Mari User Guides

USER GUIDE
VERSION 2.5V2
Mari™ User Guide. Copyright © 2013 The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Use of this User Guide and the Mari software is subject
to an End User License Agreement (the "EULA"), the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference. This User Guide and the Mari software
may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the EULA. This User Guide, the Mari software and all intellectual property rights
relating thereto are and shall remain the sole property of The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd. ("The Foundry") and/or The Foundry's licensors.
The EULA can be read in the Mari User Guide Appendices.
The Foundry assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this User Guide and this User Guide is subject
to change without notice. The content of this User Guide is furnished for informational use only.
Except as permitted by the EULA, no part of this User Guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of The Foundry. To the extent that the EULA
authorizes the making of copies of this User Guide, such copies shall be reproduced with all copyright, trademark and other proprietary rights
notices included herein. The EULA expressly prohibits any action that could adversely affect the property rights of The Foundry and/or The
Foundry's licensors, including, but not limited to, the removal of the following (or any other copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notice
included herein):
Mari™ software © 2013 The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Mari™ is a trademark of The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd.
Weta™ Digital is a trademark of Weta Digital Ltd.
In addition to those names set forth on this page, the names of other actual companies and products mentioned in this User Guide (including, but
not limited to, those set forth below) may be the trademarks or service marks, or registered trademarks or service marks, of their respective
owners in the United States and/or other countries. No association with any company or product is intended or inferred by the mention of its
name in this User Guide.
Linux ® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Windows ® is the registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Mac and Mac OS X are trademarks of Apple, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Adobe ® and Photoshop ® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other
countries.
Maya ® is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries.
Mari software engineering: Jack Greasley, Kiyoyuki Nakagaki, Marcus Shoo, Kevin Atkinson, Tim Ebling, Jed Soane, Daniel Lond, Robert Fanner,
Duncan Hopkins, Mark Final, Chris Bevan, Carl Rand, Phil Hunter, Tim Smith, and Rajiv Perseedoss
Product testing: Michael Zannetou, Mark Titchener, Robert Elphick, Antoni Kujawa, Chris Hiess, Jorel Latraille, and John Crowe
Writing and layout design: Jack Elder, Jon Hertzig, Eija Närvänen, Charles Quinn and Erica Cargle
Proof reading: Jack Elder, Eija Närvänen, Joel Byrne, Charles Quinn, Erica Cargle, and Simon Picard
Mari includes Disney technology licensed from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The Foundry
5 Golden Square,
London
W1F 9HT
Rev: November 29, 2013
The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Contents
PREFACE About this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Contact Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CUSTOMIZING THE VIEW Display Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Perspective Camera Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Configuring Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Steps for Customizing the View in Mari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Set the Main View Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Configure the Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Set the Perspective Camera Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Configure Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
USING SHORTCUTS Shortcuts for Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Canceling Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Shortcuts for Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Steps for Using Shortcuts and Gestures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
View the Default Shortcuts and Gestures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Try the Mouse Gestures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Customize General Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Set Keyboard Shortcuts for Project Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Use the Pie Selection Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Unassign Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
CONFIGURING BRUSHES Steps for Configuring Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Open the Brush Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Review the Preset Brushes That Come with Mari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Review Properties You Can Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Customize a Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Export and Import Brushes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Change Brush Properties “on the Fly” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
CLONE STAMPING Choosing a Source Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Setting a Start Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Image Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Color Grading the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4
Steps for Clone Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Set the Clone Stamp Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Clone stamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Apply a Color Grade as You Clone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
PAINTING THROUGH AN About Using a Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

IMAGE OR GRADIENT Steps for Painting Through. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Set the Paint Through Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Paint Through an External Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Clone from a Floating Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Using Tint and Stencil Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Paint Through a Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
CONTROLLING THE WAY About the Paint Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
MARI APPLIES PAINT TO Depth and Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
YOUR MODEL About Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Edge Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Channel masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Ambient Occlusion Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Depth Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Backface Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Fractal Noise Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
About Blend Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Steps for Controlling How Paint Applies to the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Configure the Paint Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Erase Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Mask What You Can Paint On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Edge Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Channel Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Ambient Occlusion Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Depth Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Backface Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Fractal Noise Masking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Set the Paint Blending Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Paint Blending Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Paint Buffer Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
TRANSFORMING AND Transforming the Paint Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

WARPING PAINT Warping Within the Paint Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Pulling Paint Around with Slerp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

5
Pinning and Pulling with Pinup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Steps for Transforming and Warping Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Move or Transform Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Warp Paint Using a Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Pull, Smudge, Grow, and Shrink Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Distort the Paint with Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
TOWING PAINT AROUND Steps for Towing Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Select and Tow Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
COPYING AND PASTING Copying a Single Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

PAINT Copy Textures Between Channels and Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Using Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Steps for Copying and Pasting Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Copying and Pasting Single Patches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Copying and Pasting Multiple Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
EDITING PAINT ON Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

LAYERS Pulling Paint into the Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Steps for Editing Paint on Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Blur Paint on a Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
VECTOR BRUSH Vector Inspector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Vector-related Paint Blending Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Vector Adjustments and Procedurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Vector Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Vector File Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Steps for Working with Vector Brushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Painting Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Modifying Vectors with Paint Blending Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Inspecting Your Vector Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Adding Vector Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Adding Vector Adjustments and Procedurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Changing the File Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Creating Flow Maps on Multiple Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
EXPORTING AND Importing Textures When Creating Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

IMPORTING TEXTURES Steps for Importing and Exporting Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Import Existing Textures to Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Import Individual Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

6
Import a Sequence of Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Import Existing Textures to Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Export Textures from Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Export Individual Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Export a Sequence of Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Exporting to a Layered .psd File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Set Small Texture Preferences and Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Export Texture from Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Importing and Exporting Ptex Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Export to Maya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
STORING RESOURCES Steps for Using Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

USING SHELVES Open Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Add a Brush to a Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Add a Color to a Shelf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Add an Image to a Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Create a Custom Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Modify Custom Shelves and Their Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Import and Export Shelves and Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Create a New Shelf Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Add Any Mari Function to a Shelf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
SELECTING ITEMS Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Selection Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Smart Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Visibility and Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Selection and Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Saving Selected Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Marquee Select Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Steps for Making Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Selecting Objects, Patches, or Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Hiding and Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Saving Selections on the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Selecting Areas Onscreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Moving and Distorting Marquee Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180
WORKING WITH Patch Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

PATCHES Changing Patches as a Whole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Saving Images of UV Masks on a Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Bleeding Patch Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Linked Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

7
Steps for Working with Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

View and Resize Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Resize Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Using UDIM Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Copy and Paste Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Extract Patches to the Image Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Fill Patches with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Flip and Rotate Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Mirror Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Save Images of the UV Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Bleeding Across Patch Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Link or Unlink Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
CONFIGURING THE USER Steps for Customizing Your Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

INTERFACE Choose and Organize Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Choose and Organize Toolbars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Create Custom Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Configure the HUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Save Your layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Understanding the Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Status Bar Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
MANAGING IMAGES IN Steps for Managing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

MARI Open the Image Manager Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Load and Select Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Crop and Filter Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Run Scripts on Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
MANAGING COLORS IN About the ColorSpace Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

MARI Steps for Managing Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Pick Colors from Paint on the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Select Colors from a Picker or Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Set How Colors Are Displayed Onscreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
PROJECT CONVERSION Before Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Upgrade Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
LAYERS Layer Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Shader Dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Getting Started with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

8
Ordering Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Filter and Search for Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Locked and Hidden Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Layer Blend Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Layer Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Alpha and Masks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Layer Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Mask Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Flatten Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Merge Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Adjustment Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Secondary Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Procedural Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Cube Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Projection Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Vector Brushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Mipmap Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Layer Caching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Layer Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Dragging Layers for Moving, Copying, and Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Layer Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Export and Import. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Steps for Working with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Open the Layers Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Add Layers and Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Add Adjustments and Procedurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Remove and Disable Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Add or Flatten Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Share Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Cache and Uncache Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Export and Import Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Export Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Export Flattened Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Import Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Convert Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Convert Alpha Values to a Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Layer Types and Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
CHANNELS Different Ways to Create Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Presets and Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

9
Flatten a Channel’s Layer Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

HDR Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Export and Import. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Edit Paint on Your Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Convert Channels and Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Steps for Managing Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Create and Delete Individual Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Flatten Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Create Multiple Channels from Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Set and Change Channel Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Take and Manage Channel Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Snapshot Current Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272
Snapshot all Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Use the Snapshots Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Autosnapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275
Share Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Lock and Unlock Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Export and Import Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Export Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
Export Flattened Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279
Import Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
SHADERS Shaders and Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Default Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Diffuse and Specular Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Ambient Occlusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Shader Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Shading and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Shaders on Multiple Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Steps for Using Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Open the Shaders Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Create a Custom Shader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Set Shader Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Remove a Shader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
PTEX Ptex Support in Mari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Limitations of Mari’s GPU Previews with Ptex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293
Ptex Modelling Requirements in Mari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Minimum Face Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

10
Paint Preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Steps for Using Ptex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Create a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Set the Ptex face Texture Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Manage Ptex Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Export a Ptex Channel or Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Import a Ptex Channel or Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Paint Preservation with Multiple Ptex Geometries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
FILTERING IMAGES AND Steps for Using Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

PAINT Select and Apply Your Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Available Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
PROJECTORS Steps for Using Projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Set the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Create the Projector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Unproject from Your Projector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Edit the File(s) Externally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Project the File(s) Back onto the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Use the Quick Project Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Project onto a Model Using .fbx Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Generate a Turntable from a Projector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Generating a Render Turntable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Generating a Diagnostic Turntable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Save, Load, and Delete Projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
MULTIPLE OBJECTS Channels and Shaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Versioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Ambient Occlusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Object Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Steps for Working with Multiple Objects:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Adding and Removing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Moving, Viewing, and Locking Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Adding and Removing Object Versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Calculating Ambient Occlusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Shadow Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
PAINTING ANIMATED Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
OBJECTS
Steps for Working with Animated Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

11
Loading Animated Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Playing Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Painting Animated Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Setting Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Painting the Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Exporting Animated Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
EXTENDING MARI About Custom Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

About Custom Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
About Custom Channel Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
About Custom Channel Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
About Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Steps for Using Custom Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Steps for Customizing Mari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Steps for Setting Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Add Custom Attributes to Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Remove Custom Attributes from Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Review the Custom Shortcut File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Text File: <action>=<key(s)> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355
Using Modifier Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Example: DefaultShortcuts.conf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .357
Define Custom Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Review the Custom Channel-Preset File Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
XML File: Header, Details, Closing Blocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Example: DefaultChannels.mtd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Define Custom Channel Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Review the Custom Channel Template File Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Text File: <name>="<format>" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Example File: DefaultTemplates.mtt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Define Custom Channel Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Choose an Environment Variable to Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Environment Variables That Mari Recognizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Image Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Overriding Mari Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .372
Set the Environment Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
On Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
On Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
On Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Check That the Variable Now Exists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
On Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
On Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

12
On Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
APPENDIX A: Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

SHORTCUTS Mouse Gestures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
APPENDIX B: Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
APPENDIX C: THIRD Third Party Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
PARTY LICENSES
APPENDIX D: END USER End User Licencing Agreement (EULA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
LICENSE AGREEMENT

1 PREFACE
Mari is a creative texture-painting tool that can handle extremely complex

or texture heavy projects. It was developed at Weta Digital and has been
used on films such as The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,
District 9, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lovely Bones, and Avatar.
The name Mari comes from the Swahili 'Maridadi', meaning 'beautiful' and
carrying connotations of 'usefulness'.
About this Guide This guide provides you with the full details of running and using Mari. You
should read the Getting Started Guide first for installation and basic usage
instructions.
The first part of the guide walks you through the various Mari functions.
The tutorials provide comprehensive walk-throughs of all Mari's functions,
complete with geometries and associated textures. As you follow the steps
in these tutorials, you'll gain a good feel for Mari's user interface and
workflow. This, in turn, provides a good working knowledge for creating
more complex production projects.
For more detailed information on Mari and its functions, see the
accompanying Mari Reference Guide.
Contact Should questions arise that this manual fails to address, you can contact
Customer Support directly via e-mail at support@thefoundry.co.uk or via
Customer telephone to our London office on +44 (0)20 7479 4350 or to our Los
Support Angeles office on (310) 399-4555 during office hours.
2 CUSTOMIZING THE VIEW
In the Getting Started Guide, you learned how to control the view in Mari
(spinning, panning, rotating, switching to preset views, and so on). You have
a choice of how many of these controls work, and how Mari displays the
model on screen.
Display Options You can set:

• how the model rotation works — the model movement speed, friction,
and whether it uses momentum (see Appendix A: Shortcuts for model
rotation shortcuts).
• the background displayed behind the model — either a color, a gradient,
or an image.
• the color for the paintable area (when it displays).
• the quality settings for the display (how much detail to show).
• whether to show the wireframe model, and how to display it.
• in the UV view, whether to show gridlines or labels.
You can also adjust the focus of your canvas by hovering your cursor over
the point on the model that you want to focus on and pressing F. The
canvas centers on that part of the model at the current view size and angle.
If the cursor is hovering over the canvas where no part of the model is
present, pressing F instead brings the entire model to focus.
Lighting Mari comes with three default modes for lighting the model, and optional
shadow control:
• Flat — a flat, uniform, directionless light.
• Basic — basic diffuse lighting without specular.
• Full — full lighting with diffuse and specular lighting.
• Shadows - toggles whether shadows are displayed or not.
In Basic and Full modes, you can set custom lights. This lets you control the
intensity of the lights from four directions (right, left, front, and top,
relative to the model).
Mari only stores custom light settings as part of the project (they cannot be
independently saved to a file).
CUSTOMIZING THE VIEW 15
Perspective Camera Settings
Toggling Shadows does not enable or disable shadow processing. It simply

controls whether the shadows are displayed on the canvas. To enable
shadow processing, enable Depth Projections in the Preferences. For more
information on shadows, please refer to Object Shadows in the Multiple
Objects chapter.
Perspective For the perspective you can set the near and far clipping planes. Anything
closer than the near clipping plane or farther than the far plane is not
Camera Settings displayed.
You can also set the field of view. This controls the amount of distortion
applied to generate the perspective.
Field of view set to 20 Field of view set to 120
TIP: You can also have black bars appear in the Canvas to indicate the
aspect ratio of the perspective camera. Select View > Display Properties
and set Camera Mask Opacity to anything other than 0.
Configuring The navigation has preferences that allow you to change, among other
aspects:
Navigation • momentum
• flick speed
• friction
• rolling
• orbiting
See Appendix A: Shortcuts for model rotation shortcuts.

