters.

Copy/Paste. You can copy parts of surface to clipboard using CTRL+C and then paste them using CTRL+V. If the cursor is not pointing on an object, it will be pasted to the same place it was copied from. Images in clipboard can be edited in another graphics editor, then put back to clipboard and pasted onto the object surface. If the color channel is open for editing, the color texture is placed to clipboard; if it is disabled, then the depth texture will be placed into clipboard; in case the depth is disabled for editing, then specular texture will be placed there.Hence, you can copy and edit in a different graphics editor any of the channels depth, color or specular. If you press CTRL+SHIFT+C a new pen is made from a surface part and gets added to the pen list. When you press CTRL+SHIFT+V the mirror reflected part is pasted. Bear in mind that copying and pasting are pen-turn sensible. Copying and pasting objects with the help of hot keys is not limited to Copy/Paste tool, but is possible in any other mode.

Save. Save the clipboard image into a file.

Load. Loads the clipboard image from a file using these functions you can create a library of stamps. Load a plane or a cube, for example, draw a button or a rivet, then save to a file. As

relief, so as color and specular will be saved too.

Draw with spline. Upon activating the tool, the “Param” tab will activate, there are many parameters for the curve tool:

Curve profile. First let’s take a look at the Curve profiles:

Uniform. The curve with no linear modulation.

Sharp. The curve sharp on edges.

Obtuse. (flatten) The curve flattened on edges.

Arrow. One kind shape of arrow.

Arrow back. One kind shape of arrow.

Double arrow. One kind shape of arrow.

Arrow (mod). One kind shape of arrow.

Back arrow (mod). One kind shape of arrow.

Double arrow (mod). One kind shape of arrow.

Arrow (mod1). One kind shape of arrow.

Back Arrow (mod1). One kind shape of arrow.

Double arrow (mod1). One kind shape of arrow.

Sinuous. One kind shape of arrow.

Ignore back faces. When this option is activated, you draw only on visible part of the surface.

Closed curve. Close the curve.

Use spacing. Points will be set along curve with some spacing and jittering. It allows you to make new effects with curves.

Toggle hardness. This mode allows you to toggle hardness of the vertex in spline by click on the vertex. ESC cancels this mode.

Profile parameter. This parameter affects the linear curve profile in case you selected the sharp or obtuse profile.

Depth modulator. Modulator, impacting the entire curve depth (height).

Width modulator. Modulator, impacting the entire curve width.

Opacity. Transform current combination of points to circle if possible.

To line. Transform current combination of points to line if possible.

Subdivide. Subdivide curve.

Equalize. Set equal distances between points.

Store. Save curve to a file with CURVE extension, placed into: InstallDir\UserData\StoreData\Curves\ by default.

Restore. Load curve from a file with CURV extension, located in: InstallDir\UserData\StoreData\Curves\ by default.

Moving the whole curve. Use the 3 icons on the right bottom of “Params” menu; You can rotate/move/scale the entire curve.

(NOTE: You can use CTRL and dragging a point to rotate the whole curve and you can also use SHIFT and dragging a point to move the entire curve.)
In order to draw with a spline, we shall determine a spline of several points first. When pointing the cursor onto one of the blue dots, it gets highlighted. By mouse-clicking you can capture it and drag in a new position. Click again to release the control dot. Splines are handy to use together with stripes to carefully draw a chain or a string of riveting. Click ENTER to apply the spline onto object. LMB to add new points to the spline. Use ENTER to draw a curve, CTRL+ENTER for to draw a curve with inverse depth. Use BKSP to delete the last point, esc to delete all points.

Use spacing. Points will be set along curve with some spacing and jittering. It allows you to make new effects with curves. Curves will be drawn correctly, even if knot points are far from each other and surface between them are quite curved.

With “Draw with spline” tool, you are not only able to paint and extrude, but also can:

Erase. Erase the current layer along the curve.

Freeze. Freeze along the curve. CTRL+ENTER – unfreeze.

Planarize. Planarize the surface along the curve.

