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Paint fur attribute values
Creating and modifying fur
Update fur maps
Map fur attribute values
Attribute maps are represented by
grayscales, with black representing a value of 0 and white representing
a value of 1. When you paint a fur attribute on a surface using
the Artisan Paint Fur Attributes Tool,
Maya creates a map for the painted attribute and associates it with
the fur description and the surface the fur description is assigned
to. These maps ensure that the attribute values you paint are applied
to the surface every time you open the scene.
You can also import value maps for each attribute.
Since you cannot paint color attributes on fur, mapping is a particularly
useful technique for applying multiple colors to fur, for example,
leopard skin. You can create a color attribute map using the 3D
Paint Tool and map it to the Base Color and Tip Color attributes
by dragging and dropping the switch nodes generated by the 3D
Paint Tool. For details, see
To apply multiple textures to attributes on multi-surface objects (using the 3D Paint Tool).
Because Fur can use only simple file texture maps, every texture
you import must be “baked” to convert it to a file texture.
You can import and export maps in file formats
supported by Maya.
NoteIf a file texture is mapped to a fur description
attribute and baked, Maya just reads from the image file and does
not write out anything. Only when procedural textures are mapped
and baked, Maya writes an image file in the furAttrMap folder.
Find out how to:
Apply a single texture to objects
If you
are mapping a single texture to a single surface or to a multi-surface object,
use the following procedure.
To
map a single texture to an attribute
- In
the Rendering menu set select
Fur > Edit Fur Description > FurDescriptionName,
where FurDescriptionName is the name
of the fur description you want to edit.
- Do
one of the following:
- If
you are mapping a texture to a color attribute, click the Map button beside
the attribute in the Attribute Editor. The Create
Render Node dialog appears. Click the Textures tab,
click the texture you want to map (for example, Ramp)
and adjust the settings in the Attribute Editor.
(To map an existing file, click File and
select the file.)
- Right-click
the attribute field and select Create New Texture.
The Create Render Node dialog appears.
Click the Textures tab, click the texture
you want to map (for example, Ramp) and
adjust the settings in the Attribute Editor.
(To map an existing file, click File and
select the file.)
- Create
a texture in Hypershade. Drag and drop the
texture node onto the fur attribute you want to apply the texture
to.
NoteThe
Connection Editor may
open when you drag and drop a texture.
- If
you are mapping to a color attribute, select Out
Color as the Output and select
the color attribute(s) you are mapping to as the Inputs.
- If
you are mapping any other attribute, select Out
Alpha as the Output and select
the attribute(s) you are mapping to as the Inputs.
- In
the Attribute Editor, set Bake
Attribute to the attribute you are mapping to, or set
it to All to bake all mapped attributes.
TipIf you have many surfaces, baking All attributes
may take longer. To save time, select the individual attribute you
want to bake.
- Click
the Bake button. The fur feedback
will not reflect the mapped attributes until you bake.
- If
you edit the texture after baking, bake the texture again, or your
changes will not take effect. The old texture will be overwritten.
Apply multiple textures to multi-surface objects
Suppose you create a spotted
color texture for a model of a leopard with a the 3D
Paint Tool and want to map it to the Base
Color and Tip Color attribute of the
fur description attached to the leopard. Each surface making up
the model has a separate file texture. To map each file texture
to the Base Color and Tip
Color you need a way to select the appropriate surfaces
for the texture.
The following procedures describe the recommended
methods of applying file textures to multi-surface objects.
For another method, see
Use an alternate mapping method.
To
apply multiple textures to attributes on multi-surface objects (in
general)
- Create
a material in Hypershade. (For details, see
the Shading guide.)
- Select
all the surfaces and assign the material to them.
- Open
the Attribute Editor for the material.
- Click
the Map button for the Color attribute.
The Create Render Node dialog box
opens.
- Click
the Utilities tab.
- Under Switch Utilities,
click Triple Switch. The attributes
for the triple shading switch display in the Attribute
Editor.
- Under
the Switch Attributes section of
the Attribute Editor, click Add
Surfaces to add the surfaces assigned to the material
to the shading switch.
- Map
each surface to the appropriate texture, as follows:
- Under inShape,
click the surface name to select it.
- Click
the Map Item button. The Create
Render Node dialog box appears.
- Click
the texture you want to map (for example, Ramp) and
adjust the settings in the Attribute Editor.
(To map an existing file, click File and
select the file.)
- Select
the tripleShadingSwitch node in Hypershade to
see it in the Attribute Editor.
- Repeat
step 8 for each surface.