Steps for Customizing the View in Mari
Steps for To set the view in Mari, follow these steps:

Customizing the 1. Set the Main View Options
2. Configure the Lighting
View in Mari
3. Set the Perspective Camera Details
4. Configure Navigation
Set the Main You can set the view options separately for the UV and 3D views.
View Options 1. Switch to the view you want to set the view options for.
2. Either:
• right-click on the canvas and select Display Properties from the drop-
down menu, or
• from the View menu, select Display Properties.
The Display Properties dialog displays.

Set the Main View Options
3. To turn the onscreen display of the project information (Current Tool,

Tool Help, Current Channel, and so on) off, uncheck the HUD box.

4. Under the Background section, set the window background.
To set the background to... do this...

an image enter the path to the image in the Image
field.
Use the button next to the field to open a
dialog to find your image.
a single color set the Bottom and Top fields to the same
color.
Click on the fields to set the color.
a gradient between two colors set the Bottom field to the color for the bot-
tom of the window, and the Top field to the
color for the top of the window.
Click on the fields to set the color.
5. If you want to display a reference grid in a 3D view, set the details

under the Grid section.
The Visible switch turns the onscreen grid on and off, while the other
fields let you set the Color and Size of the grid displayed.
6. To show the wireframes on the model, turn the Visible option on under
Wireframe.
You can set the wireframe color in the Color field.
TIP: You can turn the wireframe display on/off using the button on
the Canvas toolbar, or using the keyboard shortcut Shift+W.
TIP: If the WireframeColor has a high alpha value, it may be hard to see
onscreen. If you have the wireframe turned on but cannot see it on your
model, check that the WireframeColor isn't too transparent.
7. If you want to adjust the Camera Mask Opacity, use the entry box or the
slider to select a value between 0 and 1.
8. To select the color that you want shown when selecting Linked Patches,
click on the color swatch to select from the color picker. You can also
select the Linked Patch color from within the Patches palette.
9. Under the Rendering section, you can control which additional parts of
the scene display onscreen:
• Checker Color A — changes color A of the transparency checkerboard
to the selected swatch color.

• Checker Color B — changes color B of the transparency checkerboard

to the selected swatch color.
• Checker Size — changes the individual transparency checkerboard
squares to the selected size using either the entry box or the slider.
The default value is set to 10.
• Render Camera — shows the camera view onscreen.
• Render Light — shows the lights as globes on the main canvas.
• Render UV Image — if this is off, the UV view shows the patches as
they appear as part of the model. If this is on, the UV view shows the
patches as they appear when exported (that is, as square images, with
overpaint areas around the corners of the patches).
TIP: You can also turn Render UV Image on/off using the button on
the Canvas toolbar.
10. If you're setting properties for the UV view, under the UV Label section,
set the details for the text labels shown over the individual patches:
• Text Color — click the swatch to set the color for the text on the
labels.
• Visible — uncheck this to stop showing the text labels in the UV view.
11. If you're setting properties for 3D views, under the Selection section,
set the details for highlighting shown on selected areas:
• Fill Render — when to show the highlighting in the middle of the
selected areas. One of:
• Always — Mari shows the highlighting the whole time the area is
selected.
• Select — Mari only shows the highlighting while you are actually
selecting the area.
• Never — Mari does not show the selection highlighting.
• Fill Color — click the swatch to set the highlight color for the middle of
the selected areas.
• Outline Render — when to show the highlighting around the outline of
the selected area. You can set this to Always, Select, or Never, as for
Fill Render (above).
• Outline Color — click the swatch to set the highlight color for the mid-
dle of the selected areas.

Configure the Lighting
12. Click OK to save your settings.
EXPERIMENT: Try changing...

• the project background to a different color, then a gradient, then an
image
• whether wireframes display, and their color, and
• the color of your outline highlights.
Configure the 1. To switch between flat, basic, and full lighting, click the toolbar buttons:
Lighting (left to right: flat, basic, full).
2. To toggle the Shadows icon in the toolbar:
• (shadows off)
• (shadows on)
NOTE: If the Depth Projections option is turned off in the Preferences,

the Shadows icon cannot be toggled and is turned off in the Lighting
toolbar.
3. To set individual lighting directions, make sure you're in full lighting

mode. If it's not already visible, open the Lights palette by clicking View
> Palettes > Lights:

The top half displays the lights available, and the bottom shows the
details of the selected light. The lights currently in use have a “lit bulb”
icon.
TIP: Mari has four customizable lights. You cannot add or delete lights. If
you don't want a particular light, turn it off.
4. To turn individual lights on and off, click on the light bulb icon next to
the light.
5. To change a light, first select it. In the bottom half of the palette, set
the light's:
• Color — you can set separate values for the Specular (shiny highlights)
of the light and Diffuse (the color the light shines on surfaces).

• Fixed to location — whether the camera is fixed relative to the Scene

or the Camera.
This... means... Example

Scene The light always shines on the same If you only have one light on, pointing
part of the model, no matter how at the left side of the model, the right
you move the view. side is always in darkness, no matter
how you move the view.
Camera The light always shines from the If you only have one light on, pointing
same direction relative to the cam- from the left of the camera, it illumi-
era view. This means that it illumi- nates whatever part of the model(s) is
nates different parts of the model visible on the left side of the current
depending on how the model view.
appears in the camera.
6. To move a light around, either:
Select... then...
click on the light and drag it
The Pan Object tool around the canvas.
The sphere control in the Lights palette click and pull the sphere
around to move the light.
the light is repositioned to

The Move to Camera Position icon your current camera posi-
tion.
You may need to zoom out from your object in order to see the lights.
NOTE: The Move to Camera Position icon can be used in both perspective
and orthographic view; however, be aware that this feature does not
account for zooming of the camera in the ortho view.
7. To toggle cast shadows from the selected light, click on the checkbox to
toggle shadows on or off. This does not impact the light itself, but the
model casts shadows depending on the light’s position.
8. More options for shadows and depth projection settings are located in
the Preferences under GPU | Depth Projection. The settings in the
Preferences allows you to trade off the quality of the rendered shadows

Set the Perspective Camera Details
and the amount of GPU memory and processing required. Increasing the
resources available for shadow rendering decreases the resources
available for other operations, which may decrease Mari’s performance.
TIP: Mari saves custom lights with the project. If you need the same lights
in another project, you'll need to set them up separately.
EXPERIMENT: Switch between the different lighting modes. Then try

customizing a preset light. Play with its color settings and orientation.
Try using the position sphere to control the light position. Notice the
effects on your display?
Set the 1. Click on the Perspective tab to switch to the perspective camera.
Perspective 2. If it's not already visible, open the Canvas toolbar.
Camera Details
To open the toolbar, right-click in the toolbars area at the top of the
screen and select Canvas from the dropdown menu.
3. Enter values for the Near and Far clipping planes.
Mari only displays parts of the scene that fall between these two planes.
Anything closer than the Near plane, or further than the Far plane, is not
shown.
4. Set the value for the field of vision in the FoV field. This controls how
much Mari distorts the view when applying perspective. At 0, the
perspective camera gives exactly the same view as the ortho camera. As
the value increases, the distortion increases.
TIP: You can also change view mode by:

• clicking the Ortho , Perspective , and UV buttons, or
• pressing F10, F11, and F12 respectively.
Configure To configure navigation settings: go to Edit > Preferences, and select the
Navigation tab.
Navigation 1. To set the controls, select one of the options below, from the Control
Type dropdown menu:

Configure Navigation
• Houdini
• Lightwave
• Mari
• Maya
• Nuke
These controls allow you to set what type of control options, shortcuts
and preferences you want to use.
2. To manually change how the model movement and navigation works, set
the following:
• Momentum Enabled — if this is enabled, the model has momentum, so
when you let go of the mouse button, the model slowly coasts to a
stop. If this is off, the model only moves when you are holding the
mouse button down.
• Minimum Flick Speed — the minimum speed at which you can move
your model around. The lower this is set, the more sensitive the move-
ment controls are.
• Friction — affects the momentum of your model as you move it around
the canvas. Decreasing this value allows movement to retain its
momentum for longer. Increasing the value arrests momentum faster.
• Lock To World Up - if this is enabled, the navigation is locked with the
y axis in place so that the "world up" view cannot be modified.
• Center Mode - a dropdown menu that allows you to select the orbit
view center: Look At, Objects, Origin, or Selection.
• Circular Motion Enabled - if this is enabled, you can roll by making a
circular motion around the center of the viewport. If disabled, rolling is
achieved by simply making a horizontal motion across the viewport.

3 USING SHORTCUTS
To optimize your workflow, you can set up shortcuts for common actions or
settings in Mari.
Shortcuts for As you'll realize by now, there are usually two or three ways of performing
any Mari function. These include:
Actions • keyboard shortcuts — pressing one or more keys.
• mouse shortcuts (also called “gestures”) — holding a key and moving the
mouse in a particular way.
As well as the default shortcuts that come with Mari, you can customize
your own keyboard shortcuts for any Mari function. Plus, for each project,
you can create custom shortcuts for the items and sets within that project
or assign multiple shortcuts for the same action.
TIP: You can also change shortcuts through custom configuration files.
See the Extending Mari chapter for details on how to do this.
Canceling Some actions can also be canceled once they have been started. To cancel
an action, press Escape or click the x button on the status bar. Canceling
Actions actions is not immediate and depends on the complexity of the action.
Canceling is limited to:
• applying filters
• ambient occlusion
• autosave
• projecting
• from the paint buffer
• through projectors
• turntable rendering
• paint projection.
Shortcuts for Mari includes a configurable on-screen “pie” control menu that allows you
to select common brush tips or color settings. You can add up to seven
Settings
USING SHORTCUTS 26
Steps for Using Shortcuts and Gestures
brush tips or colors to the “pie” control, as well as being able to quickly
switch between the paint and eraser tools.
Steps for Using To use and customize Mari keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures, follow
these steps:
Shortcuts and 1. View the Default Shortcuts and Gestures
Gestures 2. Try the Mouse Gestures
3. Customize General Keyboard Shortcuts
4. Set Keyboard Shortcuts for Project Items
5. Use the Pie Selection Control#
6. Unassign Shortcuts
View the Default The list of shortcuts and mouse gestures is in Appendix A: Shortcuts.
Shortcuts and The appendix is formatted so you can print out the pages and use them as a
Gestures reference card. All the default shortcuts in the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts
dialog box are listed in the appendix.
For the keyboard shortcuts, a plus sign (+) means to hold down two keys at
the same time. For example, “Ctrl/Cmd+C” means: press Ctrl (for Windows or
Linux) or Cmd (for Mac), and keep holding it down while you then press C.
For the mouse gestures, press and hold down the backslash key (\), while
drawing the shape illustrated, in the direction indicated — from the ball
start point () to the arrow.
TIP: The shortcuts for the Color Picker and Select tools work differently
from the other tools. By default, the keyboard shortcuts for these tools
only switch to the tool while you hold down the key, and then switch back
to the original tool when you release the key. This is to make it easier to
quickly pick a color or select a patch while painting with another tool.
If you would prefer, you can set Mari so that quickly tapping the shortcut
key for these tools switches “permanently” to the tool, while holding
down the shortcut key switches it temporarily (until you let go of the
key). To set this, navigate to the Mari Preferences dialog box (from the
Edit menu, select Preferences), and on the Misc tab, turn off Tool On Key
Held.

USING SHORTCUTS 27
Try the Mouse Gestures
EXPERIMENT: Before looking at the mouse gestures, try several of the

keyboard shortcuts. You can look up which controls have assigned
shortcuts by searching in the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts dialog or
referring to Appendix A.
Try the Mouse To use a mouse gesture:

Gestures Press and hold the backslash key (\), then click and hold the left mouse
button, and move the mouse in the direction indicated.
A red line traces your mouse movement on the canvas.
When you release the mouse button, the tracing disappears and Mari
performs the function you selected (in the illustration, tracing an “E” to
select the Erase tool).
EXPERIMENT: Try several of the mouse gestures. (You may have to paint
something before you can try some of them!) The mouse gesture
shortcuts are not shown in the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts dialog, but
can be located in Appendix A.

USING SHORTCUTS 28
Customize General Keyboard Shortcuts
Customize To add and change the general keyboard shortcuts:

General 1. From the Edit menu, select Shortcuts.
The Manage Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box displays many categories of
Keyboard Mari functions.
Shortcuts 2. Click [+] to expand a category.
Entries display in columns for the Name, Description, and Shortcut key
for each function in that category.
TIP: Drag the edges of column headings to make them wider (so you can
see the full contents of the Description column, for example). Similarly,
drag the edges of the entire dialog box to re-size it as necessary.
3. To add or change a shortcut key, double-click in the Shortcut column,

and type over the new key. Before you click OK, click somewhere to take
the focus outside the Shortcut column you're editing.
If the new key you entered is already used, a “warning” icon displays. In
this case, the newly entered key doesn’t work. This includes parts of any
other shortcut that conflicts with a previously set shortcut.
For example, a new shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+R+left-click can’t be set if a
shortcut already exists with the definition Ctrl/Cmd+R.

USING SHORTCUTS 29
Set Keyboard Shortcuts for Project Items
4. If there are no conflicts, press OK (otherwise select a different key).
EXPERIMENT: Expand and browse through the different categories of

Mari functions and their shortcut keys. Try adding shortcuts for functions
that don't yet have a key assigned — and then try the shortcut key you've
added.
Set Keyboard To set shortcuts for a project item:

Shortcuts for 1. In the palette showing the item, right-click on the item and select Assign
Shortcut.
Project Items The Assign Keyboard Shortcut dialog box displays, with the item
selected in the list.
This works exactly as described in Customize General Keyboard Short-

cuts.
Once you have set a shortcut for a project item, it displays on palettes
to the right of the item.
2. To remove the shortcut from the item, right-click on it again and select
Assign Shortcut from the dropdown menu.
The Assign Keyboard Shortcut dialog box opens again, with focus on
your item. Double-click on the shortcut key for the item and delete the
key.

