Sketching

Autodesk Alias 2011
Sketching in Alias
March 2010
2010 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder. Trademarks The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December, 3December.com, 3ds Max, Algor, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backburner, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Civil 3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio, Design Web Format, Discreet, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG Extreme, DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, Ecotect, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, Face Robot, FBX, Fempro, Fire, Flame, Flare, Flint, FMDesktop, Freewheel, GDX Driver, Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK, IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT, Incinerator, Inferno, Inventor, Inventor LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LandXplorer, Lustre, MatchMover, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, Moldflow, Moonbox, MotionBuilder, Movimento, MPA, MPA (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Advisers, MPI, Moldflow Plastics Insight, MPX, MPX (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Xpert, Mudbox, Multi-Master Editing, Navisworks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, Pipeplus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, RasterDWG, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, Smoke, Softimage, Softimage|XSI (design/logo), Sparks, SteeringWheels, Stitcher, Stone, StudioTools, ToolClip, Topobase, Toxik, TrustedDWG, ViewCube, Visual, Visual LISP, Volo, Vtour, Wire, Wiretap, WiretapCentral, XSI, and XSI (design/logo). All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Disclaimer THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS. Published by: Autodesk, Inc. 111 McInnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903, USA
Contents
Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How do I? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter 1 Set up for sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Set up my tablet and stylus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2D best practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Set up Alias for sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The Paint window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Learn about sketching hot keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Sketch on a Cintiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 2
Get started sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Create a conceptual design sketch . Annotate a model or cloud data . . Bookmark an annotated model . . . Bookmark workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . 40 . 43 . 48
Chapter 3
Use canvas planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
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Introduction to canvas and image planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Import an image as a new canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Name a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Select a canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Change your view of a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hide or show a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set the background color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Synchronize canvas plane views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scale a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crop, expand, or move a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane or vice versa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Export a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Print a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delete a canvas plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. 57 . 58 . 60 . 62 . 63 . 63 . 65 . 67 . 67 . 68 . 70 . 74 . 75 . 76 . 77
Chapter 4
Organize a sketch using image layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Introduction to image layers . . . . . . . . . View the arrangement of image layers . . . . Create an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Name an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Import an image as an image layer . . . . . . Select an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicate an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . Move, scale, or rotate an image layer . . . . . Flip an image layer horizontally or vertically . Arrange image layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copy and paste layers into another canvas . . Hide or show an image layer . . . . . . . . . Change the opacity of an image layer . . . . Invert the colors of an image layer . . . . . . Merge image layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Export an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clear an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delete an image layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 . 80 . 80 . 81 . 82 . 85 . 86 . 87 . 88 . 89 . 91 . 92 . 92 . 93 . 94 . 95 . 96 . 96
Chapter 5
Apply and remove paint using brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Introduction to brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Paint and erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Customize brushes and paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Customize brush display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Set brush mode to paint, erase, hide, or show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Set brush paint color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Set brush and paint opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
iv | Contents
Set marker wetness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set blur strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set sharpness and sharpen strength . . . . . . . . Set brush size, shape, and profile . . . . . . . . . Set brush stroke properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . Snap a brush to a curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketch using brush symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . Sketch using predictive strokes . . . . . . . . . . Clone an area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flood an area with paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hide and show paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a texture brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a shape texture brush . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a shape from curves using the Paint panel . Edit a shape using the Paint panel . . . . . . . . . Use a snapshot as a brush in the Paint panel . . .
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Chapter 6
Apply paint using shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Introduction to shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create curves for shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edit a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delete a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create and use multiple Shape tool instances . Convert shapes to paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 . 137 . 137 . 141 . 142 . 142 . 143
Chapter 7
Protect areas using masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Introduction to masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a mask by selecting a region . . . . . . . Create a mask from an image file . . . . . . . . Create a mask by painting . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a mask from curves . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a mask shape from text . . . . . . . . . . Invert a mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customize the mask display . . . . . . . . . . . Dis-associate or associate a mask with an image Delete masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use the automatic shape mask option . . . . . . Use invisibility mask shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 . 147 . 149 . 152 . 153 . 153 . 154 . 155 . 156 . 158 . 159 . 161
Chapter 8
Edit images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Cut, copy, and paste regions of a sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Blur paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Sharpen paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Contents | v
Smear paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Chapter 9
Adjust colors in images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Balance color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adjust colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Protect part of an image from color adjustment changes . Modify gray scale regions of an image . . . . . . . . . . . Modify color saturation and value in an image . . . . . . Modify brightness and contrast in an image . . . . . . . Replace Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Remove a color by making it transparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 . 176 . 180 . 183 . 185 . 189 . 194 . 200
Chapter 10
Modify parts of an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Remove the background from an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Replace background in an image with a texture . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Resize an object on a canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Chapter 11
Deform and warp images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Deform an image to correct perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Warp an image with shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Chapter 12 Chapter 13
Create digital tape drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Create rapid concepts using sketching and rolled edge tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Create a 3D sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project a sketch to quickly add design details . . . . . . . . . . . . Modify an object with curve warp shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project a sketch for fast design label mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . Building primary and transition surfaces using the fillet flange and tube flange tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 . 270 . 275 . 282
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Chapter 14
Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
vi | Contents
Sketching
Describes how to use the sketching tools to create 2D images on Windows.
Introduction
Aliass sketching tools enable you to easily create 2D conceptual design sketches or annotate 3D models or cloud data. You can use 2D sketches as a reference for building 3D models and iteratively revise concept sketches and 3D models. You can use annotations to indicate problem areas on a model or ideas for future changes, or to indicate how you plan to build a surface from cloud data.
How do I?
How to perform sketching tasks in Alias.
Set up for sketching
Set up a tablet/stylus and Alias for sketching.
Set up my tablet and stylus

Set up the stylus buttons for use in Alias. You may want to customize the stylus buttons so you can easily access marking menus, camera hot keys, and vertical and horizontal constraints using the stylus. To customize the stylus buttons on a Windows system 1 From the Windows Start button, choose Start > Programs > Wacom Tablet > Wacom Tablet to open the Wacom Tablet Properties window. 2 Click the Tool Buttons tab. 3 Set the Switch Function(s) to Right-Click and Middle-Click.
4 Click OK to close the Wacom Tablet Properties window.
2D best practices
System Setup

Use Alias-qualified hardware and graphics drivers. Use Alias-qualified tablet driver. Dont update graphic drivers and tablet drivers without confirming that the newer drivers have been tested and approved by your internal testing or system department. Newer, untested software may not work as expected. If in doubt about appropriate driver versions, contact Autodesk support. Make sure that Enable overlay is turned off in your graphics card settings, for optimal performance. (Go to Start > Settings > Display, then Settings > Advanced > [graphics card name] > Performance and Quality Settings. Select Advanced Settings for Global driver
8 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching
settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the list. If Enable overlay is turned on, create a new profile by clicking Modify Profile and selecting Save as. Enter a new name for the profile, then turn off Enable overlay and click OK. Reboot your machine and relaunch Alias for the change to take effect.)
Startup
The first time you run Alias, youll be presented with a workflow selection. Choose the Paint workflow if you want to work solely within a 2D environment. You can click the Do not show again check box so this window wont appear every time you launch Alias. If you have chosen a workflow setting and checked Do not show again, you can change the default workflow by choosing the workflow you want from Preferences > Workflows. Alias will launch the application in the same workflow that was active when you last exited the application. Choosing the Paint workflow when Alias launches has the same effect as choosing Preferences > Workflow > Paint from the interface. It customizes palette, menus, shelves, marking menus, and control panel for a 2D (sketching) workflow. You can customize these further if you want, as described below). NOTE The Palette window is closed by default in Paint mode. To open it, choose Windows > Palette. The Paint mode also changes the behavior of File > New to behave like Canvas > New Canvas , creating a new canvas plane within its own Paint window See The Paint window section for more information.
Customize your Alias workspace and environment

Simplify the Alias interface Customize the tools you see in the Alias interface. For example, to customize the 2D tools, 1 Choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint . 2 Now open Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menu Editor . 3 Turn off every menu item you dont want to see in 2D paint mode.
2D best practices | 9
This dramatically changes the way the product feels, because you no longer see the functionality you dont use. The Autodesk Alias defaults should be viewed as a starting point to develop a custom setup.
Use the different short menu sets for different workflow tasks
For example, selecting Preferences > Workflows > Paint switches you to a 2D paint interface, which removes all modeling, rendering and animation functionality and changes the default Alias colors to suit working on white paper. Switching to the paint interface also sets custom 2D marking menus and shelves. Customize tool and menu options Alias supports the ability to create default settings for every tool or menu item; this is very useful functionality if your requirements are different from the shipped defaults. 1 Open and set every tool option and choose the setting. Then choose Preferences > User Options > Save Options . 2 Save the file under the name Automotive-User-Options.scm if you are running Automotive, or Design-User-Options.scm if you are running Design. When Automotive is started, it reads this file and sets the defaults described in this file. Some designers like the Alias defaults for brushes; some prefer a different feel and appearance. Take the time to customize the product defaults to suit your own specific style of sketching.
Customize the tool shelf

Customize your shelf set to streamline common workflow practices. Painting and sketching is a very artistic occupation, so its important to spend the time to customize tools to meet your specific style and workflow. Save your shelf set with the name User-Default.scm. When this file is present, the shelf set will always be the same when the application starts until you manually re-save this file. If this file is not present, the shelf set is automatically saved with the last used shelf settings. Again, some people like the shelf set to be exactly how they last used the product; others prefer to always start with the same shelf each day. You can choose your style of working. Shelves now have cascading menus and spacers. You can create cascading menus on your shelves by adding tools above other tools. This enables you
to create groupings of tools, and better organize your workflow. Cascading menus are indicated by a small yellow arrow. For further information about how to create a tool cascade, see Create a cascade in a shelf.
Spacers enable you to create visual gaps or groupings on the shelf by using non-functional icons that further help you to organize your shelf.
For more information on using the spacers, see Preferences > Interface > Shelf Extras .
Streamline your marking menus

Customize your marking menus to meet your specific workflow. Drag and drop any tool or menu item into the marking menu editor.
Streamline your hotkeys

Customize your hotkeys to meet your specific workflow. If youre a 2D user, you may want Copy Image to be Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac) instead of Shift+ Ctrl + C (Windows) or Shift+ Command + C (Mac) , and Paste Image to be Ctrl + V (Windows) or Command + V (Mac) instead of Shift+ Ctrl + V (Windows) or Shift+ Command + V (Mac). Hotkeys can be customized using the hotkey editor. The Special:Paint section in the Hotkeys/Menus editor also contains many brush modes, brush parameters (such as radius, opacity, etc) that can be mapped to hotkeys. In particular, if you use high resolution canvases and want your brushes to keep the same appearance as on standard resolution canvas, you can scale several properties of your brush at once, by using the Size hotkey. By default it is mapped to the letter S. Choose a brush, press the S key, and drag the
mouse to scale the Min/Max Radius, and Max Opacity of the brush at once. See Create and edit hotkeys.
Set your Wacom tablet buttons

The Wacom editor allows you to send hotkey events to the host application. Buttons 1 to 27 on the tablet can be used to quickly access common functionality like Canvas > New Canvas by mapping the tablet buttons to Alias hotkeys.
Set your Wacom stylus buttons

The Wacom editor enables you to map the stylus switch buttons to left, middle and right mouse buttons. This is very important, because the defaults set by Wacom are not optimal for working with Alias.
Screen aspect ratio issues

If you define a hotkey (see Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menu Editor ) for Windows > Control Panel, you can quickly toggle the Paint Panel on and off. This way, you have the screen aspect ratio suitable for side view sketches of long objects, like cars, and still have quick access to the paint tool options.
Paint panel shelf tabs

Take advantage of the Paint Panel shelf tabs. Click with the right mouse button on the Shelf Options menu, to create your own shelves. This gives you more window real estate by offering a compact alternative to the main shelf window. You can have and switch between color shelves, texture brush shelves, pencil shelves, and so on. See The shelf area for more details. NOTE Remember the limitation that texture brushes saved on a default shelf will slow start-up. Consider creating your own texture brush shelf separate from your user defaults (see Customize the tool shelf), and only load the texture brushes when needed. Unload them before exiting if you have not saved your user_default.scm file, because the texture brushes will be saved automatically to your defaults when you exit if you don't have this file defined.
Application management
Try to minimize the number of running applications (for example, dont run multiple sessions of Alias or have Alias, Photoshop, and Illustrator running at the same time). Automotive, Photoshop and Illustrator are memory and graphics card intensive applications, so be sensitive to this when working with lots of large canvas layers. If you feel the application is sluggish after working for a while, monitor the memory used in the Task Manager and/or exit/restart Alias periodically and/or reboot the Windows machine.
Saving and file management
Save often; use different file names through the day. For example, HotrodSUV_1pm and HotrodSUV_2pm. At the end of the day, clean up your disk and delete early file versions. Try to minimize the number of paint and shapes layers. As often as possible, merge layers into a logical design organization. For example, you may want different layers for different logical parts of a car: wheels, headlights, interior, exterior color, exterior highlights, and so on. Put related layers into a folder to improve canvas performance. Try to separate designs or themes into different files to keep file sizes down. Avoid cramming lots of data into one file, as this can push the software to the memory limits and it takes longer to save or open these files. Loading a file with 60 to 80 layers covering six design alternatives is not the best way of working. To evaluate many different design alternatives, export the images and use a tool such as Autodesk PortfolioWall. Set the canvas plane resolution before you start sketching. In Canvas > New Canvas options, you can set the width and height in pixels for new canvas planes. Alias has a preference for default canvas plane resolution (located in the Paint section of Preferences > General Preferences ); adjust the values for default canvas width and height to your specific requirements.Try to limit your maximum canvas size to 8 million pixels (for example width = 4000 and height = 2000). Use Alias projects for different design projects. A project is a collection of directories used to store files. When you start a new design project, create a new Alias project and make the project current. From this point on, all import and export operations are specific to the project. Using an organized project system makes it easier to locate information in the future.
Tool management Brush optimization
Only set a lower spacing bias (<1.0) and turn on Rotate to stroke when they are required for a specific brush effect. If non-optimal brush parameters are used, you may see performance degradation.
The brush parameter Rotate to stroke should only be used with texture brushes, shape brushes, or elliptical brush stamps because this requires extensive computation. With all other brush strokes, the rotation of a circular brush stamp is visually meaningless.
Reducing brush stamp spacing bias can dramatically improve brush stroke quality, but at a certain point reducing the spacing bias does not improve the stroke quality it only reduces the performance. Increasing brush stamp spacing bias dramatically improves brush speed, but the visual appearance may not be a smooth stroke if the individual brush stamps are spaced too widely.
TIP When sketching, find the balance between quality and speed. While a small brush stamp bias may improve the smoothness, it results in slower brush performance; using a large stamp bias provides additional speed, but may not provide the quality.
Texture brushes use a 64MB cache that pre-saves brush stamps in memory. This cache is dynamically saved and overwritten during the brush stroke. If the stroke varies in orientation and radius, the cache may be rewritten before the current stamp is required again along the stroke, causing the cache to be recalculated. What does this mean for you?
Texture brush strokes are slower when you first start using the brush until the texture stamp cache has pre-saved each texture size. If you notice a performance problem with a texture brush, select the texture brush and draw for a few seconds; undo, then use the brush normally. The initial strokes will pre-save the texture stamps in memory. Large texture brushes with rotation and radius changes need to continually recalculate the texture stamp many times per second. Smaller texture brushes or brushes with constant radius remain fast once the texture cache has been established.
TIP Try to avoid big texture brushes that have variable brush radius or rotate to stroke turned on, as the combination slows performance.
Brush minimum radius size should be 1 pixel; settings lower than one pixel will affect brush quality.
Windows and brushes
Turn off all unnecessary windows before you do brush strokes. The Ctrl-Spacebar (Windows) key combination removes all floating windows, which improves brush speed and quality. The automatic timer for hiding all the windows has a negative effect on brush quality at the start of the brush stroke. The timer can be set in the Paint section of Preferences > General Preferences . Setting the timer to 0 and using Ctrl-Spacebar (Windows) to hide all floating windows provides the best result.
Geometry layers
Manage NURBS curves with geometry layers when using curve snap with brush strokes. You will enhance performance when you assign logical curves sets to different geometry layers, and then use the layer visibility or layer state properties. Curve snap with many curves and geometries that can be snapped to will not provide real-time, smooth brush strokes.
Layers > Set State > Pickable means a curve can be picked and be snapped to. Layers > Set State > Reference means it cannot be picked but can be snapped to. Layers > Set State > Inactive means it cannot be picked or snapped to.
Snapping
Dont click on the grid, magnet, and curve snap buttons (to the right of the prompt line). Learn to use the modifier keys because you then know the snap state. Its very easy to use the persistent buttons then spend time trying to understand why the brush is drawing strange strokes. Curve snap
curve is computationally expensive, so use it only when required. Be aware that Alias attempts to snap to all invisible geometry.
Texture brush quality
Always create new texture brushes with 0 rotation and 1 aspect ratio. If the texture is grabbed, rotated, and squashed, the brush quality will degrade slightly because every pixel in the brush stamp will be resampled.
Stroke quality using curve snap
When brushing and using snap-to-curve functionality, the brush stamp is placed in the same relative position on the curve each time you move the cursor along the same region of the curve. This can cause the finished stroke to look rough or poorly aliased. If this is the case, add a little spacing noise to the brush stroke to ensure uneven stamp spacing and decrease the stamp spacing.
Picking and selecting
To use Alias effectively, you must learn how to use the Pick tools. These tools, found in the tool palette or on the shelf, are dedicated selection tools, but they also set a selection mask that is used by the transformation tool. For example, if you want to move a CV on a curve, you should first choose Pick > Point Types > CV , then choose Transform > Move , and then select the CV you want to transform. From this moment on, any number of CVs can be moved until you change to another continuous tool. The same workflow is repeated if you want to move a canvas or an image plane. Canvas planes can be picked with the Pick > Object tool, while image planes must be picked with Pick > Object Types > Image Plane . You then select a Transform tool. From now on, the system remembers the selection mask, so the transform tool will always attempt to pick either an object (including canvas planes) or an image plane. See Introduction to canvas and image planes on page 57for the difference between canvas and image planes. To select a different type of object to transform, you must select a different Pick tool.
Shapes and multiple curve regions
If you need to use two regions of the same curve to define a shape, click on each section while in the Paint > Shape tool, or choose Object Edit > Attach > Detach or Curve Edit > Curve Section to break the curve into separate segments. NOTE In the top image below, clicking once on the circle would work, but this might not always be the case for other configurations.
Re-use curves
Each curve can be used any number of times to form different shapes. For example, the wheel example below shows how the curves have been used to define an image shape with a ramp fill and a mask shape.
Fast curve duplication
When repeating a design theme set Edit > Duplicate > Object options to create the copied geometry as instances. This will duplicate the curve as an instance, which means when you edit the original curve the instances will automatically reflect the design change. In this example, only one point on the original curve is moved; this automatically updates the other duplicated curves, which in turn automatically updates the shape object and the shape mask.
Curve creation
Use blend curves whenever possible, because they automatically produce curves with good curvature properties and these curves support relationships to other curves.
All curves drawn in Paint mode have their CVs, hulls and edit points turned off by default. Active curves are drawn in a turquoise blue color (light green for blend curves) while in Paint mode, to contrast with the default white canvas background.
Curve editing
Convenient curve editing tools in Paint mode are:
Move CV CVs are turned on when you click on a curve after choosing the Move CV tool. See Control Panel > Move CV. Stretch Transform curve See Make curves intersect for details on using these two tools.
All of these tools can be accessed from the Shelf.
Curves with cusps
When you require a curve with a cusp (sharp change in direction), learn to use multiple curves. If you want a freehand brush stroke to be snapped to multiple curves, use Object Edit > Attach > Attach with the Type option set to Connect. When creating shapes (image, mask or invisibility mask) the software internally joins the curves. NOTE Attaching curves using the connect option is not a good modeling technique if you want to create surfaces using these curves.
Curve points: less is more
Fewer points along a curve is an excellent technique to learn. A novice user will typically use up to twice as many points along a curve as an experienced user. Always try to minimize the number of points that define a curve.
Curve and surface fitting tolerances
Use appropriate tolerances when modeling to suit the downstream CAD system. Dont use extremely small tolerances thinking this will make the model more accurate: extremely small tolerances only create more complex geometry and make all modeling operations slower.
Fast shape and mask creation tools
Use Auto-shapes. To quickly and easily create a simple image shape, mask shape, or invisibility mask shape, turn on Auto-Shapes in the paint panel. This will allow any Alias curve tool to automatically create shapes objects. Below is a small sample of the types of curves supported by Alias auto-shape functionality.
Symmetry
When an object is symmetric about an axis, use the geometry layer symmetry option. This option automatically creates symmetric curve and shape objects.
Curve evaluation
Use the Alias curve curvature tools to improve the line quality of your design.
Real world scale
By using the curve tools and dimension tools, you can create elevation sketches or tape drawing at real world scale. Import 3D package constraints from the engineers and sketch over these constraints: dont start sketching orthographic views without a concept of real world size or scale.
Printer color space versus RGB color space
Learn what colors work well with your printer. Use the Alias Print Preview window to get a better understanding of RGB and CMYK color spaces they are different. Below is a simple example showing the difference between RGB and CMYK color spaces. Notice how switching from RGB to CMYK can make a dramatic sketch look flat and boring. Every printer in the world has a unique color space in how it deals with hue, saturation and value learn what colors and saturations work well with your printer. Dont spend time creating a fabulous sketch on the screen that prints out or electronically projects poorly.
Add design detail to 3D models quickly
Use the sketch projection workflow to add detail to early 3D concept models.
See the section Project a sketch to quickly add design details on page 270 for more information.
Set up Alias for sketching

Choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint , or select Paint mode when launching Alias. This automatically sets up the Alias interface so non-sketching features are hidden and sketching features are more accessible.
To set up Alias for sketching

Choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint , or select Paint mode when launching Alias, to automatically:

show only sketching-related menus, tools and shelves show the Paint Panel turn off all view grids See Show, hide, or change the grid for more information. create new canvases with a transparent background in a special paint window.
Set up Alias for sketching | 27
See The Paint window on page 29 and Set the background color on page 67 for more information.

turn on sketching-specific marking menus. CVs, hulls and edit points are turned off by default. NOTE To set up Alias for modeling, choose Preferences > Workflows > Modeling .
To hide editor windows during brush strokes

1 Choose Preferences > General Preferences to open the General Preferences options. 2 Click Paint in the left panel, then set Hide Windows During Stroke as follows:

0Windows are not hidden during brush strokes. ANY OTHER VALUEWindows are hidden during brush strokes. The value of this option is the number of seconds windows remain hidden after you complete a brush stroke. For example, if this option is set to 2, windows are hidden during a brush stroke and re-appear 2 seconds after you complete the stroke.
3 Click Go.
To set the main linear unit

1 Choose Preferences > Construction Options to open the Construction Options window. 2 Click Units and then Linear to show the current linear units. 3 Set Main Units.
To show only sketching-related menus and tools

Choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint . NOTE To show all tools and menus again, choose Preferences > Menus > Long Menus .
To show or hide the Paint Panel

Choose Windows > Control Panel .
To turn on sketching-specific marking menus

Choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint . NOTE To turn on standard marking menus, choose another workflow.
The Paint window