Set absolute height. Apply plane tool along the curve and then apply usual extrusion. It looks like setting the absolute (not relative) depth along the curve.

Placing text along a curve. Using this tool you can select the font for text, input the text, so as to change parameters of the curve the text is applied along:

Ignore back faces. When this option is activated, you draw only on visible part of the surface.

Closed curve. Draw closed curve.

Flip text. Flip the whole text.

Depth modulator. Modulator, impacting the entire curve depth (height).

Width modulator. Modulator, impacting the entire curve width.

Opacity modulator. Transform current set of points to circle if possible.

To circle. Transform the current set of points to a circle if possible.

To line. Transform current set of points to line if possible.

Subdivide. Subdivide curve.

Equalize. Set equal distances between points.

Toggle hardness. This mode allows you to toggle hardness of the vertex in spline by click on the vertex. ESC cancels this mode.

Save. Save text and font, from a .txt file, placed into InstallDir\UserData\StoreData\Texts\ by default.

Load. Load text from a .txt file, located in InstallDir\UserData\StoreData\Texts\ by default.

Add new points into the spline by pressing LMB. Use ENTER to apply, with depth, upon applying the text will be convex over the curve, CTRL+ENTER for concave. Use BKSP to delete the last point, ESC to delete all points. Click on the blue sphere to move it. With “Putting text on the curve” tool you are not only able to paint and extrude, but also can Erase/Freeze/Planarize/Set absolute height. You can place text along any polygonal surface, along any contour.

Place picture along spline. You can apply an image along a spline curve with this tool. This tools parameter menu you can select images used for Depth texture/Color texture/Specular texture, put pictures along spline. There are several settings and functions:

Number of tiles. Specify the number of tiles. You can see the difference with number of tiles higher or lower (see pic):

Falloff. Opacity falloff.

Extrusion. Extrusion of the whole texture.

The other parameters are the same as in “Draw with spline”.
With “Place picture along spline” tool, you are not only able to paint and extrude, but also can Erase/Freeze/Planarize/Set absolute height. Here is an example of using an image along a spline to freeze an area.

Erase. erasing the color, depth or specular in current layer. The range of erasing depends on the scroll box “Eraser transparency”. Erasing only effects your current active layer.

Hide. Makes selected polygons hidden. To hide the necessary parts of surface, use this command. Pressing a pen hide parts of the surface by painting on the model. Pressing with CTRL shows previously hidden surface areas. CTRL+X to unhide all. NUM+ & NUM- makes the hidden area wider or narrower.
Hide Parameters. Using the additional “Hiding” menu you can save/load hidden areas as presets. In these instances you will also have a drop down list so that you can select between

these presets.

Hide Menu. Furthermore, you can access the more advanced functions of the “Hide” tool in the main menu in the top tool bar. For convience you can also undock this menu (like any other) and place it in an easy to access area. With this menu, you are not only able to hide surfaces by painting on the model, but also can hide the whole object by selecting the object you want to hide.
For example, if there are several subobjects in the scene, you can use “Hide Sub-Object” to hide specific object, as the picture shown below. If there are only one object in the scene, ”Hide Sub-Object” will hide that object. You can also hide faces by specific material, use “Hide Material”.

Select one material from this menu, then all the surfaces with that material will be hidden. The other commands are very easy to understand and self explanatory.

Freeze Surface tool. This is a mode of freeze of surface parts to prevent their subsequent change. Freeze mode can be conditional, for example, for relief, flat or colored parts depending on mode selected. Blocking masks the action of feathers. Freeze mode is an operation opposite to selection. Choose the freeze mode and draw on object. Notice that you draw with a freeze. Press SHIFT to smooth out the edges of blocking. This drop down list provides for a surface freeze mode selection. When the pen goes along the surface, it gets blocked in accordance with the condition you choose in this menu. There are five blocking modes in total.

Freeze all. Block with a touch of pen or mouse-click (default mode).

Convexity. Block convex parts of surface.

Concavity. Block concave parts of surface.

Not key color. Block all, but for the color selected as current.

