BodyPaint 3D Basics

1
BodyPaint 3D Basics

• Configuring and Using BodyPaint With Lightwave
• Mark Filanov

2
Install BodyPaint 3D
3
Copy the exchange plugins from the
BodyPaint\Exchange Plugins\Lightwave\ folder to
the LightWave\Plugins\model
4
Set up the exchange plugin. In the Utility tab
click on the Additional drop-down menu and select
BodyPaint prefs Select the texture folder and
make sure the path for the BodyPaint .exe is
correct.
5
Open a model or create a new one. Create a UV map
for your model.
6
Create and apply a clean texture of a desired
size to the UV. Press F3 to send your model to
BodyPaint 3D.
7
BodyPaint 3D will open with the model, ready to
be painted.
8
Select the brush tool to paint the model with the
selected color.
9
To paint texture, switch the radio button, and
select a premade texture from the drop down list
or load your own. You can select scaling,
rotation, tiling, and other options in this box.
You can also change the brush settings in the
Active Tool tab.
10
You can pan, rotate, and zoom on the model
without changing the model itself. Try using
Altholding down different mouse buttons and
dragging to achieve the same functions.
11
When painting complex models, you can enable
Projection Painting. In this mode, the texture
will be laid on top of the model without
distortions by relying on the 3d object's
normals. This allows to paint straight lines on
a curved 3D surface.
12
To view the UV of the model inside BodyPaint 3D,
switch to the Texture tab, choose Show UV under
UV Mesh menu and enable the texture under the
Textures menu. You can paint straight onto the UV
map in this window.
13
An important function of BodyPaint is to be able
to paint on layers, similarly to the layer system
in Photoshop. You can get to the Layer Manager
through the Window menu. Here you can create (in
Functions menu) and delete layers, change their
opacity and blending mode.
14
Finally, when you are done with your model, or
just want to check how it looks back in
Lightwave, click on Send Scene Back in the File
menu.
15
The textured model will appear inside Lightwave.
Press F3 to continue working on it in BodyPaint
3D.
16
Happy Texturing!