Vector Brushing

A Python example script for setting up default vector shaders can be found under Python > Examples > Setup Vector Brush or by clicking the icon on the Vector Painting toolbar. This script automatically creates two Vector shaders in the Shaders palette, three channels in the Channels palette, and layers in each of these channels to get you started. For more information on using the setup vector brush script and the default vector shaders, refer to the section on Adding Vector Shaders.

The two vector brush shaders are Vector (World Space) and Vector (Screen Space). The three channels are Vector (Paint), Vector (World Space), and Vector (Screen Space), and these are automatically assigned to the shader component inputs for the relevant shaders created by the script. Each of the channels has layers in the layer stack to get you started. These layers include Vector, Vector (Tangent To Screen Space), and Vector (Tangent To World Space).

These channels and layers assist in mapping textures according to direction, by converting pixels on the object’s surface to RGB values representing -1 to 1 in xyz space. For more information on using the shaders, channels, and layers together with the Vector Painting Brush, refer to Vector Brush.

Additionally, you can opt to add a Flow adjustment, which allows you to see the effects of your vector paint over time. The Time Offset slider represents the flow of time, while the Speed slider represents the sensitivity of Time Offset. Adjusting the sliders allows you to see the effects your vectors play on the flow map, though animating this also displays the effect continuously. For more information on the vector adjustments and procedurals, as well as their layer property fields, refer to the section on Layer Types and Examples.