Vertex Painting Workflow Overview

This section provides a quick overview of painting colors at vertices. Each step is described in more detail in the sections that follow.

1. Select the object to paint on. If the object already has more than one color at vertices (CAV) property, make sure the CAV you wish to paint on is the active one, as described in Choosing a CAV Property to Display.

2. Activate the Paint Vertex Colors tool by pressing Shift+W.

   If the object doesn't have any CAV property yet, a new one one is created automatically. If you prefer, you can first create a CAV property as described in Creating and Editing Color at Vertices (CAV) Maps.

3. To see the effect as you paint, set a 3D view to Constant mode using the Display Mode menu at the upper right of the viewport's toolbar.

4. Open the Brush Properties editor by pressing Ctrl+W and set the Color Paint Method, as described in Choosing a Painting Method.

5. If desired, set the Color Paint Mode, as described in Setting a Color Paint Mode. The default mode is RGB.

6. If desired, adjust the brush properties:

   • Press R and drag the mouse to change the brush radius interactively. You can also set the radius on the weight paint panel. For additional ways to set the radius, see Changing the Brush Radius [Commands and Tools].

   • Press E and drag the mouse to change the opacity interactively.

   • Right-click to pick a color from the scene, or set the color in the Brush Properties editor.

   • Set other options in the Brush Properties Property Editor [Properties Reference] (Ctrl+W).

     TipIt may be useful to lock the Brush Properties property editor if you are painting an object using any Color Paint Mode that requires you to select colors or adjust settings.

7. Click and drag to paint. The Color at Vertices tool paints the triangle closest to the area you click on. If you click and drag the paint tool, the triangles closest to the path along which the brush is dragged are painted.