USING SHORTCUTS 30
Use the Pie Selection Control
Use the Pie 1. With the mouse over the canvas, press and hold F9.
Selection The pie selection menu displays:
Control
2. To select a setting or tool from the menu, move the mouse over your
selection and let go of F9.
You don't need to click – Mari picks up what your mouse is hovering
over.
To configure the pie selection control:

1. Add your items (colors and brushes) to the Menu shelf.
2. Rename them as 1 through 7.

USING SHORTCUTS 31
Unassign Shortcuts
Mari ignores any other items on the Menu shelf, and only displays the
items named 1-7.
TIP: For details on how to add items to the Menu shelf, see Storing
Resources Using Shelves.
Unassign You can unassign previously configured shortcuts at any time by following
these steps:
Shortcuts 1. Go to Edit > Shortcuts.
2. Double-click on the shortcut you want to unassign and press Backspace
to unassign a single command; or
3. Press Delete to unassign all commands for that shortcut.

4 CONFIGURING BRUSHES
The Mari Brush Editor palette lets you select and customize a wide array of
preset brushes, with a wide variety of brush properties you can edit. You
can then drag modified brushes to a shelf for your ongoing personal use, or
for a particular project only. You can also export and import brushes to
share with other Mari users, and you can use keyboard-and-mouse
shortcuts to modify your brush tips “on the fly”.
Brush properties generally apply to a splat (also sometimes called a

“stamp”) — one application of the brush tip onto the canvas. A stroke is
one continuous application of splats.
For some properties you can specify jitter — a random variation, to

approximate how an actual (as opposed to digital) paintbrush might work.
Below are brief explanations and examples of some of the properties Mari
lets you modify:
Property Explanation Example

spacing the distance between splats in a a stroke from the same brush with
stroke, as a proportion of splat size spacing set to .02, .25, .50, and 1.0:
opacity how dark a stroke can be (maximum a stroke from the same brush with
alpha) opacity set to 1.00 and 0.50 with no
jitter, and 1.00 with maximum jitter:
CONFIGURING BRUSHES 33

flow how quickly paint flows out of the a completely hard brush tip, full opac-
brush, mimicked digitally by how dark ity, with spacing of 0.15 and flow at
a splat can be (maximum opacity) 1.00 and 0.30:
radius how big the brush tip is; you can also a stroke with and without radius jit-
specify an inner radius and link pres- ter, where the jitter is equal to the
sure to vary between the two, and whole radius of the brush:
apply jitter to randomly vary
between the two
distortions • rotation — spinning it. a splat squished, rotated, sheared,

to the shape • shear — pulling opposite corners and scaled:
of the brush vertically or horizontally.
tip
• scale — sizing vertically or hori-
zontally.
• squish — like vertically scaling
down, but affects the radius rather
than brush tip.


noise how “spikey” the brush is, as mea- the same brush with the default and
sured in: maximum noise:
• octaves — 1 to 8 applications of
noise.
• frequency — 0 to 100, how many
spikes per octave.
• scale — 0.00 to 1.00, how big the
spikes are, as a proportion of the
radius (1.00 = twice as big as the
radius).
• segments — 4 (a square) to 360 (a
circle) lines making up the brush
outline (to which noise is applied).
Tip: Noise is very hard to explain in
words! (Developers understand
it in mathematical equations.)
Your best bet is to experiment
with the settings, to get the
right spikiness for your pur-
poses!

Steps for Configuring Brushes

profile opacity from the center to the edge hard and soft brush tip profiles:
of a brush, determines whether it is
hard (more opaque throughout) or
soft (fuzzier at the edges)
pressure whether pressure when painting on

your graphics tablet increases the
radius, flow or opacity (as calibrated
for your tablet)
Steps for To configure your brushes in Mari, follow these steps:

Configuring 1. Open the Brush Editor
2. Review the Preset Brushes That Come with Mari
Brushes
3. Review Properties You Can Change
4. Customize a Brush
5. Export and Import Brushes
6. Change Brush Properties “on the Fly”

Open the Brush Editor
Open the Brush 1. Start Mari, and either create a new project or open an existing one.
Editor 2. Open the Brush Editor palette:
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Brush Editor, or
• right-click in the toolbar area and select Brush Editor from the drop-
down menu.
The Brush Editor palette displays.
The Brush Editor has three tabs:

• Properties — configurable properties of the selected brush.
• Shelves — the same shelves that display in your Shelf palette.
• Presets — an array of predefined brushes that come with Mari.
The Brush Editor also includes a “scratch pad” at the bottom. The
scratch pad shows a squiggle painted with the selected brush. You can
also paint directly in the scratch pad (the default squiggle disappears
while you enter a stroke).

Review the Preset Brushes That Come with Mari
Review the Mari comes with a set of preset brushes.

Preset Brushes 1. Click the Presets tab.
The preset brushes display and are collected into tabs.
That Come with
Mari
2. Click through each tab and familiarize yourself with the different
brushes that are available. Try selecting some brushes and painting in
the scratch pad with them.
Review For each brush, Mari specifies several properties that you can view and
change.
Properties You 1. To view the properties of the selected brush, click the Properties tab.
Can Change

Review Properties You Can Change
The following properties display. (Below is an extract from the Mari Ref-
erence Guide explaining each property.)
Property Explanation
GENERAL
Noise How much noise to add to each splat, to soften the appearance and
reduce banding. Lower values give a harder brush, higher values a
softer brush. (You can also add noise to the brush tip itself — under
the Noise section below.)
Range: 0.00 to 100.00, Reset: 0
Spacing The space between splats, as a proportion of the width of a splat. 1.00
= side-by-side (so if the tip is a circle, it would look like a string of
beads.) .02 = .02 x the width of a splat.
Range: 0.02 to 5.00, Reset: 0.02
PAINT
Jitter Opacity Max How much to randomly vary the opacity (if Jitter Opacity is enabled).
Range: 0.00 to 1.00, Reset: 0.00
Jitter Opacity Whether to randomly vary the opacity (to the degree specified in Jitter
Opacity Max).
Opacity How dark a stroke can be (maximum alpha).

Range: 0.01 to 1.00, Reset: 1.00
Flow Mimics how quickly paint is applied, by setting the maximum opacity in
a splat.
Range: 0.01 to 1.00, Reset: 1.00
POSITION
Jitter Position Max How many pixels at most to randomly vary displacement from the line
of the brush stroke (if Jitter Position is enabled).
Range: 0 to 1000, Reset: 20
Jitter Position Whether to randomly vary displacement from the line of the brush
stroke (to the degree specified in Jitter Position Max).
PRESSURE
Whether pressure on the graphics tablet affects properties of a splat (as calibrated for your
tablet)
Colors Whether more pressure increases the color strength.
Radius Whether more pressure increases the radius.
Flow Whether more pressure increases the flow.
Opacity Whether more pressure increases the opacity.

RADIUS
Squish How much to flatten the radius. If the brush tip is a circle, 1.0 is a cir-
cle, .5 is an oval half as tall as it is wide.
Range: 0.05 to 1.00, Reset: 1.00
Jitter Radius Whether to randomly vary the radius (to the degree specified for the
Radius and Inner Radius).
Inner Radius How few pixels the radius of a splat can be (if Jitter Radius and/or
Radius Pressure are enabled).
Radius How many pixels at most the radius of splat can be (if Jitter Radius
and/or Radius Pressure are enabled).
ROTATION
Align to Stroke Whether the brush tip rotates along with the direction you're painting.
(With calligraphy, for example, the tip does not align.)
Jitter Rotation Max How many degrees at most to randomly vary the rotation (if Jitter
Rotation is enabled).
Jitter Rotation Whether to randomly vary the rotation.
Rotation The degree to which the brush rotates to match the direction you're
painting (if Align to Stroke is enabled).
Range: 0.00 to 360.00, Reset: 0.00
GENERAL
Type Whether to use a Bitmap image for the brush tip, or Render based on
the qualities specified in these properties
preview An image of the brush tip, based on the selected properties.
BITMAP
Use Painting Click to use the painting in the paint buffer as a brush tip. Mari
prompts you to save it either as an .exr or a .tif file (which file format
is used depends on the support in your graphics card).
Note that .exr files are 16-bit — most other bitmaps are 8-bit.
Path Type the path or click the button to select an existing bitmap to use as
the brush tip.
Note that to use an image as the brush tip, you need to set Type to
Bitmap.

GEOMETRY
Vertical Shear How much to distort the brush tip diagonally, top to bottom (as if pull-
ing opposite corners up and down).
Range: -1.00 to 1.00, Reset: 0.00
Horizontal Shear How much to distort the brush tip diagonally, right to left (as if pulling
opposite corners right and left).
Range: -1.00 to 1.00, Reset: 0.00
Vertical Scale How much to distort the brush tip vertically.

Range: 0.00 to 2.00, Reset: to .50
Horizontal Scale How much to distort the brush tip horizontally.

Range: 0.00 to 2.00, Reset: to .50
NOISE
Noise is very hard to explain in words! (Developers understand it in mathematical equa-
tions.) Your best bet is to experiment with the settings, to get the right spikiness for your
purposes!
Octaves number of applications of noise.

Frequency how many spikes per octave.

Range: 0.00 to 100.00, reset to 1.00
Scale how big the spikes are, as a proportion of the radius (1.00 = twice as
big as the radius).
Range: 0.00 to 1.00, Reset: 0.00
Segments lines making up the brush outline, to which noise is applied (4=square,
360=circle).
PROFILE
Profile For rendered brushes (see Type above), alpha profile of the brush tip
from center to edge — determines how “hard” or “soft” it is.
Bit Depth Byte (8-bit), Half (16-bit), or Float (32-bit) It is generally a good idea
to use a brush with the same bit depth as the texture you're painting,
to avoid stepping. Note that if you use an 8-bit bitmap, it still paints in
8-bit even if you set the bit depth to Half.
2. Study the descriptions (above) of the different brush properties.

3. Note the following types of controls used to specify brush properties:
• Entry boxes — to type an entry (usually a number).

• Sliders — to slide between the minimum and maximum allowable

entries.
• Reset button — to return to the default setting.
(Often entry boxes, sliders and reset buttons are combined.)
• Checkboxes — to select or deselect a property.
• Dropdown menus — to select from available options.
• Spline Editors — to move values along a curve; you can drag any of the
points on the curve in any direction, and see the effects in the preview
bar below the curve. Click to add a new point, and right-click to invert,
select presets, and export and import settings. To remove a point,
click on it while holding Ctrl/Cmd.
4. Try changing some brush properties, and note the change in the squiggle
in the scratch pad (it updates dynamically). You can also try painting in
the scratch pad, or painting on the canvas (and then undo-ing) to see
the effect of your changes.

Customize a Brush
TIP: When you hover the mouse over a brush, tooltips display key
properties:
EXPERIMENT: Select one of the preset brushes, and play around with the
Radius, Opacity, Profile, and Jitter settings. Notice how each affects your
brush strokes on the canvas or in the Brush Editor scratch pad.
Customize a Having looked at the available preset brushes, and different properties you
can change, let's (finally) try customizing a brush. This involves three steps:
Brush selecting a preset, changing its properties, and saving it to a shelf.
1. First select a preset to modify: click the Presets tab, then click a tab for
a category of preset brushes, and click to select a brush.
2. Review Properties You Can Change: click the Properties tab, and change
the brush properties.
3. Finally, save it to a shelf: click the Shelf tab; click to select the Personal
shelf, Project shelf, or any other custom shelf you may have created, and
click the button.
The modified brush displays in the selected shelf. By default it is named

“Brush” (and then “Brush_1”, “Brush_2” etc., incremented for every tool
you add).

Export and Import Brushes
4. To rename the brush, double-click its name, type over a new name, and
press Enter.
NOTE: Any brush tip that you select is shown as an outline for the brush
cursor design with any tool that allows you to apply paint to the model;
for example, Paint, Paint Through, and Clone Stamp, among others. This
cursor outline scales according to the radius of the brush tip, but does
not reflect other options, such as jitter or opacity.
TIP: To a delete a custom brush, select the brush and click .
EXPERIMENT: Try creating three custom brushes you might actually use
and test them out on a model. If it doesn’t turn out as you expected, try
customizing it and re-saving it to your Personal shelf.
Export and You can also export and import your brushes. This is useful, for example if
you want to share brushes with other users.
Import Brushes 1. To export a custom brush, right-click it and select Save Item.
The Save Item dialog box prompts you to save the brush, as an .msi file.
TIP: The first time you save or open items in Mari, it defaults to your
home directory. Thereafter, Mari remembers the last folder you navigated
to in that dialog box.
2. Type a filename, and click Save.

Export and Import Brushes
Mari exports the brush.

3. To import a brush, right-click in the Personal, Project or custom shelf
and select Load Item.
The Import Item dialog box prompts you to select an .msi file.
4. Navigate to and select the .msi file for the brush you want to import,
and click Open.
Mari imports the brush.
TIP: You can also import and export entire shelves (see Storing Resources
Using Shelves).
EXPERIMENT: Try creating a custom brush, exporting it, then deleting it

from the shelf, and finally (re)importing it.
Import a Custom Photoshop Brush

Custom-made Photoshop brushes can be imported into Mari and stored in a
custom shelf. These brushes are "stamp" brushes that do not take into
consideration any variable size or spacing. The shape (or shapes) of the
brush are imported into a custom shelf where you can set the preferences
for the brush manually.
To import custom brushes:

1. Navigate to Menubar | Tools > Import Brushes.
This opens an Import Brushes dialog.
2. Select the Photoshop brush (.abr format) from the file location it was
saved to, and click Open.
A new shelf is created and populated with the brush or brush parts. If
there are multiple "stamp" images, you may need to set the preferences
for the brush.
NOTE: Brushes imported from Photoshop must be custom-made. If you

try to import Photoshop’s default brushes, or any invalid brush, an error
message displays and the brush fails to be imported.