Choose Layouts > Paint to open a special 2D window used especially for sketching. A paint window shows a full screen and head-on view of the currently active canvas. This allows you to more easily focus on the task of sketching, without being distracted by the 3D modeling world. This window is also created automatically when choosing File > New to create a new canvas while in Paint mode. See Set up Alias for sketching on page 27. The title bar of the Paint window displays the name of the view window it is lying on, for example Top[Paint] or Persp[Paint]. NOTE Defaut canvases in a Perspective window (created when using a brush in a window that doesnt yet contain a canvas plane), and overlay canvases created by using Canvas > New Overlay Canvas are the only two ways to create a canvas (and Paint window) in a perspective view. You can create additional Paint windows by using Layouts > New Window and setting the Type option to Paint. Each Paint window can display any one of your canvases through the use of a lister in its title bar.
The Paint window | 29
Canvas lister Click to show a menu from which you can select the canvas to be displayed in the Paint window. Layer lister Click to show a menu from which you can select a layer on the current canvas. This layer becomes the active layer (that is the one on which youre painting). The active layer is indicated by a * in the lister. See Create an image layer. Zoom factor Click to show a menu from which you can set a zoom factor. This has the effect of moving the canvas closer or further away from you. The canvas first appears at a zoom factor such that it fills up the Paint window (best fit). A zoom factor of 100% means one screen pixel is equal to one pixel on the canvas layer. Use the Zoom in/out icon to zoom in or out in a continuous manner.
Flip View the active canvas from behind. This icon behaves as a toggle. Only the active canvas in the Paint window is affected. Look at Re-center and re-orient the canvas in the Paint window so that it is back to the original view, that is the one that best fits the canvas to the window. Look at effectively resets any zooming, tracking or rotation applied to the canvas. Rotate Rotate the canvas clockwise or counterclockwise around its center in the Paint window. Zoom in/out Move closer to the canvas for detail work, or move away from the canvas for an overall view. Track Move up, down, left and right around the canvas.
Learn about sketching hot keys

Speed up your workflow by using sketching hotkeys. The picture below shows all the default hotkeys in the Special:Paint section of the Hotkeys/Menus editor. You can add hotkeys for the ones that are not defined, or modifiy existing hotkeys. See Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menu Editor .
Learn about sketching hot keys | 31
Sketch on a Cintiq
Learn to use the special sketching interface on Cintiq screens. When using Alias to sketch in conjunction with a Cintiq tablet, you can access common sketching tools directly on your display without having to reach for the keyboard.
Pressing a pre-assigned key on the Cintiq (or the Space bar on the keyboard) invokes a hot spots interface on the Cintiq screen, which is a collection of icons, each referencing a specific tool.
The center wheel consists of tools used to adjust the brush parameters: radius, opacity, aspect, and so on. The top row of icons lets you choose a brush mode. The bottom row consists of frequently used sketching tools such as color editor and predictive stroke. See also:

Paint and erase on page 99 Set brush mode to paint, erase, hide, or show on page 104 Set brush paint color on page 105 Set brush and paint opacity on page 108 Set brush size, shape, and profile on page 112
NOTE The hot spots interface will only work if the cursor is over a canvas and a Brush tool is selected. As you drag the mouse over a tool, the tool highlights and a tooltip appears describing the tool.
Sketch on a Cintiq | 33
The tables below list all the icons: Brush Modes Icon Purpose
paint
erase
hide paint
show hidden paint
smear
blur
sharpen
Icon
Purpose
dodge
burn
Brush Parameters Icon Purpose

size
min max radius
rotate brush
aspect
Icon
Purpose
color value
opacity
zoom
pan
Miscellanous Sketching Tools Icon Purpose

reset brush
Icon
Purpose
last brush
open/close color editor
twist canvas
predictive stroke - off
predictive stroke - line
predictive stroke - curvature
To sketch using the hot spots interface 1 Create a canvas 2 Choose a brush tool. 3 Press and hold the space bar to bring up the hot spots interface. (This key can be re-assigned to a Cintiq key).
4 Choose a brush mode by clicking one of the icons along the top bar of the hot spots interface. (The default is paint). 5 Press the stylus on a tool within the circular area of the hot spots interface to adjust the corresponding brush parameter. 6 Slide the stylus left and right (or up and down) to customize a brush parameter or pan/zoom the canvas. NOTE The Brush Min/Max Radius icon adjusts the Minimum Radius with an up or down motion, and the Maximum Radius with a left or right motion. You have to release the stylus and press down again to change from one to the other (just like the R hotkey). While you adjust a brush parameter, you receive visual feedback showing the result of your action. The current numerical value of the parameter is displayed both in the window and on the prompt line.
7 While still holding the space bar (or Cintiq key), draw a few strokes on the screen to test the new brush settings. 8 When satisfied, release the space bar (or Cintiq key) to remove the testing strokes and turn off the hot spots interface. NOTE The hot spots interface will only work if the cursor is over a canvas and a Brush tool is selected. 9 Use the tools along the bottom bar of the hot spots interface to perform various other functions such as changing the brush color, turning on predictive stroke mode, and so on.
Get started sketching
Start creating a conceptual design sketch or annotating a model or cloud data.
Create a conceptual design sketch

Get started creating a conceptual design sketch.
To create a conceptual design sketch

1 Choose Layouts > Right to create a Side view, or choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to create four views. 2 Choose a Pencil, Marker, Airbrush, or Solid Brush from the Paint palette. See Paint and erase on page 99. 3 In the Paint Panel customize the brushs color, opacity, size, shape, and stroke properties. See Customize brushes and paint on page 102. 4 Use your stylus to sketch in a view. See Paint and erase on page 99.
To create a new canvas layer to sketch on, choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor and click the new layer button. See Create an image layer on page 80. To select a canvas layer to sketch on, in the view window title bar click the active image layer button and select a canvas layer from the menu.
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To adjust your view of the sketch, press Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac) and drag in the view with either the middle mouse button (track) or the right mouse button (dolly). See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63.
5 Choose File > Export > Make Canvas Picture to save the sketch as an image file. See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63. 6 Choose File > Print to print the sketch. See Print a canvas plane on page 76.
Annotate a model or cloud data

Get started annotating a model or cloud data.
To annotate a model or cloud data

1 Open the wire file that contains the model or cloud data that you want to annotate. 2 Click the view you want to annotate. 3 To adjust your view of the model or cloud data, press Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac) and drag in the view with either the middle mouse button (track) or the right mouse button (dolly). In the Perspective window, you can also use the left mouse button to tumble. See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63. 4 To display the model in shaded mode, select a diagnostic shading mode from ObjectDisplay > Diagnostic Shading . 5 In an Orthographic view, do one of the following:
Choose Canvas > New Canvas to create a new canvas plane on the view. Start sketching in the view to bring up a dialog box allowing you to create a new canvas in that view. See Create a canvas plane on page 58 for more information.
In a Perspective view, do one of the following:
Choose Canvas > New Overlay Canvas .
40 | Chapter 2 Get started sketching
Start sketching in the view, and when the dialog box appears, set Type to Overlay and adjust the size and resolution parameters. NOTE Annotations on overlay planes appear only for a specific view orientation. Tumbling, tracking or dollying the view will remove the annotations. Click on the name of the overlay plane in the Construction Plane Editor, or click the Look-at icon at the top of the Canvas Layer Editor to see the annotations again, or create a bookmark. See Bookmark an annotated model on page 43. See Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor . See Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor .
6 Choose a Pencil or other brush tool from the Paint palette. See Paint and erase on page 99. 7 Use your stylus or mouse to sketch in the view.
To create a new canvas layer to sketch on, choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor and click the new layer button. See Create an image layer on page 80. To select a canvas layer to sketch on, in the view window title bar, choose the layer name from the pull-down list. To adjust your view of the sketch in an Orthographic view, press Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac) and drag in the view with either the middle mouse button (track) or the right mouse button (dolly). See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63. NOTE Do not forget that tumbling, tracking or dollying in a perspective view will remove all sketch annotations. Select the overlay plane in the Construction Plane Editor (Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor ) to return to the annotated view, or create a bookmark. See Bookmark an annotated model on page 43.
8 When you are finished annotating, close any open windows or option boxes that are covering the view. Adjust your view so it appears as you want it to be saved. 9 Choose File > Export > Current Window to save the model and annotations as an image file.
Annotate a model or cloud data | 41
See Export a canvas plane on page 75. 10 Choose File > Print to print the model and annotations. See Print a canvas plane on page 76.
To annotate an image of a model or cloud data

1 Open the wire file that contains the model or cloud data that you want to annotate. 2 Click the view you want to annotate. 3 To adjust your view of the model or cloud data, press Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac) and drag in the view with either the middle mouse button (track) or the right mouse button. See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63. 4 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Grid to hide the grid. 5 To display the model in shaded mode, select a diagnostic shading mode from ObjectDisplay > Diagnostic Shading . 6 Choose File > Export > Current Window to save the current view of the model as an image file. See Export a canvas plane on page 75. 7 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Clouds to hide the model (and, if diagnostic shading is on, turn it off), or choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Clouds to hide the cloud data. 8 Choose File > Import > Canvas Image and import the image file as a canvas image plane. See Import an image as a new canvas on page 60. 9 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor and click the new layer button to create a new layer to sketch on. See Create an image layer on page 80. 10 Choose a Pencil or other brush tool from the Paint palette. See Paint and erase on page 99. 11 Use your stylus or mouse to sketch in the view. 12 Choose File > Export > Make Canvas Picture to save the sketch as an image file.
13 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Model to display the model again. 14 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Clouds to display the cloud data again. 15 Choose File > Print to print the sketch. See Print a canvas plane on page 76.
Bookmark an annotated model

Create a bookmark of a model containing the view orientation, shading and annotations. Bookmarks allow you to store and review annotations within a 3D model. In order to review the annotations within the context in which they were created, all information pertaining to the view and the model's shading are saved within each bookmark. Choose Windows > Bookmark Lister to open the Bookmark Lister, which contains tools to create, edit, delete, view and publish bookmarks. You can add shelves to the Bookmark Lister and manage them using the standard shelf interaction conventions. If you do not create any shelves, your bookmarks are placed on the default shelf called BookMarks.
To create a new bookmark

Do one of the following:
Add annotations to your Perspective view. See Annotate a model or cloud data on page 40. Click the New button in the Bookmark Lister.
Bookmark an annotated model | 43
This saves the current orientation, shading, and annotations of the model. When a bookmark is created, a small thumbnail icon of the bookmarked view is added to the Bookmark Lister. By default, bookmarked views are named BM, BM#2, BM#3... (put the mouse cursor over the icon to see this). NOTE If a bookmark is already selected (indicated by a green outline in the Bookmark Lister), new annotations will be added to that bookmark. See also Use the view panel. NOTE Changing the view in Perspective mode by tumbling, tracking or dollying will remove all annotations.
To select one or more bookmarks

1 Click on a bookmark in the Bookmark Lister with the left mouse button. 2 To add more bookmarks to the selection, hold down the Ctrl key and select the additional bookmarks. A highlighted white border surrounds each selected bookmark. If the current bookmark is selected, it is surrounded by a lighter green border (a mixture of green and white pixels).
NOTE The current bookmark is selected by default but can be deselected by clicking it while holding the Ctrl key.
To update a bookmark
1 Select the bookmark by clicking on it in the Bookmark Lister. 2 Add or modify annotations in the view.
To rename a bookmark
1 Hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac) key and double-click on the bookmark icon. 2 In the dialog box, type in a new label and click OK.
To delete one or more bookmarks


Select the bookmark(s) then click on the Delete button. Select the bookmark(s), then use the middle mouse button to drag and drop them on the Delete button (trash can). See also To select one or more bookmarks on page 44.
To change the order of bookmarks

1 Select one or more bookmarks. (See To select one or more bookmarks on page 44.) 2 Click the selection with the middle mouse button and drag to the new position. A red arrow indicates where the bookmark(s) will be moved. Multiple selections are positioned sequentially at the position indicated by the red arrow.
To create and name a shelf

1 Click the right mouse button in an empty part of the Bookmark Lister, and choose New shelf from the drop down menu. A confirm box opens. 2 Enter a Shelf Name in the confirm box. A new shelf with the given name appears in the Bookmark Lister. NOTE If two shelves are given the same name, a sequential number is appended to create unique names (for example, Shelf, Shelf#2, Shelf#3 and so on).
To rename a shelf
Hold the Ctrl key and double click the shelf title tab to rename the shelf.
To move a shelf
Hold the middle mouse button on the shelf tab and drag it to relocate the shelf within the list of shelves.
To delete a shelf
Hold the middle mouse button on the shelf tab and drag the shelf to the trash can icon to delete it.
To view bookmarks

Click on one of the bookmark icons to view a given bookmark. Click the Previous or Next button to view the bookmarks in sequence, starting at the current bookmark (indicated by a green outline in the Bookmark Lister). You can also use the Page Up and Page Down keys as a quick way to show the previous or next bookmark without the need to open the Bookmark Lister. Click the Cycle button to see the bookmarks in a slide show fashion. The slide show starts at the currently selected bookmark (green outline) and displays the following bookmarks in order, all the way to the end of the shelf. It then loops around to the first bookmark.

To stop the slide show, click anywhere in the window. In the option box, an option called Bookmark cycle time specifies how long each bookmark is displayed. Check the Repeat cycles option to make the slide show repeat indefinitely.
To have the bookmarks display only the camera settings (view) without the display attributes (shading, and so on), click the Toggle Only Camera Mode button.
To change the view transition time

When switching from one bookmark (or view) to the next, the camera is animated to take you smoothly from one view to another without getting disoriented. The time (in seconds) taken to transition from one view to the next is controlled by the View transition time option in Preferences > General Preferences (Viewing section).
The default is 0.5 seconds. When this value is set to 0.0, the smooth animation is turned off.
To save bookmarks
Save your file in the normal way, using File > Save or File > Save As . The bookmarks are saved in the wire file and can be retrieved back into Alias.
To save one or more bookmarks as image files

1 To save only some bookmarks on the current shelf, select them in the Bookmark Lister. (See To select one or more bookmarks on page 44.) A border appears around the selected bookmark(s) (green for the current one, white for the others). 2 Double-click the Publish Bookmark button to open the option box . 3 In the option box, set Bookmark Publish to Selected, Current Shelf or All, and select an Image File Type (default is jpeg). 4 Click Go. A file browser window opens. 5 Choose a folder and type in an object name for your image or group of images.
6 Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). The saved images are called <object name>_<bookmark name>.<file type>. NOTE If bookmark names are not unique, _<#> is added to the image names to make them unique, for example: issue_BM_1.jpg, issue_BM_2.jpg, and so on.
Bookmark workflows
Describes typical workflows using bookmarks. Bookmarks in Alias are typically used for one of the following two purposes:

Exploring design ideas. Reviewing a completed design.
In the first workflow, the user is likely a designer exploring different concepts for a design. He/she wants to be able to sketch on top of a model then save the different sketches (including orientation and shading) as a series of
bookmarks that can be quickly viewed later. For example, a car designer may be experimenting with different looks for some components on the front panel of a car (see workflow A below). In the second workflow, a designer or manager wants to review a completed design and indicate areas that require modification, or simply add some comments. Both workflows are described in detail below.
A. Using sketch tools and bookmarks to explore design ideas.

1 Choose File > Open to open your model in Alias. 2 Adjust the Perspective view to your liking by tumbling, dollying or tracking. 3 Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade to shade the model or choose one of the shading modes in the Diagnostic Shading Panel.
4 Choose Windows > Bookmark Lister to open the Bookmark Lister. 5 Choose Canvas > New Overlay Canvas to create a new overlay canvas in the Perspective window. 6 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor.
Bookmark workflows | 49
7 Choose a Pencil, Marker, Airbrush or other tool from the Paint menu. With the mouse or stylus, sketch on top of the model in the Perspective view. Draw some feature lines and other characteristics that will help develop the model further.
Lets say you now want to explore two different alternatives for the front detailing, but want to show both with the general features you sketched in the previous step. 8 In the Canvas Layer Editor, rename the existing layer General Features. 9 Choose Layer > New Image layer in the Canvas Layer Editor to create a new layer. Rename it Front_A.
10 Sketch the first version of the front detailing in the Perspective view.
11 In the Canvas Layer Editor, make the Front_A layer invisible by clicking its open eye icon so that it becomes a closed eye icon.
12 Choose Layer > New Image layer in the Canvas Layer Editor to create a new layer. Rename it Front_B. 13 Sketch the second version of the front detailing in the Perspective view.
14 Click the New button in the Bookmark Lister. A new bookmark is created, containing the general features and second version of the front detailing.
15 In the Canvas Layer Editor, make the Front_A layer visible by clicking its closed eye its open eye icon. icon, and make the Front_B layer invisible by clicking
16 Click the New button in the Bookmark Lister.
A new bookmark is created, containing the general features and first version of the front detailing.
By now you should have two bookmarks showing the same view of your car model with different sets of front detailing.
B. Using sketch tools and bookmarks to review a completed design.

1 Choose File > Open to open your model in Alias. 2 Adjust the Perspective view to your liking by tumbling, dollying or tracking. 3 Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade to shade the model or choose one of the shading modes in the Diagnostic Shading Panel.
4 Choose Windows > Bookmark Lister to open the Bookmark Lister. 5 Choose Canvas > New Overlay Canvas to create an overlay in the view. 6 Choose a Pencil, Marker, Airbrush or other tool from the Paint menu. With the mouse or stylus, sketch on top of the model in the Perspective view. Write some comments, mark areas that require modifications, etc 7 Click the New button in the Bookmark Lister. A new bookmark is created that captures the camera position, shading information and annotations.
8 Change your view of the model by tumbling, etc All sketching is removed. 9 Choose Canvas > New Overlay Canvas to create an overlay canvas in the new view. 10 Add comments, and so on, to the new view with some Paint tools. 11 Click the New button in the Bookmark Lister to create another bookmark.
12 Repeat steps 8 to 11 until your model is fully annotated with design feedback. 13 Review the different annotated views by cycling through the bookmarks using the Prev and Next buttons in the Bookmark Lister.
Use canvas planes
Use planes as canvases for sketching on.
Introduction to canvas and image planes

Introduces canvas planes, overlay planes, and animation image planes. There are two types of image planes in Alias: animation image planes and canvas planes. Both types of image planes allow you to load an image file into a view. This image appears in the view and in images rendered from the views camera (either in front of or behind 3D objects). However, there are important differences between animation image planes and canvas planes. NOTE You can easily convert an animation image plane to a canvas plane, or vice versa. See Convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane or vice versa on page 74. A canvas plane allows you to sketch directly in a view. Each canvas plane contains one or more canvas layers. You cannot animate canvas planes in any way. You usually use a canvas plane for creating conceptual design sketches to use as a reference for modeling or for annotating a model or cloud data. See Introduction to image layers on page 79.
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An animation image plane allows you to load a series of image files (that is, an animation) into a view. You can also animate an animation image plane in other ways (for example, keyframing its Image Plane Properties). In addition, you can load several animation image planes into a single view. You usually use an animation image plane as a static or animated background for rendering or as a reference for modeling or animating. See also Windows > Editors > Cameras.
Create a canvas plane

Click the view you want to create a canvas plane on and choose Canvas > New Canvas . You create a canvas plane for a specific view (for example, the Top view). Each view (Top, Left and Back) can contain several canvas planes. If you select a brush and click in a view that does not contain a canvas plane, Alias automatically opens the New Canvas option box, prompting you to create a default canvas plane. A single standard canvas plane can be created in the Perspective window this way.
58 | Chapter 3 Use canvas planes
The default Paper Size is set to User defined and lets you choose a width and height for the canvas (in pixels). If you choose Fit to screen instead, the resolution will be set automatically so that the canvas plane is sized to fit the view window. You can also choose a standard paper size (such as A4, B2, C0, etc) or Custom if you want to specify the true dimensions of your canvas (in world size units). For a description of all the options: See Canvas > New Canvas . In a Perspective window, you can also choose the Type of Canvas: Standard, or Overlay. Overlay canvases are canvases that are only visible from a particular viewpoint. They are used in the perspective window to create perspective texture projections, 2D roughs, or for annotation (and bookmarks) purposes. See Canvas > New Overlay Canvas . NOTE Defaut canvases and overlay canvases created by using Canvas > New Overlay Canvas are the only two ways to create a canvas (and Paint window) in a perspective view. You can also create a new canvas plane by importing an image file. See Import an image as a new canvas on page 60. Overlay canvases are always transparent (so you cant see the canvas plane until you begin sketching on it). The default background color for a standard canvas plane is white in Paint mode, and transparent in Default mode. (This
Create a canvas plane | 59
is the mode you chose when you launched Alias). This color can be changed through the Background layer color in the option box. To change the background color of an existing canvas plane: See Set the background color on page 67. You can see the edges of a standard canvas plane if you adjust the view. See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63.
To create a new canvas plane

1 Choose Canvas > New Canvas . The option box opens. 2 Set the Orientation (view window), Background layer color, Paper size and resolution for your canvas, then click OK. A blank canvas plane containing one canvas layer and a background layer is created in the view you specified. The new canvas appears in a special Paint window, on top of the regular view window, ready for sketching.
To start a new painting session

If you chose the Paint workflow setting upon launching Alias, choosing File > New opens an option window allowing you to select the parameters (color, orientation, width, height, etc) for a new canvas. All other canvases are removed. The new canvas appears in a special Paint window, on top of the regular view windows, ready for sketching, just as when using Canvas > New Canvas . See also Set up Alias for sketching on page 27.
Import an image as a new canvas

Use an image as a new image plane by importing, cutting and pasting, or dragging and dropping from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall. You may want to import an image file to use as a reference or basis for a sketch. You can either import an image as a new image plane or import an image into an existing canvas plane as a canvas layer. See Import an image as an image layer on page 82.
You can also copy an image from another application and paste it into Alias as a new image plane, or drag an image from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall and drop it into Alias to import it as a canvas plane. If you import an image file that contains transparency or opacity information (that is, an alpha channel), the transparency information is also imported.
To import an image file as a new canvas plane

1 Click the view you want to load an image file into. 2 Choose File > Import > Canvas Image to open the option box. 3 Set Layer Type to Image. 4 Turn on Always create New Canvas. 5 Click Go. The File Browser opens 6 Use the File Browser to select the image file you want to load and click Select. The image is loaded in the active view as a new canvas plane. See Convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane or vice versa on page 74.
To copy and paste an image as a new canvas plane

1 In another application, load or select the image you want to use and copy it to the Windows clipboard (for example, choose Edit > Copy). 2 In Alias, click the view you want to paste the image file into. 3 Choose Edit > Paste Image . The image is pasted in the active view as a new layer. If no canvas plane was picked, a new canvas will be created to contain the image. If a canvas plane was picked pick canvas, the image will be on a new image layer on that canvas. See Convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane or vice versa on page 74.
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To import images from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall as a new canvas plane

Drag the images from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall and drop them into Alias. The images are imported as new canvas layers in the active view. NOTE If there is no canvas plane in the active view, a new canvas plane is automatically created. NOTE If there is no active view window, the images are not imported.
To import an Alias Paint canvas as a canvas plane

1 In Utilities > Plug-in Manager , turn on canvasFileImport. 2 Choose File > Import > Alias Paint Canvas . Please note that only image layers and mask layers will be imported from an Alias Paint file no brushes, shapes, colors, or shelves will be imported. As well, please note that Alias now supports global masking. Alias Paint mask layers will be imported as separate mask layers in the bottom part of Aliass Canvas Layer Editor.
Name a canvas plane

Each canvas plane has a name. When you create a canvas plane, Alias automatically names it either:
Canvas_<window>, Canvas_<window>#2, Canvas_<window>#3, etc, where <window> is the name of the window on which the canvas plane was created (for example Top) when importing an image into a view. Canvas_1, Canvas_2, Canvas_3, etc, when using Canvas > New Canvas or File > New.
You may, however, want to give a meaningful name to each canvas plane.
To name a canvas plane

1 Double-click on the canvas plane name. 2 Type in the new name and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac).
Select a canvas
Make a canvas active so that you can paint on it, view and modify its layers, delete it, and so on
To make a canvas active

