The Big Texture Paint Thread

So I decided to stop posting on the Big Sculpt Mode Thread(pt2) when I think we need a thread dedicated to communication about the Texture Paint development.

Not that there is a lot going on, but there are some changes you need to be aware of. Firstly, with 4.3beta, I cannot append any of my previous brushes at all, nothing. Even brushes developed recently with the idea of getting ready for 4.3 made in 4.3 alpha do not show up or work even though I went about making them and setting them up as assets. I will begin anew to set up my brushes and categories there again and see what I can build up.

For anyone using python to make a popup to switch tools, “builtin_brush.Draw” is now just “builtin.brush” while the rest are using “builtin_brush.soften” for example. The change looks to be getting rid of the word Draw from the brush and just use ‘brush’, but the word ‘paint’ was taken already by the Dobarro Sculpt paint brush, so that is why the main Draw brush is just “.brush”.

I will try to build up the same procedural texture damage brushes and share them here.

There are some really cool things possible with Geometry Nodes, but I still need to learn a lot for that. This for instance:

Feel free to join in discussion and if I have tips or insight I will help if I can.

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:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

And they say sculpt mode is abandoned !
A bit of love for texture paint please


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i want this thing implemented:
Vertex painting color textures

:v:

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That’s cool, but that is Sculpt paint and not Texture paint. And from what I have gathered after using the Sculpt paint, the image texture is handled as a mask only and that means that it isn’t implemented properly in Sculpt mode - it should be implemented as a Brush Mask if it is to be used the way it works in Sculpt paint. Perhaps Sculpt paint will get some additional work later once they get done realizing all the changes in 4.3/4.4 assets.

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Hello, my idea is a color palette separate from brush settings.

Now I use this interface setup option to get something similar

Have you tried the dynamic brush menus? W key brings up a pop up color picker similar to that.

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Yes, but a permanent color picker is more convenient because it is always visible, which helps you navigate in color. All drawing applications have it. :thinking:

I don’t know what you mean by disconnect from brush, as it is only visible with an active brush tool that supports that property. So with your mock-up, what happens to your window there when you are not in texture paint mode?

Myself, I use a larger pop up in maximum view but in regular view I use the properties editor in tool mode for that sometimes, or I use the tool panel in the side bar n panel. A dedicated color picker by itself could be worked up for a side bar n panel , but I use so many settings in addition that I’d not know what else to use there.

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Nothing, since I use this tab only for drawing textures.
I have a similar setting in 3D Coat


for hand painting it is very convenient

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My main wish would be support for Multilayered images (not multiple single images mixed in shader nodes).

True multilayered images with proper layers for just one image, it could hit performance and would need a merge down/bake to single option.

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Good thread, nowadays for the texture paint mode I only want something like Ucupaint native inside blender, with xcf / psd / kra support to use an external editor if needed, I suppose most of you are using the extension but just in case:

A small library of procedural materials and textures inside blender for the new users to combine them with masks would be nice too, yes I know I can download lots of them.

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I often think that .ora should be the multi-layer file type used for allowing export and import, but the fact is under the hood, all the image work is done with OpenEXR and converted on save so if you can use multi-layer for passes, technically it could be made possible to use multi-layer for image input.

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Ucupaint is best as an addon so that they can continue to add features - they already are on the extensions platform so that anyone can find it very easily. The addon does a lot to manipulate all that exists in blender, and the only part not there is the scripting logic and the icons. It is a very powerful addon now compared to where they started.

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Yes Ocupaint is a fantastic addon, I have used it but there is something about an addon that creates node setups automatically that I am not keen on. Also if i remember corectly manualy changing things in the shader editor will break things.
Yes it is a fantastic addon but i would prefer native multilayer format support (also in shader nodes) ie import a psd or gimp file and be able to edit it in texture paint, and plug it straight into the principñed shader.
I realize it is a lot to ask.

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The crux of the problem with any psd or xcf is that if a user expects to add layer styles in a psd and bring them into blender then there is no support for that. Clean layers using mix modes only, cool, but if someone needs drop shadow that would have to be rastered into the layer before import.

To some extent, the existing texture slots being mixed using alpha with different blend modes in the shader are already an example of what goes on in a psd except that it would nbe more like a group node of just a huge stack of them. Supporting reordering layers in blender would be possible if the logic was worked out like ucupaint. I imagine that is like what we would see, a multilayer group node with outputs from each layer, and these would plug into multiple inputs of the available shader and mix nodes etc.

I do not know coding and am aware that this would mean quite a bit of new code,

I have not used photoshop for at least 20 years but in gimp the drop shadow filter does rasterize the shadow into the layer, it is not a “live” option (does not update if you change things.

I guess you are right on that.

I am just thinking that users of Photoshop will want to have the connection to Blender in such a way as to have a linked asset like they do in Illustrator with Photoshop files, where the image may be linked and then when the changes are made in Photoshop, the Illustrator dialog asks the user to allow the image file to be updated.

Not just layer styles/fx need to be considered, but adjustment layers and smart objects etc. I would expect there to be some destructive rasterization going on so long as the connection is such that you can update from file to allow relinking the new version of the layered file.

I really want to take a stab at making some mockups from the side of what it would look like and how it would be implemented with using .ora or .psd turned into a group node of images that each are named by the layer name/number and combined with the color mix nodes for how they are in the layered file.

At least it would help me to understand what limitations are there to overcome.

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Cool stuff


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Would be great if you could restrict this to a certain pallet (run the noise through a colour ramp).

Which brings me to my new wish - nodes for brushes - everything nodes! A total revamp of the forgotten texture paint nodes.

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That would be great for sure


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