Change Brush Properties “on the Fly”
Change Brush Mari also includes default keyboard-and-mouse shortcuts to change the
relative Radius, Rotation, Opacity, and Squash of the brush you're using.
Properties “on 1. To change the RADIUS of your brush, press and hold R, and move the
the Fly” mouse right or left to increase or decrease the outer radius, and up or
down to increase or decrease the inner radius.
2. To change the ROTATION of your brush, press and hold W, and move the
mouse right or left to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise.
3. To change the OPACITY of your brush, press and hold O, and move the
mouse right or left to increase or decrease the opacity.
The alpha slider in the Colors Palette moves along with your mouse.
4. To change the SQUASH of your brush, press Q and move the mouse right
or left to squish the brush tip more or less.
TIP: To save any changes you make on the fly, see the procedure to
Customize a Brush.
EXPERIMENT: Play around with the R, O, W, and Q keyboard/mouse

shortcuts for changing your brush tip on the fly.

5 CLONE STAMPING
The clone tools let you copy paint from one image or part of a channel to
the surface of your model. This is a standard feature in painting packages
such as Adobe® Photoshop®, GIMP, and so on.
You start clone stamping by setting a source point. This is the point from
around which Mari takes the cloned texture. As you paint, Mari duplicates
the area around the origin point you've set.
Mari's Clone Stamp tool lets you clone from:

• the model's surface (baked paint) in the active channel, or in a different
channel
• the current (unbaked) paint in the paint buffer
• an external image (selected from the Image Manager, optionally zoomed
in or out).
When cloning from the baked paint on a channel, you can select to clone
directly from the surface. In this mode, the tool clones the paint from the
channel surface straight up into the paint buffer directly above that point.
This is basically a way of copying the model's surface into the paint buffer
so you can edit it and then re-bake the paint.
TIP: When you clone from a source on the model (any mode other than
using an external image), the source point you set is based on the view of
the model, not the model itself. Moving the view moves the source point.
For instance, you cannot set the source point on the front of the model,
move the view to the rear, and paint the cloned texture from the front to
the rear of the model. (The source point has moved to the same spot in
the view, but on the rear of the model.) Note, however, that you can use a
split screen to select a source in one view and clone it to another.
In these modes, think of the source point as being a position within the
window. As you zoom, pan, and rotate the model, the source point
remains in the same position in the window, but not the same position on
the model.
Choosing a When cloning from a particular channel, the Clone Stamp tool takes a
“snapshot” of that channel as it appears on screen and uses that as the
Source Point source. As a result, the resolution of the cloned texture can depend on the
CLONE STAMPING 47
Setting a Start Point
current display resolution within Mari. Higher display resolutions give better
cloning results, but can dramatically slow Mari's performance.
When cloning from a source point on the model's surface, bear in mind that
the shape of the model determines what gets cloned. For example, if your
source point is on a part that sticks out from the model, the space between
that part and the rest of the model does not provide a source texture when
painting.
The original model, with clone See how the cloned texture
point set in the paint comes directly from the
on the arm. surface as seen in the view.
Setting a Start You can set the start point for each stroke. This can be either:
• Relative to the source point — Your first brush stroke starts from the
Point source point, but for later strokes the cloned texture starts from a
position relative to the source point. For example, if your second brush
stroke starts from 2 cm below the first, the texture cloned there is the
texture 2 cm below the source point in the original image. This is the
default setting.
• From the source point — All brush strokes take their cloned texture
starting from the source point. As you finish each stroke, you can see the
source area preview snap back to the original source point.

CLONE STAMPING 48
Image Options
This example shows the difference between the two modes:
Source texture for Texture cloned relative Texture cloned not

cloning. to source point. relative to source point.
Image Options When you are painting using an external image, you can choose to have
Mari display a preview of the image, floating over the canvas. This makes it
easier to see exactly which parts of the source image Mari is cloning when
you paint. This is very similar to using the Paint Through tool (see Painting
Through an Image or Gradient).
Mari can either scale the external image as you zoom in or out on the model
while painting, or keep it at the same size. You control this with the Scale
Lock setting: if on, Mari locks the image size relative to the model, at the
current zoom level. As you zoom in or out, the image that you're cloning
from zooms in or out too, so the cloned texture always stays at the same
scale, relative to the surface you're painting on.
If Scale Lock is off, the image scale does not change when you zoom in or
out.
TIP: Mari copies textures you clone from an external image at the
resolution of the source. Mari then paints these into the paint buffer at
the buffer's resolution. For example, a 4k image provides 4k source
texture for cloning, which Mari can then paint into the paint buffer at a
maximum of 16k (the maximum size of the paint buffer). See Controlling
the Way Mari Applies Paint to Your Model for details on paint buffer
resolution.
Color Grading the You can apply a color grade to your source image as you paint. You can
Image apply the color grade to any clone operation, whether from an external
image or from a channel's surface. You can:

CLONE STAMPING 49
Image Options
• Change the color values in the source image, either all at once, or by RGB
channel.
• Alter the Contrast or Saturation.
• Use the value curve to apply a specific change to the colors. Mari grades
the colors by converting the input value (on the x axis) to the matching
value on the y axis.
For example:
Setting Result
Default settings
Blue component turned down:

CLONE STAMPING 50
Steps for Clone Stamping
Setting Result
Colors at default settings, but contrast
turned down:
Color and contrast at defaults, but the fol-

lowing value curve applied:
Steps for Clone To paint using the clone tools, follow these steps:
Stamping 1. Set the Clone Stamp Options
2. Clone stamp
3. Apply a Color Grade as You Clone
Set the Clone 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Stamp Options 2. Click to select the Clone Stamp tool.
3. Open the Tool Properties palette.
The current properties of the selected tool display. Scroll down to view
them all.

CLONE STAMPING 51
Set the Clone Stamp Options
4. To customize the brush you're using for your selected tool, set the
options under the Tip and Geometry sections.
These are the same options available for brushes in general — see Con-
figuring Brushes.
5. To set the brush strokes to start relative to the source point, click the
Relative checkbox under Texture > Image.
If this is not selected, the clone brush strokes always start from the
source point (see Setting a Start Point for examples).
6. To turn the onscreen preview on when cloning from an external image,
under Texture > Preview, click to turn Onscreen Preview on. Set the

CLONE STAMPING 52
Set the Clone Stamp Options
Preview Alpha to your preferred value (higher makes the preview clearer,
but makes it harder to see the current paint in the channel).
As you click in the external window to change the source point, the pre-
view moves around on the main canvas.
7. To set whether Mari zooms images relative to your view, turn Scale Lock
on or off, under Texture > Transform.
If this is on, Mari locks the image size relative to the model, at the cur-
rent zoom level. If you zoom in or out, Mari also zooms in or out the
image that you're painting through. If this option is off, the image scale
won't change when you zoom in or out.
8. To set whether Mari resizes source images to fit the paint buffer,
change Reset Size setting, under Texture > Transform:

CLONE STAMPING 53
Clone stamp
• ToOriginalSize — Displays and clones the source image in its original

size, in screen pixels. For example, a 1024x1024 image takes up
1024x1024 pixels on screen. This is the default.
• RelativeToPaintBuffer — Displays and clones the source image resized
so that one pixel in the image matches one pixel in the paint buffer.
For example, a 1024x1024 image in a 2k (2048x2048) paint buffer
appears onscreen as half the size of the paint buffer.
9. To set whether Mari preserves transformations when you switch source
images, change the Auto Reset setting, under Texture > Transform:
• DoNotReset — Preserves any transformations (such as moving, resiz-
ing, or rotating) you have made to the source image that you're clon-
ing, if you switch to using another source image. This is the default.
• Reset — Resets the image to the default size, location, and rotation,
each time you switch to another source image. For example, if you're
using a 2k paint buffer and a 4k image, the image always appears to
be twice the size as the paint buffer onscreen.
TIP: Use DoNotReset if you want to clone several images of the same
size. This is specifically useful if you want to switch between using
multiple 4k textures, as it saves you having to resize the source image
preview from the huge default every time you switch.
Now that you've set up how the clone tool works, you can get on and start
painting.
Clone stamp To clone from an existing current layer:
1. If you haven't already, select the Clone Stamp tool.
2. In the Tool Properties toolbar at the top of the screen, select the clone
source from the Source dropdown.

CLONE STAMPING 54
Clone stamp
The list includes all channels in your project, plus Painting (clone from
the unbaked paint) and Image (clone from an external image). The
default value for Source is Current Paint Target.
TIP: If you can't see the Tool Properties toolbar, open it by right-clicking
in the toolbar space at the top of the window and selecting Tool
Properties from the bottom of the dropdown list.
3. Select Current Paint Target, select the layer you want as a source, then
hold down Ctrl/Cmd and click on the model's surface to set the source
point.
Mari highlights the source point with a cross.
4. Paint normally. As you paint, Mari copies the texture from around your
source point in the source channel:
• The white circle is your brush.
• The black circle is the source area — as you move your brush, this cir-
cle shows you the texture you'll be cloning from.
You can select any preset brush to use with the clone stamp tool, or edit
the brush as normal (see Configuring Brushes).
To clone from the paint buffer:

1. To set the clone source in the unbaked paint (that is, the contents of the
paint buffer), from the Tool Properties toolbar at the top of the screen,
select Painting from the Source dropdown.
2. Ctrl/Cmd-click to set the source point. Paint normally:
• As above, the white circle is your brush.

CLONE STAMPING 55
Clone stamp
• The black circle is the current source area.
TIP: Bear in mind that if a particular area doesn't have any unbaked paint
on it (that is, there is no data in the paint buffer for that area), no clone
data is available from the area. It's as if you're trying to paint from an
area that doesn't have anything on it.
If you're trying to clone and getting nothing, check that there actually is
unbaked paint on the area you're cloning from!
To clone from surface directly into the buffer:

To clone from the surface straight up into the paint buffer directly over
the clone point, select the layer to clone from as normal. When you set
the source point, hold down Ctrl+ (Windows key), or Cmd+Ctrl for
Mac, and click on the model. Paint normally. As you paint, Mari copies
the area you paint from the layer surface into the paint buffer.
If you are cloning from the current channel and layer, you won't see any
visible effects, as Mari is just copying the paint right on top of itself, but
you can then switch tools and edit the paint and then re-bake. This lets
you make fine adjustments to the paint already baked into a layer, or to
clone sections of paint from one layer to another (for example, to clone
from a displacement channel into the diffuse channel to get the basic
details of the surface contours to paint).
To clone from an image:

1. To clone from an external image, drag the image from the Image Man-
ager (or from a shelf) onto the main canvas.
The image opens up in a separate window. You can zoom the image in
and out by holding down Ctrl/Cmd+Alt, clicking and dragging.This sets
the clone source to Image automatically.
2. Click in the separate image window to set the source point. The white
circle in this window shows where the current clone source is, as you
move the mouse.

CLONE STAMPING 56
Clone stamp
3. Paint in the main Mari window as normal.
TIP: If you paint off the edge of the image, no clone data is available. You
can choose to tile the source image. If this is on, when you paint off the
edge, Mari repeats the image (so you always have source data).
Use the ; (semicolon) key to toggle source image tiling on and off.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with the various options and modes of clone

stamp. Try using a custom brush, with an unusual texture, lower alpha,
and so on to find which settings work best for you.

CLONE STAMPING 57
Apply a Color Grade as You Clone
Apply a Color 1. Open the Painting palette and scroll down to the Source Grade section.
Grade as You
Clone
This section lets you control the color grade for your source image.
2. Click to check the Enabled box.
3. You can use the controls to:
• Change the color values in the source image, either all at once (using
the Rgb slider) or one by one.
• Alter the Contrast or the Saturation.
• Use the value curve to apply a specific change to the colors. Mari
grades the colors by converting the input value (on the x axis) to the
matching value on the y axis.
4. Select the clone tool.
5. Paint some sample strokes, experimenting with the settings in the
Source Grade section.
EXPERIMENT: Use the sliders to change the color balance in the red,
green, and blue components. Try altering the contrast. Use the value
curve control to change the color values in the source image. Paint a
number of sample strokes to see how the color grading works.

6 PAINTING THROUGH AN IMAGE OR GRADIENT
Paint Through is closely related to clone stamping. The Paint Through tool
lets you drag an image from the Image Manager and hover it over your
model. As you paint, Mari applies the area of the image underneath your
brush to the model. It's like clone stamping, except that you're always
cloning directly from the preview onto the model below it.
Unpainted model. Image overlaid, painting The result.

through.
As you paint, you can move the source image around, rotate it, and resize
it.
TIP: If you paint off the edge of the image, no clone data is available. You
can choose to tile the source image. If this is on, when you paint off the
edge, Mari repeats the image (so you always have source data).
Use the ; (semicolon) key to toggle source image tiling on and off.
Paint Through has two modes:

• Paint through — you hover the image preview over the model and stamp
it down onto the surface.
• Image clone — you hover the image next to the model, set a source
point, and clone from that point.
The Image clone mode is like the normal Clone Stamp tool, but you have
more control over the source image (you can resize, stretch, and rotate it).
To lock the model and paint buffer to the source image so that Mari
automatically pans or scales the model relative to the image, check the Lock
Object checkbox in the Paint Through toolbar.
You can also lock the source image proportions using the Image Scale
button, so that any changes to scale are applied proportionately to both
PAINTING THROUGH AN IMAGE OR GRADIENT 59
axes. If Image Scale is off, you can alter the image by different amounts on
the vertical and horizontal axes.
As you paint through, you can switch images. By default, when you switch to
another source image, Mari applies any transformations you've made to the
last source image onto the new one. For example, if you have resized the
source image onscreen, moved it around, or rotated it, the next source
image appears the same. You can control this behavior through the Auto
Reset option.
TIP: You can change the algorithm Mari uses to clone from a resized
texture. Set this on the Painting palette, under Painter > Filter. Your
options are:
• Nearest — preserves edge detail, but gives quite "blocky" textures.
• Bilinear — gives good results, but can produce square artifacts at
extreme zoom. This is the default setting.
• Bicubic — provides more rounded results, slightly blurrier but without
the square artifacts.
As with the Clone Stamp tool, you can adjust the color grade of your source
image as you paint.
TIP: See Clone Stamping for details of the Clone Stamp tool and using
color grades.

