Contact Support

Projectors Palette

The Projectors palette and the controls that can be found on it are described in the table below. When controls also bring up additional dialogs, these are referenced for more information.

What It Does

The Projectors palette displays the projectors in your project, and allows you to:

Create, load, save, and delete projectors.

Use a projector to take a snapshot of the current view.

Use a projector to project an edited snapshot back onto the model's surface.

Projectors Palette Fields

Control

Type

What it does

Opens this dialog box

Notes

button

Creates a new projector.

 

 

button

Saves the selected projector to disk.

Save
Projector

 

button

Loads a saved projector from disk.

Load
Projector

 

button

Deletes the selected projector.

 

 

<projector name> > General | Name

entry box

Enter the name of the projector.

 

This identifies the projector at the top of the palette.

<projector name> > Action | Frame Offset entry box, slider Set by how many frames to offset the loading of an animated object. You can specify a frame range, or simply a number of frames.    

<projector name> > Action | Import

button

Click to load the image from the file set in the Input File Path and project it as paint onto the model (without baking).

Pick Path (if Input File Path has not been
specified)

 

<projector name> > Action | Project

button

Click to load the image from the file set in the Input File Path and project and bake it onto the model.

Pick Path (if Input File Path has not been
specified)

 

<projector name> > Action | Input File Path

entry box

Enter the filename and path where the projector loads updated images from.

 

 

<projector name> > Action | Unproject

button

Click to save the current view
buffer out to the file set in the
Output File Path.

Pick Path (if Output File Path has not been
specified)

 

<projector name> > Action | Output File Path

entry box

Enter the filename and path where the projector saves images to disk.

 

 

<projector name> > Unprojection | Clamp

checkbox

If this is checked, Mari restricts the range of the paint buffer to values between 0 and 1.

 

 

<projector name> > Unprojection | Shader Used

dropdown

Select the shader you want the projector to take a screen
snapshot of. By default, this is set to Current Paint Target.

 

Current Shader, Current Channel, Current Layer, Current Paint Target, and Current Layer and Below.

<projector name> > Unprojection | Lighting Mode

dropdown

The lighting mode to use when
taking a screen snapshot with this projector.

 

Flat, Basic, Full.

<projector name> > Unprojection | Color Depth

dropdown

The color depth of the screen snapshots taken by this projector.

 

8bit (Byte), 16bit (Half), 32bit (Float).

<projector name> > Unprojection | Size

dropdown

The size (in pixels) of the screen snapshots taken by this projector.

 

 

<projector name> > Painting | Painting Mode

dropdown

Sets the paint blending mode.

 

The paint blending modes available are similar to many other paint packages. If you aren't familiar with the various modes, see Paint Blending Modes for
descriptions and examples.

<projector name> > Projection | Projection

dropdown

Sets whether Mari projects only onto the Front of the model (as you're seeing it) or whether paint goes straight Through the model (appearing on the back as well as the front).

 

 

<projector name> >
Transformation
| Scale

entry boxes

Sets the scale of the projector.

 

 

<projector name> >
Transformation
| Translation

entry boxes

Sets the translated position of the projector.

 

 

<projector name> >
Transformation
|
Rotation

entry box

Sets the rotation, in degrees, of the projector.

 

 

<projector name> >
Update | Update Global Settings From Projector

button

If you have adjusted any
projection properties, click this
button to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the equivalent global
projection properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

 

Updates all global projection
properties.

<projector name> >
Update
| Update Only Masks From Projector

button

If you have adjusted any
projection mask properties, click this button to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the equivalent global
projection mask properties in the Palette palette are also updated.

 

Updates global projection mask properties only.

<projector name> >
<projector name> > General
| Name

information

Name of the camera used for the projector.

 

 

<projector name> >
<projector name> > General
| Animated

information

Whether the camera used for the projector is animated.

 

True, False.

<projector name> >
<projector name> >
Perspective
| FoV

entry box, slider

Enter the value for the field of
vision. This controls how much Mari distorts the view when
applying perspective. At 0, the
perspective camera gives exactly the same view as the ortho
camera. As the value increases, the distortion increases.

 

 

<projector name> >
<projector name> >
Perspective
| Near plane

entry box, slider

Enter the value for the near
clipping plane. Mari doesn’t
display parts of the scene that are closer than the Near plane.

 

 

<projector name> >
<projector name> >
Perspective
| Far plane

entry box, slider

Enter the value for the far clipping plane. Mari doesn’t display parts of the scene that are further than the Far plane.