Choose Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor and click on the canvas name. In a [Paint] window, select the canvas from the pull-down list in the title bar. Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to see the modeling windows, select a brush, and start sketching on a different canvas.
When a canvas plane is first created, it is active by default.
Change your view of a canvas plane

Track or dolly your view, set the zoom level percentage, view a canvas from behind, rotate your canvas, or reset your view to its original setting. To sketch on different regions of a canvas plane, you may want to move or track the view (left, right, up, or down) or zoom or dolly the view (forward or back). Brushes are most responsive when you are viewing the canvas plane at its actual size (1:1 or 100%). Brush strokes may appear slow when you are zoomed out of a canvas plane; however, this is because the stroke is actually very large relative to the canvas plane.
Select a canvas | 63
You can only track and dolly the view of a canvas plane that is in an orthographic view. You cannot track or dolly the view of a canvas plane that is in a perspective view. You can access the middle mouse button and right mouse button using the side button on your stylus. See Set up my tablet and stylus on page 7. The operations below all apply to the active canvas plane. See Select a canvas on page 63. Several of these operations can be accomplished from buttons in the Paint window title bar. See The Paint window on page 29.
To track the view of a canvas plane

Hold down Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac) and drag in the view with the middle mouse button. Click the track button in the Paint window title bar and drag. In the bottom of the Paint Panel click the Hand tool and then drag in the view.
To dolly the view of a canvas plane

Hold down Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac) and drag (left to zoom in, right to zoom out) in the view with the right mouse button. Click the zoom button in the Paint window title bar and drag (right to dolly in, left to dolly out). In the bottom of the Paint Panel click the zoom tool and then drag in the view. To dolly in, drag to the right. To dolly out, drag to the left.
To set the zoom level percentage

Click the zoom level button in the Paint window title bar, and select a zoom level from the menu.
NOTE In an orthographic window, selecting a zoom level dollies the camera for that view. In a perspective window, selecting a zoom level scales the size of the canvas plane. See also Scale a canvas plane on page 68
To rotate the canvas

Click the rotate button in the Paint window title bar and drag (to the right to rotate clockwise, to the left to rotate counter-clockwise).
To view a canvas plane at its actual size (1:1 or 100%)

Click the zoom level button in the Paint window title bar, and select 100% from the menu.
To view a canvas from behind

1 Click the flip button in the Paint window title bar The canvas view is reversed, and you are looking at it from behind. 2 Click the flip button again to revert to the front-facing view.
To reset the view of a canvas plane to its default view

Click the look at button in the Paint window title bar.
Hide or show a canvas plane

Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes . Sometimes you may want to temporarily turn off the visibility of canvas planes in your view windows. NOTE This does not affect the visibility of a canvas plane in a Paint window.
To hide or show all canvas planes in all windows

1 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes to open the Toggle Canvas Plane option box. 2 Set Toggle Type to All Windows, then click Go.
Hide or show a canvas plane | 65
The canvas planes and their layers disappear. Only an outline and name remain for each canvas plane. 3 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes again to show the canvases.
To hide or show canvas planes in a single window

1 Click the view that contains the canvas plane you want to hide or show. 2 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes to open the Toggle Canvas Plane option box. 3 Set Toggle Type to Current Window, then click Go. The canvas planes and their layers disappear. Only an outline and name remain for each canvas plane. 4 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes again to show the canvases.
To hide or show a specific canvas plane

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor . 2 In the editor, click the open eye icon next to the canvas you want to hide. The canvas is hidden, including its name and outline.
3 In the editor, click the closed eye it again.
icon next to the canvas to show
NOTE In the Canvas Layer Editor window, you can hide a canvas plane by selecting it from the lister, then clicking the visibility button to the extreme right of it. However, this will not work in a Paint window.
See also Hide or show an image layer on page 92.
Set the background color

To set the background color for a new canvas plane
1 In the Canvas > New Canvas option window, set Background style to Current Brush Color, Black, White or Transparent. 2 Click OK.
To change the background color of an existing canvas plane

1 Select a canvas (make it active). See Select a canvas on page 63. 2 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to see the layers on the canvas. 3 Click on the Background layer to make it active.
4 Choose Paint > Flood Fill
from the palette.
5 Choose a background color from the Flood Fill Options in the Paint Control Panel. 6 Click on the canvas in the view to apply the paint. NOTE Remember to select a different layer in the Canvas Layer Editor before you start sketching.
To learn how to change the color of the paint, see Set brush paint color on page 105.
Synchronize canvas plane views

If each view contains its own canvas plane (for example, representing different views of a model), and you adjust your view of each image plane differently, the size and position of the image plane sketches will not correspond to each other.
Set the background color | 67
You may want to synchronize all of your orthographic canvas planes so that whenever you change the view of one image plane (by dollying, tracking, zooming), the views of all other image planes automatically adjust.
To synchronize or unsynchronize all canvas planes

Choose WindowDisplay > Window Sync .
Scale a canvas plane

Scaling resizes the canvas (including the content of its image layers) by changing its width, height, or resolution (pixels per in/cm). The new width and height can either be specified in pixels or in real world units (in/cm). Scaling is always done with respect to the center point. If you only want to change your view of a canvas plane, do not move, resize or scale it. See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63. You can also move or scale an individual image layer. See Move, scale, or rotate an image layer on page 87.
To scale a canvas plane

1 In the Construction Plane Editor (Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor ) or from the lister on the windows title bar, click on the canvas you want to scale. 2 Choose Canvas > Resize Canvas to open the control window. 3 Set Resize Mode to Scale. 4 If you do not want to maintain the aspect ratio (width to height ratio), turn off Lock Aspect Ratio. 5 Change any of the following values:

Width and/or Height in pixels Width and/or Height in real-size units (in or cm) Pixels per in/cm (resolution)
A black outline shows where the edges of the resized canvas will be.
6 Press the Accept button. A confirm box appears warning that resizing cannot be undone. 7 Click OK in the confirm box. The canvas is scaled with respect to its center point. The content of the image layers is also scaled to fit the new canvas size.
Scale a canvas plane | 69
Crop, expand, or move a canvas plane

Resize a canvas plane by cropping or expanding it. Or move it with respect to the view. You can crop or expand a canvas plane to change its size relative to its view. You can also move a canvas plane to change its position relative to its view. You can crop or expand the top, bottom, or side of a canvas plane to remove part of a sketch or to change the size and shape of the canvas plane. You can crop or expand a canvas plane using either the Marquee and Crop to marquee tools, or the Resize plane tool. The Resize plane tool also lets you move the canvas around while the image layers stay in place. Cropping and expanding resize the canvas by cutting or adding material around its edges. The resolution (pixels per in/cm) does not change. The content of the image layers does not change size but gets cropped along with the canvas. When you crop a canvas plane, the cropped regions still exist. If you later expand the canvas plane, the cropped parts of the sketch will return.
To crop or expand a canvas plane (using the Marquee and Crop to marquee tools)
1 Use the Paint > Select > Marquee (rectangle) tool to select a rectangular region. See Create a mask by selecting a region on page 147. This region will be the new size of the canvas plane:
To crop the canvas plane, select a rectangular region within it. Areas outside the region will be shaded pink. To expand the canvas plane, select a rectangular region that extends beyond the edges of the canvas plane. There will be no visual indication of the regions boundary.
2 Choose Canvas > Crop to Marquee . The canvas plane is either cropped (if the border of the rectangular region is within the existing canvas plane) or expanded (if the rectangular region extends beyond the edges of the existing canvas plane).
To crop, expand, or move a canvas plane (using the Resize canvas tool manipulators)
1 In the Construction Plane Editor (Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor ) or from the lister on the windows title bar, click on the canvas you want to crop or expand. 2 Choose Canvas > Resize Canvas . A manipulator appears on the canvas plane.
3 Drag one of the circular manipulator handles to crop or expand the canvas plane. Drag the center cross manipulator to move it. 4 Click the Accept button in the lower right corner of the window when youre satisfied with the new size and position of the canvas plane. A confirm box appears warning that resizing cannot be undone. 5 Click OK in the confirm box. The canvas is cropped, expanded, or moved along the new edges shown by the manipulator. The resolution (pixels per in/cm) does not change. The content of the image layers does not change size but gets cropped along with the canvas.
Crop, expand, or move a canvas plane | 71
What if...
The additional space on my expanded canvas doesnt match the color of the background? Additional canvas space will always be transparent. To make it match the color of the existing canvas: 1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor click on the Background layer.
4 Set the brush color to your background color (using the color editor icons to the left of the prompt line). 5 Click in the additional canvas space to flood fill it with the background color.
To crop or expand a canvas plane (using the Resize canvas tool control window)
The control window allows you to enter precise numeric values for the new width and height of the canvas as well as specify an anchor point. 1 In the Construction Plane Editor (Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor ) or from the lister on the windows title bar, click on the canvas you want to crop/expand. 2 Choose Canvas > Resize Canvas to open the control window. 3 Set Resize Mode to Crop/Expand. 4 Decide which corner/edge you want to remain fixed, and set the Horizontal and Vertical Anchor accordingly (see picture below). 5 If you do not want to maintain the aspect ratio (width to height ratio), turn off Lock Aspect Ratio. 6 Change any of the following values:

Width and/or Height in pixels Width and/or Height in real-size units (in or cm)
A black outline shows where the edges of the resized canvas will be.
7 Press the Accept button. A confirm box appears warning that resizing cannot be undone. 8 Click OK in the confirm box. The canvas is cropped or expanded according to the values you chose in the control window. The resolution (pixels per in/cm) does not change. The content of the image layers does not change size but gets cropped along with the canvas.
Crop, expand, or move a canvas plane | 73
What if...
The additional space on my expanded canvas doesnt match the color of the background? Additional canvas space will always be transparent. To make it match the color of the existing canvas: 1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor click on the Background layer.
4 Set the brush color to your background color (using the color editor icons to the left of the prompt line). 5 Click in the additional canvas space to flood fill it with the background color.
Convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane or vice versa

Although canvas image planes and animation image planes are slightly different, they are both image planes, and you can easily convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane. When you convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane, the animation image planes image file becomes an image layer in the canvas image plane. You can then sketch on it. See Introduction to canvas and image planes on page 57. You can also convert a canvas image plane to an animation image plane. When you convert a canvas image plane to an animation image plane, Alias first merges the background layer and all image layers (and shape layers) in the canvas image plane into a single image layer (see Merge image layers on page 94), and then saves the image as a separate file (see Name a canvas plane on page 62).
To convert an animation image plane to a canvas image plane

Open the image plane file by choosing File > Import > Canvas Image .
To convert a canvas image plane to an animation image plane

Open the image plane file by choosing File > Import > Image Plane .
What if...
I cant see my image plane? If a construction plane is set (axes will be labelled cp x, cp y and cp z in the view windows if this is the case), you need to turn off the construction plane setting by using Construction > Toggle Construction Plane.
Export a canvas plane

Click the view and choose File > Export > Make Canvas Picture . After you have created a sketch, you may want to export it as an image file. You can either export an entire canvas plane as an image or export a single layer as an image. Sliders allow you to resize your image file for easy viewing in PortfolioWall. You can also export a canvas plane together with 3D objects. See Export an image layer on page 95.
To export a canvas plane

1 Click the view that contains the canvas plane you want to export as an image. 2 Choose File > Export > Make Canvas Picture to open the File Browser. NOTE To choose the image file format, choose File > Export > Make Canvas Picture to open the Make Picture Options box, choose the image file format (JPEG, ALS, TIFF, 24 bit BMP, or 32 bit BMP), and click Go. 3 Use the File Browser to enter a name for the image file and click Save. The image is saved. The default format is TIFF. NOTE You can export a canvas plane in 32 bit BMP format, so that the image file contains four channels (RGBA), or in 24 bit BMP format, so that the image file contains three channels (RGB). Many graphics applications cannot read 32 bit BMP files. In these cases, export the canvas plane in 24 bit BMP format or use the imgcvt utility to convert the 32 bit BMP file to a 24 bit BMP file.
Export a canvas plane | 75
To export a canvas plane for use in PortfolioWall

1 Click the view that contains the canvas plane you want to export as an image. 2 Choose File > Export > Make Canvas Picture to open the Make Picture Options box.

Select JPEG as the file format Click on the Limit Image Size checkbox to turn it ON. Adjust the Horizontal and Vertical Size of the picture (in pixels) with the sliders. NOTE The sliders represent the maximum dimensions of the image. If the image exceeds either the horizontal of vertical maximum, it is scaled down, while preserving the aspect ratio, to fit within the specified dimensions.
3 Click GO in the option box. The File Browser appears. 4 Use the File Browser to enter a name for the image file and click Save. The image is saved and ready to be viewed in PortfolioWall.
To export a canvas plane together with 3D objects

1 Click the view that contains the canvas plane and 3D objects you want to export as an image. 2 Close any open windows or option boxes that are covering the view. 3 Choose File > Export > Current Window to open the File Browser. 4 Use the File Browser to enter a name for the image file and click Save. The image is saved in the format selected in the Export Current Window Options dialog.
Print a canvas plane

Choose File > Print to open the Print Preview window. (See File > Print and File > Print Setup for more information.)
Delete a canvas plane

Permanently remove a canvas plane. If you no longer need a canvas plane (for example, if you have finished sketching and exported the sketch image), you may want to delete it. (If you save a wire file that contains a canvas plane, the sketch image will be saved within the wire file, and the wire file may become significantly larger.)
To delete individual canvas planes

1 Open the Construction Plane Editor (Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor ). 2 Select the canvas plane you want to delete by clicking the small pick icon pick canvas to the left of the canvas planes name. To select more than one canvas plane, hold down the Shift key. When a canvas is selected the pick icon turns red.
3 Choose Delete > Delete Active or press Delete. The selected canvas planes are deleted.
To delete all canvas planes

Choose Delete > Painting > Delete Canvases . NOTE The option window lets you choose if you want to delete All overlays, All canvases, All canvases and overlays, or only Unbookmarked overlays.
Delete a canvas plane | 77
78
Organize a sketch using image layers
Use image layers as transparent layers for sketching on.
Introduction to image layers

Each canvas plane can contain one or more image layers. An image layer is like a piece of transparent acetate that you can sketch on. By sketching different elements on different image layers you can easily make changes to individual elements or re-arrange image layers to change their order. You can also duplicate image layers, merge image layers together, temporarily hide image layers, or permanently delete image layers. Each canvas plane also contains a background layer. The background layer defines the background color for the canvas plane. You can only set the color of the background layer once when the canvas plane is created. A canvas plane can also contain mask layers and invisibility mask layers. All of these types of layers can contain either paint, or shapes. See also:

Set the background color on page 67 Introduction to masks on page 145 Introduction to shapes on page 135
79
View the arrangement of image layers

To view image layers for the active canvas plane
Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor window. The image layers for the active canvas plane are displayed.
To view image layers for another canvas plane


Select the canvas plane from the lister at the top of the Canvas Layer Editor. Select the canvas plane from the lister at the top of the Paint window. Choose Windows > Editors > Construction Plane Editor and click the canvas name.
That canvas automatically becomes the active canvas and its layers are displayed in the Canvas Layer Editor window. NOTE It is not possible to view all image layers for all canvas planes at once. I dont see any layers in the Canvas Layer Editor You may not have any canvas in your scene. See Create a canvas plane on page 58 for how to create new canvases.
To view the layer thumbnails

The layer thumbnails are turned off by default, to provide more space for the layer names. To see the thumbnails: 1 Choose Preferences > General Preferences . 2 In the Paint section, put a check mark in Show thumbnails in Canvas Layer Editor.
Create an image layer

Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor .
80 | Chapter 4 Organize a sketch using image layers
Before you can create an image layer, you must have at least one canvas plane present. See Create a canvas plane on page 58. By default, a canvas plane contains one image layer, in addition to the Background layer. You can, however, create several additional image layers for each canvas plane in the Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor . NOTE If your scene does not contain any canvas planes, and you start sketching in a window, Alias opens up the New Canvas option box, prompting you to create a new canvas plane (with a single layer) in the active view.
To create a new image layer

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor . 2 Select the image layer above which you want to create a new image layer. See Select an image layer on page 85. 3 In the Canvas Layer Editor, click the new layer button, or choose Layer > New image layer from the menu. A blank image layer is added to the canvas plane (above the active image layer) and becomes the active image layer.
Name an image layer

Double-click the layer name in the Canvas Layer Editor window, type a new name, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). By default, image layers are named Image-1, Image-2, Image-3, and so on. Whenever you create new image layers, you should give them meaningful names (for example, Background, Outline, Handle). The name of each image layer, for the active canvas, is listed in the Canvas Layer Editor window.
To name an image layer

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, double-click the image layers name.
Name an image layer | 81
3 Type a new name for the image layer and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac).
Import an image as an image layer

If you are using the Windows browser, you can import the image as a layer directly from the Canvas Layer Editor by choosing Layer > New image layer (import) in the editors menu. If you are using the Alias browser, choose File > Import > Canvas Image . TIP The type of browser can be changed by choosing Preferences > General
Preferences
and going to the System section.
You may want to import an image file to use as a reference or basis for a sketch. You can either import an image as a new canvas plane or import an image as an image layer into an existing canvas plane. You can also drag an image from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall and drop it into Alias to import it as an image layer. If you import an image file that contains transparency or opacity information (that is, an alpha channel), the transparency information is also imported.
To import an image file as a layer using the Windows browser

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Do one of the following:
If you want the layer to be created on a new canvas, click the view in which you want the new canvas to be created. If you want the layer to be created on an existing canvas, select the canvas by using the pick canvas icon next to the canvas name in the Construction Plane Editor or select it from the lister in the Canvas Layer Editor. The former takes priority.
3 In the Canvas Layer Editor, choose Layer > New Image Layer (import). The Image Import browser opens.
4 In the browser, choose an image to import. The image is shown in the Preview window.
5 In the browser, set Layer Type to Image. The content of the Preview updates. 6 If you want to import the image into a new canvas, turn on Always create New Canvas. Otherwise, make sure that it is turned off. 7 Click on the Select button. If Always create New Canvas was on, a new canvas plane is created and the image is loaded onto it as an image layer (filling the entire canvas plane). The size of the canvas plane is based on the size of the current view window.
Import an image as an image layer | 83
Otherwise, the image is imported as a new image layer and centered on the canvas plane. The new layer becomes the active layer.
To import an image file as a layer, using the Alias browser

1 Do one of the following:
If you want the layer to be created on a new canvas, click the view in which you want the new canvas to be created. If you want the layer to be created on an existing canvas, select the canvas by using the pick canvas icon next to the canvas name in the Construction Plane Editor or select it from the lister in the Canvas Layer Editor. The former takes priority.
2 Choose File > Import > Canvas Image to open the option box.
3 Set Layer Type to Image. 4 If you want to import the image into a new canvas, turn on Always create New Canvas. Otherwise, make sure that it is turned off. 5 Click Go. The File Browser opens 6 Use the File Browser to select the image file you want to load and click Import Image. If Always create New Canvas was on, a new canvas plane is created and the image is loaded onto it as an image layer (filling the entire canvas
plane). The size of the canvas plane is based on the size of the current view window. Otherwise, the image is imported as a new image layer and centered on the canvas plane. The new layer becomes the active layer.
To import images from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall as image layers

1 Click the Alias view you want to load image files onto. 2 Drag the images from Windows Explorer or PortfolioWall and drop them into Alias. The images are imported as new image layers on the canvas plane in the active view. NOTE If there is no canvas plane in the active view, a new canvas plane is automatically created. NOTE If there is no active view, the images are not imported.
See also:

Import an image as a new canvas on page 60 Create a mask from an image file on page 149
Select an image layer

Click the image layer name in the Canvas Layer Editor window. You can only sketch on one image layer at a time. This image layer is referred to as the active image layer. In order to sketch on an image layer you must select it (making it the active image layer). You may also need to select an image layer in order to:
duplicate it See Duplicate an image layer on page 86. associate or dis-associate a mask layer with it. See Dis-associate or associate a mask with an image layer on page 156.
Select an image layer | 85
merge it with another image layer, or See Merge image layers on page 94. delete it. See Delete an image layer on page 96.
The active image layer is indicated by the active image layer button in the active view window title bar, and is highlighted in purple in the Canvas Layer Editor window.
To select an image layer

In the view window title bar click the active image layer button and select an image layer from the menu. In the Canvas Layer Editor window click the image layer you want to select.
The image layer is highlighted in purple in the editor, indicating that it is the active image layer.
Duplicate an image layer

Select the image layer and choose File > Import > Canvas Image . In the editor, click the copy image layer button. When you duplicate an image layer, Alias creates a new image layer that contains an image identical to the original image layer.
To duplicate an image layer

1 Choose File > Import > Canvas Image . 2 Select the image layer you want to duplicate. (See Select an image layer on page 85.) 3 In the editor window, do one of the following:

Click the copy image layer button. Choose Layer > Duplicate from the menus.
The image layer is duplicated. The duplicated image layer is placed above the original image layer and becomes the active image layer. NOTE You can undo the duplication of a layer by choosing Edit > Undo . NOTE If the current image layer has an active layer mask, then only the area not protected will be duplicated.
Move, scale, or rotate an image layer

You can move, scale, or rotate an image layer relative to its canvas plane or relative to other image layers (if the canvas plane contains more than one image layer).
To move, scale, or rotate an image layer

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Select the image layer you want to move, scale, or rotate. (Select an image layer on page 85) To transform more than one layer at once, link the other layers to the selected one by turning on their transform layer icon in the Canvas Layer Editor. 3 Choose Paint Edit > Modify Layer > Transform Layer from the Palette, or Edit > Transform layer from the Canvas Layer Editor. A manipulator appears on the active image layer.
Move, scale, or rotate an image layer | 87
4 Click and drag a manipulator handle to transform the image layer. When you move the mouse over the manipulator, a context-sensitive cursor shows the current transform mode (move, scale, rotate). NOTE To move only horizontally or vertically, hold the Shift key and move the mouse in the desired direction. You can also use the arrow keys to move by small increments. To enter exact numerical values, use the text fields in the option box. 5 Press the Accept button in the lower right corner of the screen to apply the transformations to the layer(s). NOTE Choose Edit > Undo to undo the image layer transformations. NOTE You can Undo an unlimited number of times, all the way back to the original state.
See also Scale a canvas plane on page 68.
Flip an image layer horizontally or vertically

Choose Paint Edit > Modify Layer > Horizontal Flip or Paint Edit > Modify Layer > Vertical Flip .
To flip an image layer horizontally or vertically

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Select the image layer you want to flip. (Select an image layer on page 85) 3 Do one of the following:
Choose Paint Edit > Modify Layer > Horizontal Flip from the Palette, or choose Edit > Horizontal flip in the editors menus. Choose Paint Edit > Modify Layer > Vertical Flip from the Palette, or choose Edit > Vertical flip in the editors menus.
Arrange image layers

Use the left or middle mouse button to drag the image layer name in the Canvas Layer Editor window. When a canvas plane contains more than one image layer, you can arrange the image layers in any order. For example, you can move an image layer so that it appears behind or in front of another image layer. The order of the layers in the Canvas Layer Editor determines the stacking of the layers on the canvas. If a layer is above another layer in the editor, it will appear on top of that layer on the canvas. You can move any number of image layers, mask layers, and folders at once.
To move image layers up or down

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Click on a layer to make it active. The layer appears blue. 3 Use the Shift and Ctrl (Windows) or Shift and Control (Mac) keys to add other layers or folders to the selection. The new selected layers/folders appear in white. 4 Click the left or middle mouse button and drag the layers to the desired location.
Arrange image layers | 89
A small pink arrow points to the location. 5 Release the mouse button to insert the layers at the indicated location. When you drag image layers with the left or middle mouse button, a black box with the top layer name follows the cursor.
A red horizontal line shows where the image layer will be moved to (when you release the mouse button). For example, in the picture above, if you move Image-2 up and release the middle mouse button with the red horizontal line below Image-4, Image-2 will be moved just below Image-4.
To organize image layers into folders