Key color. Block color selected as current.

There are four sliders on the top bar for the freeze tool:

Contrast. This parameter increases the contrast of freezing.

Details. Level of details when blocking relief parts. When this value decreases, the freeze tool will be more sensible to details.

Smoothing degree. Set smooth degree.

Freeze degree. Force of block smoothing when drawing with SHIFT pressed.

“Blocking” can be saved to a file and loaded. In this way you can create a set of handy blocking outlines for your model. If you saved at least one file, subsequently you will have a drop list offering a selection of files displayed. Of course you can also access many more options for the “Freeze” tool in the main menu of the top tool bar.

Freeze the surface. Freeze all the surfaces with current condition.

Invert freeze/selection. The frozen surfaces will be unfrozen; the surfaces which were not frozen will be frozen.

Toggle freeze view. There are six modes with which you can view the frozen area. The difference between each is purely visual. As seen on the picture. Many of the other commands are very self explanatory as well, you are strongly encouraged to explore each one.

Fill. If you are familiar with the fill tool in photoshop or other painting and photo editing programs, then you should be quite familiar with this tool already. It allows for filling in self-contained parts based on a number of parameters that you can specify. There are three main parameters by which you can fill:

• Layer. Fill the whole layer.
• Material. Fills the material of the object.
• Object. Fill the sub-object.
  

There sub-options for this tool as well, that you can use with each of the three main filling methods:

Use color tolerance. This allows you to fill in your color or material based on it’s “closeness” to another color. By using the slider you can adjust this value. The higher, the more area and existing colors it will fill in or over.

Fill with freeze. Instead of color fill-in, the surface will be filled by freezing. The “Freeze degree” slider is responsible for maximal freeze values.

Lines mode. Allows you to fill-in by set two points. The vector between them is considered the main direction when using distortions. If you have chosen the “Fill with gradient”, the surface will be filled with color gradient from the main color to secondary one. Otherwise, the

main color is used for filling-in. If the pen radius differs in the starting and final point of the line, then the modulation scale will smoothly change from the start to the final point. You can use gradient filling in fill tool in much more intuitive way.

Modulation type. In case the “Use in other tools” option is selected, the modulation acts not only in the fill-in mode, but with the standard pen too. There are are number of basic and user-adjustable types of modulations available:

Without modulation. Filling will be done without additional modulation.

Noise. Random noise.

Gaussian noise. Random modulation with Gaussian noise applied.

Wavy surface. Wavy surface y=sin(x).

Strips. Strips that are perpendicular to the main axe.

Saw. Saw-like shape.

Hexagon. Correct hexagonal grid will be used as volume texture when modulating.

Random spheres. Space filled with random spheres will be used as volume texture when modulating.

Pores. Generation of pore-like surface.

Spots. Generation of “pimpled” surface.

Fractal N1. Volumetric Perlin noise.

Fractal N2. Square of Perlin noise.

Fractal N3. Perlin noise limited by planes.

Fractal N4 (cracks). This fractal is resembling cracks.

Fractal wood N1. A set of distorted planes perpendicular to the view direction.

Fractal wood N2. A set of distorted cylinders. To set the cylinder axe, go into the lines mode.

Fractal tree N3. Wood with knot imitation.

Custom. Rough skin.

Add custom. This allows you to create your own custom modulation type.

Depending on the modulation chosen in the “Modulation type” menu you will have the ability to adjust a number of parameters for each one. They are as follows:

 :Amplitude of dispersion. Sphere dispersion amplitude against the correct hexagonal grate.

Peak position. The position of maximum.

Scale. Scale of modulation.

Anisotropy. The degree of stretching or compression of details along the direction selected. If no direction is set, then it is a vertical axis. Switch into the lines mode to specify the direction.

Width of jag. The relative width of jag.

Pores size.

Spots size.

Cracks width.

Edge contrast. This parameter determines the smoothness of edges in cube mapping.

Bump texture. The bump texture to be used in cube-mapping.

Color texture. The color texture to be used in cube-mapping.