 

 

<projector name> >
Edge Mask > General
| Enabled

checkbox

Whether the edge mask is turned on or not.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Edge Mask > General
| Falloff Start

entry box, slider

Controls where the edge mask starts on the model. The higher the value, the more forward facing the masking starts. If this is higher than the FalloffEnd, areas facing the view are paintable, and areas oblique to the view are masked. If this is lower, facing areas are masked and oblique areas are paintable.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Edge Mask > General
| Falloff End

entry box, slider

Controls where the edge mask ends on the model. The higher the value, the closer, more forward facing the mask finishes.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Edge Mask > General
| Falloff Curve

curve editor

Adjusts the falloff, using a curve editor to modify the falloff start and end point. To fine tun control over the falloff, add more points to the curve.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Channel Mask >
General
| Invert

checkbox

If this is selected, the mask data is black on white rather than white on black.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Channel Mask >
General
| Mask Curve

curve editor

Adjusts the amount of masking on the channel, where white pixels are totally masked, black pixels are totally unmasked, and 50% gray is 50% masked.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Channel Mask >
General
| Mask
Contrast

entry box, slider

The contrast applied to the
original channel to derive the mask. At 1.0, the mask comes
directly from the original channel. Lower values make the mask
fuzzier than the input channel, higher values make it sharper than the input channel.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Channel Mask >
General
| Mask Amount

entry box, slider

The strength of the mask effect.1.0 means that the mask absolutely controls where you can paint; the effects of the mask decrease as the value gets lower.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Channel Mask >
General
| Mask
Channel

dropdown

Sets the channel holding the mask from a list of available channels in your project.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Channel Mask >
General
| Enabled

checkbox

Whether the channel mask is turned on or not.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Ambient Occlusion Mask > General
| Invert

checkbox

If this is selected, the mask data is black on white rather than white on black.

 

 

<projector name> >
Ambient Occlusion Mask > General
| Mask Curve

curve editor

Controls how the ambient
occlusion pixel values relate to the degree of masking. The horizontal axis is the darkness of the occluded pixels (black to the left, white to the right), the vertical axis is the degree of visibility. By default, this is a direct line, where white pixels are totally masked, black pixels are totally unmasked, and 50% gray is 50% masked.

 

 

<projector name> >
Ambient Occlusion Mask > General
| Mask Contrast

entry box, slider

The contrast applied to the
ambient occlusion to derive the mask. At 1.0, the mask comes
directly from the calculated ambient occlusion. Lower values make the mask fuzzier than the ambient occlusion, higher values make it sharper.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Ambient Occlusion Mask > General
| Mask Amount

entry box, slider

The amount of ambient occlusion masking to apply.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Ambient Occlusion Mask > General
| Enabled

checkbox

Whether the ambient occlusion mask is turned on or not.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Depth Mask > General
| Enabled

checkbox

Whether the depth mask is turned on or not.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Depth Mask > General
| Falloff

entry box, slider

How fast the depth masking applies. Lower values make the mask apply slowly, higher values make it apply more quickly.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Depth Mask > General
| End

entry box, slider

The depth in the scene for the depth masking to finish.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Depth Mask > General
| Start

entry box, slider

The depth in the scene for the depth masking to start.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Backface Mask >
General
| Enabled

checkbox

Whether the backface mask is turned on or not.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General | Invert

checkbox

If this is selected, the mask data is black on white rather than white on black.

 

 

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General
| Mask Curve

curve editor

Adjusts the fractal noise masking where white pixels are totally masked, black pixels are totally unmasked, and 50% gray is 50% masked.

 

You need to click either of the update buttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General
| Enabled

checkbox

Whether the fractal noise mask is turned on or not.

 

When enabled, a icon displays in the status bar.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General
| Mask Amount

entry box, slider

The amount that the mask affects the paint buffer. 1.0 means that the mask absolutely controls where you can paint; the effects of the mask decrease as the value gets lower.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General
| Size

entry box, slider

Determines the size of the fractal noise features.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General
| Roughness

entry box, slider

Determines the roughness of the fractal noise features.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General
| Contrast

entry box, slider

Controls the level of contrast applied to the fractal noise
features to derive the mask.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.

<projector name> >
Fractal Noise Mask
> General | Seed

entry box, slider

Changes the pattern of the fractal noise by moving the pattern start point through 3D space.

 

You need to click either of the updatebuttons under Update to see the effect of your changes in the canvas. When you do, the
equivalent global properties in the Painting palette are also updated.