To help categorize and group image layers, you can create folders in the Canvas Layer Editor. The folders are collapsible and expandable, to provide better viewing.
Create a new folder by clicking the New Folder icon new folder at the bottom of the editor. Create a new layer inside a folder, by clicking an existing layer inside the folder then choosing Layer > New image.
Drag and drop selected layers inside a folder. Expand and collapse the content of a folder by clicking the small arrow to the left of the folder name. Drag and drop a folder to change its position within the Canvas Layer Editor. NOTE Folders must always contain at least one layer. When a folder is first created, it will contain a default layer.
Copy and paste layers into another canvas

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Click on a layer to make it active. The layer appears blue. 3 Use the Shift and Ctrl (Windows) or Shift and Control (Mac) keys to add other layers or folders to the selection. The new selected layers/folders appear in white. 4 Choose Edit > Copy Layers from the Canvas Layer Editor. 5 Select another canvas from the Canvas Layer Editor, or create a new one with Canvas > New canvas. NOTE The canvas can be located on a different stage. 6 Choose Edit > Paste Layers from the Canvas Layer Editor. The selected layers are pasted into the active canvas, above its original active layer, and remain selected. The names and relative positioning of the pasted layers is preserved. NOTE If the canvas is on a different stage, the pasting operation must occur while in that stage.
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Hide or show an image layer

In the Canvas Layer Editor window click the eye icon for the image layer. To make it easier to sketch on individual image layers, you may want to hide some image layers while you are sketching. You can then show these hidden image layers when you are finished. Visible image layers are listed in the Canvas Layer Editor window with an open eye icon. Hidden image layers are listed with an empty box icon.
To hide an image layer

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the open eye icon of the image layer you want to hide. The icon becomes an empty box to indicate that the image layer is hidden.
To hide all image layers except the active image layer

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the show current layer icon. This hides all other layers, and enable you to work on the layer of your choice.
To show a hidden image layer

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the empty box icon of the image layer you want to show. The icon becomes an open eye to indicate that the image layer is visible.
To show all image layers

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the show all layers icon. All layers become visible again. See also Customize the mask display on page 155.
Change the opacity of an image layer

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, drag the opacity slider for the image layer.
To make it easier to sketch on individual image layers while referencing other image layers, you may want to reduce the opacity of some image layers while you are sketching. You can then increase their opacity when you are finished. (You may also want to reduce image layer opacity to ghost back an image.) NOTE You can also control the opacity of paint as you are sketching. See Set brush and paint opacity on page 108. The opacity of an image layer controls how see-through all paint on it is. (Opacity is the opposite of transparency.) An opacity of 1 means you cannot see anything underneath the paint. The lower the opacity, the more you can see through the image layers paint. An opacity of 0 means the image layers paint is perfectly clear and invisible.
Each image layers opacity is controlled by a opacity slider slider along the right side of the Canvas Layer Editor window. When the layer is active, its opacity value is displayed below its name at the top of the editor, and can be changed through this field as well.
To change the opacity of an image layer

In the Canvas Layer Editor window (Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer
Editor .), click on the image layers opacity slider opacity) or down (lower opacity).
and drag up (higher
Select the layer in the Canvas Layer Editor to make it active, then type a new opacity value in the layer opacity field at the top of the editor and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). TIP To interactively adjust the opacity value, click and drag down from the numeric cell to open a slider.
Invert the colors of an image layer

In Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor , choose Edit > Inver layer.
Invert the colors of an image layer | 93
This tool inverts the RGB colors in the image. For example, red (255,0,0) becomes cyan (0, 255, 255). This tool does not affect Shape layers. NOTE When applied to a mask layer, or invisibility mask layer, it swaps the masked and unmasked regions, just like Edit > Invert Mask or Edit > Invert > Invisibility Mask. See Invert a mask on page 154.
Merge image layers

In Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor , choose Layer > Merge below, Merge visible, or Merge all. After you have finished sketching on two or more image layers, you may want to merge them into a single image layer. After you merge two or more image layers together, you cannot split them into separate image layers. If you merge a shape layer with an image layer, you will end up with a single image layer. All shape properties will be discarded. The image will still look the same, but you will not be able to edit the shapes as shapes.
To merge an image layer with the image layer beneath it

1 In the Canvas Layer editor, select the image layer you want to merge. 2 In the Canvas Layer editor choose Layer > Merge below. The image layer is merged with the image layer beneath it.
To merge all visible image layers into a single image layer

1 In the Canvas Layer editor, select any image layer. 2 In the Canvas Layer editor, choose Layer > Merge Visible. All visible image layers in the canvas plane are merged into the lowest visible layer.
To merge all image layers into a single image layer

1 In the Canvas Layer editor, select any image layer.
2 In the Canvas Layer editor choose Layer > Merge All . All image layers in the canvas plane are merged into a single image layer. NOTE You can undo the merging of layers by choosing Edit > Undo .
See also:

Select an image layer on page 85 Hide or show an image layer on page 92
Export an image layer

Select the image layer and choose File > Export > Canvas Image/Mask Layer . After you have created a sketch, you may want to export it as an image file. NOTE You can export an image layer in 32 bit BMP format, so that the image file contains four channels (RGBA), or in 24 bit BMP format, so that the image file contains three channels (RGB). Many graphics applications cannot read 32 bit BMP files. In these cases, export the image layer in 24 bit BMP format or use the imgcvt utility to convert the 32 bit BMP file to a 24 bit BMP file. To export an entire canvas plane, you need to use File > Export > Make Canvas Picture . See Export a canvas plane on page 75.
To export an image layer

1 Select the image layer you want to export.See Select an image layer on page 85 2 To export part of an image layer, select the region you want to export. See Create a mask by selecting a region on page 147. 3 Choose File > Export > Canvas Image/Mask Layer to open the File Browser. TIP To choose the image file format choose File > Export > Canvas Image/Mask Layer , choose the image file format (JPEG, ALS, TIFF, 24 bit BMP, or 32 bit BMP), and click Go.
Export an image layer | 95
4 Use the File Browser to enter a name for the image file and click Save. The image is saved.
Clear an image layer

Select the image layer and click the erase image layer button. When you clear an image layer, all paint is removed from the unmasked regions of the image layer, but the image layer is not deleted. No paint is removed from pixels protected by either layer masks or marquee selections. You can then continue sketching on the image layer.
To clear an image layer

1 Select the image layer you want to clear. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor, do one of the following: 3 Click the erase image layer button. 4 Choose Edit > Clear Layer from the menus. All paint is cleared from the image layer. See also Introduction to masks on page 145.
Delete an image layer

Select the image layer and choose Delete > Painting > Delete Active Image Layer . You can delete an image layer to permanently remove it from a canvas plane. When you delete an image layer:
The image layer below the deleted image layer becomes the active image layer. If there is no image layer below the deleted image layer, the image layer above the deleted image layer becomes the active image layer.
If there is no other image layer in the canvas plane, a new blank image layer is automatically created and becomes the active image layer.
To delete an image layer

1 Select the image layer you want to delete. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Do one of the following:

Choose Delete > Painting > Delete Active Image Layer . In the Canvas Layer Editor window choose Edit > Delete Active Layer.
The active image layer is deleted. NOTE If you try to delete the last image layer on a canvas plane, a new blank image layer is created to take its place (since every canvas plane must have at least one layer). See Delete a canvas plane on page 77 for how to delete the whole canvas plane.
To delete several image layers at once

1 Turn on the layer moveable icon for all the layers you want to delete. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor window choose Edit > Delete All Layers in Transform Group. NOTE To delete all layers that have their visiblity icon open eye turned off, choose Edit > Delete all invisible layers.
Delete an image layer | 97
98
Apply and remove paint using brushes
Use brushes to apply paint, erase, hide, and show paint, clone regions; customize brush properties and brush display.
Introduction to brushes
The sketching and painting tools in Alias are collectively referred to as brushes. When you create a sketch, you use a brush to apply paint to an image layer on a canvas plane.
Paint and erase

Choose a brush tool using Paint > [Brush type ] > [Brush name] and drag in a view. See also Sketch on a Cintiq on page 32.
To select a brush and sketch with it

1 Choose a brush tool (Paint > [Brush type ] > [Brush name]). The Pencil, Marker, Airbrush, Pastel Soft, and Solid Brush tools let you drag the stylus to apply strokes of paint to a canvas plane.
Pencil
99
Marker
Airbrush
Pastel Soft
Solid Brush
The Eraser tools lets you drag the stylus to remove paint from a canvas plane in strokes.
Eraser
When a brush tool is active, the cursor becomes a crosshair with the letter P (paint), E (erase), H (hide), or S (show). When you hold the cursor over a canvas plane, the cursor also displays a preview image of how the brush will apply paint to the sketch.
100 | Chapter 5 Apply and remove paint using brushes
NOTE You can turn off the brush preview and radius indicator. See Customize brushes and paint on page 102. 2 Drag the stylus on the canvas plane to begin sketching. Tips when using brushes
To quickly switch between painting and erasing using the same brush, with a brush tool active press and release 1 to paint or 2 to erase. To erase paint, flip the stylus around and use the eraser function at the end of the stylus. To create a horizontal brush stroke in an orthographic window, drag the middle mouse button or the equivalent stylus button. To create a vertical brush stroke in an orthographic window, drag the right mouse button or the equivalent stylus button).
See Set up my tablet and stylus on page 7. TIP To snap a brush to a curve, click the curve button to the right of the prompt line (or hold down Ctrl + Alt (Windows) or Control + Command (Mac)). See Snap a brush to a curve on page 116. NOTE Brushes are most responsive when you are viewing the canvas plane at its actual size (1:1 or 100%). See Change your view of a canvas plane on page 63. Notes when using brushes
Brush strokes may appear slow when you are zoomed out of a canvas plane. This is because the stroke is actually very large relative to the canvas plane. Brushes may be more responsive if you do not have any other windows open (for example, the Canvas Layer Editor window or the Color Editor). Brushes may be more responsive if you do not have any other applications running. If you cannot paint, the active image layer may be hidden (the cursor becomes a shape cursor) or may contain hidden paint (you cannot
Paint and erase | 101
paint over hidden paint) or the active layer may be a shape layer (you cannot paint on a shape layer; the cursor becomes a shape cursor). The rest of the Alias windows are hidden while the brush is down. You can go to Preferences > General Preferences and change the setting for Hide Windows During Brush Stroke to change the amount of time (in seconds) that it will take before the windows reappear.
Customize brushes and paint

Choose an option box for any paint brush, such as airbrush, pencil, marker, solid brush, and so on, to set the Brush Options.
To customize a brush
Choose a brush, then choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint to display the Paint panel. Choose Paint > [Brush type] > [Brush name] and open the Brush Options window. NOTE If the Brush Properties section is not open, click Brush Properties to open it.
2 To customize the brush, do the following: To set the brushs...

Mode
See...
Set brush mode to paint, erase, hide, or show on page 104 Set brush paint color on page 105 Set brush and paint opacity on page 108 Set marker wetness on page 110 Set blur strength on page 111
Color Opacity Marker wetness Blur strength
To set the brushs...

Sharpness and sharpen strength
See...
Set sharpness and sharpen strength on page 111 Set brush size, shape, and profile on page 112 Set brush stroke properties on page 114
Size, shape, or profile
Stroke properties
NOTE To reset a brush to its default settings, click Reset at the top of the Brush Options window or hold down Shift and click the brush tool icon. 3 Drag the stylus on the canvas plane to begin sketching.
To save a brush to a shelf

Use the middle mouse button or the equivalent stylus button to drag the brush icon from the Brush Options window (or from the Paint palette) to the shelf.
To adjust a brush to work on high resolution canvas

If you use a high resolution canvas and want your brush to keep the same appearance as on a standard resolution canvas, you can scale several properties of your brush at once, by using the Size hotkey located in the Special:Paint section of the Hotkeys editor. By default the Size hotkey is mapped to the letter S. 1 Choose a brush. 2 Press S on the keyboard, and drag the mouse to scale the Min/Max Radius, and Max Opacity of the brush at once.
Customize brush display

Choose Preferences > General Preferences and set Show Brush stamp preview and Show Brush cursor outline.
Customize brush display | 103
To display or hide the brush preview

1 Choose Preferences > General Preferences to open the General Preferences Options box. 2 Click Paint on the left hand side to open the Paint section. 3 Do the following:
To display or hide the brush preview turn Show Brush stamp preview on or off.
To display or hide the brush radius set Show Brush cursor outline to one of the following:
On Off During Stroke always display brush outline display brush outline except when creating a stroke of paint do not display brush outline
Off
NOTE Brush outlines will only appear on systems with graphics cards that support hardware overlay planes. NOTE Brush outlines are not displayed for very small brushes. 4 Click Go.
Set brush mode to paint, erase, hide, or show

In the Paint panel or Brush Options window set Brush Mode.
See also Sketch on a Cintiq on page 32.
To set the brush mode

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window do any of the following:
to apply paint as a brush set Brush Mode to Paint or press and release F1 to erase paint set Brush Mode to Erase or press and release F2 to hide paint set Brush Mode to Hide or press and release F3 to show hidden paint set Brush Mode to Show or press and release F4. NOTE Markers always apply paint and do not have a Brush Mode. NOTE You can also set Brush Mode to smear paint (Smear), blur paint (Blur), sharpen paint (Sharpen), lighten paint (Dodge) or darken paint (Burn). See Blur paint on page 170, Sharpen paint on page 171, and Smear paint on page 172.
Set brush paint color

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window set Brush Color.
To set brush color using RGB/HSV sliders or color blending palette

1 With a brush tool active do one of the following:

click the color chip directly below the File menu, or click the Color color chip in the Paint Panel, or click the Brush Color color chip in the Brush Options window to open the Color Editor.
The color editor has three tabs.
Set brush paint color | 105
2 In the Color Editor, do any of the following to select a color:
Select a color model (HSL, HSV, CMY, or RGB) and adjust the sliders, or enter numerical values. Select a color model and click in the color wheel or triangle. Click in the Color Blender. Click in the Color Swatches. Click the Color Picker icon and click anywhere on your screen to grab that color. TIP To adjust the color value only, set the color model to HSV and move the V slider. TIP To change the colors in the Color Blender, set the current color (for example, using the RGB or HSV sliders) and then click a corner square in the Color Blender. TIP To store the current color in the Color Swatches, drag the Current Color Swatch over a square on the Swatches board.
The Current Color Palette updates with the new color. The color chip in the status area also updates. 3 In the Brush Options box, set Preserve Color as follows:
ONthe next time you select the brush, the Brush Color will be the same as it is now. OFFthe next time you select the brush, the Brush Color will be the same as the previous brushs Brush Color. This is the default setting.
For example, to save a colored brush to a shelf, turn on Preserve Color before you save the brush to the shelf. To save an uncolored brush to a shelf, turn off Preserve Color before you save the brush to the shelf.
To set brush color by grabbing a color from anywhere on your screen

1 With a brush tool active:

Click the eye dropper (Color Picker) icon in the color palette. Click anywhere on your screen.
2 Or, press the C key and click anywhere on your screen to grab a color while in a brush tool.

Release the mouse button Release the C key.
To set brush color by choosing a color you have saved to a shelf

With a brush tool active choose the color swatch icon on the shelf.
To save a color to a shelf

1 In the Color Editor, do any of the following to select a color:

Pick a color model and adjust the sliders or type in numerical values. Click in the color wheel or the color triangle. Click in the Color Blending Palette. Click in the Color Palette.
Set brush paint color | 107
Click the Color Picker icon and click anywhere on your screen to grab that color.
The Current Color Swatch updates with the new color. 2 Drag the Current Color Swatch from the Color Editor to the shelf with the middle mouse button.
Set brush and paint opacity

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window set Min Opacity and Max Opacity, and in the Brush Options window set Color Opacity. See also Sketch on a Cintiq on page 32. Opacity is a way of representing how see-through a brushs paint is. (Opacity is the opposite of transparency.) You cannot see anything underneath paint that has an opacity of 1. The lower the opacity, the more you can see through the paint. Paint that has an opacity of 0 is perfectly clear and invisible. NOTE You can also control the opacity of layers. See Change the opacity of an image layer on page 92.
Most brushes in Alias have two types of opacity: brush opacity (controlled by the Min Opacity and Max Opacity options) and paint opacity (controlled by the Color Opacity option). The difference between brush opacity and paint opacity becomes noticeable when you paint more than once over the same spot. If the brush opacity is less than 1, the paint will build up and become more opaque. If the paint opacity is less than 1 (and the brush opacity is 1), the paint will not build up.
In addition, you can make the brush opacity change based on how hard you press the stylus on your tablet. The Min Opacity is the minimum opacity for the brush (when you press lightly with the stylus) and the Max Opacity is the maximum opacity for the brush (when you press hard with the stylus). If you do not want the opacity to vary with stylus pressure on the tablet, set the Min Opacity and the Max Opacity to the same value.
To set brush opacity

Do any of the following:
In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window, set Min Opacity and Max Opacity. In the Brush Options window, move the two sliders in the linear Opacity Scale (next to the Brush Preview image). The slider to the left is the minimum opacity; the slider to the right is the maximum opacity. With the brush tool active hold down the O key and drag:

up to increase the minimum opacity down to decrease the minimum opacity
Set brush and paint opacity | 109
right to increase the maximum opacity left to decrease the maximum opacity.
To set paint opacity

In the Brush Options window, set Color Opacity. TIP To make any brush erase paint, set the Brush Color to black and set the Color Opacity to 0. (To keep these settings for the brush, turn on Preserve Color.)
Set marker wetness

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window set Wetness. By default, most Marker brushes have a Wetness value of 0.5, which simulates ink from a somewhat used marker. You may want to increase the Wetness to simulate a brand new marker, or reduce the Wetness to simulate a dry or semi-dry marker.
When using a marker, pressing the stylus against the tablet without moving it will continue to apply paint to the canvas plane just like a real marker on paper. If the Wetness is high (for example, 0.9), paint will be applied to the canvas plane more rapidly than if the Wetness is low (for example, 0.1). You can therefore create different types of strokes with a marker simply by moving the stylus faster or slower.
To set marker wetness

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window, adjust the Wetness slider or enter a value in the Wetness field.
Set blur strength

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window set Blur Strength. By default, the Blur brushes have a Blur Strength value of 3.0. You may want to increase the Blur Strength to make the image or strokes less defined, or reduce the Blur Strength to add just a touch of blur (perhaps to get rid of some JPEG artifacts in an imported image).
To set Blur Strength

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window, adjust the Blur Strength slider or enter a value in the Blur Strength field. See also Blur paint on page 170.
Set sharpness and sharpen strength

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window increase the contrast between strokes by adjusting Sharpness and Sharpen Strength. Sharpness Controls the amount of sharpening. The valid range is 0 (no sharpening) to 10 (maximum sharpening). Sharpen Strength By default, the Sharpen brushes have a Sharpen Strength value of 1.5. You may want to increase the Sharpen Strength to make the image or strokes harder or more defined, or reduce the Sharpen Strength to add importance to some edges without calling too much attention to them.
To set Sharpness and Sharpen Strength

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window, adjust either the Sharpness or Sharpen Strength slider or enter a value in the Sharpness or Sharpen Strength field. See also Sharpen paint on page 171.
Set blur strength | 111
Set brush size, shape, and profile

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window set Min Radius, Max Radius, Aspect, Rotation, and Brush Profile. See also Sketch on a Cintiq on page 32 Brushes apply paint to a canvas plane in strokes. A stroke consists of a series of closely spaced stamps. (If you click a brush onto a canvas plane, instead of dragging the stylus, you will apply a single stamp of paint.) The default brushes (Pencil, Marker, Airbrush, and Solid Brush) have circular stamps. You can, however, control the size and shape of brush stamps to produce different types of strokes.
To set the size of a brush

The size of a brush is based on its Min Radius (when you press lightly with the stylus) and its Max Radius (when you press hard with the stylus). If you do not want the size to vary with stylus pressure on the tablet, set the Min Radius and the Max Radius to the same value. TIP Small brushes are more responsive than large brushes.
In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window, adjust the Min Radius and Max Radius sliders or enter values in the Min Radius and Max Radius fields. These values are measured in pixels (of the canvas plane). The maximum brush size is 255. In the Brush Options window, adjust the minimum radius and maximum radius circles by dragging toward the centre (to decrease the size) or out to the edge (to increase the size) With the brush tool active, hold down the R key and drag:

up to increase the minimum radius down to decrease the minimum radius right to increase the maximum radius left to decrease the maximum radius.
To set the shape of a brush

The shape of a brush is based on its aspect ratio. An aspect ratio of 1 means the brush stamp is circular. The lower the aspect ratio, the flatter the brush stamp. The angle of a flat stamp is based on the brush Rotation.
In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window, do the following:
Adjust the Aspect slider, or enter a value in the Aspect field, to make the brush more flat and thin (0) or more circular (1). If the Aspect value is less than 1, adjust the Rotation slider, or enter a value in the Rotation field, to make the brush more horizontal (0)
Set brush size, shape, and profile | 113
or more vertical (90). (If the Aspect value is 1, the Rotation value has no effect.)
With the brush tool active, hold down the P key and drag the mouse:

right to increase the Aspect value left to decrease the Aspect value.
With the brush tool active, hold down the T key and drag the mouse:

right to increase the Rotation value left to decrease the Rotation value.
To set the profile of a brush

The profile of a brush controls the softness of the brush stamp edges.
In the Paint Panel, or on the Stamp tab in the Brush Options window, set Brush Profile to Hard Solid, Solid, Buzz, Regular, or Custom. If you select Custom, an editable graph of the brush profile opens. The Point Menu enables you to add, delete, or move points on the graph. A slower slope represents a fuzzier edge; a steeper slope represents a sharper edge. The height of the graph represents opacity on a scale of 0 - 1.
Set brush stroke properties

In the Brush Options window set Spacing Bias, Spacing Noise, Rotate to Stroke, and Rotation Jitter in the Stroke section of the window.
Brushes apply paint to a canvas plane in strokes. A stroke consists of a series of closely spaced stamps. (If you click a brush onto a canvas plane, instead of dragging the stylus, you will apply a single stamp of paint.) You can control how strokes are generated from stamps.
For example, you can control the spacing between stamps in a stroke so they are close or far apart, or so their spacing has an element of randomness.
You can make stamps rotate in the direction of a stroke or always remain in the same direction, or rotate with an element of randomness.
To set brush stamp spacing

In the Brush Options window, do the following:
Set Spacing Bias to control the space between stamps in a stroke. Low values produce smooth strokes with no spaces between stamps. Higher values produce strokes that appear as a series of dots. The valid range is 0 to 255. Set Spacing Noise to control the amount of random variation in the space between stamps in a stroke. The valid range is 0 (no random variation) to 25 (high random variation).
Set brush stroke properties | 115
To set brush stamp rotation

In the Brush Options window, do the following in the Brush Stroke section:
To rotate the brush stamp in the direction of the brush stroke, turn on Rotate to Stroke. To always keep the brush stamp in the same direction and not rotate it in the direction of the brush stroke, turn off Rotate to Stroke. Set Rotation Jitter to control the amount of random variation in the brush stamp direction. The valid range is 0 (no random variation) to 180 (high random variation).
Snap a brush to a curve

Hold down Ctrl + Alt (Windows) or Control + Command (Mac), click the curve and drag along the curve. When you are sketching, you can snap a brush to a curve (or surface isoparametric curve or curve-on-surface). This allows you to use curves as sketching guidelines.
To snap a brush to a curve

