Paint Tool

The paint tool is a powerful surface placement tool extension allowing users to “paint” meshes onto the surface of other meshes. Useful for painting trees, grass, and debris the Paint Tool makes quick work of the controlled scattering of meshes on surfaces.

Enabling the Extension

In any supported Kit based App, the paint tool can be enabled via the Extension Manager Simply search for Paint Tool and enable the extension.

Using the Paint Tool

The Paint tool has two main interface panels. The Paint Library is used for creating new and selecting existing brushes. The Paint Settings allows fine tune adjustment to your currently selected brushes.

Ref #	Option	Result
1	Paint Library	Opens the Paint Library Panel
2	Paint Settings	Opens the Paint Settings Panel

Paint Library Panel

Using the Paint Library

The Paint library acts as your quick access palette for brushes you have created and saved. Simply select a brush and paint.

Ref #	Option	Result
1	Plus (+)	Opens dialogue to create new brush and give name.
2	Search	Enter text to refine brush list contextually.
3	X	Clears the Search Criteria.
4	Category List	Refines brush list based on category.
5	Brush List	Brushes listed based on category/search refinement with thumbnails.
6	Thumbnail Size	Drag slider to increase and decrease the size of the thumbnails.

Paint Settings Panel

Brushes

Ref #	Option	Result
1	Drop Down List	Allows creation of new or selection of loaded brushes.
2	Paint Mode	Sets the mode of the current brush to add points/prims based on brush parameters.
3	Erase Mode	Sets the Mode of the current brush to remove points/prims based on brush parameters.
4	Type	Displays currently selected brush type. Note: Currently, only scatter type is available.
5	Apply To	Shows what the current brush is able to paint/erase on. All: Activating mode with nothing selected in stage allows all assets to be affected by brush tool. Selected: Activating mode while one or more prims are selected locks brush tool to selected prims.
6	Name	Displays the name of the currently selected.
7	Flood	Activates flooding using the currently selected brush settings on apply to conditions.
8	Plus (+)	Opens dialogue to create new brush and give name.
9	Save	Saves the brush to the users documents folder. Hint: Use Go-To Brush to locate the exact directory on your system.
10	Gear	Rename Brush: Allows renaming the currently selected brush. Clone Brush: Makes a copy of the current brush. Remove Brush: Deletes the current brush from disk. This is permanent. Go-To Brush: Opens browser window to the stored location of the currently selected brush.

Modes

Modes allow brushes to take the form of an “eraser” (removing brushed content) or a “brush” (adding brushed content).

Paint Mode

The Paint Mode allows users to brush randomly scattered assets or point instances on surfaces based on the brush parameters.

Erase Mode

The Erase Tool allows users to use a brush interface to delete selected assets.

Note

if there are no assets listed in the assets pane, the erase brush will have no effect.

Flood Button

The flood button covers the all surfaces of apply-to designation using the brush parameters of selected brush. Flood can be used with both Paint and Erase modes.

Assets

The assets portion of the paint tool allows users to select 1 or more assets to be used in the paint operation.

Ref #	Option	Result
1	Add Asset	Adds an asset to be placed by the brush.
2	Remove Asset	Removes an asset from the brush.
3	Enable Toggle	Enables/Disables the asset.
4	Select Asset	Opens browse dialogue to select an asset to be used in the brush.
5	Eye-drop	Allows selection of stage/viewport asset to be used in the brush.
6	Weight	Controls the amount/chance the asset is selected during placement.
7	Thumbnail	Displays a preview of the brush asset.

Note

Users can drag and drop assets into the select asset dialogue box.

Parameters

Option	Result
Brush Size	The radius of the brush in centimeters.
Brush Falloff	Allows selection of several pre-configured falloff types.
Density	Determines the number of placed assets, higher numbers place more assets.
Stamp Spacing	Used when dragging the brush, controls the distance between each stamp.
Object Padding	Controls the spacing between assets, used to reduce overlap.
Vertical Offset	Offsets placed assets on the z axis.
Conform to Surface	Rotate painted meshes/instances to match the surface geometries normal facing direction.
Physics	Enable Zero Gravity placement If vertical offset > 0, and this switch enabled, assets will “drop” onto Marked surface.
Gravity	Enables generic gravity when placing.
Instancing	Allows the user to replicate meshes in a variety of ways. Point Instance: Places point markers which are then populated by instances Instance Asset: Places instanced assets directly in the scene. None: Places assets directly and does not use instancing.
Align to Stroke	Aligns the rotation of the placed assets to the stroke. Overrides Rotation Parameters.
Rotation	Randomly rotate placed assets within low/high range parameters. (Applied to the Z axis)
Scale	Toggles Scaling on/off for the selected brush.
Bias	Controls the favor of scale factors. Towards Min: Values Less than 1 Towards Max: Values Greater than 1 1: No favor is given, disables bias
Min	The minimum scale permitted during distribution
Max	The maximum scale permitted during distribution
Weight	Controls the curve of scale factors used in distribution Lower numbers sharpen the distribution curve Greater numbers flatten the distribution curve

Note

Density is directly related to object padding. If greater density is needed and increasing density appears to have little effect, reducing the padding amount to negative values can help in increasing the density of the brush.

Hot Keys

Key Command	Function
Ctrl + B	Toggle Paint Mode
B (Hold) + MMW	Brush Size
Shift (Hold) + LMB	Erase
Undo	Control + Z