- Select
Fur > Edit Fur Description and
then select the desired fur description to see its attributes in
the Attribute Editor.
- Drag
and drop the triple switch node from Hypershade onto
the fur attribute in the Attribute Editor you
want to apply the texture to.
NoteThe
Connection Editor may
open when you drag and drop a texture.
- If
you are mapping to a color attribute, select Out
Color as the Output and select
the color attribute(s) you are mapping to as the Inputs.
- If
you are mapping any other attribute, select Out
Alpha as the Output and select
the attribute(s) you are mapping to as the Inputs.
- In
the Attribute Editor, set Bake
Attribute to the attribute you are mapping to, or set
it to All to bake all mapped attributes.
If you have many surfaces, baking All attributes
may take longer. To save time, select the individual attribute you
want to bake.
- Click
the Bake button. The fur feedback
will not reflect the mapped attributes until you bake.
If you edit the texture after baking, bake the
texture again, or your changes will not take effect. The old texture
will be overwritten.
To
apply multiple textures to attributes on multi-surface objects (using
the 3D Paint Tool)
- Paint
the Maya model using the 3D Paint Tool.
For information on using the 3D Paint Tool,
see
Paint textures on 3D objects in
the Paint
Effects and 3D Paint guide.
- Exit
the 3D Paint Tool.
- Drag
and drop the switch node from Hypershade onto
the fur attribute you want to apply the texture to.
NoteThe
Connection Editor may
open when you drag and drop a texture.
- If
you are mapping to a color attribute, select Out
Color as the Output and select
the color attribute(s) you are mapping to as the Inputs.
- If
you are mapping any other non-color attribute, select Out
Alpha as the Output and
select the attribute(s) you are mapping to as the Inputs.
- In
the Attribute Editor, set Bake
Attribute to the attribute you are mapping to, or set
it to All to bake all mapped attributes.
If you have many surfaces, baking All attributes
may take longer. To save time, select the individual attribute you
want to bake.
- Click
the Bake button. The fur feedback
will not reflect the mapped attributes until you bake.
If you edit the texture after baking, bake the
texture again, or your changes will not take effect. The old texture
will be overwritten.
Use an alternate mapping method
When you paint attributes using the Artisan Paint
Fur Attributes Tool or map file textures to attributes,
the maps are listed under Maps in the Details section
of the Attribute Editor. You can also
map attributes from here (file textures only), although you are
more likely to use the method described under
Apply a single texture to objects or
Apply multiple textures to multi-surface objects.
To
map fur value attributes to a surface
- In
the Rendering menu set select
Fur > Edit Fur Description > FurDescriptionName,
where FurDescriptionName is the name
of the fur description you want to edit.
- In
the Assigned Surfaces field, select
the surface(s) you want to map values to.
- In
the Details section, go to the
attribute you want to map values to (for example, Base
Color).
- Go
to the Maps section.
- Click Add
Item. The Import dialog box opens.
- Select
the value map you want to map to the selected surface and click Import.
The Surface name and assigned map appear in the map list.
- Repeat
steps 2 to 6 for each assigned surface you want to map values to.
To
assign a different map to a mapped surface
- In
the Rendering menu set select
Fur > Edit Fur Description > FurDescriptionName,
where FurDescriptionName is the name
of the fur description you want to edit.
- In
the Details section, go to the
attribute you want to assign the maps for.
- Go
to Maps.
- Select
the map you want to change.
- Click Map
Item. The File dialog box opens.
- Select
the value map you want to map to the selected surface and click OK. The
Surface name and assigned map appear in the map list.
Apply animated file textures to objects
Fur attributes can be mapped to animated file
textures. Map the attribute in the normal way, animate the filename
numbers and then click Bake.
You can apply a series of animated file textures
to furry objects to make the fur appear animated. This is useful
if you want to animate a character starting with no fur and growing
full fur, such as a person turning into a werewolf. For an example,
see
Make fur spread using animated file textures.
For information on creating a series of animated
file textures, see
Make fur spread using animated file textures.
To
apply animated file textures to an object
- Map
the texture to the desired fur attribute.
- Right-click
the attribute in the Fur Description node and select Create New
Texture.
- Select
the File texture and specify the
first texture in your sequence, for example, growFur.1.iff.
- To
animate the texture filename numbers automatically, turn on Use Image
Sequence in the file node. This automatically sets keys
for the file textures on a 1 to 1 basis. For more information about
this option, see
Create an animated image file background in
the Rendering guide
- In
the Fur Description node, select
the mapped attribute from the Bake Attribute drop-down
list and then click the Bake button.
- Play
the animation to see the animated fur.