1 With a brush active click the curve snap button to the right of the prompt line, or hold down Ctrl + Alt (Windows) or Control + Command (Mac), to activate curve snapping. 2 Move the stylus so the brush profile is near the curve. The brush profile will jump onto the curve.
TIP To set the brush curve snap tolerance, choose Preferences > General Preferences , then choose Paint from the left side of the option window, and set Brush Curve Snap Tolerance to the number of pixels the brush cursor must be from a curve in order for the brush profile to jump onto the curve. 3 Drag the stylus along the curve. 4 Click the curve snap button again, or release Ctrl + Alt (Windows) or Control + Command (Mac), to de-activate curve snapping. TIP You can snap to invisible curves (see ObjectDisplay > Visible ) or curves on invisible layers (Layers > Visibility > Invisible ).
Sketch using brush symmetry

Choose Paint > PaintSymmetry > Modify Canvas Brush Symmetry , select a brush, and start sketching. You can sketch and automatically have the strokes mirrored, either bilaterally or radially.
To use bilateral symmetry

1 Choose Paint > PaintSymmetry > Modify Canvas Brush Symmetry 2 In the option box, set Symmetry Type to Bilateral The axis of symmetry appears as a dotted line. 3 Modify the axis in the following ways:

Drag the central red dot to move the axis. Drag a red double-arrow to change the orientation of the axis. The axis rotates around the other double-arrow. Move the double-arrows along the axis to change the rotation pivots. Click the Reset button at the bottom of the window to reset the axis to its original position.
4 Select any brush and start sketching.
Sketch using brush symmetry | 117
Everything you sketch on one side of the axis automatically gets drawn on the other side, as a mirror image.
To use radial symmetry

1 Choose Paint > PaintSymmetry > Modify Canvas Brush Symmetry 2 In the option box, set Symmetry type to Radial, and Num Radial Sections to the number of sections. A number of axes of symmetry (equal to the value of Num Radial Sections) appear as dotted lines radially emanating from a center point. 3 Modify the axes in the following ways:

Drag the central red dot to move the center point. Drag the red double-arrow to change the orientation of the axes (by rotating them around the center point). Click the Reset button at the bottom of the window to reset the axes to their original position.
4 Select any brush and start sketching. Everything you sketch within one of the sections automatically gets drawn in all the other sections, creating a sort of kaleidoscopic effect.
To stop sketching symmetrically

Do one of the following to toggle off symmetry:

In the option box, turn off Symmetry Active. Choose Paint > PaintSymmetry > Toggle Canvas Brush Symmetry .
Sketch using predictive strokes

When sketching, the predictive strokes feature perceives what youre trying to draw, and redraws it with more precision. You can use predictive strokes to create straight lines, curves, and ellipses.
Sketch using predictive strokes | 119
To use predictive strokes

1 Choose Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menu Editor , and open the Special > Paint section. 2 Assign a hotkey to Toggle predictive stroke (curvature) to draw curves, circles, or ellipses, or to Toggle predictive stroke (line) to draw straight lines. 3 Click Apply. 4 Choose a brush, then press the hotkey. The cursor changes shape to indicate the predictive stroke mode youre in. Your paint stroke is redrawn when the stylus is lifted from the tablet, or the mouse button is released. The stroke will either be a circle, ellipse, or arc if Toggle predictive stroke (curvature) is on, or a line if Toggle predictive stroke (line) is on. 5 To turn off predictive stroke mode, press the hotkey again.
Clone an area
Choose Paint > Effect Brush > Clone Brush, click to select a source texture, then click or drag to apply the source texture.
To clone an area
1 Choose Paint > Effect Brush > Clone Brush. 2 Click the region of the image you want to use as a source texture. 3 Click or drag anywhere on the image to apply the source texture. As you drag, more of the source texture is applied. To select a new source texture, hold down the L key and click the source texture. To resize the Clone Brush, hold down the R key and drag:

up to increase the minimum radius down to decrease the minimum radius right to increase the maximum radius left to decrease the maximum radius.
To adjust the Clone Brush opacity, hold down the O key and drag:

up to increase the minimum opacity down to decrease the minimum opacity right to increase the maximum opacity left to decrease the maximum opacity.
Flood an area with paint

Choose Paint > Flood Fill and click the area or color you want to fill.
To flood or fill a consistently colored area of an image layer with paint

1 Choose Paint > Flood Fill . The cursor becomes a paint bucket.
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2 Click the area or color on the image layer you want to fill with paint. 3 In the Flood Fill Options section of the Paint Panel do the following:

To set the fill paint color, see Set brush paint color on page 105. To set the fill paint opacity, set Opacity. (For more information on opacity, see Set brush and paint opacity on page 108.) To set the range of colors to be filled, set Tolerance. A low value fills pixels having a color very similar to the color you clicked. A high value fills pixels having a broader range of colors.
4 Click Accept. After Accept has been clicked, flood fill options are no longer editable until another floodfill operation is initiated. You can edit and modify the flood fill options up until you click Accept, mouse down on the image for another flood fill operation, or exit the tool. NOTE Alternately, you can set the Flood Fill Options before clicking the area or color on the image layer you want to fill.
Hide and show paint

In the Paint Panel or Brush Options window set Brush Mode to Hide or Show. See also Sketch on a Cintiq on page 32. You can use any brush to hide paint in an image layer. Hidden paint is not visible, but it still exists. You can later show hidden paint using any brush. You can also easily show all hidden paint in an image layer or erase all hidden paint in an image layer. You can sketch on an area of an image layer that contains hidden paint, but you wont see what has been painted until you choose Edit > Clear hide show in the Canvas Layer Editor.
To hide or show paint

1 In the Paint Panel or any Brush Options window, set Brush Mode to Hide or Show.
2 Drag the stylus on the image layer to hide or show paint. TIP To quickly switch between hiding and showing paint using the same brush, use the hot key editor to assign shortcuts.
To view hidden paint

1 In the Paint Panel or any Brush Options window, set Brush Mode to Show. 2 Move the cursor over the hidden paint, but do not press the stylus against the tablet or press the mouse button. The brush preview will momentarily reveal the hidden paint beneath it.
To show all hidden paint in an image layer

1 Select an image layer on page 85 you want to show hidden paint on. 2 in the Canvas Layer Editor choose Edit > Clear hide show.
To erase all hidden paint in an image layer

1 Select an image layer on page 85 you want to delete hidden paint from. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor window choose Edit > Clear hide show.
Create a texture brush

Create a brush that paints a captured brush stamp
To create a texture brush

1 Select the brush style you want to start fromfor example, Solid brush, Airbrush, Pencil, and so on In this example we will create a simple leather texture brush, using a Solid Brush profile. 2 First we scan our leather sample and save it in a standard image format like tiff.
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3 File > Import > Canvas Image the texture sample.
4 Open the Brush Options window and select the Stamp tab. Select the Shape and Texture option from the Capture Mode pop-up menu. You can also use the Brush Stamp Options in the Paint Panel.
5 The brush cursor changes and the prompt line requests you to select the texture region. Note you can change the radius using the standard modifier key R if required. The moment you place a single click on the canvas, the texture is grabbed from the current image layer and loaded into the brush stamp. Note how the tools icon, brush stamp and brush stroke preview have been refreshed in the Brush Options window.
6 Create a few sample strokes on the image layer to test the brush effect. You may need to modify the distance between each stroke by adjusting the Brush Stroke > Spacing Bias and the Brush Profile, depending upon your texture style and personal preference.
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Create a shape texture brush

Create a wheel texture brush with transparent holes by using a Solid Brush profile.
To create a texture brush with shape and color attributes

1 File > Import > Canvas Image the wheel sample.
The first step we need to do is remove the pale gray background using the Magic Wand or shape mask tools. In this example, we will use the Magic Wand tool because its a quick way to select pixels for removal. 2 Select your photograph or image and resize to approximately the brush size you require. 3 Click on the outside of the image and adjust the tolerance in the Paint Panel.
4 Hold down the A key while you select all the other gray areas you want to remove. Using the A modifier key allows you to add to the magic wand selection.
The alloy wheel and tire are now protected by the selection mask. 5 Select Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor and click the erase image layer button to delete the gray pixels.
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6 Now select Pick > Nothing from the tool palette to delete the selection mask.
7 Select the brush style you want to start from. You can select this from either the tool palette or the paint control panelSolid brush, Airbrush, Pencil, and so on. 8 Open the Brush Options window and select the Stamp tab. Select the Shape and Texture option from the Capture Mode pop-up menu.
9 The brush cursor changes to a camera within the radius circle, and the prompt line request you to select the texture region. Note you can change the radius using the standard modifier key R. The moment you click on the canvas, the texture is grabbed from the current image layer and loaded into the brush stamp. Note how the brush stamp and brush stroke preview refresh in the brush editor to show the stamp selection.
10 Try a few sample strokes on the image layer to test the brush effect. You may need to modify the distance between each stroke by adjusting the Brush Stroke > Spacing Bias and the Brush Profile, depending upon the texture style and personal preference.
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You have now created a texture brush that will create wheel stamps with transparent spoke holes.
Create a shape from curves using the Paint panel

Before you can create a shape, you must create a curve or set of curves, or you must already have a curve or set of curves in your wire file. You must also have a canvas plane in the window where you create the curves. (See Create a canvas plane on page 58.) Curves are the basis to develop shapes; shapes can be used for painting, masking, or invisibility masks. You can easily create shapes from curves using the Global Auto-Shape section of the Paint control panel. The Global Auto-Shape section is visible when you have a tool from any palette other than the Paint palette selected.
To create a shape from curves using Auto-Shape

1 Select Image(fill), Image(outline), Mask, or Invisibility mask from the Type pop-up menu in the Global Auto-Shape section of the Paint panel. 2 Select Curves > New Curves > New CV Curve from the Curves palette. 3 An image layer is created automatically as you begin to create your curve. The layers canvas is visible in the Perspective view. 4 The curve automatically creates the type of shape you chose. The shapes color indicates whether it is an invisibility mask (yellow), mask (pink) or image (white). The default colors can be changed through Shape Options (see Edit a shape using the Paint panel on page 131).

If a shapes curves are 3D curves, the shape may not appear as you expect. To create a new shape layer, first create a new image layer and make it the active layer, then create a new shape.
Edit a shape using the Paint panel

To edit a shapes fill and outline
1 Make sure you do not have any Paint tool selected (for example, choose
Pick > Object
).
2 Pick a single shape using a Pick tool (for example, Pick > Object ). NOTE If you pick more than one shape in the Canvas Layer Editor window, or pick curves that belong to more than one shape using a Pick tool, the number of picked shapes is displayed in the Paint Panel in the Pick List (for example, 3 picked shapes). Click this display and select a shape from the menu.
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3 In the Paint control panel choose the desired attributes from the Shape Options section. Turn on Shape Outline or Shape Fill to display the respective options.
Use a snapshot as a brush in the Paint panel

The Brush Stamp options let you capture and paint with an image. You can capture a snapshot of just the shape, or the shape and its texture (color) as well. It is a two-step process that includes the images capture and its subsequent use as a brush.
To capture a snapshot
1 Click the Capture drop-down menu in the Brush Stamp Options in the Paint control panel.
2 Select Shape or Shape and Texture. Shape captures a snapshot of the shape directly beneath the cursor. Shape and Texture will capture both the paint and the shape directly beneath the cursor. TIP When the capture tool is active, the cursor becomes a small camera with the letter S if shape is selected, or S,T if shape and texture is selected. 3 Click on the image to capture a snapshot. Note that once the capture is complete, the Capture drop-down menu reverts to Off, and you are ready for the second step in the process.
To use the snapshot as a brush

1 The Stamp menu automatically defaults to Shape or Shape and Texture, depending on your Capture choice. You can switch between using only the shape or both the shape and texture as a brush by selecting either option on the Stamp menu.
2 Paint using your captured image as a brush. TIP When a Stamp option is active, the cursor becomes a crosshair with the letter P (for paint) or E (for eraser).
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Apply paint using shapes
Use Alias curves to create shapes with fill and outline properties.
Introduction to shapes
A shape is a way to create a precise image that you can easily modify. A shapes shape is defined by a curve or set of curves. You can create a shape from any Alias curve, including curves-on-surface and surface edges. A shape also has fill and outline properties.
After you create a shape from a curve or set of curves, any changes you make to the curves (for example, scaling a curve or moving an edit point) will update the shape. You can then use the original curves to build surfaces, and any changes you make to the curves will automatically update both the sketch and the model.
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Shape layers and shapes

Shapes appear in the Canvas Layer Editor window in shape layers. A shape layer (indicated by Shape-# in the Canvas Layer Editor window) is similar to an image layer (indicated by Image-# in the Canvas Layer Editor window). An image layer contains paint and a shape layer contains shapes. You cannot use a brush to apply paint to a shape layer. If you try to paint on a shape layer, the cursor will change to a shape cursor. The first time you create a shape on a canvas plane, Alias automatically creates a shape layer and places the shape on that layer. Similarly, if the active layer is an image layer, when you create a shape Alias automatically creates a shape layer and places the shape on that layer. However, if the active layer is a shape layer, then Alias places the new shape in that layer. A shape layer contains an expandable list of all shapes in that layer. To expand a list click the white triangle. You can perform the following operations on shapes:

Create curves for shapes on page 137 Edit a shape on page 141 Delete a shape on page 142 Convert shapes to paint on page 143 You can also perform most image layer operations on shape layers and on individual shapes, including: Name an image layer on page 81 You can also name a shape in the Paint Panel when the shape is selected. Select an image layer on page 85 When you select a shape layer, it is highlighted in purple. When you select an individual shape, it is highlighted in yellow (without affecting the active layer selection).
Duplicate an image layer on page 86 If you duplicate a shape layer, the layer is duplicated and converted into an image layer. You cannot duplicate an individual shape.
Arrange image layers on page 89 Hide or show an image layer on page 92 Change the opacity of an image layer on page 92
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Merge image layers on page 94 Export an image layer on page 95 You can export a shape layer as an image file. The size of the image file will be just large enough to contain the shapes in that layer; it may not be the size of the canvas plane. You cannot export an individual shape.
Delete an image layer on page 96 You can automatically create a shape or shape mask as you create a curve using the Global Auto-Shape options in the Paint Panel. To automatically create a shape as you create a curve, set Type to Image(fill) or Image(outline) for a shape, and Mask or Invisibility mask for a shape mask, in the Global Auto-Shape section. See Protect areas using masks on page 145 for more information on masks and invisibility masks.
Create curves for shapes

Before you can create a shape, you must create a curve or set of curves (or you must already have a curve or set of curves in your wire file). Curves are the basis to develop shapes; shapes can be used for painting, masking, or invisibility masks. You can easily create shapes from curves by selecting Image(fill), Image(outline), Mask, or Invisibility mask from the pop-up menu in the Global Auto-Shape section of the Paint Panel. The shape is created as you draw the curve (as long as you have a canvas in the window where you are drawing). For information on creating and editing curves, see Create curves. For information on creating canvases, see Create curves.
Create a shape
Choose Paint > Shape > Make Image Shape , click the curves that define the shape, and click Accept.
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To create a simple shape

Select an image layer on page 85 above which you want to create a new shape layer. select the shape layer that you want to add a new shape to. use Global Auto-Shape from the Paint Panel
2 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Image Shape . The Shape Editor opens, displaying the parameters previously saved for that tool. 3 Click each curve to include in the shape. (Make sure you click the part of the curve that you want to include in the shape boundary.) NOTE The shape may not appear as you expect if a shapes curves are 3D curves or if you drag a pick box around complex curve structures. These curves will define the inner and outer boundaries of the shape. If a shapes curves do not form a closed region, the end points of the curve will be connected by a straight line segment that does not have any outline properties. TIP To remove a curve from the selection, click it. 4 Once all the curves are selected, click the Accept button. The shape is created and the parameters from the Shape Editor are applied to it. 5 In the Shape Editor, turn on or off the Shape Outline and Shape Fill, and adjust their respective parameters. (See Windows > Editors > Shape Editor for details). The shape updates interactively. You can also adjust the parameters in the Paint control panel. NOTE If you edit the parameters of a new shape while still inside the tool, these new settings are saved for the tool. If you quit the tool before editing the parameters, these new settings apply only to the active shape.
TIP To create a new shape layer, first create a new image layer and make it the active layer, then create a new shape.
To create a more complex shape

Certain shapes require selecting a curve in more than one location. In the example below, lets say we want to create a Shape Fill for the region outlined in red. (This workflow also applies to any of the Paint > Shape > tools).
1 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Image Shape . The Shape Editor opens. 2 In the Shape Editor, turn off Shape Outline so that only the fill is visible. 3 Select each curve segment that forms a boundary of the shape region. Picking the same curve in more than one location is allowed.
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Small check marks show the points where you clicked. A thick line marks the outline of the shape defined so far.
4 Once you have finished selecting the boundaries, press the Accept button. The correct shape is created.
Duplicating and mirroring shapes

Duplicating the shape geometry (with Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste) will also duplicate the shape.
Because shapes are constructed from curves, and curves are geometry, not paint, the only way to mirror a shape is to draw the initial curves on a Modeling Layer that has symmetry turned on. See Organize objects on layers and Windows > Information > Layer Stats. Paint > PaintSymmetry > Modify Canvas Brush Symmetry only mirrors paint brush strokes.
Edit a shape
Select the shape in the Canvas Layer Editor window, or by picking one of its curves. Set the outline and fill options in the Shape Editor or the Paint Control Panel.
To edit a shapes fill and outline

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, select the shape that you want to edit. It should become highlighted in yellow. The curves belonging to the shape are automatically picked in the view. NOTE To unselect a shape, click on the shape in the Canvas Layer Editor again.
Pick one of the curves belonging to the shape in the view window.
The shapes name appears in the Paint Panel above the Display options. NOTE If you pick more than one shape in the Canvas Layer Editor window, or pick curves that belong to more than one shape using a Pick tool, the number of picked shapes is displayed in the Paint Panel above the Display options (for example, 3 picked shapes). Click this display and select a shape from the menu. 2 Choose Windows > Editors > Shape Editor (or Windows > Control Panel). The Shape Editor (or Control Panel) opens, showing the Outline and Fill settings of the selected Shape.
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3 In the Shape Editor (or Control Panel), change the values of the Shape Outline and Shape Fill options. The shape simultaneously updates to reflect the new values. When selecting multiple shapes:

The values for the shape that was first selected are displayed. Modifying the values of one parameter apply that parameter value to all selected shapes.
To edit a Shapes shape

Transform the shape or the shapes curves using the Transform tools (for example, Transform > Scale ). NOTE If you deform a curve excessively, the shape may not appear as you expect.
Delete a shape
In the Canvas Layer Editor window select the shape and choose Delete > Delete Active.
To delete a shape
1 In the Canvas Layer Editor window select the shape that you want to delete. It should become highlighted in yellow. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, choose Delete > Delete Active Shape. NOTE When a curve is deleted, the associated shape is also deleted.
Create and use multiple Shape tool instances

You can save different sets of options for the Shape tools in separate tool instances in the shelves and marking menu.
To create various Shape tool instances on the shelf

1 Use the middle mouse button to drag a Shape tool from the palette to a shelf. A new instance of the tool is created in the shelf. 2 Click the new instance of the tool The instance is made the active tool. The Shape Editor opens up. It displays the same settings as the original tool in the palette. 3 Select new values for the Shape Outline parameters. 4 Select new values for the Shape Fill parameters. The new values are displayed in the Shape Editor The new settings are saved for this instance.
5 Exit the tool by choosing Pick > Object
Pick > Object becomes the active tool, and the Shape Editor appears empty. 6 Repeat steps 1-4 for each variation of the Shape tool you want.
To use saved Shape tool instances

1 Open the Paint window and the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Select the active canvas from the pull-down menu. 3 Create curves using any Curve tools. 4 From these curves, create new shapes using Shape tool instances. Each shape is created with the settings previously saved for the tool instance that created it.
Convert shapes to paint

In the Canvas Layer Editor window select the shape layer and choose Edit > Rasterize Layer.
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After you have finalized a shape, you may want to convert it into paint. You do this by converting the shape layer into an image layer. You cannot convert an individual shape within a shape layer into paint. TIP To convert an individual shape within a shape layer into paint, first re-create the shape on its own shape layer. Then convert the shape layer to an image layer.
To convert a shape layer into an image layer (and delete the original shape layer)
1 Select the shape layer, or mask shape layer, that you want to convert. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, choose Edit > Rasterize Layer. If the active shape layer was an image shape layer, a new image layer is created containing a painted representation of the shape. If the active shape layer was a mask shape layer, a new mask layer is created containing a painted representation of the shape. The original shape layer is deleted.
Protect areas using masks
Use paint, shapes, and selections to protect areas of an image layer.
Introduction to masks
A mask is way of protecting areas of an image layer from brushes, erasers, and from certain image layer operations (for example, clearing an image layer, blurring an image layer, and so on).
Mask layers
A mask layer is a way of creating a mask that will affect one or more image layers. Once you create a mask layer, it will remain until you delete it. When you create a mask layer, masked regions are indicated by a red color.
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A mask layer can either contain paint or shapes. A mask layer that contains paint is indicated by mask layer in the Canvas Layer Editor window and is similar to an image layer. See Introduction to image layers on page 79. A mask layer that contains shapes is indicated by shape mask in the Canvas Layer Editor window and is similar to a shape layer. See Introduction to shapes on page 135. Regions of a mask layer that contain paint or shapes are masked, and regions of a mask layer that do not contain paint or shapes are not masked. NOTE It is also possible to create Invisibility Mask layers. These are similar to mask layers, except that the hidden paint can be shown again.
Creating and using masks

There are several ways you can create a mask, including:

Create a mask by selecting a region on page 147 Create a mask from an image file on page 149 Create a mask by painting on page 152 Create a mask from curves on page 153
You can perform the following operations on masks:

Invert a mask on page 154 Customize the mask display on page 155 Dis-associate or associate a mask with an image layer on page 156 Delete masks on page 158
You can also perform most image layer operations on mask layers, including:

Name an image layer on page 81 Import an image as an image layer on page 82 Select an image layer on page 85 Duplicate an image layer on page 86
146 | Chapter 7 Protect areas using masks
Move, scale, or rotate an image layer on page 87 You cannot move, scale, or rotate a mask layer that contains shapes. Flip an image layer horizontally or vertically on page 88 You cannot flip a mask layer that contains shapes. Arrange image layers on page 89 Hide or show an image layer on page 92 Change the opacity of an image layer on page 92 Merge image layers on page 94 Export an image layer on page 95 Clear an image layer on page 96 You cannot clear a mask layer that contains shapes. Delete an image layer on page 96
Create a mask by selecting a region

Choose a Paint > Select > Marquee tool and drag over a region or choose Paint > Select > Magic Wand and click a colored region. You can create a mask by selecting a rectangular, elliptical, polygonal or lasso region, or by selecting a consistently colored area of an image layer (magic wand). You can also add to or subtract from the selection. When you select a region, the selected region is unmasked and all other regions are masked. You can then convert the selected region into a mask from the Canvas Layer Editor.
To select a rectangular, elliptical, polygonal, or lasso region

1 Select the image layer from which you want to select a region. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose one of the following Paint > Select > Marquee tools:

Paint > Select > Marquee (rectangle) Paint > Select > Marquee (ellipse) Paint > Select > Marquee (polyline)
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Paint > Select > Marquee (lasso)
The cursor becomes a knife. 3 In the Marquee Options section of the Paint Panel, set Mode to one of the following:

Newto create a new selection area Addto add to the selection area Subtractto subtract from the selection area
4 Drag the stylus to create a rectangular, elliptical, polygonal, or lasso region. For the Marquee (polyline) tool, you must click, drag, and release the mouse to create each segment. Double-click to close the selection. TIP You can define your own hotkeys for the New, Add, and Subtract marquee operations. Choose Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menu Editor and open the Special : Paint section.
To select a consistently colored area of an image layer

