Hey guys,
so, I'm having a great time getting familiar with the tools in this paint program, but I
am getting a bit confused on things when I want edit previously created paint maps.
Here's the deal:
1. Launch 3d painter from A:M
2.Model loads up.
3.I create the decal with Automatic Decaling in 3d painter
4. I edit say a nice beard decal on the face of my model
5. I open in A:M, and the map is applied to the color channel.
All is cool.

then, I want to make some edits.

1. I launch 3d painter again from A:M and the model loads up with the previously created map and stamp

How do I edit this map?

thanks
Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Do you mean edit it in a 2D program? It's a tile map so that's not possible....that's the price of convenience.
If you want to edit it in 3dpainter, I assume you can just use Projection paint. If you can't do that, it may be a bug.

Hey Ken,
thanks for the reply.

What I mean is, how do I edit the previously created map inside of 3d painter.
Not in photoshop.

Something doesn't seem intuitive here..... I completely am expecting to find out that is because
I don't understand something in the workflow.

Like, the color map I mentioned, if I open up the model in 3dpainter, from the A:M plugin,
with all other maps hidden/uneditable, the changes I'm making are additive. Like if I use the same
brush with the same color on on the color map, the color becomes darker, so touching up the map is difficult.

I am easily getting myself confused as I write this, so I go back to my original question which is
"I have created the color map. Now the 2nd time back into 3dpainter, via A:M plugin, how do I edit this map?"

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Hi Mike,



You should be able to continue painting the same way you did the first time. As the decal was created using the automapping feature, you should again use the projection paint option. Just click the 'Start Projection Paint' button and start painting the model. If you then click 'Accept Projection Paint' button, your changes will be applied to the map(s) on the model.



Could you post or send me a screenshot of that? I don't think I understand what you mean. The only thing that could make the map darker is when you're using the brush in 'Darken' mode. Otherwise, using a brush with some color should paint the map with that color.

Regards
Filip

Okay, I have to get my project file back to the original state...
I will post something shortly, thanks!

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Okay,
here we go..... I hope I can explain this correctly.
1st image is the color decal I created with automapping and transparent background.
[attachmentid=20242]

Next image is what my model looks like in A:M. Nice!
[attachmentid=20243]

Now, I open the model up again into Painter.
I select "Start Projection Paint" again and with the same brush I get a darker line.
[attachmentid=20244]

Okay, now while I was making the samples to expain my confusion, maybe I understood a bit more here...
But this is what my problem is....
When I fist make this map, the first paint stroke with the mouse button down, I can go over the whole area as many times as I like and the paint never gets darker on top of itself.

But if I release the mouse button and then press it again to start painting, the paint starts to build up on itself again, thus getting darker.

Is this just something I have to get used to?

And if so, how would I edit the color map without darkening it while keeping the brush the same exact way as the first stroke?

Thanks and sorry if this is like, way out there.

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the images.

What I see is that your brush is almost black and has an opacity of 75%. Therefore, the more you paint somewhere on the texture, the more it will it will take over the color of the brush (in this case more or less black). Only within a single brush stroke, by default the paint will not add up (this can be changed in the brush options). This behaviour is the same as other paint applications such as Photoshop.

Here I painted two brush strokes (in PS) using a black brush with opacity 75%. As you see, the left stroke will not add up color when it crosses itself. But the right one will add up color when it crosses the left stroke:

[attachmentid=20245]

In your case, the thing to do would be to use the color picker to get the brownish color you want to paint with from the map. Then, set the opacity of the brush to 100% and start painting. This should give you the effect you want to obtain.

Regards,
Filip

Filip,
Thanks so much for explaining that.
I tried the settings you suggested and things look good now.

Appreciate it and am off to do more painting

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Ummm,
Okay, sorry but here's the next question.

Say the scenario is the exact same as the above.

I load the model up into Painter via the A:M plugin for the 2nd time... and edit session.

The model opens and I hit start projection paint.

I want to remove areas of paint, effectively erasing part of the color map.
How would I do this?
The add transparency mode does not do anything that I can see.
Would this be a case of painting with a brush that is the same color as the model's surface?

the map was originally created with transparent background.

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Hi Mike,

Making existing paint more transparent using projection paint is not possible. In projection paint mode, the 'Add transparency' brush will affect the paint on the projection paint canvas. As you say, using a brush with the same color as the model's surface would be the way to go. If your model was decalled the traditional way (not the tiled based automapping), this wouldn't be an issue and you would have been able to just paint transparency directly onto the model.

Regards.
Filip

Filip, thanks again for the information.

This information is very helpful to me! and I hope to others that pick up your excellent software!

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

Mike,

This work flow might solve your problem, but I noticed you were painting both sides at once (Only paint visible pixels - not checked in Projection Paint) which may complicate things, maybe not.

1- Open your model into 3DPainter and create an AutoTile Decal. Either of the whole model or only the portion your interested in decaling.
2- select view (Right or Left), zoom as needed. (you may want to group the left and right half so they are selectable in 3DP).
3- Select each channel one at a time and Start Projection Paint, (first time - export the ProjectionView) and export Surface color for each channel. (you have to cancel the Projection Paint each time so you can change the Channel selection).
4- In an external Paint program that supports Layers and TGA's (with alpha) Create a new Document of the proper size and import each of the exported Channels in as Layers. Organize as desired and create a new layer to paint on.
5 - Save the Layer you painted as a TGA with alpha and Import it as the Projection Canvas and Accept Projection Canvas.

This way you can always
-have full control of what ends up on the Auto Tile Decal.
-reposition the view ( Import Projection View)
-edit the painted layer, Import Projection Canvas and Accept Projection Canvas (probably need to create a new AutoTile Decal).

It is more work and more files to deal with, but you don't have to unwrap the mesh thanks to Filip

Let me know if this make sense.

Glenn

Hey Glenn, thanks for the info.
I read the steps in the manual reguarding, but I was interested in keeping it in 3dpainter.

I think I needed to get familiar with the tools in the app.

I will try the external editor at some point but I want to get as comfy as I can inside of the 3d painter app.

Thanks!

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com