Create impressive textures with MAXON BodyPaint 3D

The latest upgrade boasts a number of new features to make life easier for texture artists. Numerous additional improvements have also made working with the new BodyPaint 3D Release much more comfortable. Included are: Improved HUD functlionality, a configurable Auto Save function, adjustable navigation speed for graphics tablets and much more.
UV Tools - Quicker and Cleaner UV Unwrapping

BodyPaint 3D R3.5 now offers UV unwrapping using the powerful ABF algorithm for quicker and cleaner unwrapping of organic meshes. This new weapon joins an arsenal of UV editing tools available in CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D, including LSCM mapping, optimal mapping and projection-based mapping.

A good UV mesh balances the size of a each UV to its respective polygon while keeping neighboring UVs evenly sized. The ABF algorithm relaxes the UV mesh into a compromise between these two conflicting ideals, resulting in a clean, paintable mesh.

The images below help to illustrate the difference between an LSCM and an ABF solution when unwrapping UVs.

Improved HTML Documentation

The context-sensitive HTML help system introduced in Release 3 has been enhanced in R3.5. It is now easier to find the feature or solution you are looking for.

Improved indexing and a full text search now return more relevant results, and search terms are now highlighted within the help text. Once the desired information has been found it can now be bookmarked for easy future reference - just like in your web browser.

All this makes the help in BodyPaint 3D R3.5 much easier to use and speeds up your workflow even more.

Textures can make or break your 3D image and experienced artists know the issues involved with creating 3D textures in a 2D application.

Immediate Feedback
Graphics applications designed for 2D do not take into account your scene's lighting or the effect of different material channels. BodyPaint 3D does that and more with its unique RayBrush feature. Rather than saving, reloading and rendering textures you can paint in real-time on a rendered image and see the results of reflection, transparency, bump and more.

Tools, Tools, Tools
More than 200 presets put a wide array of natural media and special effects brushes within easy reach. Clone, Smear, Smudge, Dodge and Burn, Gradient, Magic Wand, transform tools and more are all available within the easy to use interface.

Direct Connection to Your 3D Application
Creating textures using 2D applications and including these in your 3D scene involves a lot of manual setup and a lot of application switching. BodyPaint 3D offers plugins to easily exchange models, textures and UVs between BodyPaint 3D and popular 3D applications like 3ds max, Maya, XSI and LightWave 3D.

32-Bit Color Depth and HDR Editing
With BodyPaint 3D R3 you can work with more depth than ever before. Now you can paint in up to 32-bit color depth, which gives even more texture control and incredibly smooth color gradations. BodyPaint 3D also enables editing of HDR and EXR formats letting you to use these powerful formats in your 3D scenes

Painting Over Multiple Objects
BodyPaint 3D can paint over multiple objects using a single stroke. Projection painting allows distortion-free painting across multiple objects to eliminate seams and get the results you want - which is not possible in 2D!

Painting In Multiple Textures
With BodyPaint 3D you can paint an entire material with a single stroke. Each brush can paint up to ten channels simultaneously, so a single brushstroke can affect Color, Bump, Specularity, Reflection, Transparency and other properties. There is no need to match the various channels in your 3D application.

Free Technichal Support
Our top-notch technical support staff will guide you through the valley of the shadow of deadlines with quick solutions to your issues, free of charge.

Multilingual
"Se habla Espanol" or "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" BodyPaint 3D is available in 8 different languages - your native tongue may be native to BodyPaint 3D, too.

Completely Cross-Platform
Whether you are a Windows wizard or Mac addict, you'll enjoy the same great features and outstanding performance.

OpenGL Optimized
BodyPaint 3D also intelligently switches on-the-fly between OpenGL and software shading, letting you benefit from the speed of OpenGL when moving around the scene and the quality of MAXON's own software shading while painting your models.

Painting With Rays

RayBrush Technology

MAXON BodyPaint 3D's exclusive RayBrush technology allows you to paint directly onto a raytraced image.

RayBrush eliminates the need to continually switch applications or perform test renders. You can see the actual rendered effect while painting in any channel, including reflection, transparency and bump. You can even paint on multiple textures at once when in RayBrush mode. This outstanding feature takes advantage of MAXON's award-winning render engine, known for speed and quality.