About Using a Gradient
About Using a You can also use the Gradient tool to paint through a linear or radial color
gradient instead of an image. For example, the following illustration shows a
Gradient radial gradient being stamped onto the model:
Steps for To paint through an image or color gradient in Mari, follow these steps:
Painting 1. Set the Paint Through Options
2. Paint Through an External Image
Through
3. Clone from a Floating Image
4. Using Tint and Stencil Options
5. Paint Through a Gradient

Set the Paint Through Options
Set the Paint 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Through Options 2. Click to select the Paint Through tool.
3. Open the Tool Properties palette.

The current properties for Paint Through display. Scroll down to view
them all.
4. To customize the brush you're using for Paint Through, set the options
under the Tip and Geometry sections.
These are the same options available for brushes in general — see Con-
figuring Brushes.
5. To change the prominence of the onscreen image that you're painting
through, under Texture > Preview, set the Preview Alpha.

Set the Paint Through Options
Higher values make the preview clearer, but make it harder to see the
model underneath.
Preview alpha of 0.35 Preview alpha of 0.75
6. You can lock the source image proportions using the Image Scale
button, so that any changes to scale are applied proportionately to both
axes. If Image Scale is off, you can alter the image by different amounts
on the vertical and horizontal axes.
7. Set Mari to automatically pan or scale the source image using the Pan
Lock and Scale Lock settings.
When the locks are enabled, Mari locks the image position and size rela-
tive to the model. If you pan or zoom the model in or out, the image that
you're painting through pans or zooms in or out too.
If Pan Lock and Scale Lock are disabled, the image position and scale
does not change when you change the view of the model.
8. To set whether Mari resizes source images to fit the paint buffer,
change Reset Size setting, under Texture > Transform:
• ToOriginalSize — Displays and paints through the source image in its
original size, in screen pixels. For example, a 1024x1024 image takes
up 1024x1024 pixels on screen. This is the default.
• RelativeToPaintBuffer — Displays and paints through the source
image resized so that one pixel in the image matches one pixel in the
paint buffer. For example, a 1024x1024 image in a 2k (2048x2048)
paint buffer appears onscreen as half the size of the paint buffer.

Paint Through an External Image
9. To set whether Mari preserves transformations when you switch source

images, change the Auto Reset setting, under Texture > Transform:
• DoNotReset — Preserves any transformations (such as moving, resiz-
ing, or rotating) you have made to the source image that you're clon-
ing, if you switch to using another source image. This is the default.
• Reset — Resets the image to the default size, location, and rotation,
each time you switch to another source image. For example, if you're
using a 2k paint buffer (maximum size) and a 4k image, the image
always appears to be twice the size as the paint buffer onscreen.
TIP: Use DoNotReset if you want to paint through several images of the
same size. This is specifically useful if you want to switch between using
multiple 4k textures, as it saves you having to resize the source image
preview from the huge default every time you switch.
Now you've set up how the Paint Through tool works, you can get on and
start painting.
Paint Through an 1. Drag your source image from the Image Manager (or from a shelf) onto
the canvas.
External Image
The image “floats” above the canvas, ready to paint through.
NOTE: If you do not have the Paint Through tool active when trying to
drag an image onto the canvas from the Image Manager, Mari
automatically switches you to the Paint Through tool to continue.
2. Get the image how you want it:
To... You need to...

Move the image around the canvas Hold down Shift, click on the image and drag it.
Or, click on the white square in the middle of the
image and drag it.
Resize the image, preserving the scale Hold down Ctrl/Cmd+Shift, click anywhere on the
canvas and drag.
Or, hold down Shift, click on a side of the image and
drag it.
Resize the image in one direction Click on a side of the image and drag it.
Rotate the image Hold down Ctrl/Cmd, click anywhere on the canvas
and drag.
Or, click outside the image and drag.

Paint Through an External Image
3. If you just want to stamp the image straight onto the model, press '
(apostrophe).
Mari stamps down the image, as it is currently floating over the model,
onto the surface.
Model before painting. Texture stamped down.
4. To paint using the brush, just click and drag to paint normally.
As you paint, your brush paints down the texture from the image at the
point you're painting.
Model before painting Texture painted through
TIP: Painting with the brush lets you more subtlety control how Mari
applies the paint — for example, you can use a brush with a relatively low
alpha, and “build up” the paint on the model using multiple strokes.
You can apply a color grade to the source image as you paint through.
Set the color grade settings in the Source Grade area of the Painting
palette. See Clone Stamping for details of how the color grade settings
work and the effects you can achieve.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with different brush settings and their effect

on painting through. Adjust details such as opacity, alpha, and noise to
affect the way the texture is painted onto the model.

Clone from a Floating Image
5. You can apply a Tint, which allows you to combine a color with the
image to apply a tinted version of the image using Paint Through.
6. You can also apply a Stencil. The stencil allows you to paint through an
image to create a design of the image on the model.
By default, there is No Stencil applied to the model.
Clone from a 1. In the Tool Properties toolbar at the top of the screen, select Image
Clone from the Mode dropdown:
Floating Image
2. Make any other changes you want to the size, rotation, stretch, or
position of the source image.
This is exactly the same as in the normal mode. You'll probably want to
move the image next to where you'll be painting.
3. Ctrl/Cmd-click on the floating image to set the source point.
The clone source preview displays in a red circle, while your brush is the
white circle.
4. Paint normally.
Mari clones the texture as you paint, taking the resolution for the
cloned texture from the source image. For example, a 4k image provides
cloned texture at 4k resolution.

Using Tint and Stencil Options
Using Tint and 1. On the Paint Through toolbar, there are additional buttons to the right
of the main options. These give you Stamp, Repeat, and Tint options for
Stencil Options the Paint Through functionality.
2. Stamp is a simple button that works the same as stamping down an

image using a hotkey. You can drag your image around the canvas,
resize it, and rotate as usual before using Stamp to apply the image
directly to the model in full.
3. To repeat the image you wish to apply to the model, first press the
Repeat button before painting on any part of the model. The image
repeats across the painted parts of your model. To turn this off, simply
press the button again.
4. To apply a Tint, press the Tint button and select your options from the
following dropdown menu.
This allows you to combine a color with the image to apply a tinted ver-
sion of the image.
• By default, No Stencil is the selected option, which simply tints the
image color and does not change any other aspect.
• Selecting Stencil allows you to paint through an image to create a
design on the model. Stencil ignores the color on the stencil and fol-
lows only the alpha value.
• Selecting Inverted Stencil allows you to color in all parts of the model
where the stencil is transparent, leaving the stencil as the model’s
original color.
• Selecting Luminance allows you to paint through an image in much the
same way as you would with a stencil. However, by setting the option
to Luminance, this allows you to use an image’s luminance as the alpha
when painting. This works especially well for dirt, noise, blemishes, and
other similar effects.

Paint Through a Gradient
• Selecting Inverted Luminance allows you to create a similar effect as

Luminance but uses the lighter parts of the image as alpha. This can be
used to pick up scratches and fine lines.
Paint Through a To paint through a color gradient (instead of through an image):

Gradient 1. Click to select the Gradient tool.
A gradient displays above the canvas.
2. To configure the gradient, change the settings on the Tool Properties

toolbar at the top of the window.
You can set:

• The two colors for the gradient — click on the swatch to change the
color.
• In Point — select a proportion of the gradient (left-to- right linear, or
in-to-out radial) at which the starting color begins changing to the
ending color (at 0.00, the transition begins at the far left linear or
dead center radial; at 0.50 the transition begins halfway; at 1.00 there
is no transition, it's all start color).
• Out Point — select a proportion of the gradient (left-to- right linear,
or in-to-out radial) at which the starting color turns completely into
the ending color (at 0.00, there is no transition, it's all end color; at
0.50 the transition ends halfway; at 1.00 the transition ends at far
right linear, or the outer circumference radial).

Paint Through a Gradient
• Type — select from the dropdown menu whether the gradient is Linear
(from one side to the other) or Radial (from the center out).
As you change the properties the gradient shown onscreen updates.
3. Size, move, and rotate the gradient, in the same way as described in Set
the Paint Through Options.
4. Paint through the gradient, in the same way as described in Paint
Through an External Image.

7 CONTROLLING THE WAY MARI APPLIES PAINT TO YOUR MODEL
When you paint, Mari saves your painting in a buffer, and then bakes it onto
the surface of your model. You can learn About the Paint Buffer and
transform paint in the buffer before baking, Mask What You Can Paint On,
and apply Paint Blending Modes to control how paint in the buffer blends
with what's on the surface when it bakes.
About the Paint As you paint, Mari saves the painting since your last bake in the paint
buffer. Then, when you bake, Mari saves the paint from the buffer, adds it
Buffer to the surface underneath, and clears the buffer, ready for more paint.
While the paint is still in the buffer, you can make changes to it. If you don't
like what you've done, you can erase sections using the Eraser tool or just
blank the entire paint buffer.
Think of the buffer as floating above the canvas. When you bake, Mari adds
the paint to the current layer — but until then you can edit the buffer, move
the model around underneath it, or switch to another layer and bake the
paint there instead. After baking, you can set your preferences to keep the
transformations for new paint you add to the buffer, or automatically reset
the buffer to the Mari defaults.
Boundaries Mari shows the boundaries of the current paint buffer as a white rectangle.
By default, the paint buffer is sized slightly larger than the window (that is,
it covers everything you can see), so the boundaries are not visible. As you
resize it, the boundaries and current details appear.
CONTROLLING THE WAY MARI APPLIES PAINT TO YOUR MODEL 70
About Masking
Paint buffer resized and rotated — note that depth and resolution details
display underneath.
Depth and The paint buffer has a specific color depth and resolution, which controls
Resolution the color and resolution of the paint as you apply it (rather than that of the
patches that you're painting onto). For instance:
• If the paint buffer has a color depth of 8-bit (256 colors), then that's the
maximum number of colors that you can use when painting. Even if you're
painting onto a patch with a color depth of 16 or 32 bits (65,536 or
16.7 million colors), the paint you're applying only has 256 colors.
• If the paint buffer has a resolution of 512x512, the total buffer as it
appears on-screen has that resolution. Anything you paint in the buffer
is at 512x512. Any patch with a higher resolution still only receives the
paint at 512x512.
On the other hand, it's also true the other way around. If you're painting
onto a 512 x 512 patch with 8-bit color, using a buffer at 1024x1024 and
16-bit color, Mari still saves the patch at 512x512 8-bit. The advantage to
using a paint buffer with higher quality than the resulting patches is that
you can “overpaint” and use the higher quality texture and color depth to
ensure good results. You can use this to help smooth out transitions
between colors (preventing stepping), or to ensure that your textures are
sharp (that is, at the maximum resolution for the patch).
About Masking Within the buffer, you can control the paintable area. Mari lets you mask
areas on the model. Areas covered by the mask can't be painted on. It's the
electronic equivalent of putting masking tape over something you don't
want to paint when you're repainting a wall.
Mari includes the following mask types:

• ambient occlusion mask
• depth mask
• backface mask
• fractal noise mask
• a configurable edge mask, which masks the areas on the model that are
oblique to the current view, and
• a channel mask, where you create a channel for masking, paint in it, and
use it to control where you can paint on another channel.

About Masking
Edge Masks Mari projects paint directly onto the surface of your model based on your
view. In other words, it applies paint to what you can see, from the angle
you see it. If you paint something you can see, but you're not facing it
directly, there might be falloff, where what you've painted has “smeared”.
For example, the images below show a spot painted onto a surface of an
anvil. From the angle it was painted, it looks like a circle. But if you rotate it,
you can see that it “stretched” over the edge.
Circle painted front on. Rotated, you can see the falloff.
To prevent this from happening, you can configure an edge mask, which
masks the falloff area so you can't paint on it (or so that you can, but the
falloff is minimized). The following illustration shows the edge mask tinged
in red, and the result of the painting, again baked and rotated.
Circle painted front on, with Rotated, you can see the mask
edge mask. prevented falloff.
Generally, you wouldn't want such a sharp edge to the paintable area, so
Mari lets you specify falloff start and end points to make it fuzzy (unlike the
illustration above, where the start and end points are the same). The falloff
start is where the masking begins, a proportion of where the projection
deviates from directly facing the view. From there, the projection fades out

About Masking
as the mask blends to the falloff end, at which point the projection ends
completely (is completely masked) till it hits 90 degrees from facing. You
can control how fast the masking falls off.
To see how this works, the following illustrations show the result of
painting a stripe on the model, like this:
If we bake it, and then rotate to see how much “smeared” into the falloff
area, you can see the results of using masks at falloff end/start points of
1.00/0.00 and 0.75/0.25:
No mask. Mask Falloff: Mask Falloff:

End1.00, Start 0.00. End 0.75, Start 0.25.

About Masking
TIP: If you want to, you can set the end to a higher value than the start.
This reverses the masking - the facing surfaces are masked and the
oblique surfaces are paintable.
Channel masks You can use a channel mask to manually define your own painting mask. You
do this by painting into a channel and then using it to control where paint
applies to the surface.
Channel mask. Paint buffer without channel mask.
Paint buffer with channel

mask – see the red masked area
where the white is on the mask.
Mari applies the channel mask based on color values on the surface of the
channel. This is set up through a curve control:

About Masking
By default:
• White pixels (value of 1,1,1) are completely masked (totally unpaintable).
• Black pixels (value of 0,0,0) are completely unmasked (totally paintable).
• Other pixels are less masked as their color values approach 0, more
masked as they approach 1. For example, 50% grey (0.5,0.5,0.5) creates
a mask with 50% opacity.
Mask channel including colored The resulting paint mask.

mask data.
By altering the curve control, you can set how Mari masks different color
values. For example, if you use a displacement map channel as your mask
source, you can adjust the mask value to mask out everything except the
darkest areas. This gives you a mask that covers everything except the
“cracks” in your mask texture.
For example, here's the result of different settings using this displacement
map as a channel mask:

About Masking
Setting Result Notes

This paints into the dark
areas – the cracks in the
texture.
This only unmasks the light-

est (that is, the highest)
points in the map.
You can also set the contrast for the mask. Mari applies this contrast to the
mask channel when producing the final mask.
TIP: Mari expects masks to be black on white. That is, colors are less
masked as they approach 0, more masked as they approach 1. However,
if you prefer to paint your masks white on black, you can invert the mask
input.

