Sculpt using stencils

2016-06-30

Product Documentation

To sculpt using a stencil

In the Sculpt Tools tray, select a tool.
In the Stencil tray, select a stencil image.
The stencil appears in the center of the 3D View. You can scale, rotate, and tile the stencil image and dolly, track, or tumble the camera to position the stencil and model in relation to each other before sculpting.
In the 3D View, stroke across the stencil to apply detail to the model.
The stencil disappears from view as you stroke and the effect of the stencil appears on the model. If you want the stencil image to display as you stroke, turn off Hide When Sculpt in the Properties window.

NOTE:A stamp or stencil image can reduce the strength of a sculpt tool depending on the amount of white in the image. White values in the image displace the vertices with full strength, while black values do not get displaced at all. If the stamp or stencil image has a lot of gray tones, you may need to compensate by increasing the tool’s Strength property.
To apply sculpting simultaneously on opposite sides of a model, turn on the Mirror property in the tool Properties window. Select the appropriate axis of symmetry, X, Y, or Z, and so on. See also Sculpt Tool properties.
When finished, click the Off icon in the Stencil tray to unload the stencil from the 3D View.

TIP:
Press Q to temporarily hide the stencil.

Turn off a stencil

Do one of the following:

Press Q to hide the stencil temporarily.

To display the properties for a stencil in the Properties window, do one of the following:

In the Stencil tray, select the stencil image.
Select the active camera in the Object List, click the plus sign (+) to display the nodes beneath it, then click the Stencil node.
Right-click the stencil in the Object List and select Properties from the menu that appears.
The Properties window displays the properties for the stencil.

In the Stencil tray, select the stencil image.
The Properties window displays the properties for the stencil.
In the Properties window, open the Advanced section and change the value for the Visibility property by typing a number or adjusting the slider.
Lower values make the stencil more transparent.

You can change the way a stencil appears in the 3D View to randomize the effect it produces.

In the Stencil tray, select the stencil image.
The Properties window displays the properties for the stencil.
In the Properties window, turn on Flip Vertical or Flip Horizontal as required.
The display of the stencil image changes based on which options you select.

In the Stencil tray, select the stencil image.
The Properties window displays the properties for the stencil.
In the Properties window, open the Advanced section and turn on Use Tiles.
The stencil display updates in the 3D View to appear in a repeating tile pattern.

Do one of the following:

Click an image in the Stencil tray to make the stencil active until you select another or turn off the stencil.
Click an image in the Stencil tray or click the stencil in the Object List to display the stencil’s properties in the Properties window. Click the Import button in the Properties window to load an image into the stencil.
Select an image using the Image Browser then click Set Stencil to load the image as a stencil.

NOTE:A stencil image does not automatically appear in the Stencil tray until you save it as a preset by selecting Add > Stencil in the Stencil tray menu () and select the image(s) in the file browser that appears.