1 Select the image layer from which you want to select a colored area. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose Paint > Select > Magic Wand . The cursor becomes a wand. 3 Click the area or color of the image layer you want to select. To select a different colored area, click it. 4 In the Magic Wand Options section of the Paint Panel adjust the Tolerance from 0 to 255. A low value selects pixels having a color very similar to the color you clicked. A high value selects pixels having a broader range of colors. NOTE Alternately, you can set the Magic Wand Options before clicking the area or color of the image layer you want to fill. NOTE If you want to set the Tolerance before selecting another area, without affecting the area youve already selected (for example, to add to the selection), click Accept or choose Paint > Select > Magic Wand again.
To convert the selection area to a mask

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 In the Editors menus, choose Convert > Marquee to Mask. A new mask layer called Marquee-# is created in the Editor. The selected region is unmasked and all other regions are masked. This mask can be applied to any image layer(s), just like any regular mask.
Create a mask from an image file

If you are using the Windows browser, you can import the image as a mask layer directly from the Canvas Layer Editor by choosing Layer > New Image Layer (import) in the editors menu. If you are using the Alias browser, choose File > Import > Canvas Image . TIP The type of browser can be changed by choosing Preferences > General Preferences and going to the System section.
To create a mask from an image file using the Windows browser

1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Do one of the following:
If you want the mask layer to be created on a new canvas, click the view in which you want the new canvas to be created. If you want the mask layer to be created on an existing canvas, select the canvas by using the pick canvas icon next to the canvas name in the Construction Plane Editor or select it from the lister in the Canvas Layer Editor. The former takes priority.
3 In the Canvas Layer Editor, choose Layer > New Image Layer (import). The Image Import browser opens. 4 In the browser, choose an image to import. The image is shown in the Preview window.
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5 In the browser, set Layer Type to Mask (Luminance) or Mask (Transparency). The content of the Preview updates. 6 If you want to import the image into a new canvas, turn on Always create New Canvas. Otherwise, make sure that it is turned off. 7 Click on the Select button. If Always create New Canvas was on, a new canvas plane is created and the image is loaded onto it as a mask layer (filling the entire canvas plane). The size of the canvas plane is based on the size of the current view window. Otherwise, the image is imported as a new mask layer and centered on the canvas plane.
The new mask layer is linked to the active image layer, and is automatically selected. NOTE Make sure you select the image layer again before using a brush or choosing an image layer operation (for example, clearing the image layer).
To create a mask from an image file using the Alias browser

If you want the mask layer to be created on a new canvas, click the view in which you want the new canvas to be created. If you want the mask layer to be created on an existing canvas, select the canvas by using the pick canvas icon next to the canvas name in the Construction Plane Editor or select it from the lister in the Canvas Layer Editor. The former takes priority.
2 Choose File > Import > Canvas Image to open the option box.
3 Set Layer Type to Mask (Luminance) or Mask (Transparency)
Mask(Luminance) uses the images luminance values as the mask; areas that are 100% black are fully masked. Mask(Transparency) uses the images opacity values as the mask; areas that are fully opaque are fully masked.
4 If you want to import the image into a new canvas, turn on Always create New Canvas. Otherwise, make sure that it is turned off.
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5 Click Go. The File Browser opens 6 Use the File Browser to select the image file you want to load and click Import Image. If Always create New Canvas was on, a new canvas plane is created and the image is loaded onto it as a mask layer (filling the entire canvas plane). The size of the canvas plane is based on the size of the current view window. Otherwise, the image is imported as a new mask layer and centered on the canvas plane. The new mask layer is linked to the active image layer, and is automatically selected. NOTE Make sure you select the image layer again before using a brush or choosing an image layer operation (for example, clearing the image layer).
Create a mask by painting

Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor and paint the regions of the mask layer you want to act as a mask. You can create a mask by painting directly onto a mask layer. Areas of the layer that contain paint will masked, and areas of the layer that do not contain paint will be unmasked. Areas of the layer that contain partially transparent paint will be partially masked.
To create a mask by painting

1 Select the image layer you want to mask. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor choose Layer > New mask layer. A new mask layer is created in the lower part of the editor, and automatically selected. The mask is also automatically associated to the image layer you selected in step 1. 3 Select a brush and paint the regions that you want to mask. See Paint and erase on page 99.
NOTE Any number of mask layers can be associated with an image layer. When you click on an image layer name, the associated mask layers are highlighted in lavender, and the small box icon to the right of their name displays a chain link icon mask link.
Create a mask from curves

Choose Paint > Shape > Make Mask Shape , click the curves that define the mask shape, and click Accept. You can create a mask from a curve or set of curves in a similar way that you create shapes from curves. See Create a shape on page 137.
To create a mask from curves

Select the image layer you want to mask.
See Select an image layer on page 85. 1 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Mask Shape . 2 Click each curve to include in the mask shape. You may click a curve more than once, in several different locations. Make sure you click the part(s) of the curve that you want to include in the mask boundary. These curves will define the inner and outer boundaries of the shape. To remove a curve from the selection, click it. 3 Click Accept. You can also set Global Auto-Shape Type to Mask in the Paint Panel. Curves that you draw will then automatically create mask shapes.
Create a mask shape from text

To create a shape mask from text, use the Curves > Text tool to write the text.
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To create a text mask shape

1 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Mask Shape from the tool palette, and select each letter, curve by curve. 2 Click Accept after selecting all letters if you want to create a single mask shape. or Click Accept after selecting each letter if you want to create separate mask shapes for each letter. 3 To protect the text area on the canvas from being over-painted, no further action is necessary. To modify the paint on the text area only, click on the MaskShape-# layer in the Canvas Layer Editor, and choose Invert layer from the editors Edit menu.
Invert a mask
Choose Edit > Invert layer in the Canvas Layer Editor. You can easily invert a mask so that masked regions become unmasked and unmasked regions become masked. NOTE Edit > Invert layer does not affect Shape layers.
To invert a mask
1 Select the mask layer you want to invert. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor choose Edit > Invert layer or Edit > Invert Mask NOTE If you select an image layer then choose Edit > Invert Mask, all masks linked to that layer are inverted.
To invert an invisibility mask

1 Select the invisibility mask layer you want to invert. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor choose Edit > Invert layer or Edit > Invert Invisibility mask.
NOTE If you select an image layer then choose Edit > Invert invisibility mask, all invisibility masks linked to that layer are inverted.
Customize the mask display

Hide or show the mask color or selection marquee; change the mask color By default masked regions for mask layers are displayed in coral red. You can customize the mask display color and opacity for mask layers. You may prefer not to see mask display colors while sketching. In this case, you can turn off the display of these colors and the mask will remain active.
To change the mask display color and opacity for mask layers
1 From the Construction Plane Editor window, choose Canvas > Canvas General Info, or click the info icon at the bottom of the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Click the Mask Color color chip to open the Color Editor. NOTE To change the color for the selection marquee, click the Marquee Color color chip to open the Color Editor. 3 In the Color Editor, do any of the following to select a color:

Pick a color model and adjust the sliders, or enter numeric values. Click in the color wheel or triangle, or pick a color from the Most Recent Colors swatch. Click in the Color Blender. Click in the Color Swatches. Click the Color Picker icon (eye dropper) and then click anywhere on your screen to grab that color. TIP To change the colors in the Color Blender, set the current color (for example, using the RGB or HSV sliders) and then click a corner square in the Color Blender.
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TIP To store the current color in the Color Swatches, drag the current color swatch to a Color Swatches square. The Current Color Palette updates with the new color. Thecolor chip in the Canvas General Information window also updates. 4 To change the mask display opacity for mask layers, select the Mask Display Opacity layer opacity value, type a new opacity value and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). TIP To change the opacity for the selection marquee, select the Marquee Display Opacity layer opacity value, type a new opacity value and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). NOTE To interactively adjust the opacity value, click and drag the opacity slider.
To hide the mask display color

In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the open eye icon for the mask layer.
To show the mask display color
In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the closed eye mask layer.
icon for the
Dis-associate or associate a mask with an image layer

Select the image layer in the Canvas Layer Editor. Click the chain link or empty box icon for the mask layer you want to dis-associate/associate. The Canvas Layer Editor shows the different types of layers on the current canvas. Image layers and Mask layers are displayed separately inside a split window. This allows you to associate one or more mask layers with any image layer, and re-use the same mask layers for different image layers.
To dis-associate a mask from an image layer

1 Select the image layer in the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Click the mask link icon for the mask layer you want to dis-associate from that image layer.
The mask link icon becomes an empty box icon mask unlink
To associate a mask with an image layer

1 Select the image layer in the Canvas Layer Editor.
2 Click the mask unlink to that image layer.
icon for the mask layer you want to associate
The mask unlink
icon becomes a chain link icon mask link.
To see the relationships between image and mask layers
Click on an Image layers name to determine which mask/invisibility layers affect it. The associated Masks and Invisibility Masks names are highlighted in lavender. A small icon next to the image layers name shows how many masks are associated with it. Click on the Mask or Invisibility Mask layers name to determine which image layers are affected by it. The affected Image layers names are highlighted in lavender. NOTE If you click the mask filter icon, located in the separator bar between image and mask layer sections, only the highlighted mask layers will appear in the Canvas Layer Editor. Click the icon again to show all mask layers.
To (temporarily) disable a mask while keeping its associations

1 Select the image layer in the Canvas Layer Editor. All associated mask names are highlighted in lavender.
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2 Click the disable mask
icon for the mask layer you want to disable.
The mask is disabled, that is it no longer affects the image layer, but it remains linked to it. 3 Click the icon again to re-enable the mask.
To hide all masks associated with an image layer

1 Select the image layer to make it active. All associated mask names are highlighted in lavender. 2 Click the mask visible icon in the separator bar between image and mask layer sections. The masks become invisible, but are still enabled. 3 Click the icon again to make the masks visible.
To (temporarily) disable all masks associated with an image layer

1 Select the image layer to make it active. All associated mask names are highlighted in lavender.
2 Click the disable mask and mask layer sections.
icon in the separator bar between image
The masks are disabled, that is they no longer affect the image layer they are linked to. 3 Click the icon again to re-enable the masks.
Delete masks
Delete a mask or all masks in a canvas plane.
To delete a mask
1 Select the mask layer you want to delete in the Canvas Layer Editor. See Select an image layer on page 85.

Choose Delete > Painting > Delete Active Image Layer . In the Canvas Layer Editor window choose Edit > Delete Active Layer.
The active mask layer is deleted. See Delete an image layer on page 96.
To delete all masks in a canvas plane

1 Select the canvas plane in the Construction Plane Editor. NOTE If you can see the mask layers that you want to delete in the Canvas Layer Editor, then the canvas is already selected. 2 Choose Delete > Painting > Delete All Mask Layers .
Use the automatic shape mask option

Turn on automatic shape creation for any curve creation tool. 1 Open the Paint Panel, expand the section called Global Auto-Shape, and select the type of shape you wish to create. In this example we will create a mask shape to protect the side glass area of this image.
From this moment on, all Alias curve creation tools will create mask shapes on the current layer.
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NOTE Even tools such as Curve Edit > Create > Duplicate Curve and Object Edit > Offset will create new mask shapes, so take care to turn this option Off when you dont want to create shapes. In this example, we will create a mask shape using the CV curve tool.
As you place CV points to define the curve, the image layer mask automatically updates to form a closed mask region. NOTE The mask regions can be created with Fill set to Inside or Outside in the Shape Options section of the Paint Panel. This has the same effect as using Edit > Invert Layer in the Canvas Layer Editor.
2 After the curve creation is complete, you can edit the curve using any of the standard modification tools. The primary limitation with this style of shape creation is that only single curves can be used to create a shape, whereas the Paint > Shape > tools allow multiple curves for shape creation, including holes in shapes.
Use invisibility mask shapes

Use invisibility mask shapes to change the display opacity of an area of an image layer in much the same way as a hide brush. NOTE In previous versions of Alias, invisibility masks were called stencils. In this example we will use a circle to hide the entire image layer except the steering wheel. 1 Choose File > Import > Canvas Image to import the image you wish to edit, or paint on a layer. The image layer is automatically selected. See Import an image as an image layer on page 82
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2 Create a circle or whatever closed curve you wish. In this example we have created a circle and its highlighted in red.
3 Select the Paint > Shape > Make Invisibility Mask Shape tool from the palette, then select the circle and accept the shape. Note how the image has completely disappeared inside the curve.
4 In this example we want the inverse, so select the Fill Outside option from the Paint Panel.
5 Now use the Alias Transform tools to enlarge and position the circle. Notice how the image is revealed as the circle is transformed.
This technique provides a very fast and flexible way of hiding pixels from view and has major advantages over deleting part of an image layer. At any point, the curves can be repositioned and the layer will update to hide or show part of the image.
Invisibility mask shapes offer the same capabilities as paint shapes. Any number of curves can be used to create a shape; the shape can include holes and the fill colour can be any texture or outline. (See RGB Color option in the Paint Panel).
The image above was created using three curves and an invisibility mask layer where the fill texture was a gray scale ramp that provides semi-transparent pixels.
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Edit images
Cut, copy, and paste regions of an image layer; blur, sharpen, and smear paint on an image layer.
Cut, copy, and paste regions of a sketch

Select a region, choose Edit > Cut Image or Edit > Copy Image , then Edit > Paste Image .
To select a region
See Create a mask by selecting a region on page 147. NOTE You can also select a region of an image layer by creating a mask for that image layer (see Create a mask from an image file on page 149, Create a mask by painting on page 152, and Create a mask from curves on page 153).
To cut the selected region

Choose Edit > Cut Image .
To copy the selected region

Choose Edit > Copy Image .
To paste the cut/copied region (in Alias)

1 Select the image layer above which you want to paste the cut/copied region. See Select an image layer on page 85.
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2 Choose Edit > Paste Image . The cut/copied region is pasted into a new image layer above the active image layer. NOTE The region is pasted either into the center of the selection mask (if there is one) or into the center of the canvas plane (if there is no selection mask).
To paste the cut/copied region (into another application)

In the application, choose Edit > Paste Image .
Blur paint
Choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Blur Layer or choose a brush from Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Blur Layer and use the brush to blur paint.
To blur all unmasked paint on an image layer

1 Select the image layer you want to blur. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Blur Layer . NOTE To set the amount of blurring, choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Blur Layer to open the Blur Layer Options box, adjust the Blur Radius from 0 (no blur) to 32 (maximum blur), and click Go.
To blur paint by brushing

1 Select the image layer you want to blur paint on. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose Paint > Effect Brush > Blur Brush . 3 Drag the stylus on the area of the image layer you want to blur.
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NOTE To set the amount of blurring, open the Brush Options box (for example, choose Paint > Effect Brush > Blur Brush ) and adjust the Blur Strength from 0 (no blur) to 32 (maximum blur). TIP You can use any brush as a blur brush by setting Brush Mode to Blur in the Brush Options window.
Sharpen paint
Choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Sharpen Layer or choose a brush from Paint > Effect Brush > Sharpen Brush and use the brush to sharpen paint.
To sharpen all unmasked paint on an image layer

1 Select the image layer you want to sharpen. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Sharpen Layer . NOTE To set the amount of sharpening, choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Sharpen Layer to open the Sharpen Layer Options box and adjust the Sharpness from 0 (no sharpening) to 10 (maximum sharpening). To set the extent that each pixel is sharpened, set the Strength from 0 to 4.
To sharpen paint by brushing

1 Select the image layer you want to sharpen paint on. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose Paint > Effect Brush > Sharpen Brush . 3 Drag the stylus on the area of the image layer you want to sharpen. NOTE To set the amount of sharpening, open the Brush Options window (for example, choose Paint > Effect Brush > Sharpen Brush ) and adjust the Sharpness from 0 (no sharpening) to 10 (maximum sharpening). To set the extent that each pixel is sharpened, set the Sharpen Strength from 0 to 4.
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TIP You can use any brush as a sharpen brush by setting Brush Mode to Sharpen in the Brush Options window.
Smear paint
Choose a brush from Paint > Effect Brush > Smear Brush and use the brush to smear paint.
To smear paint
1 Select the image layer you want to smear paint on. See Select an image layer on page 85. 2 Choose Paint > Effect Brush > Smear Brush . 3 Drag the stylus on the area of the image layer you want to smear. TIP You can use any brush as a smear brush by setting Brush Mode to Smear in the Brush Options window.
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Adjust colors in images
Designers often need to adjust colors for many different reasons for many different styles of image. This series of How-to topics provides examples how the Alias color adjustment tools operate. The Color Balance, Brightness & Contrast, Saturation & Value, and Color Replace commands change colors or tonal values in a variety of ways. They provide quick and simple techniques to allow global or local color adjustments to an image layer. Once, the designer was forced to use third-party applications for all color adjustments. The process of copying layer information between applications was tedious and error prone due to the lack of alpha channel support on the windows clipboard. This work can now be accomplished within Alias. The color adjustment tools in Alias are aimed at designers who sketch, paint, render, or require fundamental photograph manipulation tools.
Balance color
The color balance tool enables you to adjust the amount of different hues in an image by choosing between thumbnails of color alternatives (red, magenta, blue, cyan, green, yellow). The Alias Color Balance window is not the same as Photoshops Variations window, which adds and subtracts color based on the HSV color wheel that can cause undesirable color clipping problems. Alias uses a more complex algorithm that improves hue shift while maintaining the integrity of the image.
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The Color Balance Window

This window is split into two horizontal regions: the preview area and the control area.
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By default, this tool modifies the color of all the pixels in the active layer unless a global or local mask provides protection. The amount of color added can be adjusted using the Adjustment Type options, Color Balance Factor value and the number of clicks made on the sample hue thumbnails.
Preview Area
The preview region shows the original image and the current adjustment values that will be applied to the active layer. This technique allows you to see exactly what color changes will be made without the need to remember how the image looked prior to color adjustment. This window region also allows you to zoom and pan into the area of interest; all preview icons update to show the current viewing area.
Adjustment Area
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Adjustment Type:
Select what to adjust in the image
All Color Tones, Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights to indicate whether you want to adjust the dark, middle, or light areas.
Add hue to Gray Scale Areas
This option allows you to only color balance areas of the image with color and will exclude gray (white>black) areas of the image. When turned on, the color adds hue to the complete image.
Color Balance Factor
Drag the Color Balance Factor slider to determine the amount of each adjustment. Move the slider to the left to reduce, to the right to increase the amount of color that will be added.
Adjust the Color Thumbnails
To add a color to the image, click the appropriate color thumbnail. Once clicked, the adjustment value is applied to the preview image on the left and the adjustment thumbnails update to display the next possible color selection. You may repeat this process any number of times, or click Clear at the bottom of the window to restore the original image.
Adjust colors
1 Import the image (File > Import > Canvas Image ) or pick the layer to be adjusted in the Canvas Layer Editor.
2 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Color Balance . The active layer is loaded into the Color Balance window. In this example we want to add blue to the image that is, convert the bright rust color to a pure blue color. 3 First we change the Color Balance Factor slider to 100%. This shifts all hues to pure color but maintains the current saturation and value (shading range). Note how the thumbnail icons change to preview the possible color balance changes when you click the thumbnail.
4 Click the More Blue thumbnail and watch the preview window update to the current adjustment value as shown below.
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5 Now click the More Cyan thumbnail and watch the preview window update to the current adjustment value. Also note the rear orange indicator light has changed because no mask layer or selection mask was used.
6 The hue looks very strong, so click Clear at the bottom of the window to restore the original image. 7 Adjust the color balance amount to 50% and click on the More Cyan thumbnail. This now adds 50% cyan to the original image. If you click the thumbnail again, it will add more cyan to the current selection.
The color balance window encourages experimentation with color balance, so play and have fun: when you are pleased with the preview, click Accept and the current adjustment values are applied to the active image layer.
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Protect part of an image from color adjustment changes

You can protect an image layer from any color adjustment by using a painted mask layer, a selection tool (marquee or magic wand), or a mask shape. This example uses a mask shape layer. 1 Choose any curve creation tool. In the Paint Panel set Type to Mask in the Global Auto-Shape section.
2 Create the curve around the rear indicator. Note as you draw the curve, a mask is automatically created. In this example we change the layer mask color to blue using the Construction Plane Editors Canvas > Canvas General Info window.
The rear indicator area is now protected from any color changes.
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3 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Color Balance . 4 Adjust the Color Balance Factor to 50% and click any of the thumbnails to adjust the color balance.
Notice how the rear indicator color has not changed because it was protected by the shape mask layer.
Modify gray scale regions of an image

1 Sometimes you want to add color to the gray regions of an image. First, load the image to modify. By default Add Hue to Gray Scale Areas option is off.
2 Turn on Add Hue to Gray Scale Areas and adjust the color balance factor.
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3 Click the thumbnail icons to adjust the color balance. In this example we have added small amounts of red and yellow to the overall image (except the rear indicator, which was protected with a shape mask layer).
4 Although the effect is good, the alloy wheels have been tinted. Cancel the operation, and create another shape mask layer to protect the wheels and tires. Tint the car again.
Modify color saturation and value in an image

This tool allows you to adjust the tonal range of an image by providing sliders for saturation and value. It also lets you compare the original image with a preview image showing the modifications as you change the slider values.
Example Workflow
1 Import the image (File > Import > Canvas Image ) or pick the layer to be adjusted in the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Saturation & Value . The active layer is loaded into the Saturation and Value window.
Decide what tonal value to change. In this example, well increase the saturation of all the colors in the image to make the sketch more dramatic, and then decrease the saturation for only the midtones. 3 Make sure the Adjustment Type is set to All Color Tones.
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4 Increase the saturation for all color tones by increasing the Saturation Factor until the bottom image looks correct.
5 Press the Accept button. The changes are applied to the layer and the Saturation and Value window closes. 6 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Saturation & Value again to reopen the window. 7 Zoom in and pan into the area of the image that has midtone colors (using the buttons at the top of the Saturation and Value window).
8 Decrease the saturation for only the midtone colors by changing the Adjustment Type to Only Midtones, and decreasing the Saturation Factor until the bottom image looks correct. (You may also lighten the midtones by decreasing the Value Factor.)
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9 Zoom back out to see the overall effect of the change in the bottom image.
10 Press the Accept button at the bottom of the Saturation and Value window. The changes are applied to the layer and the Saturation and Value window closes.
Modify brightness and contrast in an image