About Masking
Ambient Occlusion The ambient occlusion mask lets you mask out the parts on your model that
Mask are covered by the ambient occlusion. Ambient occlusion is a way of
mimicking the soft shadows produced by natural ambient light. The ambient
occlusion mask lets you mask out the areas that are shadowed according to
this calculation.
Shader showing the ambient Ambient occlusion mask — the

occlusion on this part of the darker the area on the original,
model. the more it's masked.
If required, you can invert the mask, so as to mask out all the areas not
covered by the ambient occlusion.

About Masking
Depth Mask The depth mask masks out areas on the model depending on how deep they
are in the scene (that is, how far from the render camera). This lets you set
start and end values and quickly mask out the region between them.
Using depth mask to mask out the far part of the object
Backface Mask Turning this on simply masks out the backfaces on your model – so you
can't paint on them. There are no other configuration options.
Backface mask off. Backface mask on, masking

the inside of the lens.

About Blend Modes
Fractal Noise Mask The fractal noise mask is a user-controllable masking tool that uses
generated noise to mask areas on the surface of an object while painting.
Using fractal noise mask to mask where paint is applied to the surface of
the object
About Blend When you bake the paint buffer, Mari (by default) adds the contents of the
buffer to the surface of the layer below. If you prefer, you can set the buffer
Modes to use any one of a number of other blend modes. These correspond to the
layer blending modes used in 2D graphics programs such as Photoshop® or
GIMP.
The default is for Mari to add the contents of the buffer to the surface.
Other blend modes available include varieties of:
• painting the numeric difference between the buffer and the existing
surface
• using the contents of the buffer as input for a dodge or burn on the
surface
• using the contents of the buffer as input for a hard-light application on
the surface.

Steps for Controlling How Paint Applies to the Model
For example, here's the same paint splash in different blend modes:
Default (over) mode. Burn Midrange mode.
Screen mode. Difference mode.
See Paint Blending Modes for details of all the blending modes available.
Steps for To control how your paint buffer works and how Mari bakes it to your
model, follow these steps:
Controlling How 1. Configure the Paint Buffer
Paint Applies to 2. Erase Paint
the Model 3. Mask What You Can Paint On
4. Set the Paint Blending Mode
5. Paint Buffer Symmetry
Configure the 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Paint Buffer 2. Open the Painting palette, scroll down, and expand the Paint Buffer
section.

Configure the Paint Buffer
Mari displays basic properties of the paint buffer.
3. Set paint buffer properties:

• Color Depth — controls how many colors the paint buffer can hold.
Uncheck this if you want to clone from or paint through a source that
has values higher than this range.
• Buffer Size — controls the resolution of the buffer itself.
• Clamp — if checked, Mari restricts the range of the paint buffer to val-
ues between 0 and 1.
• Transform (Translation, Scale, and Rotation) — used to Move or
Transform Paint in the buffer. But it's easier to use the Transform
Paint tool.
• Reset on bake — controls whether Mari resets the buffer to its
defaults after baking. If enabled (the default), any transformations
you've made to the paint buffer revert to the defaults. That is, after
baking you get a new paint buffer (once again slightly larger than the
visible screen). If you want to preserve your transformations after
baking, change this to disabled.

TIP: You should always try to set the color depth (and, if possible, buffer
size) to at least as high as the highest values for the patches on your
model.
Mari supports a maximum Buffer Size of 16384 x 16384. However, this
setting is not available for all graphics cards. The availability of this
setting is determined by the maximum texture size supported by your
graphics card.
Please note that increasing the Buffer Size, even when your graphics card
supports large textures, can slow Mari’s performance.
If you are using patch resolutions higher than 4K, we recommend that
you zoom in to the surface when painting, to keep the resolution sharp.
4. Open the Projection palette. This controls how Mari projects paint onto
the model when you bake the paint, and mask settings.
5. Try changing the value for Painting Opacity.

This controls how opaque your paint is in the buffer. At 1.0, you see the
paint exactly as you painted it. At 0.5, the paint is half transparent, and
at 0 it's completely transparent.
6. To set properties for baking the buffer, scroll down and expand the
Projection section.
The Projection Filter controls how Mari calculates the colors to apply to
the surface when you bake the buffer down:
• Bilinear — gives a smooth projection down onto the surface.
• Nearest — gives a hard-edged projection down onto the surface.

7. The Bake Behavior setting controls whether Mari bakes automatically

when you change the view, and whether the buffer clears automatically
once you bake. The options are:
• AutoBakeAndClear — Mari automatically bakes and clears the buffer
when you move the model.
• Manual — You have to bake manually; and when you do, the paint
stays in the paint buffer until you manually clear it.
• ClearOnly — You have to bake manually; and when you do, the paint
buffer clears automatically.
TIP: With Manual or ClearOnly, you can reposition the model underneath
the buffer. This is useful, for example, if you realize that you need to get
a better angle on a particular surface on the model.
8. The Projection setting lets you set whether Mari projects only onto the
Front of the model (as you're seeing it) or whether paint goes straight
Through the model (appearing on the back as well as the front).
The paint stroke, painted onto the
left side of the face.
The result, projecting on the Front,

rotated so you can see that it's
only appearing in the front of the
original view.

When projecting Through, the

paint stroke appears on the back
as well as the front.
9. In the Project On settings, select whether to project onto only the

selected areas, or all patches/objects in the project. For example, if you
set Project On to SelectedOnly, you can only paint on the currently
selected areas (whether it's an area, patch, or object, depending on your
selection mode).
This is useful when, for example, painting a face so you don't have to
worry about accidentally overpainting onto the eyes.
EXPERIMENT: Paint a couple of example strokes onto your model, so you

can see the effects as you work.
Try:
• Setting Bake Behavior to Manual or ClearOnly, and then moving the
model around underneath the buffer.
• The paint buffer “floats” above the model until you bake it on. For
example, you could move it around to get a better angle on a particular
surface that you're painting on, or to paint on a different section of
the model.
• Using the Zoom Paint Buffer tool to zoom in on your model with the
paint buffer locked and without baking the paint down.
• Changing channels (through the Channels menu or palette, or using the
PageUp and PageDown keys). The paint buffer stays in front of the
canvas, on the new channel.
• Setting Projection to Through. Paint some strokes on your model and
bake them. Now rotate the model to see how the paint has “pene-
trated” it.
• Set Project On to Selected. Using the Selection tool, select a patch on
your model. Paint a stroke that goes off the edge of the selected
patch, and bake it. See how the paint that goes off the selection patch
disappears when you bake.

Erase Paint
Erase Paint 1. To erase a section of paint, click on the Eraser tool.

2. Click and drag to erase paint from the paint buffer.
This does not affect the underlying paint baked onto the model, only the
paint in the buffer.
TIP: You can edit the brush details for the eraser (brush shape, size, and
so on) the same as you would for any other brush.
3. To clear the entire paint buffer, click the Clear the Paint Buffer
button.
Mari clears the contents of the paint buffer.
NOTE: You can also clear the paint buffer by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+C.

Mask What You Can Paint On
Mask What You 1. Scroll to the top of the Projection palette.

Can Paint On Masking options are under the Mask Preview, Channel Mask, Ambient
Occlusion Mask, Backface Mask, Depth Mask, and Edge Mask sections.
2. If you want to change how masking appears on-screen, change the Mask
Preview settings.
• You can temporarily set the Masking Disabled feature by selecting the
check box, or pressing Ctrl/Cmd+M. The allows you to see the geome-
try without any of the current masking channels. This overrides the
Mask Preview Enabled feature, even if it is already selected.
• You can set the Mask Preview Color — click the swatch to select a
color for the mask from a color picker. The color includes an alpha
value, so you can have the mask displayed semi-transparent.
• To display the masking, click Mask Preview Enabled or press , (comma).
TIP: Layer masking, projection masks, and masks on projectors are all
hardwired to use the red color component. If you want to use another
color component for your mask value, the Shuffle adjustment layer allows
you to change the RGBA components so that any can be replaced by
another.
Additionally, the Luminosity adjustment layer allows you to convert an
RGB input to a grayscale output.
When this is on, Mari shows all the masking you have turned on
(including channel, edge, depth, and so on). When the masking is visi-
ble, the icon displays in the status bar. Clicking this icon, as well as
the button in the palette, hides the masking.
Other icons show which masking is in use. They are:
for edge masking
for channel masking
for ambient occlusion masking
for depth masking
for backface masking
for masking disabled

Edge Masking To use Edge Masks, set the options under Edge Mask:
• Falloff Curve — use the curve control to set how the masking falls off
between the Start and End points. The start point is at the left of the
curve, the end is at the right, and the degree of masking is on the vertical
axis.
• Falloff End — where the projection completely fades and the painting is
completely masked.
• Falloff Start — is where the masking begins, a proportion of where the
projection deviates from directly facing the view, at which point the
projection starts gradually fading as the masks blends to the falloff end.
Enable the masking by turning on the toggle at the top of the section.
When enabled, the icon displays in the status bar. Clicking this icon (as
well as the checkbox in the palette) disables the edge mask.
TIP: You can use shortcut keys to enable/disable the edge mask (G) and
hide/show the masking (,).

Channel Masking To use Channel masks, set the options under Channel Mask:
• Mask Channel — lets you select a channel to use as a mask (if you are
using a channel mask, you'll want to create and paint a mask in a channel
first).
• Mask Amount — controls the strength of the masked texture coming
through, how much unmasked texture to apply. For example, at 0.5, Mari
applies the unmasked paint with alpha of 0.5.
• Mask Contrast — controls the contrast used on the mask texture. This
controls how sharply defined the mask is – at 1.0, this is just the original
mask texture, lower values are fuzzier and higher values are sharper.
• Mask Curve — controls how the input pixel values relate to the degree of
masking. The horizontal axis is the darkness of the input pixel (black to
the left, white to the right), the vertical axis is the degree of visibility. By
default, this is a direct line, where white pixels are totally masked, black
pixels are totally unmasked, and 50% grey is 50% masked.
• Invert — applies the mask in reverse. Mari expects masks to be black on
white, where the white areas are masked and black is unmasked.
However, if you prefer to paint white on black, you can invert the mask
input.
well as the checkbox in the palette) disables the channel mask.
TIP: If you want to turn channel masking off, just select the blank entry
from the Mask Channel list.

Ambient Occlusion Before you use an Ambient Occlusion Mask, you must calculate the ambient
Masking occlusion for the object. See Calculating Ambient Occlusion for more details.
To use an ambient occlusion mask, set the options under Ambient Occlusion
Mask:
• Mask Amount — is the amount of masking to apply. This is from 0 to 1;

higher values mask the areas that are covered by ambient occlusion,
while lower values mask everything except the areas that are covered by
the occlusion.
• Mask Contrast — controls how sharply defined the mask is. At 1.0, the
mask is precisely the same as the ambient occlusion. Higher values mask
the occluded areas more, lower values mask them less.
• Mask Curve — controls how the ambient occlusion pixel values relate to
the degree of masking. The horizontal axis is the darkness of the
occluded pixels (black to the left, white to the right), the vertical axis is
the degree of visibility. By default, this is a direct line, where white pixels
are totally masked, black pixels are totally unmasked, and 50% grey is
50% masked.
• Invert — if this is selected, the mask data is black on white rather than
white on black.
well as the checkbox in the palette) disables the ambient occlusion mask.

Depth Masking To turn the depth masking on, set the options under Depth Mask:
• Start — is how far through the scene the masking begins. This is a
proportion of the entire scene in the project, including all objects, lights,
and so on.
• End — is how far through the scene the painting is completely masked.
• Falloff — sets how quickly the masking falls off between the start and
end points. The interaction between the three settings can be subtle —
you may need to play around with different settings to get the effect you
want.
well as the checkbox in the palette) disables the depth mask.
TIP: For details on creating new channels, see Channels.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with the masking options. Create a channel to

use as a mask, then use it to control where you can paint on the model.
Try setting the falloff options for the edge mask to minimum and
maximum values. Try setting the falloff options so that the forward
facing areas are masked and the oblique areas are paintable.
Backface Masking To turn the Depth Mask on, next to Backface Mask, click to turn the toggle
on.
well as the checkbox in the palette) disables the backface mask.

Set the Paint Blending Mode
Fractal Noise To turn fractal noise masking on, set the options under Fractal Noise Mask:
Masking
• Seed — changes the pattern of the fractal noise mask by moving the
pattern in 3D space.
• Contrast — controls the level of contrast applied to the fractal noise
features to derive the mask.
• Roughness — determines the roughness of the fractal noise features.
• Size — Determines the size of the fractal noise features.
• Mask Amount — the amount that the mask affects the paint buffer. 1.0
means that the mask absolutely controls where you can paint; the effects
of the mask decrease as the value gets lower.
• Mask Curve — controls how the fractal noise relates to the degree of
masking, based on the above fields. This allows you to fine tune the
contrast and pattern appearance of the fractal noise mask.
• Invert — if this is selected, the mask data is black on white rather than
white on black.
well as the checkbox in the palette) disables the fractal noise mask.
Set the Paint 1. In the Projection palette, scroll to the Painting section.
Blending Mode Mari displays the details of the current paint blending mode:

Paint Blending Modes
You can also set this in the Tool Properties toolbar.

2. Paint a stroke or two on your model (so you can see the effects of
changing the settings).
3. Select a paint blending mode from the Painting Mode dropdown.
The paint blending modes available are similar to many other paint pack-
ages. If you aren't familiar with the various modes, see Paint Blending
Modes for descriptions and examples.
As you change modes, the paint in the buffer updates to show the
effect.
EXPERIMENT: Play around with the blend modes. As you change them,
see how the paint in your buffer changes. Experiment with the results you
can get with different blend modes, how they work with different types of
brush strokes, paint alpha values, and so on.
Paint Blending Mari comes with several paint blending modes. The chart below uses the
following example surface and painting to illustrate the effect of applying
Modes the different modes:
Unpainted surface. Paint stroke in default

blend mode.
There are a number of shortcuts that can help you switch between Previous
Blend, Last Blend, or Next Blend modes (among others), as well as resetting
the paint blend mode. For a list of available shortcuts, please refer to
Keyboard Shortcuts on page 376.

