Maya Dynamics and Effects - Introducing Maya 2011 - page 605

Introduction to Paint Effects
One of the tools in Maya's effects arsenal is called Paint Effects. Using Paint Effects, you
can create a field of grass rippling in the wind, a head of hair or feathers, or even a color-
ful aurora in the sky. Paint Effects is a rendering effect found under the Rendering menu.
It has incredible dynamic properties that can make leaves rustle in the wind or trees sway
in a storm. Although it doesn't use the same dynamics engine as particles or rigid bod-
ies, Paint Effects uses its own dynamics calculations to create natural motion. It's one of
Maya's most powerful tools, with features that go far beyond the scope of this introduc-
tory topic. Here you'll learn how to create a Paint Effects scene and how to access all the
preset brushes to create your own effects.
Paint Effects uses brushes to paint effects into your 3D scene. The brushes create
strokes on a surface or in the Maya modeling views that produce tubes , which render
out through Maya's software renderer. These Paint Effects tubes have dynamic proper-
ties, which means they can move according to their own forces. Therefore, you can eas-
ily create a field of blowing grass.

Try This Create a field of blowing grass and flowers; it will take you all of five minutes.
1. Start with a new scene file. Maximize the perspective view. (Press the spacebar with
the Perspective window active.)
2. Switch to the Rendering menu set (press F6). Choose Paint Effects ➔ Get Brush
to open the Visor window. The Visor window displays all the preset Paint Effects
brushes that automatically create certain effects. Select the Grasses folder in the
Visor's left panel to display
the grass brushes available
(see Figure 12.40). You can
navigate the Visor window as
you would navigate any other
Maya window, using the Alt
key and the mouse buttons.
3. Click the grassWindWide.
mel brush to activate the
Paint Effects tool and set it to
this grass brush. Your cursor
changes to a Pencil icon.

Figure 12.40
The preset grass
brushes in the Visor
window