This tool allows you to adjust the tonal range of an image by providing sliders for brightness and contrast. It also lets you compare the original image with a preview image showing the modifications as you change the slider values.
Example Workflow
1 Import the image (File > Import > Canvas Image ) or pick the layer to be adjusted in the canvas Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Brightness & Contrast . The active layer is loaded into the Brightness and Contrast window.
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3 Zoom in and pan to see the area of the image that provides the best view (using the buttons at the top of the Brightness and Contrast window).
Decide what tonal value to change. In this example, well increase the contrast for all color tones. Then well make the shadows darker and the highlights brighter. 4 Make sure the Adjustment Type is set to All Color Tones. 5 Increase the contrast for all color tones by increasing the Contrast Factor until the bottom image looks correct.
6 Press the Accept button. The changes are applied to the layer and the Brightness and Contrast window closes. 7 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Brightness & Contrast again to reopen the window. 8 To make the shadows darker, set the Adjustment Type to Only Shadows, then decrease the Brightness Factor, until the bottom image looks correct..
9 Press the Accept button. The changes are applied to the layer and the Brightness and Contrast window closes. 10 Choose Paint Edit > Color Correction > Brightness & Contrast again to reopen the window. 11 To make the highlights brighter, set the Adjustment Type to Only Highlight, then increase the Brightness Factor, until the bottom image looks correct.
12 Press the Accept button at the bottom of the Brightness and Contrast window. The changes are applied to the layer and the Brightness and Contrast window closes.
Replace Color
Isolate and change a precise color range without the need of complex masking. The replace color tool is the most complex color adjustment tool but it is extremely powerful because it allows very fine control of hue, saturation, and value ranges. 1 Import the image (File > Import > Canvas Image ) or pick the layer to be adjusted in the Canvas Layer Editor. 2 Choose either the Paint Edit > Color Correction > Color Replace (HSV) (Hue, Saturation, Value) or Paint Edit > Color Correction > Color Replace
(HSL) (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) tool. The active layer is loaded into the Color Replace window.
3 Decide what to adjust: hue, saturation, and/or value, and click the check marks in the right of this window. In this first example, modify only the hue of the sky without changing any other color of the car. 4 Using the eye dropper tool, select the sky color. Notice how the From hue region changes so only hues that are defined by the from range can be modified. In the image below, the To hue range is set to cyan. You may need to broaden or narrow the From color range using the sliders or by using the eye dropper + or - tools.
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5 Use the center arrow to shift the To hue range to different regions, such as the blue region of the hue spectrum.
6 Or try yellow:
To see what precise areas of the image are protected from change, switch the preview area to Selection. 7 Choose Selection to display the mask in the preview box. Protected areas are masked pink, and unmasked areas are white. Partially masked areas (areas covered with a semi-transparent mask) appear as varying levels of pink according to their opacity. In this example you can see the car is protected but any sky reflections in the car will change. Note how
this image has almost black areas in the floor that contain an orange > yellow hue.
8 If the replace color range is incorrect, pick the eyedropper + to add areas, or use the eyedropper - button to remove areas. 9 Adjust the tolerance of the hue mask by dragging the outer slider arrows. This controls the feathering to which related colors are included in the selection. In the example below we have adjusted the tolerance sliders so they feather into the red hue of the car; this means the mask is semi-transparent.
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The icons to the right of the color range sliders allow fast alignment of the to and from range. This example shows From hue and feather. The range has been reset using the eyedropper, clicking the red of the car and the To hue range has been moved to blue.
10 Zoom into the front of the car and adjust the from outer sliders to remove the red tint from the body panels.
Now turn on the Saturation range and reduce the To range to make it smaller than the From range. This reduces the saturation of the blue car.
This example shows how the hue To range has been restored to the original but the saturation range is dramatically reduced, removing red from the car body panels.
11 Now adjust the To hue to green, broaden the saturation and turn on the value range, and move the To value to the left to darken the body panels.
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The color replace tool is extremely powerful for adjusting the hue, saturation or value of an image and can automatically mask the image.
Remove a color by making it transparent

Select a color then use the Erase Paper plug-in. This feature is available in all Alias products.
How to make all areas containing a given color transparent
1 Choose Utilities > Plug-in Manager and select the erasePaper plug-in in the Paint section (put a check mark in both columns). The Erase Paper tool plug-in erase paper is added to the Paint Edit palette. 2 In the Canvas Layer Editor, select the canvas and layer you want to affect. 3 Select the color you want to make transparent. (Choose a Brush tool to open up the color swatch in the upper left corner of the interface, which displays the default brush color.)
The quickest and most accurate way to select a color is by using the eye dropper. Click the eye dropper then click the color you want on the canvas. 4 Choose Paint Edit > Erase Paper The color is removed.
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NOTE In Design and Automotive, the image layer is duplicated before the color is removed. The new layer contains the original un-erased version, which you can access through the Canvas Layer Editor. 5 Repeat the process for another color, or another layer, if needed.
Modify parts of an image
10
Remove the background from an image

Remove the background from an image of a car. This How-To uses the file bmw.wire as an example. This file contains an image of a car and several curves that are used to remove the background.
NOTE To learn how to create curves, see the Learning Alias tutorials. 1 Choose Layouts > Top to maximize the Top view. 2 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor window. 3 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, double-click the bmw layer opacity value, type 0.2 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). Now you can better see the curves.
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4 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Mask Shape. 5 Click both curves. Each curve should become highlighted in white and have a check mark on it.
6 Click Accept to create a mask using the highlighted curves. Masked regions are shown in red.
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7 Choose Pick > Nothing to clear the selection. 8 In the Canvas Layer Editor window click the bmw layer. Its associated mask layers are highlighted in lavender in the bottom portion of the editor.
In this case, there is only one mask layer for the bmw layer: MaskShape-# (where # is a number).
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bmw is an image layer (indicated by image layer) and MaskShape-# is a shape mask layer (indicated by shape mask). An image layer contains paint (in this case, an imported image). A shape mask layer contains shapes and protects regions of an image layer. 9 Click the open eye icon for the MaskShape-# layer.
The icon becomes a closed eye color is hidden.
to indicate that the mask display
Notice that masked regions are no longer indicated in red. These regions are still masked, however. Whether you choose to display masked regions in red or not is based on the specific situation and on your own personal preference. 10 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, double-click the bmw layers layer opacity value, type 1 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). 11 Make sure the bmw layer is active. It should be highlighted in purple. If it is not, click it. 12 In the Canvas Layer Editor, click the erase layer button, or choose Edit > Clear layer to erase all unmasked regions.
Replace background in an image with a texture

Remove the sky from an image and replace it with a textured shape. This How-To uses the file annecy.tif, provided in the courseware directory. First youll select the sky and remove it from the image.
To select the sky and remove it

1 Choose Paint > Select > Magic Wand.
This tool lets you select a consistently colored area of an image layer. Notice that the Paint Panel now displays the Magic Wand Options. 2 Click the sky to select it. The sky appears unchanged, but the rest of the image becomes pink.
The pink color indicates regions that are not selected. (Regions that are not selected are also referred to as masked regions.) Regions that are not pink are selected regions (or unmasked regions). Now you can only modify the selected regions (for example, painting, erasing, copying, and so on). You cannot modify the pink (masked) regions. 3 In the Paint Panel under Magic Wand Options change the Tolerance to see how the selection changes. For example, set it to 100, 120, 130, and finally 20. 4 Click Accept. Notice that the text in the top left corner is not selected (that is, it appears pink). 5 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor window. 6 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, rename the layer with the picture on it annecy (if not already the case). 7 Click the open eye icon for the annecy layer to hide it.
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8 Choose Convert > Marquee to mask in the editor. A new mask layer called Marquee-# (where # is a number) is created in the bottom section of the Canvas Layer Editor and becomes the active layer. Regions of the mask layer that contain red paint represent areas of the active image layer that are masked, and regions of the mask layer that do not contain paint represent regions of the active image layer that are not masked (paintable). Here we want to modify the mask by painting directly into the mask layer. 9 Choose Paint > Eraser > Eraser Hard and erase the red regions that appear over the text.
Now these regions are unmasked.
(If there were any masked regions within the sky, for example clouds, you could remove them in a similar way.) 10 Choose Pick > Object. (The reason for this is only so a brush preview doesnt obscure your view when you zoom into the image in the next step.) 11 Zoom and pan your view until you are zoomed in very close to the edge of the pink region. Notice that the edge of the masked region is very abrupt and jagged.
Another modification we can make directly to the mask layer is to blur it so that the edge of the masked region is smooth. 12 Choose Paint Edit > Layer Effect > Blur Layer to blur the Selection layer.
Now the edge of the masked region is much more smooth.
13 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the closed eye for the annecy layer to show it again. 14 Zoom and pan your view until you can see the entire image. 15 Click the annecy layer to make it the active layer.
icon
16 Click on the mask unlink icon next to the Marquee-# layer so that it becomes a mask link icon. The mask is now associated with the annecy layer. 17 In the Canvas Layer Editor click erase layer to erase the selected region of the image.
To create a shape with texture fill for the background

Next youll create a new sky for the image using a shape with texture fill. 1 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, and in the toolbox choose Keypoint Curve Tools > Rectangle. This tool allows you to create a rectangle using Alias curves. 2 Click just outside the top left corner of the image to set the first corner point for the rectangle.
3 Click on the opposite corner point for the rectangle so the rectangle surrounds the entire sky region.
4 Choose Pick > Nothing to clear the selection. 5 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Image Shape. This tool allows you to create a shape with a fill and/or outline using Alias curves. Notice that the Paint Control Panel now displays the Shape Outline options and Shape Fill options. 6 Click the rectangle to select it. A check mark should appear on it. 7 In the Paint Panel, Visibility should be turned off under Shape Outline options, but turned on under Shape Fill options so that the shape has a fill but no outline. 8 In the Paint Panel under Shape Fill options, click the Map button beside RGB Color to open the Shape Texture window. This lets you choose a texture for the shapes fill. 9 In the Shape Texture window click Ramp to choose the ramp texture and open the Shape Texture: Ramp window. This window contains parameters that let you customize the ramp texture. Youll do this later in the tutorial. 10 Close the Shape Texture: Ramp window. 11 Click Accept to create the shape. A shape layer called Shape-# is created in the Canvas Layer Editor and contains the new shape.
12 Choose ObjectDisplay > Invisible to hide the rectangle.
To edit the sky

Next youll move the shape behind the image and modify the ramp texture so it appears more like an actual sky. 1 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor window. There are two layers in this sketch: annecy and Shape-# (where # is a number). annecy is an image layer (indicated by image layer) and Shape-# is a shape layer (indicated by shape layer). An image layer contains paint (in this case, an imported image) and a shape layer contains shapes. You cannot use a brush to paint or erase on a shape layer. 2 Double-click Shape-# to rename the layer. 3 Type sky and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). 4 In the Canvas Layer Editor window use the middle mouse button to drag the sky layer down. Drag the sky layer onto the annecy layer. When a red triangle pointing down appears on the annecy layer, release the middle mouse button.
The sky layer is now beneath the annecy layer.
5 Click the white triangle beside the sky layer to display the list of shapes it contains.
In this case, there is only one shape on the layer: Shape-rectangle.
6 Click Shape-rectangle to select it. It becomes highlighted in yellow. The shapes name appears in the Paint Panel above the Display options. 7 In the Paint Panel under Shape Fill options, click the red arrow beside the Map button under RGB Color to open the Shape Texture: Ramp window. 8 Click the red square with an X to the right of the ramp to remove this color from the texture.
Notice how the shapes fill changes. The black handle at the bottom left corner of the ramp is highlighted in white indicating that it is the active handle. 9 Drag the Ramp Color slider to the right to change its color to white. Notice how the shapes fill changes. 10 Click the blue handle at the top left corner of the ramp so it becomes highlighted in white. 11 Click the Ramp Color color chip to open the Color Editor. 12 Choose a sky blue color.
Resize an object on a canvas

Resize the headlight on an image of a car. This How-To uses the file bmw.tif as an example. The file is located in the pix sub-directory in the Courseware project. Open it by choosing File > Import > Canvas Image .
To copy the headlight

First, copy the detail you want to resize; in this case, copy the headlight. 1 Zoom and pan your view so you can see the left headlight clearly.
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2 Choose Paint > Select > Marquee (rectangle). 3 Drag a rectangle around the left headlight.
If you make a mistake, drag a new rectangle around the headlight. The pink color indicates regions of the active layer that are not selected. (Regions that are not selected are also referred to as masked regions.) Regions that are not pink are selected regions (or unmasked regions). Now you can only modify the selected regions (for example, painting, erasing, copying, and so on). You cannot modify the pink (masked) regions. 4 Choose Edit > Copy Image to copy the selected regions to the clipboard. 5 Choose Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor to open the Canvas Layer Editor. 6 Double-click on the layer containing the image, and rename it bmw (if not already the case).
7 Choose Edit > Paste Image to paste the contents of the clipboard into a new image layer. Notice in the Canvas Layer Editor window that there is now a new layer named ALIAS_PIX_CL. 8 Double-click the ALIAS_PIX_CL layer, type headlight and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to rename the layer.
To resize the headlight

Next youll resize the headlight. 1 Make sure the headlight layer is active. It should be highlighted in purple in the Canvas Layer Editor. If it is not, click it. 2 Choose Edit > Transform layer in the Canvas Layer Editor. A manipulator appears on the image layer.
3 Drag the proportional scale handle to increase the size of the headlight. Release the proportional scale handle to preview the transformation.
If you do not like the headlights new size, drag the proportional scale handle again. 4 Click Accept to accept the transformation. 5 Choose Pick > Object to clear the selection. 6 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the open eye icon for the headlight layer to hide the image layer so you can see the original image.
7 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the closed eye for the headlight layer to show it again.
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To remove paint around the headlight

Next youll remove the parts of the car body that surround the headlight. 1 In the Canvas Layer Editor window, click the open eye icon for the bmw layer to hide the image layer. Now you can clearly see the contents of the headlight layer.
Make sure the headlight layer is active. It should be highlighted in purple. If it is not, click it.
2 Zoom and pan your view so the headlight fills the view. 3 In the Canvas Layer editor, click the new invisibility mask layer button. 4 Click on the headlight layer again to make it active. 5 Link the invisibility mask layer (Invisibility-#)to the headlight layer by clicking the mask unlink icon to the right of the invisibility mask layer name so that it becomes a mask link icon.
6 Click on the invisibility mask layer to make it the active layer. 7 Choose Paint > Solid Brush > Brush Felt. Adjust the size of the brush to give you control, and paint the car areas. Notice that where you paint, a mustard-yellow color is laid down. This will hide the parts of the car that you dont want visible. 8 Brush roughly around the headlight to hide most of the car body.
If some of the headlight is covered by the yellow invisibility mask, use the eraser tool to remove the mask in those areas. 9 Brush carefully around the headlight to hide any remaining parts of the car body, adjusting the size of the brush and eraser as needed.
10 Click on the Headlight layer to see how the Invisibility mask layer hides all areas covered in yellow.
11 In the Canvas Layer Editor, click the closed eye bmw layer to show it again. 12 Zoom and pan your view so you can see the entire car.
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13 In the Canvas Layer Editor, click the open eye icon for the headlight layer to hide the image layer so you can see the original image.
14 In the Canvas Layer Editor, click the closed eye headlight layer to show it again.
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To merge and export the final image

Finally youll merge the image layers together and export the final image. 1 Choose Layer > Merge Below from the Canvas Layer Editor to merge the active image layer (headlight) with the image layer below it (bmw). Notice that there is once again only one image layer named bmw. 2 Close the Canvas Layer Editor. 3 Choose File > Export > Canvas Image/Mask Layer to open the File Browser and save the final image.
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Deform and warp images
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Designers often need to adjust the shape of an image layer for many different reasons; it could be simply a matter of making a sketch wider or taller, or to even correct the perspective viewpoint of a sketch. This series of How-to topics provides examples of how the Alias image deformation tools operate. Global Image Deformation Techniques

Scale Image Layer Non-Proportional Image Scale Layer 4 Point Image Deformation Perspective Image Deformation Skew Image Deformation
Local Image Deformation
Curve Shape Warp
Why deform images The image deformation tool allows you to globally change the shape of an image layer through the following styles of interaction.

Non-Proportional Image Scale Layer 4 Point Image Deformation Perspective Image Deformation Skew Image Deformation
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Deform an image to correct perspective

1 Import the image (File > Import > Canvas Image ) or pick the layer to be adjusted in the paint layer editor. 2 Choose Paint Edit > Deform Layer . The active image layer will display manipulator handles as shown below.
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Current settings of this tool:
3 Pick and move the right top corner handle using the right mouse button. (Action = Unconstrained corner deformation)
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4 Select and move the center right handle with the right mouse button to make the image wider. (Action = Unconstrained edge deformation)
5 Select and move the left top corner handle with the right mouse button. (Action = Unconstrained corner deformation)
6 Select and move the right corner handle with the middle mouse button to make the image wider following the 2 point perspective guide lines. (Action = Constrained corner deformation) 7 By using the vertical & horizontal bias controls in the option window you can deform the center of the image, that is, pull or push the center of the image towards or away from the perspective point.
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Warp an image with shapes

The image warp shape tool enables you to locally change the shape of an image using curves. You creates warp shapes using any number of curves, and these curve create a direct interaction with the image layer, so as a curve changes, the image is also modified with a region of influence control. Some curves can be used to create positional constraints while other curves are used to deform the image.
Warp a sketched image

1 Import the image (File > Import > Canvas Image ) or pick the layer to be adjusted in the paint layer editor.
In this example, assume you want to make the front of this car smaller and reduce the wheelbase. Traditionally this would mean redrawing the complete image, which is time consuming and tedious. 2 Zoom into the area of interest.
3 Use any curve creation tool to define a warp region. In this example, we have created a simple ellipse.
4 Reshape the ellipse to match the shape of the front wheel arch.
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5 Choose Paint Edit > Make Warp Shape.
6 Pick any number of curves to create a warp shape from, then click Accept. In this example we will use only one curve.
In the image layer a warp shape layer has been created.
7 Scale the ellipse and watch the image layer dynamically deform. You may need to change the Influence slider in the paint panel to achieve a pleasing result.
8 Move the ellipse shape to the left.
Below you can see the changes.
Deform a photographic image

In this example we will use the same procedure as Warp a sketched image on page 228 but this time we will use a photographic style source image. Imagine that the design chief likes the overall concept car, but wants to reduce the
wheel base, raise the roof slightly, and modify the door shut line. In terms of modeling this would be a tremendous amount of work, but this concept can be very quickly achieved using the curve warp tool. 1 Load the image to modify.
2 Duplicate the layer and move it so we can see both the original image and the warped image layer.
3 Create curves on the image to act as warp constraints. In this example, we have drawn circles over the wheel and tire to help keep the final warped area circular.
4 Choose Paint Edit > Make Warp Shape and pick each curve to be used as a warp constraint. NOTE Note any type of curve (CV, Edit Point, Blend, Key Point, and so on) or surface isoparametric curve can be used. 5 Open the Canvas Layer Editor to see the new warp shape layer that has been created.
6 Nothing will change in the image layer until you transform or edit the curves used as warp constraints. In the image below we have modified all the curves: now compare both images.
In the image below we have toggled off the curve visibility so it is easier to see the difference.
If you look carefully and critically, you will see the interior center of the wheel was warped by accident, because no curve was used to constrain this area of the image. 7 No problem! Just add another circle in the current center of the wheel and create another warp shape using the center circle and the outer alloy wheel area. 8 Now move the center of the wheel to the correct position.
9 Sometimes it is hard to see what areas of an image have been deformed, and by how much. Select any of the curves used by the warp shape and turn on Feedback. This displays a grid that enables you to see the amount of warp in the image.
The image below shows the final image that took about 2 minutes to produce.
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Create digital tape drawings
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Create accurate digital tape drawings easily within Alias by using the automatic shape creation option as curves are created. This How-To provides the basic workflow for creating a front view tape drawing.
Setting up your environment

1 Choose Preferences > Menus > Long Menus or Ctrl + 3 (Windows) or Control + 3 (Mac) to ensure Alias is displaying all the 3D menus. 2 Choose Preferences > Construction Options to set your working units. In this example, we set the Main Units to cm and turn on Reset Grids.
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3 Choose Construction > Grid Preset from the tool palette. Turn on Labels if you want to see grid labels. Make sure Grid Spacing is set to 10.0 so grids are drawn every 10 cm.
4 Zoom out your view or resize your window to be able to see the grid from -100 to +100 along the horizontal axis, and -120 to +120 along the vertical axis.
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5 Choose Layers > New to create a working geometry layer. Make it active by clicking on it (the button will be drawn in yellow). 6 With the Left modeling window active, select Symmetry from the horizontal layers bar. (Click on the active layer button to display the menu). We want the front view of the car to be symmetric across the center line (Z axis). Layer symmetry will automatically reflect the curves and create shape objects as we draw curves. This means this geometry layer will now automatically create curves across the Z axis. 7 Make the Left window full screen.
Using Automatic shape creation options

1 Choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint to turn on 2D paint menus. 2 In the Global Auto-shape section of the Paint Control Panel, choose Image(outline) from the Type menu. The system will now draw shape outlines every time a new curve is created. 3 In the Shape Outline options section in the Paint Control Panel, set the Style to Solid Brush, Opacity to 1, and Width to 4. 4 Open the Curves > Blend Curve Toolboxand choose the Keypoint Curve Tools > Lines > Line tool. Place the first point at 0,0,0 and the second point at 0, 90 cm, 0. Notice how the shape is automatically drawn on the left side of the construction plane. Using the object information window you can adjust the line length to accurately define half the width of the car.
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5 Select the Line tool again and draw another line to define the height: 0, 0, 112 cm. NOTE You might need to zoom out your view to see the whole lines.
6 Select both lines and adjust the width of the shape outline. I.e make these construction lines 2 pixels wide (Width set to 2.0). This will also modify the width of future construction lines that you place in the image. 7 Open the Blend curve toolbox from the Curves palette, choose Blend curve create and use curve snap to snap the first point to the top of the vertical line you created earlier. Continue drawing the windscreen profile. Notice that as you draw on one side of the symmetry plane, the system draws the curve and the shape on the other side.
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8 Use the blend curve tools to edit the curve and add constraints as required. For example, the center point requires a tangent constraint to ensure the curve is flat across the line of symmetry.
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9 Continue to create additional blend curves to define the front view. Make sure you use curve snap for curves that intersect so a curve relationship/constraint is automatically created.
10 Now select the curves you want to make wider and modify the Shape Outline Width. 11 You may also want to remove the outline from the first horizontal & vertical lines. These were created as guide curves to establish the correct width & height of the car.
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12 At this point you may wish to evaluate the quality of each curve created using the Alias curve curvature tools.
13 At any time you can toggle off the geometry curves using F12 or WindowDisplay > Toggles > Model . 14 If you are working in an environment with 1:1 projection capabilities or you want to print your tape drawing at a larger scale, you may want to increase the resolution of the canvas plane. All shape curves will automatically update when the canvas plane resolution is changed. 15 Our canvas plane resolution is 1109 * 770 pixels, which if printed at 150ppi would result in an image printed on paper of approximately 7 x 5 without any image scaling.
Changing Canvas Plane Resolution

1 First, dolly out to see the canvas plane and enough space around it to be able to see the edges of the new canvas plane.
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2 Open Canvas > Resize Canvas to open the Resize Canvas Control window. Adjust the canvas Width to 2000 pixels and the Height to 1800 pixels.
3 The canvas plane by default enlarges from the center of the canvas plane. The blue dashed line shows the new canvas plane size.
4 We need to scale the canvas plane to suit the size of the curves we have drawn earlier. First choose the canvas plane in the Construction Plane Editor. Then choose Canvas > Resize Canvas and drag the corner selection handle to increase the size of the canvas plane to be large enough to encompass all curves. Notice that the shapes automatically re-render to a new image resolution every time the canvas plane is transformed.
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5 The canvas plane is still a little too tall. Choose Paint > Select > Marquee (rectangle) and select the area of the canvas plane to keep.
6 Now choose Canvas > Crop to Marquee to reduce the canvas plane size. Note the marquee tool and crop can also be used to make a canvas plane larger.
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7 Notice the shape outline now look much smaller because the canvas plane resolution has changed. Adjust the width of each shape curve to suit the new resolution. 8 The image below now has a canvas plane resolution of 2000 x 1325 pixels, which prints approximately 13.25 x 8.75 @ 150ppi. Alias supports canvas plane resolution up to 6000 pixels and also support bi-linear image scaling during the printing process so much larger images can be printed.
NOTE Increasing the canvas plane size is a good idea for presenting images at larger sizes, but note that the system memory requirements dramatically increase, printing will take longer, and brush strokes become slower. A careful balance needs to be established between image resolution and system speed.
Printing
Lets assume you now want to print your tape drawing at scale. A number of options need to be set before your can make a successful print. 1 First choose File > Print Setup and on the Output tab, choose a printer; in this example, we will print on a large format roll feed printer using the output postscript print language.
2 Next, on the Paper tab, select the paper type, paper standard, paper size and orientation.
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3 In this example, we require the typical title box and engineering information in the bottom left corner of the paper.
4 Next, we define what views we want to see on the paper. In this example we want to see a single view layout and we want to specify a specific print scale.
Note the active window is used by default to create a single view layout. 5 Now its time to select the print menu command to open the preview window.
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The print preview window shows dotted line pages. At a scale of 1:1, this image requires 9 pages of A0 size paper. 6 Modify the Page Display State in this preview window to display each page with paper margins. This option makes it clear to understand what will be printed on each page.
NOTE You can use standard Alias view modifier keys (Alt + Shift + middle mouse button (Windows) or Option + Shift + middle mouse button (Mac)) in the preview window to adjust exactly how the image will be positioned on the paper. 7 After considering this image for a bit, we decide that what we really want is a single piece of paper at 1:4 (25%) scale. In the print setup window Viewing tab, change the Scale to 1:4.
8 See how the Print Preview window has changed to display a single page.
9 Now click the Print button to print your image.
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Adding Simple Texture To a Tape Drawing