Projection painting offers hitherto unknown comfort when painting textures onto complex geometry. Visible seams at UV edges are now a thing of the past. The detachable projection layers in particular make this process easier by letting objects or images be placed freely before the projection is applied.

With projection painting enabled, you can paint onto a virtual glass plate over the model and subsequently project this painting onto the actual textures. This powerful feature supports all of BodyPaint 3D R3's painting tools and provides full control over the projection and final appearance of your paint strokes. Say goodbye to unpredictable distortion caused by model contours and perspective - with Projection Painting, what you see is truly what you get.

Copy and paste paint between layers You can copy and paste between layers while in projection paint mode and you can even join two separate images with perfect blending and distortion.

Getting the results you want without seams or distortion has never been easier than with the new BodyPaint 3D R3.

Layers / Selections / Filters
Layering In the Third Dimension

Layers
This familiar layering system operates much like 2D graphics applications, giving you the power to combine various effects and experiment with confidence. In addition to its own B3D format, MAXON BodyPaint 3D can read and write layers and masks in PSD and TIF file formats. Each layer can be assigned a unique opacity and mix mode. BodyPaint 3D also features a real-time preview of layer transformations so you can easily position, scale, rotate, skew and distort layers until your composition is just right.

You can also define a mask in any layer, work with alpha channels or apply different blend modes to layers. Even .psd files can be read and their individual layers or layersets easily accessed.

The Layer Shader makes it possible to quickly assign filters or procedural shaders to images. BodyPaint 3D is second-to-none when compared to conventional 2D image editing applications, and is ideal for high-end compositing and montage work.

Selections
BodyPaint 3D offers a wide variety of intuitive and highly flexible selection tools All the common tools, like Lasso or Magic Wand, can also be used in the 3D view. Even better, you can easily transform UV selections or polygon selections into image selections.Of course, selections of all kinds can be stored for re-use.

Filters
In 2D image processing you are accustomed to working with bitmap filters such as "blur" or "noise" with which you can modify your image. BodyPaint 3D also offers the most important 25 filters - equipped with some functions that turn these filters into real 3D tools. They offer a real-time preview of the filter's effect in the editor and, even better, an edge mode that guarantees your texture can subsequently be tiled.If the built-in filters are not enough, BodyPaint 3D offers you even more. You can now use the huge arsenal of Adobe Photoshop compatible filters directly in BodyPaint 3D - from simple shareware plugins to complex filters like a pattern generator.

Painting in 3D is governed by UVs, a set of coordinates that relate polygons to texturing areas. Properly designed UV coordinates are essential to successful painting and quality texturing in 3D. Because almost all 3D models involve contours in 3D space, standard projections like spherical and flat mapping can never provide distortion-free texturing. Each model must be set up with correctly aligned UVs prior to painting, just like taping off the trim in a room prior to painting.

With a New Direct Connection to SOFTIMAGE XSI

MAXON BodyPaint 3D will revolutionize the way you texture your 3D models. Regardless of how you have textured in the past, 3D texturing is now easier than ever. BodyPaint 3D makes painting by vectors as easy as painting by numbers.

Forget flat compromises and paint in three dimensions.

The XSI Connection
With BodyPaint 3D MAXON delivers a connection to SOFTIMAGE XSI. If you are looking for the ultimate texturing solution for SOFTIMAGE|XSI, BodyPaint 3D should definitely be your tool ofchoice. Let yourself be inspired by the RayBrush mode that allows you to paint your textures within a rendered image, including full control over specular maps, transparency and reflection. Not to be forgotten: the MultiBrush, which enables you to paint in up to 10 texture channels simultaneously - even while in RayBrush mode.

BodyPaint 3D's Projection Painting tool makes distortion-free painting a snap. This quick and easy tool lets you paint across UV seams or even onto multiple objects in your scene.

Using the link is easy: Create your mesh in SOFTIMAGE XSI and apply a simple material. You choose whether you want to set up the UVs in SOFTIMAGE XSI or with BodyPaint 3D?s sophisticated set of UV tools. The Setup Wizard will prepare all necessary textures and UVs for an object with just three easy clicks. It is even possible to set up a complete group or hierarchy of objects using this method.

The complete layering system, tons of painting tools and filters, and a full-feature render engine that lets you see all your efforts in real-time makes texturing with BodyPaint 3D a pleasure.

