Layout Rollout (Particle Paint)

The settings on this rollout determine how the particles are placed on objects in the scene. The Layout settings affect all particle seeds associated with the Particle Paint helper, either before or after they are created.

Interface

[paint option]
Choose a painting option:
  • Paint on All Objects Allows particle painting on any object in your scene.
  • Paint on Objects Listed Allows particle painting only on listed objects. Click Add to pick objects from viewports, or By List to choose from a dialog. The names of paintable objects appear in the list. To delete an object from the list, highlight it and then click Remove.
Animated Objects
If the object on which particle seeds are placed is animated, the original stroke placement might not be at the same place as the animated surface at the time particles are born. If you want particles painted on animated objects to be born from the animated surface regardless of the surface's position, orientation, or shape by the time the particles are born, turn on this option.

The Particle Paint helper works with any animated object, whether animated by transforms or another method, such as sub-object animation, morphing, or skinning operations. If the surface animation involves a change in the number of faces (as with the Optimize modifier), Particle Paint might fail because the seeds are linked to specific faces by face indices.

Include Children
Allows painting on linked children of listed objects.
Include Group Members
For groups in the list, allows painting on all group members.

[Mask Objects group]

Use Mask Objects
Lets you use a mesh or patch object as a mask or frisket to block particles from being sprayed in that area. Click Add to pick objects from viewports, or By List to choose from a dialog. The names of selected objects appear in the list. To delete an object from the list, highlight it and then click Remove.
Note: Mask objects block painting only where their geometry is above (or closer to the viewpoint than) the painted surface in the viewport in which the painting occurs. Also, mask objects cannot receive particle seeds.
Include Children
Linked children of listed objects also mask the painting.
Include Group Members
For groups in the list, all group members mask the painting.

Selection Filter group

[Selection Filter drop-down list]
Restricts painting to selected areas of geometry. Choose one of the following:
  • None No restriction.
  • Selected Faces Only Paints particle seeds only at the geometry's selected faces.
  • Soft Selection Uses Soft Selection on a selection of the geometry's vertices or faces. Fewer particle seeds will be placed areas where the selection falls off.

Particle Location group

These controls determine how to distribute particle seeds on the geometry.

[Particle Location list]
This drop-down list lets you choose where particle seeds will be deposited. The choices are:
  • At Surface Particle seeds will reside on the surface of any objects on which they are painted.
  • Above Surface Particle seeds will be placed above the surface of objects on which they are painted. Set the distance above the surface with the Distance parameter.
  • Below Surface Particle seeds will be placed below the surface of any objects on which they are painted. Set the distance below the surface with the Distance parameter.
  • Above And Below Surface Particle seeds will be placed both above and below the surface of any objects on which they are painted. Set the distance from the surface with the Distance parameter.
Distance
The distance above or below the surface that particles seeds are placed. This value is expressed in units.
Variation
Adds variation to the distance from the surface that particle seeds are placed.
Separation
When on, Particle Paint attempts to keep particle seeds apart by the specified distance, expressed in 3ds Max units.
Max Attempts
When Separation is on, Particle Paint attempts to separate particles by generating seeds repetitively until the desired separation is achieved. The Max Attempts parameter sets the number of times Particle Paint will generate seeds to attempt separation. If the Distance value is low and Separation is high, the desired separation might not be achieved even after many attempts. In this case, turn on Stack Up For Separation (see following).
Stack Up For Separation
When on, instead of using repetitive seed generation to attempt to separate particles, the separation conflict is resolved by moving the conflicting seed away in the direction of the surface normal.
Parent topic: Particle Paint