In the application, these effects are grouped by functional area (for

example, all the light modes (hard light, soft light, and so on) are grouped
together). This list is alphabetical to make it easier for you to find a
description of a particular effect.
Blend mode Description Example

Add Adds the values of the colors in the
paint buffer to the values on the
layer's surface.
Add Normal Maps Blends two RGB-encoded vector lay-

ers with the Add input by converting
the raw values from the 0.0 to +1.0
color space-encoded range to the -1.0
to +1.0 vector range, applying the
blend factor to the Over input, adding
the values, then normalizing the values
before converting it back to the 0.0 to
+1.0 color space-encoded range.
Burn Highlights Burns the layer based on the highlights
in the paint buffer.
Burn Midrange Burns the layer based on the middle

range (that is, not the lightest or dark-
est pixels) of the paint buffer.


Burn Shadows Burns the layer based on the contents
of the paint buffer, with darker pixels
being burned harder.
Clear Subtracts the opacity of the paint

stroke from the current surface. For
example, an 80% opaque stroke leaves
a surface with 20% opacity.
Color Takes the luminance of the layer, and

the color and saturation of the paint
buffer.
Color Burn Burns the layer, using the contents of

the paint buffer as input for the burn
operation.


Color Dodge Dodges the layer surface, using the
contents of the paint buffer to control
the degree of dodging.
Contrast The destination color moves away from

the painted color by contrasting
around the painted color. How much it
contrasts depends on the alpha.
Darken Gives each pixel the darker of two pos-

sible values: the current layer surface
or the contents of the paint buffer
(whichever is darker).
Decontrast The destination color moves towards

the painted color by decontrasting
around the painted color. How much is
decontrasts depends on the alpha.


Difference Inverts the colors. Mari subtracts the
values in the paint buffer from those
on the layer surface.
Dodge Highlights Dodges the layer based on the high-

lights in the paint buffer.
Dodge Midrange Dodges the layer based on the middle

range (that is, not the lightest or dark-
est pixels) of the paint buffer.
Dodge Shadows Dodges the layer based on the con-

tents of the paint buffer, with darker
pixels being dodged harder.


Exclusion Inverts the colors, but with a lowered
contrast.
Hard Light Mimics a harsh spotlight. Makes light

areas lighter (using a screen effect),
and dark areas darker (using a multiply
effect).
Hard Mix First performs a vivid blend, then

thresholds the colors to their extreme
values. The result is that the pixels can
be one of eight colors — black, white,
red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, or yel-
low.
Hue Takes the luminance and saturation

from the layer pixels, with the hue
from the paint buffer.


Inverse Difference Subtracts the colors in the paint buffer
from the layer surface, and then
inverts the result.
Invert Uses the paint buffer as the input to

invert the pixels on the base layer.
Lighten Gives each pixel the lighter of two pos-

sible values: the current layer surface
or the contents of the paint buffer
(whichever is lighter).
Luminance Takes the hue and saturation of the

layer color, and the luminance of the
paint buffer. (This is the opposite of
the Color blend mode.)


Mix Normal Maps Blends two RGB-encoded vector lay-
ers with the Mix input by converting
the raw values from the 0.0 to +1.0
color space-encoded range to the -1.0
to +1.0 vector range, applying the
blend factor to the Over input, adding
the values, then normalizing the values
before converting teh value back to the
0.0 to +1.0 color space-encoded
range.
Multiply Darkens the color. Mari multiplies the
layer color by the color in the paint
buffer.
Normal Replace values on the layer's surface

with those from the paint buffer.
(Mari's default mode.)
Nudge Flow Vec- Changes the paint buffer to tangent

tors vector space. Keeps the vectors flat to
the object’s surface in 2D space. The
Nudge Flow Vectors mode adds the
vectors together to get the blend
result, and is best for use with flow
maps.


Nudge Normal Changes the paint buffer to tangent
Vectors vector space. Allows the z value to
face outward in 3D space, so that vec-
tors face out from the object’s surface
anywhere on the model. The Nudge
Normal Vectors mode adds the vectors
together to get the blend result, and is
best for use with normal maps.
Overlay Uses the patterns and colors from the

paint buffer, but keeps the highlights
and shadows from the layer.
Paint Flow Vectors Changes the paint buffer to tangent

vector space. Keeps the vectors flat to
the object’s surface in 2D space. Unlike
Nudge Flow Vectors, the Paint Flow
Vectors mode blends between the vec-
tors instead of adding them. This mode
is best for use with flow maps.
Paint Normal Vec- Changes the paint buffer to tangent

tors vector space. Allows the z value to
face outward in 3D space, so that vec-
tors can face out from the object’s
surface anywhere on the object. Unlike
Nudge Normal Vectors, the Paint Nor-
mal Vectors mode blends between the
vectors instead of adding them. This
mode is best for use with normal maps.


Pin Light For light areas in the paint buffer,
replaces pixels on the layer's surface
that are darker than the corresponding
pixels in the paint buffer.
For dark areas in the paint buffer,
replaces pixels on the layer's surface
that are lighter than the corresponding
pixels in the paint buffer.
(Otherwise, leaves the layer surface
unchanged.)
Saturation Takes the luminance and hue of the

layer color, with the saturation from
the paint buffer.
Scale Vectors This is most useful with the basic Paint

tool, while preferably using grayscale
paint. Scale Vectors uses the intensity
of color to control the length of the
normal in 3D space.
Screen Lightens the image. Mari divides the

color on the surface of the layer by the
value of the paint. (This is the opposite
of Multiply.)

Paint Buffer Symmetry

Soft Light In dark areas on the layer, burns the
paint buffer onto the layer surface. In
lighter areas, dodges it on.
Sponge Desaturate Uses the paint buffer as the input to

desaturate the pixels on the base
layer.
Vivid Light In dark areas on the layer, adds the

paint buffer with more contrast. In
light areas, adds it with less contrast.
Paint Buffer You can mirror paint strokes in the paint buffer. On the Paint Buffer
Symmetry toolbar, four options control whether you want your paint
Symmetry strokes to be mirrored on the paint buffer axis and, if so, how the paint
strokes should be mirrored. The toolbar, shown below, appears in Mari
alongside other toolbars such as Lighting and Navigation.

The four options on the toolbar are included below, with example paint
strokes illustrating the symmetry for each option:.
Symmetry Option Description Example

Mari’s default paint buffer
setting is to have paint buffer
symmetry disabled.
Mirroring left and right divides

the paint buffer vertically.
Paint strokes created on
either side of the buffer mir-
rors the same strokes on the
other side.

Symmetry Option Description Example

Mirroring top and bottom
divides the paint buffer hori-
zontally. Paint strokes created
on either side of the buffer
mirrors the same strokes on
the other side.
Mirroring four ways divides

the paint buffer into quad-
rants. Paint strokes created in
any of the four quadrants mir-
rors in the other three.
Painting in the paint buffer with symmetry enabled only applies to the
actual paint strokes. If mirroring is used while in Paint Through mode or
while using the Clone Stamp tool, only the paint strokes are mirrored; not
the texture being painted through or cloned.
Paint buffer symmetry also mirrors only the paint buffer; it does not project
paint onto the opposite side of the geometry.

8 TRANSFORMING AND WARPING PAINT
Mari lets you transform and distort paint within the buffer with these four
tools:
• Transform Paint
• Warp
• Slerp
• Pinup.
TIP: See Controlling the Way Mari Applies Paint to Your Model for details
of how the paint buffer works.
Transforming You can use the Transform Paint tool to resize and stretch the paint buffer
as a whole. This lets you:
the Paint Buffer • resize the buffer (either proportionally or stretched)
• rotate it
• or just move it around.
As you transform the paint buffer, its contents — that is, the paint as it
appears on your model — changes too. For example, you can paint a stroke,
then stretch it, rotate it, and position it exactly on your model, before
finally baking it onto the layer.
TRANSFORMING AND WARPING PAINT 105
Warping Within the Paint Buffer
Warping Within The Warp tool lets you warp a selected area within your paint buffer. You
create a warp box — a rectangle with between 4 and 64 control points.
the Paint Buffer
Warp box with four control points. Warp box with 64 control points.
You can then warp the paint buffer under the box by moving the control
points around.
Initial transform box After some warping.

(16 control points).
Pulling Paint The Slerp tool works like the Liquify tool in Photoshop®. It lets you “pull”
the contents of the paint buffer around.
Around with
Slerp

Pinning and Pulling with Pinup
Initial contents of paint Body pushed in to Slerped using a big

buffer. give a narrow waist. brush tip in an S motion.
Slerp uses a standard Mari brush tip, so you can fine-tune how to push
things around. As well as pulling, Slerp lets you grow, shrink, and rotate the
paint. You can also use it to selectively erase distortions you've already
applied.
Pinning and The Pinup tool works like the Warp tool, but lets you set your own control
points (pins) wherever you want. Think of it as turning the paint buffer into
Pulling with a rubber sheet, which you can pull around with the pins. You can use pins
Pinup either to pull the paint around, or to hold it in place. So if you get a
distortion that you're happy with in part of the buffer, you can set some
pins around it and other distortions won't affect it.
You can move the pins around (either one by one or in groups), or rotate
them around a central point. You can also move the point of rotation.
Initial contents of paint Pins on the legs The same pins rotated to
buffer, with pins set. moved to the right, the right instead of
Point of rotation is the distorting the buffer moved, stretching the
big white circle. but not around the head. buffer up.
You can also change the “strength” of each pin. This sets how much the pin
affects the texture around itself.
TIP: The Transform tool works on the entire paint buffer at once, while
the Warp, Slerp, and Pinup tools let you select which area within the
buffer to work on.

Steps for Transforming and Warping Paint
Steps for To transform or warp paint in the buffer, follow these steps:
Transforming 1. Move or Transform Paint
2. Warp Paint Using a Grid
and Warping
3. Pull, Smudge, Grow, and Shrink Paint
Paint 4. Distort the Paint with Pins
Move or 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Transform Paint 2. Paint a couple of example strokes onto your model, so you can see the
effects as you work.
3. Click to select the Transform Paint tool .

4. To transform the paint, you can do the following:
To... You need to... Example:

Move the paint buffer around Click on the buffer and drag
it.
Resize the paint buffer, pre- Hold down Ctrl/Cmd+Shift,

serving the scale click anywhere on the canvas
and drag.
Dragging to the left makes
the buffer smaller, to the
right makes it bigger.

Move or Transform Paint

Stretch the buffer (resize Click on a side or corner of
without preserving scale) the buffer and drag it.
Rotate the buffer Either:

• click outside the buffer and
drag, or
• hold down Ctrl/Cmd, click
inside the buffer, and drag.
TIP: You can also make these transformations by manually editing the
values under Transform in the Paint Buffer section of the Painting
palette. For example, editing the Translation values moves the buffer
around on screen, changing the Scale resizes the buffer, and the Rotation
control sets the rotation to specific degrees.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with the various transformations you can make

to the paint buffer. Try stretching, rotating, and moving the buffer, then
baking the paint onto the surface of your model. Use both the Transform
Paint tool and the controls under Paint Buffer in the Painting palette.
Warp Paint Using a 1. If necessary, paint another couple of strokes on the model to experi-
Grid ment with.

2. Click to select the Warp tool .

3. Click and drag to create a rectangle to warp.
The warp rectangle displays, with nine control points, and a central
rotation pivot (the large point in the center).
TIP: After you draw a warp box, to replace it with another warp box: hold
down Shift, click and drag.

4. To warp your selection, you can do the following.

Increase or decrease press the Up or Down
the number of control arrow keys ( ).
points (up to 64)
Move a single control click and drag it.

point
Move multiple control click and drag out a rect-

points angle covering the control
points, then click one of
the points and drag it —
the other points follow.


Rotate around the hold down the (Win-
central pivot
dows) key, then drag one
or more points.
Move the central pivot click and drag it. Be careful

point to click on the pivot point
(the big circle), rather than
the central control point.
Remove the current press ' (apostrophe).

warp

Pull, Smudge, Grow, and Shrink Paint
5. To complete the warp, do one of the following:

• draw a new warp box (remember to hold down Shift when dragging to
create the new box),
• change to another tool, or
• bake the paint.
TIP: You cannot undo individual stages of a warp. You can only undo the
warp as a whole.
EXPERIMENT: Have a play with the warp tool.

Try:
• moving one point
• clicking and dragging to select two points, then moving them together
• using the (Windows) key to rotate points.
Pull, Smudge, 1. The effects of the Slerp tool can be quite subtle, so we recommend you
use a sample picture to see them clearly. Use the Paint Through tool to
Grow, and Shrink drag a picture over the model, then stamp it down with the ' (apostro-
Paint phe) key.
2. Click to select the Slerp tool .

3. If it's not visible, show the Tool Properties toolbar. You can select the
tool mode from the Mode field:

Pull, Smudge, Grow, and Shrink Paint
4. Select from the Slerp mode selector to use Slerp as follows:

pull paint around select the (default) Pull
mode, click and drag.
make the paint in a select the Grow mode, click

specific area larger and drag.
make the paint in a select the Shrink mode, click

specific area smaller and drag.

Distort the Paint with Pins

rotate your paint select the Rotate mode,
around click and drag.
undo the distortion in a select the Erase mode, click n/a

specific area of the and drag.
painting
undo all the distortions press ' (apostrophe). n/a
you've applied
apply your changes to press ; (semicolon). n/a
the paint buffer (that
is, make them so you
can't erase the distor-
tions)
5. To complete the distortion, do one of the following:

• press ; (semicolon),
• bake the paint.
TIP: As with the Warp tool, you cannot undo individual stages of a Slerp.
You can only undo the Slerp as a whole. Until you have completed the
Slerp, using Undo actually undoes the last completed action.
EXPERIMENT: Try using Slerp's various modes. Each mode has radius and
opacity options that you can change. Try adjusting these to see how
dramatically that mode can change the texture.
Distort the Paint The Pinup tool lets you create your own control points to distort the paint
buffer. You can use pins to pull the paint around like a rubber sheet, or to
with Pins hold areas of the buffer steady while you distort other parts.