Unrivaled 3D Painting

MAXON BodyPaint 3D will revolutionize the way you texture your 3D models. Regardless of how you have textured in the past, 3D texturing is now easier than ever. BodyPaint 3D makes painting by vectors as easy as painting by numbers.

Forget flat compromises and paint in three dimensions.

The Maya Connection
One of the many features in BodyPaint 3D is the direct link to Maya for Windows and Macintosh. Maya users benefit from BodyPaint 3D's unparalleled features such as the RayBrush mode, which enables users to paint in the rendered image and see the final result in real-time. Or the MultiBrush, which can paint in up to ten texture channels simultaneously - with a single stroke. A brush can be used to define an entire material rather than a single color.

BodyPaint 3D's Projection Painting tool makes distortion-free painting a snap. This quick and easy tool lets you paint across UV seams or even multiple objects in a scene.

Using the link is easy: Create your model in Maya, set up the UVs and apply a basic material. All texture creation is now up to BodyPaint 3D. Select the "Send to..." command and your model will be transferred to BodyPaint 3D. The Setup Wizard makes it easy to create all the different textures for the individual channels even for multiple objects or complete hierarchies. Three mouse clicks and you are all set to start painting.

The complete layering system, tons of painting tools and filters and a full-feature render engine that lets you see all your efforts in real-time makes texturing with BodyPaint 3D a pleasure.

MAXON BodyPaint 3D will revolutionize the way you texture your 3D models. Regardless of how you've textured before, 3D texturing has never been easier. BodyPaint 3D makes painting by vectors as easy as painting by numbers.

Forget flat compromises and paint in three dimensions.

The 3ds max Connection
Looking for the ultimate solution to paint on your max-models? BodyPaint 3D Release 3 has hundreds of features to give your objects the perfect outfit. The RayBrushTM-mode is, in a way, its own outfit. You can paint in 3D in a rendered image - but with more than just a simple color. In combination with the MultiBrush you can paint in up to ten texture channels with just one brushstroke and see the results simultaneously.

BodyPaint 3D's Projection Painting tool makes distortion-free painting a snap. This quick and easy tool lets you paint across UV seams or even multiple objects in a scene.

Two plugins, one for 3ds max and one for BodyPaint 3D, offer a perfect connection between the two applications. Create your model in 3ds max and apply a material. You can set up UVs in 3ds max as well or use BodyPaint 3D's sophisticated tools to create UVs as perfect as the model you?ve built. BodyPaint 3D's Setup Wizard now creates all the necessary texture maps for you and, if desired, will automatically generate UVs with just three mouse clicks. This also works for multiple objects, groups or even hierarchies just the same. Now you're all set to start the paint job.

The complete layering system, tons of painting tools and filters and a fully featured rendering engine to see all your efforts in realtime makes texturing with BodyPaint 3D a pure pleasure.

MAXON BodyPaint 3D will revolutionize the way you texture your 3D models. Regardless of how you have textured in the past, 3D texturing is now easier then ever. BodyPaint 3D makes painting by vectors as easy as painting by numbers.

Forget flat compromises and paint in three dimensions.

The LightWave 3D Connection
With BodyPaint 3D, MAXON gives users great connectivity to LightWave 3D. If you are looking for the ultimate texturing solution for LightWave 3D on Windows or Macintosh, BodyPaint 3D should definitely be your application of choice. Let yourself be inspired by the RayBrush mode that allows you to paint your textures in a rendered image with full control - even over specular maps, transparency or reflection. Not to be forgotten: the MutliBrush which, in conjunction with RayBrush, enables you to paint in up to 10 texture channels simultaneously.

BodyPaint 3D's Projection Painting tool makes distortion-free painting a snap. This quick and easy tool lets you paint across UV seams or even multiple objects in a scene.

Using the link is easy: Create your mesh in LightWave 3D's modeler and apply a simple material. You choose whether you want to set up the UVs in LightWave 3D or with BodyPaint 3D?s sophisticated set of UV tools. The Setup Wizard prepares all necessary textures and UVs for a given object with just three easy clicks of the mouse. It is even possible to set up a complete group or hierarchy of objects in this manner.

The complete layering system, tons of painting tools and filters and a full-feature render engine that lets you see all your efforts in real-time makes texturing with BodyPaint 3D a pleasure.