Customizing Inks

Use the image loader to select and load images for use with the Image Ink function.

When enabled, apply the entire selected Image in one quick stamp. This option requires the use of Projection Paint. This can be a very useful method for applying decal textures in very precise positions on a 3D mesh, as well as for stamping down texture elements such as scars. The stamp option can even be useful for quickly stamping down an image repeatedly to texture a model completely. By using some Soft Border and changing the rotation of the image, you can create very interesting texture effects quite quickly.

When enabled, smooth the image when it is scaled beyond its maximum native resolution, which can reduce visibly pixelated edged.

When enabled, the image ink repeats continually once painting has extended beyond the image boundary.

When enabled, scale the Image Ink frame relative to the viewport being scaled. Useful for applying a consistent texture across the surface of the model. Whenever you zoom in and out of the object, Auto Scale makes sure that relationship remains the same.

When enabled, Modo uses the screen resolution for scaling the image.

Note:  When this option is enabled, but no image is selected, Modo uses the camera background image.

The Soft Border option is a percentage that creates an opacity ramp from the center of the Image Ink to the edges. As you paint through the image plane (Projection Mode), the Soft Border amount causes the edges to feather, creating a soft blend from the edge of the ink boundary.

This is also very useful when working in Stamp mode. With a tiling image as your ink and a Soft Border value of approximately 50%, you can repeatedly stamp down a texture across the surface of the mesh to create very quick detail mapping.

Allows you to change the size of the image relative to the object in your viewport. Reducing the value results in the image appearing smaller relative to the model and increasing the value increases the relative scale of the image. When using Projection Paint, the scale handle is the square handle on the right-hand side of the image plane.

These two values represent the position of the center of the Image Ink frame within the viewport. Values are pixel coordinates, with 0,0 being the upper left corner. Each time the Image Ink function is activated, your image frame is centered within the viewport. You can also interactively position the image ink frame using the circle in the center.

The Rotate value tilts the image. In the case of standard Fast UV painting, this is essentially rotating the image in UV space. With Projection Painting the image plane is rotated in screen space. The circle handle at the top of the image plane can be dragged right and left to adjust rotation interactively.

When enabled, use the brightness (Luminosity) of the current Image Ink image as an alpha mask when painting onto the object. So instead of painting the image itself onto your object, the image becomes like a virtual silkscreen allowing the color of the brush to only go through the dark areas of the image.

Allows you to use a secondary image as a painting mask. The only requirement is that the masking image must use the same UV Map as the image being painted. For example, this allows you to bake an Occlusion map image and then use that as a mask to paint rust into the crevices of an old vehicle.

This option allows you to blur or soften the image applied as a UV Mask. The greater the value the softer the mask transition between light and dark.

The various parameter options allow you to choose how Parametric Ink modulates the painted brush stroke:

• Displacement - Allows you to modulate between the foreground and background color based on the amount of displacement applied to a surface, providing you a means to paint in the cavities of surfaces.

Note:  When working with procedural texture displacement, you need to convert the procedural to an Image Map, using Modo's baking functions, to produce results with this option.

• Slope - Changes the ink from the FG value to the BG value as the geometric normals change. If we look at a sphere in World Coordinates, the top of the sphere has normals that point directly upward, the bottom points directly down, and at the equator normals point straight out. These normals range from 0 to 90.

• Altitude - Based on the bounding area of the mesh, the colors change using the FG color at the very bottom of the model and the BG color as you reach the top of the mesh.

• Incidence Angle - This is the angle of the surface of the model as it relates to the viewport in which you are painting. Polygons that face the view shade using the FG color, where as polygon normals that are perpendicular to the view shade with the BG ink color.

• Pressure - When painting with a tablet, 100% pressure uses the FG color for the ink. As you use less pressure, it fades to the BG color.

• Tangent Pressure - This allows you to change between FG and BG colors by rotating the tablet stylus.

When this option is enabled, a mask is generated and the Parameter control modulates the mask amount between masked and unmasked.

Modifying this value results in variations of color for the individual paint dabs when stamped onto the surface. 0% effectively disables this setting, ramping toward 100% with the maximum amount of Hue variation in the stroke.

Modifying this value results in variations of color intensity for the individual paint dabs when stamped onto the surface. 0% effectively disables this setting, ramping toward 100% with the maximum amount of Saturation variation in the stroke.

When enabled, the projected image is displayed in the viewport at the specified size and distance from the camera with the specified opacity.

Set the distance of the image from the camera.

Set the transparency of the projected image.

Fill the visible selected polygons with the projected image.