Adding Images

Bitmap images are an essential component of texturing, painting, and image-based sculpting. So that you don't need to use an image-editing application, with Modo you can create blank images directly easily and quickly with the New Image button or the File > New Image command. You can save these image files to use in a variety of applications. Once you create an image, you must place it properly in the Shader Tree so that Modo can apply it to any surface you want to affect. You may also need to set the image's layer effect properly (such as specifying a Displacement for an image-based displacement). For more information on working with layers in the Shader Tree and assigning effects, see the Shader Tree topic. Modo also has utilities for you to add specific types of new images to the Shader Tree. For more information about adding textures, see Adding Texture Commands below.

When you create a new image, you first specify the file's name, location, and format in an OS-specific dialog. Once you create the image file, Modo opens a panel where you designate the specifics about the image, itself.

Resolution: Indicates the image's resolution. When painting in 3D, Modo displays the images with OpenGL. To obtain the best performance for rendering textures in GL, work with square images. The available choices (based on standard GL texture sizes) are: 64 x 64, 128 x 128, 256 x 256, 512 x 512, 1024 x 1024, 2048 x 2048, 4096 x 4096, and 8192 x 8192.

Format: Specifies the color format for the image. The available choices are: gray, RGB color, or RGBA color (RGB with a transparency channel). Gray images are typically smaller in file size and are very useful with textures for displacement or bump maps. RGB images are opaque. Usually, the best choice for color textures is RGBA to implement different levels of opacity. With transparency (the alpha channel), the new texture may not completely obscure the materials and textures layered beneath it.

Floating Point: Specifies whether to use floating-point values or not for the image. Floating-point images (also known as HDRI, High Dynamic Range Images) give a broader range of potential color values. By default, this checkbox is clear, and Modo creates an integer image that defines colors in 8 bits per channel (0 to 255). A floating-point image can use values many times and can be useful for light sources or for detailed displacement maps.

Set Color: Specifies whether or not the image has a base color or base transparency to start. By default, this checkbox is clear so that new images are completely blank (with no color or alpha pixels). If you select this checkbox, each RGBA image has an opaque alpha (100% so all pixels are visible) and a base color as specified in the Color option.

Color: Specifies the base color if you selected the Set Color checkbox. Modo uses this RGB color value to fill the new image.

Tip:  To save an image as a 16-bit image, you must select the Floating Point checkbox. Otherwise, all images default to being 8-bit images regardless of the specified image format.

Adding Image Sequences

You can add image sequences as easily as adding still images. Image sequences are a series of still frames stored as consecutively numbered image files. You can use these for baking out animated textures or for painting animated sequences. When applied to a surface, the sequence frame number equals the rendered frame number. If frames are missing, Modo repeats the last frame until it finds another frame. To create a new image sequence, use the File > New Image Sequence command or the New Sequence button in the Clips Browser. In the OS-specific dialog, define the name, location, and format of the image files. After you click OK, in the New Sequence Clip dialog specify the resolution and other options for the frames.

Resolution: Indicates the resolution of the images in the image sequence. When painting in 3D, Modo displays the images with OpenGL. To obtain the best performance for rendering textures in GL, work with square images. The available choices (based on standard GL texture sizes) are: 64 x 64, 128 x 128, 256 x 256, 512 x 512, 1024 x 1024, 2048 x 2048, 4096 x 4096, and 8192 x 8192.

Format: Specifies the color format for the images. The available choices are: gray, RGB color, or RGBA color (RGB with a transparency channel). Gray images are typically smaller in file size and are very useful with textures for displacement or bump maps. RGB images are opaque. Usually, the best choice for color textures is RGBA to implement different levels of opacity. With transparency (the alpha channel), the new texture may not completely obscure the materials and textures layered beneath it.

Floating Point: Specifies whether to use floating-point values or not for the images. Floating-point images (also known as HDRI, High Dynamic Range Images) give a broader range of potential color values. By default, this checkbox is clear, and Modo creates integer images that define colors in 8 bits per channel (0 to 255). Floating-point images can use values many times larger and are useful for light sources or for detailed displacement maps.

Set Color: Specifies whether or not the images have a base color or base transparency to start. By default, this checkbox is clear so that new images are completely blank (with no color or alpha pixels). If you select this checkbox, each RGBA image has an opaque alpha (100% so all pixels are visible) and a base color as specified in the Color option.

Color: Specifies the base color if you selected the Set Color checkbox. Modo uses this RGB color value to fill the new image.

Saving Images

Once you have modified your images or sequences in Modo in any way (such as through baking, sculpting, or painting), you need to save the images. Modo provides several ways to save images:

• You can select an image in the Images viewport, right-click, and then choose Save.

• You can select the image to save and use the File > Save Image or File > Save Sequence command.

• To save all images, use the File > Save All Images command.

• When you close a session, Modo prompts you to save any unsaved images. If prompted, click Yes to save the images.

Adding Texture Commands

The Add Texture commands appear in the main Paint interface tab in the Utilities sub-tab with some additional options available in the Hair Tools sub-tab. You can use these as shortcuts to quickly add an appropriate image to the Shader Tree for the most common Image Mapping options.

Icon	Command	Description
	Add Color Texture	Creates a new, blank Image Map texture layer in the Shader Tree with Diffuse Color set as the Effect. (You must set the Effect as Diffuse Color to paint a surface with the paint tools.) Modo adds the image to the currently selected Material Group in the Shader Tree independent of the current foreground item selections. To ensure proper Shader Tree placement, first select the Material Group Item where the texture layer should reside. You may have to adjust the projection method in the Texture Locator. The image format defaults to the Default Image Format specified in the Preference dialog, but you can change the format in the New Image dialog when you create the image.
	Add Displacement Texture	Creates a new, blank Image Map texture layer (in the OpenEXR format) in the Shader Tree with Vector Displacement as the Effect. This format is the most flexible one for image-based sculpting with the sculpting tools. Modo adds the image to the currently selected Material group in the Shader Tree independent of the current foreground item selections. To ensure proper Shader Tree placement, first select the Material Group Item where you want the texture layer to reside. You may need to adjust the projection method in the Texture Locator. For best results, accept the default values of the New Still dialog and only adjust the resolution if necessary.
	Add Mask Texture	This command automatically creates a new, blank Image Map texture layer in the Shader Tree with Layer Mask as the Effect. Mask textures are useful in limiting the effect another texture layer has on a shaded surface. Modo adds the image to the currently selected Material group in the Shader Tree independent of the current foreground item selections. To ensure proper Shader Tree placement, first select the Material Group Item where you want the texture layer to reside. This layer's position in the Shader Tree is important because a Layer Mask only masks the texture layer directly above it in the tree. You may need to adjust the projection method in theTexture Locator. The image format defaults to the Default Image Format specified in the Preference dialog, but you can change the format in the New Image dialog.
	Add Fur Texture	Modo provides three Add Fur commands that automatically create new, blank Image Map texture layers (in the OpenEXR format) in the Shader Tree. • Add Fur Texture, once added to the Shader Tree, has Fur Vector as the Effect. • Fur Direction has Fur Direction specified as its Effect. • Fur Length has Fur Length specified as its Effect. These provide the most flexible method of styling Fur material layers with the styling tools. Modo adds the images to the currently selected Material group in the Shader Tree independent of the current foreground item selections. To ensure proper Shader Tree placement, first select the Material Group Item where you want the texture layer to reside (such as the group with the Fur Material item). You may need to adjust the projection method in theTexture Locator. For best results, accept the default values in the New Still dialog and only adjust the resolution if necessary.