Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
in a free-form fashion. This allows quickly adding bulk or organic growth,
as in Figure 3.22c. The right-click alternative moves the polygons in the
opposite direction of the mouse.
●
Flatten Brush
: Holding down the
Flatten Brush
and moving the mouse
over a given set of polygons will bring the neighboring polygons into
alignment with the i rst polygon selected. It's a great way to l atten out a
portion of a model, as in Figure 3.22d.
●
Smudge Brush
: Like a smudge tool in a photo editor, the
Smudge Brush
allows you to slide and swirl content around. It can be very helpful for
adding organic folds, twists, and sagging (Figure 3.22e).
●
Pinch Brush
: The
Pinch Brush
tightens up geometry. It shrinks all the
polygons within the brush's radius, pulling in those surrounding the
impact, as in Figure 3.22f, and can be used to sharpen the impact of
other brushes. The right-click alternative is
Inl ate
, which expands all the
polygons within the brush radius.
Displacement Painting and Subdivision
Sculpting tools work in Silo at any level of subdivision, including the base
mesh level. However, by default, changes made with brushes don't af ect all of
the levels of subdivision, just those at higher (i.e., smoother) levels. It is often
helpful to keep the sculpting and base mesh separate, because if you have
spent a signii cant amount of time getting the geometry of the base just right
(as we'll do in Chapters 4-8), it would be a shame to muddy it up as you play
with the i nal touches. By keeping the base mesh unaf ected by the sculpting
changes, you are able to export either the high-resolution model or the base
mesh along with a normal or displacement map for use in other programs.
Sometimes, though, propagating changes can be quite helpful, allowing
sculpting tools to dictate the direction of the base mesh. This allows a user
to switch between sculpting and polygon tools more seamlessly because
the geometry from all layers of subdivision is more closely related. Whether
displacement is propagated to lower subdivision levels can be specii ed in
Editors/Options
>
Subdivision Settings
. In the settings screen you'll see the
options to
Propagate Displacement to Base
and
Propagate Displacement to
Lower Subdivisions
.
Displacement Painting Workl ow
Combining the brushes with what we know about how displacement
painting works, we can construct a workl ow for the sculpting process. If we
are working with sculpting layers that do not af ect the base mesh, the i rst
important step is to get the underlying geometry right before applying the
brushes. Once that's in place, we'll want to work from lower subdivision layers
up to higher subdivision layers. Sculpting broad forms at lower subdivision
levels is better because there is less geometry to move around, which means
