2009

Table Of Contents
Lesson 2: Painting in 3D using Paint Effects
Introduction
The Paint Effects Tool goes beyond traditional paint software by allowing you
to paint directly in 3D space, either on the ground plane or on an objects
surface. When you use Paint Effects for 3D work, the paint strokes are
three-dimensional and editable.
With Paint Effects, all of the hundreds of preset brushes found in the Visor
under the Paint Effects tab (airbrushes, pens, markers, watercolors, plants, fire,
metal, flowers, trees, and underwater etc.) can be used to create 3D objects in
your scene. For example, you can use the preset plant brushes to paint a 3D
tropical fern garden around a walking character in your scene.
You can animate brush strokes to create dynamic effects. For example, you
can animate the ferns to shake in the wind or have them move when a
character walks near them.
An electronic tablet with stylus is an ideal tool for painting with Paint Effects.
With a real paint brush, pressing harder makes the brush wider and applies
the paint more thickly. You can achieve the same effect with Paint Effects by
specifying the effect of pressure on the stylus for each stroke and the threshold
of response to pressure. You can map up to three attribute values to stylus
pressure and edit them as you work.
When you use Paint Effects to paint 3D strokes, you can edit the brush and
stroke attributes to create a variety of effects.
516 | Chapter 11 Painting