When creating a tape drawing, designers often add solid color and texture to improve the appearance of the image. In this example we will use the Make Shape tool to add this detail. 1 Load in your tape drawing file you created earlier. In our example, the main tape curves have been created and additional curves that define the wheels, headlights, and grill detailing have been placed with a thinner line.
At the moment the additional curve detailing is assigned to the default 3D geometry layer, so we need to create new symmetry layers and assign the geometry to them. 2 Choose Preferences > Workflows > Modeling to make all modeling tools available. 3 Choose Layers > New to create a new geometry layer. A geometry layer will be added to the horizontal bar. Double click the new layer and type a name, for example, Headlights. 4 Repeat this step and name the next layer Tires; repeat again and name the next Grill. The Grill geometry layer should be the active layer (drawn in yellow). 5 Using Pick > Object select the curves that define the grill detailing and assign them to the Grill layer using the Grill layer drop-down menu.
6 Using the same menu, turn on Symmetry for this layer and notice how the curves are reflected across the center line. 7 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Image Shape and select the curves that define the center grill. Note you need only select one half of the grill curves.
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8 Click the Accept button. After the curves are accepted a shape object is created and the paint parameters adjusted.
9 In this example, we want to create a small vertical grill effect, so click on the Map button next to RGB Color in the Shape Fill options of the Paint Panel to open the Shape Texture window.
10 Click the Bulge texture.
11 Adjust the Uscale & Vscale bulge parameters .
12 Repeat this process for the outer grill detailing.
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13 Follow the same procedure to assign the Grid texture to the tires. Set the Vwidth to 0 so the grid displays as vertical lines.
Congratulations! Youve now completed a tape drawing using Alias.
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Create rapid concepts using sketching and rolled edge tools
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Use Sketch Projection, Curve Warp, Image Warp, Fillet Flange, and Tube Flange to develop concept models. Alias has supported 2D image projection for a number of years. We have dramatically updated the workflow to better support real-time rendering (that is, Hardwarwe Shade), the ability to project paint from more than one view, and the ability to use layer transparency. This document shows how to:

use a concept sketch to quickly add design detail to 3D conceptual surfaces, and deform 2D & 3D to quickly evaluate design change.
Create a 3D sketch
Apply a sketch to a 3D model for a painterly rendered image. Project Sketch is a convenient method of previewing a surface that you have created with the aid of a 2D sketch image plane. Sketch render converts the image plane to a shader and assigns it to the model.
Using a sketch projection

When you use a sketch projection on a model, the following processes are automatically performed:
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If there already exists a shader named SketchProjection (for example, from previously performing a sketch render), then it is replaced with the new shader. 1 A new shader named SketchProjection is created in the Multi-lister based on a projection of the image plane along the cameras normal. That is, the new shader has a Projection texture mapped to its Color parameter, the Projection texture has a File texture mapped to its Source Texture parameter, and the File texture has the image plane file mapped to its Image parameter. You must have an image plane defined in order to use Project Sketch. 2 The new shader is assigned to either all or select surfaces, depending on the option chosen in Canvas > Project Sketch . 3 If there are no lights in the scene, place some by using Render > Create Lights > Create Defaults or by placing specific lights. 4 At this point, you can render the surfaces, using Render > Direct Render , WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade , or Render > Render . If you perform another sketch render, the SketchProjection shader will be replaced. If you wish to keep a sketch render shader, rename if before performing another sketch render.
Project a sketch to quickly add design details

Sketch and paint a design concept
1 Create the 2D curves that define your design. In this example we have created curves in the top view that are symmetric across the center line of the phone.
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2 Now use the Alias shapes and brush tools to create an early design concept.
3 Continue to add design details on different layers.
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Develop a simple model using the same curves

Create the 3D surface using the same curves used to define the paint shape. The next image shows a Hardware Shade perspective view. From a design perspective, this is adequate, but its 3D view is missing life and design content. Traditionally, the designer would now spend lots of time building 3D geometry to add design detail, but often designers dont want to spend this time and effort during the early stages of design.
Projecting a sketch onto a model

1 Now pick the surface you want to project paint onto. In this example, we only want to project paint onto the top surface because this is the only area that has design detail. 2 Open the options window for Canvas > Project Sketch and turn on Active Objects, Active Canvas. Click Go to start the Sketch Projection process.
Behind the scenes, a shading network is being created, in which a series of shaders is automatically created and layered over the top of the assigned shaders. This means that any area of the sketch that is transparent will use the colour assigned by the original shader.
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3 You have the option of seeing layered shaders when in Hardware Shade mode. By default, this option is off and must be turned on before you can see the sketch projection. Layered shaders are turned off by default because they requires more graphics processing by the graphics card. The slower the graphics card, the slower the performance of Hardware Shade with layered shaders turned on.
Image above shows layered shaders turned off.
As you can see in the image above, Sketch Projection has been used to add 2D detail to an early design model. The buttons and LED display area are not modeled they are simply projected paint onto an almost flat surface. You can tumble around this model, evaluating the concept deciding if you want to continue adding 3D detail or refine the 2D detail. 4 In this example, well pinch the phone body to add nice curves to the phone. This will be done with Curve Warp Shapes.
Modify an object with curve warp shapes

Use paint tools to reshape a concept
1 Assign all the 3D geometry to a geometry layer and make the layer invisible. 2 Choose Paint Edit > Make Warp Shape . Create a curve warp shape by picking the curves highlighted in red on the paint layer used for the Phone Body. Note we have selected the outer curves and the curves used to define the LED display, because we want to maintain the shape of the LED area and deform only the body. Choosing the LED curves effectively stops the deformation from continuing past the LED curves.
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3 Use any curve modification tool to adjust the shape of curves. In this example, we have modified a blend curve point to pinch the body of the phone. We dont modify or the LED curves because we want this area unaffected by the curve warp process.
4 Watch how the image layer warps as the 2D curve is modified.
5 Select the image layer displaying the small buttons. 6 Choose Paint Edit > Deform Layer . This tool globally deforms everything on the active layer, whereas curve warp is typically used to locally deform the active image layer.
7 Use the image deformation handles to adjust the shape of the buttons to match the new body shape.
8 Change the image layer and adjust the position and shape of the upper small buttons.
9 Make the 3D geometry visible again, and wait a few seconds while the construction history updates the 3D geometry. For this example, we used the same curves for the 2D shapes, 3D primary surfaces, 3D transitional surfaces, and the warp shapes that deformed the 2D phone body.
10 The final stage in this process is to update the sketch projection references so Hardware Shade updates to display the new warped and deformed sketch. To update the sketch projection references either choose Project > Project Sketch in the Canvas Layer Editor, or reselect the surfaces and choose Canvas > Project Sketch again. As you see, you can use paint to add design details to quick 3D concept models, quickly and easily change a design using curve warp and image deformation, and use 2D & 3D can be used together as a powerful design tool.
Modify the color

Time to make one quick and final change to this design concept: adjust the colour of the body. 1 Select the image layer that has the main body on it. 2 Open Paint Edit > Color Correction > Color Balance .
3 Adjust the color balance sliders, then click one of the color thumbnails to select the color change. When youre happy with the color representaiton, click Accept at the bottom of the window.
The 2D sketch is now updated to a new color.
4 Update the sketch projection file references and tumble your model in the perspective window.
Using sketch projection to add detail does not replace adding the design detail: it does allow the designer to postpone building the design detail during the conceptual design phase of design.
Project a sketch for fast design label mapping

This section will cover how to use sketch projection for texture mapping a typical product design. In the past, texture map placement across multiple trimmed surface was challenging, but this is now much easier with current sketch projection techniques.
This example image use sketch projection for the small PDA button icons, PDA display, and red sketch. The scene is rendered using Alias RayTracing. 1 Use a texture brush with a fine plastic grain to texture paint the first layer.
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2 In this example, the texture brush is a little too dark; to lighten it, open the Canvas Layer Editor (Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor ) and make this layer semi-transparent by changing the layer opacity value.
3 Create curves to define the design primary design components. In this example, we have assigned these curves to a 3D layer and made this layer symmetric.
4 Create more curves that define the icons and create paint shapes from these curves or import standard company graphics.
5 Import a graphic design page for the PDA screen.
Next, clean up the appearance of the gray base plastic layer. We could use a mask layer and delete the plastic outside the main PDA body, but in this case, we will use an invisibility mask shape to hide the paint on this layer. Make sure the current layer is the plastic body layer that was painted with the texture brush. 6 Choose Paint > Shape > Make Invisibility Mask Shape . You are prompted to select the curves, then click Accept. The image below shows how the invisibility mask shape has hidden the paint inside the curves.
7 In this example, this is not what we want, so choose Edit > Invert Layer in the Canvas Layer Editor.
The image above shows how the plastic paint layer now only shows paint defined by the invisibility mask shape. The advantage to this workflow is the paint will be automatically hidden or shown as the curves are modified. If we had used a mask layer and erased the paint with a brush, it would require a significant amount of work to repair the layer.
Develop a surface for the model

1 Create two curves to define the top surface of the PDA. 2 Extrude a surface along these curves highlighted in red.
You now have built the primary surface for the PDA top.
3 In the Top window, choose Surface Edit > Create CurvesOnSurface > Project to create curves on surface.
4 Use Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface to cut away the top surface and discard the outer edges.
Project painted details on a simple model

From the Top view, we can quickly project paint onto the top surface. 1 Select the surface you want to project paint onto.
2 Open the option windows for Canvas > Project Sketch . This tool supports projection of paint from a number of views and onto active or all surfaces.
3 Change windows to the Perspective view and open WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade to toggle shade on.
Hardware Shade has been dramatically enhanced in terms of texture quality, speed and the ability to support layered shaders with transparency.
4 Turn on Layered Shader. By default, layered shaders is turned off because it is more expensive to calculate multiple levels of shading per pixel. But on most modern machines with up-to-date graphics cards, the extra calculations should have little impact.
5 Tumble the scene in real time to view this very simple concept surface. 6 At this stage you can reposition the graphics, then update the sketch projection either using the menu in the canvas layer editor or by repeating the sketch render process.
Building primary and transition surfaces using the fillet flange and tube flange tool
How to build a PDA using Fillet Flange and Tube Flange.
1 Choose Surfaces > Rolled Edge > Fillet Flange , then click the trimmed edge of the top surface.
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2 You may find that the fillet flange builds in the wrong direction, based on the curve direction. To change the direction, choose Flip in the Wall section of the control window.
In this example we have set a 15 degree taper on the wall and a two unit fillet. You should notice immediately this tool first builds a flange wall, and then fillets between the flange wall and the input surface in one very simple workflow.
3 Adjust the length of the flange then click the Recalc button.
4 When you have completed adjusting the fillet and flange properties, turn on Auto-Trim so the top surface is automatically trimmed.
5 Turn on WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade to evaluate the surfaces.
6 In the Top view, project the curves on the inside that will define the LED display area.
7 Use the trim tool to discard the center of the surface, resulting in surfaces as shown here.
8 Use Surfaces > Rolled Edge > Tube Flange to create a blended inner surface for the LED area. 9 Tube flange prompts you to select a series of curves. In this example, we create a fillet (tube) then draft a flange from the edge of the fillet. This complex operation is done with one simple workflow using the Tube flange tool.
By default, the tube is 1 unit and the flange is built at 90 degrees.
10 In the control window, adjust the Fillet size to 5, Flange sweep angle to 15, and the Flange length to 2.
11 Turn on Hardware Shade to review the surfaces.
Building button holes and buttons

1 In the top window project the circles that will form the button holes.
2 Using the trim surface tool, discard the holes in the top surfaces. 3 Use Surfaces > Rolled Edge > Fillet Flange to create the blend recesses for the buttons.
4 Repeat this the fillet flange process for the second button.
5 Turn on Hardware Shade to review the button recess.
6 Choose Surfaces > Planar Surfaces > Set Planar to create the tops of the buttons using simple circle curves.
7 Choose Surfaces > Rolled Edge > Tube Flange to create the filleted flange surfaces that are needed for the button edges.
8 Dolly the camera out to review the surfaces created so far.
9 Refine the surface design and add more detail, like buttons for other functions.
Finishing the concept model

Next, well add some graphic design detail to our concept model. In this example we have turned off the gray plastic paint layer and selected all the surfaces highlighted in red. 1 Open the Canvas > Project Sketch options window, select Active View and Active Objects, then click Go.
2 In the Hardware Shade options window, make sure layered shaders is turned on.
Originally, we created the quick concept sketch using a texture brush to create a plastic finish for the PDA. 3 Open the Canvas Layer Editor (Windows > Editors > Canvas Layer Editor ) and turn this layer back on. 4 Choose Project > Project sketch in the Canvas Layer Editor to update the projected shader.
Here is a close-up to show the faint plastic finish painted on the 2D image layer.
5 You can now set up the scene for raytracing and produce a simple design image like this. All complex texture mapping is handled by the Sketch projection procedure.
Tips and Tricks
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This section contains a list of tips related to the Alias sketching tools that will ease some tasks and increase your efficiency.
Brushes and Colors

When sketching, find the balance between quality and speed. While a small brush stamp bias may improve the smoothness, it results in slower brush performance; using a large stamp bias provides additional speed, but may not provide the quality. Try to avoid big texture brushes that have variable brush radius or Rotate to Stroke turned on, as the combination slows performance. To erase paint, flip the stylus around and use the eraser function at the end of the stylus. To quickly switch between painting and erasing using the same brush, with a brush tool active press and release 1 to paint, or 2 to erase. To create a horizontal brush stroke in an orthographic window, drag the middle mouse button or the equivalent stylus button.
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To create a vertical brush stroke in an orthographic window, drag the right mouse button or the equivalent stylus button. To snap a brush to a curve, click the curve button to the right of the prompt line (or hold down Ctrl + Alt (Windows) or Control + Option (Mac)). You can snap a brush to invisible curves (ObjectDisplay > Invisible) or curves on invisible layers (Layers > Visibility > Invisible). You can use any brush as a blur brush, sharpen brush, smear brush, dodge brush, or burn brush by setting Brush Mode to Blur, Sharpen, Smear, Dodge or Burn (respectively) in the Brush Options window. To make any brush erase paint, set the Brush Color to black and set the Color Opacity to 0. (To keep these settings for the brush, turn on Preserve Color). To change the colors in the Color Blender, set the current color (for example, using the RGB or HSV sliders) and then click a corner square in the Color Blender. To store the current color in the Color Swatches, drag the Current Color Swatch over a square on the Swatches board.
310 | Chapter 14 Tips and Tricks
Miscellaneous
To create a new shape layer, first create a new image layer and make it the active layer, then create a new shape. To convert an individual shape within a shape layer into paint, first re-create the shape on its own shape layer. Then convert the shape layer to an image layer.
| 311
312
Index
A
Alias Paint import plug-in 62 animation image planes 57 converting to canvas 74 arranging image layers 8990 Auto-Shape image 130 mask 130 stencil 130 brightness modifying in image 189 brushes 99 Brush Stamp options 132 cloning texture 121 color 105 customizing 102 floodfill 121 marker wetness 110 on high resolution canvas 103 opacity 108 options 103 overview 99 preview 100, 104 profile 114 saving to shelves 103 selecting 99 shape 113 size 112 snapping to curves 116 snapshot 132 softness 114 using 99
B
backgrounds canvas plane 67 layer 79 blur brush adjusting 111 blur strength 111 bookmark shelves creating 45 deleting 46 moving 46 renaming 46 bookmarks 43 camera only mode 47 creating 43 cycling through 46 deleting 45 re-ordering 45 renaming 45 saving 47 saving as image files 48 selecting 44 shelves 43 updating 44 view transition time 47 viewing 46 workflows 48
C
Canvas > Crop to marquee 70 Canvas > Resize canvas 68, 7172 Canvas Layer Editor importing image files 82 canvas planes 65 background 67 converting to animation 74 copying images as new 61 cropping 70 deleting 77 expanding 70 exporting 75 hiding 65 importing images as new 61 manipulator 71
313 | Index
moving 70 naming 62 overview 57 rotating 65 scaling 68 showing 65 sketching 57 synchronizing 67 zooming 64 canvas planes (See also sketch image planes) 57 canvases flipping 31 importing from Alias Paint 62 in perspective window 29 Cintiq sketching on 32 Cintiq interface meaning of icons 34 clearing image layers 96 clone brush 121 cloning a source texture 121 color changing, for mask layers 156 color editor brush color 105 color saturation modifying in image 185 colors background 67 brush 105 editing 105 inverting on image layer 93 saving 108 shape fill 138 contrast modifying in image 189 converting canvas planes to animation image planes 74 shapes to paint 143 copying image layers 86, 91 images 169
images as new canvas planes creating bookmark shelves 45 bookmarks 43 image layers 80 masks 147, 152153 shapes 137 sketch image planes 58 Crop to marquee 70 cropping canvas planes 70 curves shapes 130 customizing brushes 102 stylus 7 tablet 7 cutting images 169 Cycle Bookmark button 46
61
D
deleting bookmark shelves 46 bookmarks 45 canvas planes 77 image layers 96 shapes 142 disabling masks 157158 dollying sketch image planes 64 duplicating image layers 86
E
erasing image layers 96 paint 100 expanding canvas planes 70 exporting canvas planes 75 image layers 95
314 | Index
F
fill floodfill 121 shape 138 flipping 65 canvas planes 65 canvases 31 image layers 88 Flood Fill 121
G
Global Auto-Shape in Paint panel 130
H
height, sketch image plane 71 hiding canvas planes 65 image layers 92 mask color 155 masks 158 paint 122 high resolution using brushes at 103 hot keys sketching 31 Hot spots interface 32, 38
I
image files importing as mask layers 149 image layers 79, 97 arranging 8990 blurring 170 clearing 96 copying 86 copying into another canvas 91 creating 80 deleting 96 duplicating 86 erasing 96
exporting 95 flipping 88 hiding 92 importing 149 importing images as 82 inverting 93 invisible 92 isolating 92 manipulator 87 merging 94 moving,scaling,rotating 87 naming 81 opacity 92 overview 79 selecting 85 sharpening 171 showing 92 showing current 92 transparency 92 visible 92 image planes animating 57 converting into shaders 269 images files importing with Canvas Layer Editor 82 importing Alias Paint canvases 62 image files with Canvas Layer Editor 82 image layers 149 images as image layers 82 images as new canvas planes 61 inverting image layers 93 invisibility masks 155 masks 154 invisibility masks inverting 155 invisible image layers 92 isolating image layers 92
Index | 315
L
layers background 79 image 79 mask 145, 152 shape 136 sketch 79
O
opacity brush 108 changing, for mask layers image layer 92 shape fill 138 ordering bookmarks 45 outline shape 138
156
M
manipulator canvas plane 71 image layer 87 marker wetness 110 marquee creating masks 147 masks 145, 159 associating 156 changing color and opacity 156 dis-associating 156 disabling 157158 hiding 158 hiding color 155 importing image files as 149 inverting 154 layers 145, 152 selection 147 shape 153 showing color 155 merging image layers 94 Modify Layer > Transform Layer 87 modifying brightness and contrast 189 color saturation and value 185 moving bookmark shelves 46 canvas planes 70 image layers 87
P
paint 99 hiding 122 showing 122 Paint Edit > Modify Layer > Transform Layer 87 paint panel 29 Paint window 29 pasting images 169 perspective window creating canvases 29 picking shapes 131 PortfolioWall 62, 85 resizing sketch image planes for 76 profile brush 114 Project Sketch >Canvas > Project Sketch 270 projection shading 269
R
re-ordering bookmarks 45 renaming bookmark shelves 46 bookmarks 45 rendering sketch render 269270 resetting sketch image plane view
N
naming canvas planes 62 image layers 81
65
316 | Index
Resize canvas 68, 7172 resizing canvas planes 68 rotating canvas planes 65 image layers 87
S
saving bookmarks 47 bookmarks as image files 48 scaling canvas planes 68 image layers 87 selecting bookmarks 44 image layers 85 selection mask 147 set sharpness 111 shaders from image planes 269 shape brush 113 Shape Editor editing a shape with 141 outline and fill options 138, 141 Shape Fill Options edit 131 shapes 131 Shape Outline Options edit 131 shapes 131 Shape tool creating multiple instances of 143 using instances of 143 shapes 135, 144 converting to paint 143 create 130 creating 137 curves 130 deleting 142 edit 131 editing 141 fill 138 image layer 131
layers 136 mask 153 outline 131, 138 paint panel 29 picking 131 Shape Fill Options 131 Shape Outline Options 131 sharpen brush, adjusting 111 sharpen strength 111 sharpness, adjusting 111 shelves in Bookmark Lister 43 saving brushes 103 saving colors 108 showing canvas planes 65 current layer 92 image layers 92 mask color 155 paint 122 size brush 112 sketch image plane 71, 76 sketch image planes background 79 changing the view 63 creating 58 dollying 64 exporting for PortfolioWall 76 height 71 image layers 79 layers 79 resetting view 65 size 71, 76 tracking 64 width 71 sketch projection 269 sketch render 269270 using 269 sketching using brush symmetry 117 snapping brushes to curves 116 snapshots use as a brush 132
Index | 317
softness brush 114 stylus, customizing 7 symmetry when sketching 117 synchronizing canvas planes 67
V
value modifying in image 185 vector drawing 135 view transition time cycling through bookmarks viewing bookmarks 46 sketch image planes 63 visible image layers 92
47
T
tablet, customizing 7 tolerance magicwand 148 tracking sketch image planes transparency image layer 92
64
W
Wacom tablet properties 7 wetness, marker 110 width, sketch image plane 71 WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes 65 windows for sketching 29
U
undoing duplicating image layers 87 moving image layers 88 updatiing bookmarks 44
Z
zooming canvas planes 64
318 | Index

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Autodesk Alias 2011

Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How do I? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter 1 Set up for sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Get started sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Use canvas planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Organize a sketch using image layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Apply and remove paint using brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Apply paint using shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Protect areas using masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Edit images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Smear paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Adjust colors in images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Modify parts of an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Deform and warp images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Describes how to use the sketching tools to create 2D images on Windows.

How to perform sketching tasks in Alias.

Set up for sketching

Set up a tablet/stylus and Alias for sketching.

Set up my tablet and stylus

4 Click OK to close the Wacom Tablet Properties window.

8 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Customize your Alias workspace and environment

Customize the tool shelf

10 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Streamline your marking menus

Streamline your hotkeys

Set your Wacom tablet buttons

Set your Wacom stylus buttons

Screen aspect ratio issues

Paint panel shelf tabs

12 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Saving and file management

Tool management Brush optimization

14 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Windows and brushes

16 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Texture brush quality

Stroke quality using curve snap

Picking and selecting

Shapes and multiple curve regions

18 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Fast curve duplication

20 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

All of these tools can be accessed from the Shelf.

Curves with cusps

Curve points: less is more

Curve and surface fitting tolerances

Fast shape and mask creation tools

22 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Real world scale

24 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Printer color space versus RGB color space

Add design detail to 3D models quickly

26 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

Set up Alias for sketching

To set up Alias for sketching

Set up Alias for sketching | 27

To hide editor windows during brush strokes

To set the main linear unit

To show only sketching-related menus and tools

28 | Chapter 1 Set up for sketching

To show or hide the Paint Panel

To turn on sketching-specific marking menus

The Paint window