Name. The name of custom pattern.

Delete pattern.

Modulate depth. Select this point if you want to modulate the depth when filling-in. Parameters:

Depth modulator. Modulation value.

Extrusion. The addition extrusion. “-1” means that surface will only press in, “1” – only press out.

Modulate color. Select the corresponding color operation and paint with it. Vary opacity to make the effect stronger of weaker. Parameters:

Color preference. This slider determines preference of color usage between color for convexity and concavity.

Convexity opacity. Convexity opacity modulator.

Convexity color. This color corresponds to convexity.

Concavity opacity. Concavity opacity modulator.

Concavity color. This color corresponds to concavity.

Modulate specular. Select this option if you want to modulate specular channel. Parameters:

Convexity specular. Convexity specular modulator.

Concavity specular. Concavity specular modulator.

To apply the new fill pattern you should specify texture of bump and texture of color (optional). They will be mapped on object using cube mapping with soft edges. The screenshot below show the difference between usual cube mapping and mapping with soft edges. In this way you can texture objects seamlessly very easily. It is easy to create materials like skin or pores.
Save/Load fill parameters. Using menu Store/Restore you can store parameters of fill-in to file, located in InstallDir\UserData\StoreData\Fillers\ folder by default.

Here are a few things that are worth noting about the fill tool:

 :You are not only able to use “Fill” tool separately, but also can use it in combination with other methods. For example, we can use “Fill” tool in combination with “Material”. For example, on the picture we have filled in a certain area with “Material”, using cubic mapping method. On edges we created freeze areas, while the inside area was filled in. Find out more about the freeze mode in clause 13 of this section. Pay attention that when lines modes and “Fill” tools are used in combination, you can fill closed spaces with color gradient. Another thing to note, if your fill area is very large you may get a warning prompt from 3D-Coat letting you know that it may take a while to fill. If that does happen, be patient! The application may appear to be frozen for a little while.

Eye dropper. Pick the color and specular from a surface of an object. Use hotkey “V”+lm b to pick the primary color and “V”+rm b to pick secondary color outside this tool. Use “H” to pick top layer. Use “G” to pick depth of pen.

Make planar. This tool flattens the geometry on the object. Use LMB to make the surface inside the pen flat. The pen shape is stored. With a call of the “Smoothing” command the advanced “Plane tool” menu with a set of options opens:

Normal source. This option determines if normal and point for the plane should be taken from the first click position or from the current point.

Plane extrusion. Allows the making of additional extrusions while making the plane. It works like a clay brush. Plane mode has a few settings available:

Make planar. Makes the surface planar.

Cut off. Cut off parts over the plane.

Fill mode. Fill holes under the plane.

Topological symmetry tool. Topological symmetry allows copying surface pieces if they have symmetrical faces structure even if they are not symmetrical geometrically. Select red face with LMB click and then select blue face. It is better if they are adjacent. Either way, they should be symmetrical to each other. This allows you to define the topological symmetry. The settings for this tool are as follows:

Work mode. Allows choosing between two modes – setup symmetry by picking two symmetrical faces or copy from one side to another using pen.

Copy red to blue. Copy red part of mesh to the blue one. You should define them before using this tool.

Copy blue to red. Copy blue part of mesh to red part. You should define them before using this tool.

Flip layer. Flip layer using topological symmetry.

Copy freeze mask. This is pretty self explanatory. It allows one to copy a freeze mask from one side to another using the topological symmetry tool.

Save. Store symmetry state to .symm file.

Load. Restore symmetry state from .symm file.

Measuring tool. This tool allows you to measure distance between to user specificed locations. Here are the parameters:

Original mesh units. You can define there units of measurement and measure line length.

Units to display. You should choose the units to display. There are next parameters in these combo boxes: Meters (m), Millimeters (mm), Centimeters (cm), Kilometers

(km), Foots (ft), Inches (in), Yards (yr) and Miles (mi).

Scale. The scale can be used to transform units. Usually you don’t need to enter this value manually.

Length. The length of the red line.