1. Clear the paint buffer, and use the Paint Through tool to stamp another
example texture onto your model.
2. Select the Pinup tool .
3. Use the Pinup tool as follows:.

add or remove a pin Shift-click.
select multiple pins click and drag around the n/a

pins.
move pins around (dis- click on one of the selected
torting the paint) pins and drag.


rotate pins around the click on one of the selected
central point of rotation pins, hold down the
(Windows) key and drag.
move the central point click on the point of rota- n/a

of rotation tion (big dot) and drag it.
change the strength of a click on the pin to select it, n/a
pin then press the Up or Down
arrow keys. As you
increase the strength of a
pin, the preview circle
around the pin gets bigger
(or smaller as you lower
the strength).
remove all the current press Ctrl/Cmd+' (apostro- n/a
pins phe).
undo all the distortions press ' (apostrophe). n/a
you've applied, moving
the pins back to their
original positions
apply your changes to press ; (semicolon). n/a
the paint buffer and
remove all current pins
4. To complete the distortion, do one of the following:

• press ; (semicolon),
• bake the paint.
TIP: As with the Warp tool, you cannot undo individual stages of a Pinup.
You can only undo the Pinup as a whole. Until you have completed the
Pinup, using Undo actually undoes the last completed action.

EXPERIMENT: Using pins is also hard to describe but quite easy to get
the hang of. Try doing the following:
• Create some pins.
• Drag one pin around.
• Select multiple pins and drag them around.
• Rotate pins.
• Move the point of rotation, and rotate pins around the new point of
rotation.
• Increase and decrease the strength of individual pins. See how stronger
pins affect the texture more.

9 TOWING PAINT AROUND
The Towbrush is similar to the Healing Brush and Patch tools in

Photoshop®. It lets you select areas of paint and drag them around the
surface of your model. As you tow the paint around, it blends the edges of
your selection with the surrounding paint. It works like the Clone tool, but
blends in the edges of the cloned selection.
Put simply, it lets you grab paint and move it around on the surface,
automatically blending in the edges as you go.
Original surface. Mole cloned and moved,

broken veins moved.
The Towbrush has three modes, allowing you to:

• Clone — clone from the selected region to another part of the surface.
• Heal — overwrite the selected region with another part of the surface.
• Move Feature — swap the contents of the selected region with another
area on the surface.
There are limits to the amount of blending the Towbrush can do: as with the
Healing Brush in Photoshop®, it's not magic. But it's very good at working
with surfaces with regular textures, such as skin, rock, stone, and so on.
Steps for Towing To tow paint around on the surface, follow these steps:
Paint 1. Select and Tow Paint
TOWING PAINT AROUND 119
Select and Tow Paint
Select and Tow 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Paint 2. If you have any unbaked paint on your model, either bake it or clear the
buffer.
The Towbrush only works on baked paint.
3. Click to select the Towbrush tool.
4. If it's not visible, show the Tool Properties toolbar. You can select the
tool by clicking the icons:
Select the mode from:
• Clone – clones from the selected region to another part of the

surface. This is the default mode.
• Heal – overwrites the selected region with another part of the

surface. That is, it clones the texture under your mouse over the
selected area.
• Move Feature – swaps the contents of the selected region with

another area on the surface.
5. Click and drag on your model to select the area to tow.
You can drag any When you release the mouse,

shaped area. the selection area completes.
6. Click on the selection area and drag it around.

As you tow the selection, the edges blend in with the surrounding tex-
ture.
7. You can adjust the settings for the Towbrush. You can set the:
• Falloff — controls how the texture blends in from the edges of the
patch. Higher values have sharper transition to the surrounding tex-

TOWING PAINT AROUND 120
Select and Tow Paint
ture, lower values blend in more smoothly. Use { and } to lower and
raise the falloff.
• Value — how much of the color of the original patch to preserve.
Higher values keep more of the original color, lower values blend the
whole patch in with the background as you move it. Use [ and ] to
lower and raise the value.
8. To fix any mistakes:
• If you want to clear your current selection, press ' (apostrophe).
• If you want to undo a clone/move, just clear the paint buffer.
9. Bake your changes.
If you want to paint multiple strokes with the Towbrush tool, you must
bake between each move.
EXPERIMENT: As the Towbrush blends its edges dynamically, it's hard to

see unless you actually have a go with it. Experiment with the brush and
see what results you can get on a variety of textures.

10 COPYING AND PASTING PAINT
Mari lets you:

• copy and paste single patches quickly, or
• copy multiple patches at once.
In both cases, you can copy between channels. When copying multiple
patches, you can copy to other objects in your project.
Copying a Single Mari's quick copy function lets you copy a single patch and then copy it
back onto the same object (on any channel). You can paste the copied patch
Patch back onto multiple target patches.
Copy Textures Mari's Copy Multiple Textures function lets you copy entire patches
between places in your project. You can copy patches:
Between • between objects,
Channels and • between layers on the same object, or
Objects • between patches on the same layer.
You can only copy textures on a patch-to-patch basis – you cannot copy
one patch onto more than one other patch at once.
Using Offsets You can also use an offset. This is added to the source patch number to
determine where to paste the texture to. For example, if you copied the
texture on patch 1001 with an offset of 20, the texture would copy to
patch 1021.
So, for example, if your model has a consistent numbering scheme, you can
use this to paste from one side of the model to another. As you do this,
Mari reverses the textures.
Here, we paint a couple of black stripes on the face, and then select patch
1002:
COPYING AND PASTING PAINT 122
Steps for Copying and Pasting Paint
Black stripes painted. Patch 1002 selected.
If we copy patch 1002 back onto the same channel, with an offset of 20,
the paint copies to patch 1022 (the corresponding patch on the other side
of the model's face). Mari reverses the texture as it pastes.
Steps for To tow paint around on the surface, follow these steps:
Copying and 1. Copying and Pasting Single Patches
2. Copying and Pasting Multiple Patches
Pasting Paint
Copying and 1. Select your source patch.

Pasting Single This only works with single patches. You cannot copy multiple patches
at once.
Patches 2. From the Patches menu, select Quick Copy.

Copying and Pasting Multiple Patches
3. Select your destination patch(es).

This can be on the same layer or a different layer on the same object.
4. From the Patches menu, select Quick Paste.
If you selected multiple patches, you may see a warning. If you choose
to go ahead, the source patch is pasted across each of the target
patches.
Mari pastes a copy of the source patch onto the destination.
Depending on how different the shapes of the two patches are, you can
probably expect to see some blank areas or artifacts at the edges of the
patch.
TIP: You can also find these options on the right-click dropdown menu on
the canvas.
Copying and 1. From the Patches menu, select Copy Textures.

Pasting Multiple The Copy Multiple Textures dialog box displays:
Patches
2. Set the details of where to take the textures from:

Copying and Pasting Multiple Patches
• Source Object and Source Layer set the location of the source patches.
• Set the Select By field to the patch numbering scheme you want to use
to select the patches to copy.
• In the Source Range field, enter the numbers for the patches to copy.
You can separate patch numbers with commas, or use a hyphen to
indicate a range. For example, this:
1001, 1003, 1005-1007
selects patches 1001, 1003, 1005, 1006, and 1007.
3. Set the details of where to copy the textures to in the Target Object and
Target Layer fields.
Both these fields can be the same as the source versions.
4. If required, set an Offset. This is added to the patch numbers when
copying them. For example:
• With an offset of 0, patch 1001 is copied to patch 1001 in the target
layer.
• With an offset of 20, patch 1001 is copied to patch 1021 in the tar-
get layer (which can be the same as the source layer).
5. Click OK to copy the textures.
Mari copies the textures to the designated object, layer, and patches.

11 EDITING PAINT ON LAYERS
When you paint in Mari, you paint into the paint buffer — which floats
above the surface of the model. Only when you bake is the paint actually
applied to the model's surface.
Mari's Blur tool lets you edit the baked surface of a layer, while the Clone
Stamp tool includes a mode to clone paint directly up off the surface of the
layer into the paint buffer.
Blur The Blur tool lets you apply a blur effect directly to the surface of your
channel. You can use the Blur tool the same way as any other Mari brush, to
apply a normal blur effect to any part of the surface.
Texture before blurring. After blurring.
TIP: If you want to blur large areas of the surface, you may want to use
the blur filters instead. These apply a controlled blur to entire patches.
Mari includes several blur filters, including a controllable Gaussian blur.
For details, see Filtering Images and Paint.
Pulling Paint into The Clone Stamp tool has a mode that clones the surface of the current
layer up into the paint buffer directly above the surface. This lets you grab
the Buffer the baked paint and make changes.
See Clone stamp for details on using the Clone Stamp tool to clone the layer
EDITING PAINT ON LAYERS 126
Steps for Editing Paint on Layers
surface into the paint buffer.
Steps for Editing To paint a layer in Mari, follow these steps:

Paint on Layers 1. Blur Paint on a Layer
Blur Paint on a 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Layer 2. Select a layer with some paint on it.
3. Select the Blur tool .
4. Click and drag to blur your paint.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with different brush settings to see how this

affects the final result. Particularly, try changing the brush:
• size
• shape
• opacity (affects the strength of the blur).

12 VECTOR BRUSH
The Vector Paint brush is useful for editing vector maps and painting
directional information onto your models. With the vector-specific paint
blends, paint is converted to tangent space. The vectors are then
represented as diffuse RGB values. This results in specifically-colored paint
strokes that represent color-encoded vectors.
In addition to using the Vector Paint brush, the basic Paint brush can be
used together with vector-specific paint blending modes to achieve
different effects.
Viewing vectors is especially important for the creation of flow maps and
normal maps. Flow maps can assist in creating realistic textures or
materials that simulate direction-specific patterns, such as feathers, scales,
fur, hair, and water flow (to name a few). These have a pattern that tends
toward a particular direction, or lie against another object in a particular
manner, your textures should reflect this. Once you have identified how you
want the effect to appear on your model, you can create flow maps that
provide this information.
Figure 12.1: Arrows indicate the Figure 12.2: Arrows show the
direction of the feathers on the direction of painted vectors,
swan’s body, which vectors should which indicate the flow
mimic. of vectors.
VECTOR BRUSH 128
Vector Inspector
For example, in Figure 12.1 the feathers on the swan are determined to be
following the curve of the neck. This impacts the feather pattern, so that
the vectors in the texture curves around to display the natural flow pattern.
In Figure 12.2 the vectors have been painted on the image to show how this
flow pattern might appear.
Vector Inspector The Vector Inspector tool allows you to see directional markers
representing the vectors you are brushing onto the model. These markers
ensure that you can see the effects of the vector brush or paint blending
modes to achieve the effect you want. Vector lines can be turned on or off
at any time, as well as adjusted to change the properties, such as spacing.
Like the paint buffer, the Vector Inspector can be moved around the canvas
or rotated using keyboard shortcuts.

VECTOR BRUSH 129
Vector-related Paint Blending Modes
Vector-related Seven unique paint blending modes allow you to specify how the vectors are
baked onto a model. These paint blending modes are not for exclusive use
Paint Blending with the Vector Paint tool, but can also be used with the basic Paint tool.
Modes These modes are available in the paint blending mode dropdown menu in
both the Paint and Vector Paint toolbars and the other paint tools, such as
Clone Stamp and Paint Through.
The Paint Flow Vectors and Paint Normal Vectors modes are an alpha blend
between the vectors. The Nudge Flow Vectors and Nudge Normal Vectors
modes add the vectors together to get the blend result. The paint flow and
paint normal modes convert the painted vectors into the texture’s tangent
space before creating the associated blend. This conversion takes into
account the orientation of the texture on the model’s surface.
NOTE: Due to the fact that surface orientation plays such an important
role, vectors baked down on a model may not be exactly the same as
vectors painted. For example, a paint stroke from left to right on a model
with a very high curvature may produce quite large changes in color when
baked.
However, the Scale Vectors mode works differently to the above four
modes. This mode uses the intensity of the color to control the length of the
vector, and works best when painting in gray scale, with black representing
short vectors, white representing long vectors, and gray being between the
two. Paint Scale Vectors with the basic Paint tool.
The flow and normal vector modes refer to how the vectors are allowed to
act in xyz space. Flow modes keep the vectors flat against the surface of
the model. Normal modes allow the vectors to protrude outwards from the
model in tangent z space. The type of vectors you want to paint may
influence which paint blending modes you use. For example, flow modes are
most often going to be used for flow maps, while you may prefer using
normal modes for creating normal maps.
The Add Normal Maps and Mix Normal Maps modes blend two RGB-encoded
vector layers with either the Add or Mix inputs and the Over input. Before
the operation is performed the raw values are converted from the 0.0 to
+1.0 color space-encoded range to the -1.0 to +1.0 vector range. The
values are then added and normalized before converting back to the 0.0 to
+1.0 color space-encoded range.
For more information on how to use these paint blending modes, see Paint
Blending Modes on page 91 in the chapter on Controlling the Way Mari
Applies Paint to Your Model.

VECTOR BRUSH 130
Vector Adjustments and Procedurals
Vector There are two adjustments and two procedurals in the Layers palette that
allow you to set up your project for vector painting. The adjustments are
Adjustments and Tangent To Screen and Tangent to World. These adjustments are where you
Procedurals can paint flow and normal maps within a set channel for your vector
painting.
There are also two procedurals, Vector and Flow. These procedurals allow
you to specify the properties for your vector visualization. Vector allows
you to specify another color using the sliders in the layer properties. The
Flow procedural acts as an adjustment would, and allows you to use your
vector paint as surface flow over time. Input an image, preferably a tileable
one, into the Tile Image field to apply a texture to your model for viewing
flow maps. The Time Offset slider represents the flow of time, while the
Speed slider represents the sensitivity of Time Offset.
Adjusting the scale and then dragging on the offset slider, allows you to see
the effects your vectors play on the flow map, and you can enable the
Animation attribute to see the flow over time.
For more information on what these shaders are and how to use them, see
Vector Brushing, and Layer Types and Examples in the chapter on Layers on
page 222.
Vector Shaders In addition to the adjustments and procedurals listed above, there is also a
method for quickly setting up default vector shaders and channels, with
vector layers in the Layers palette. This method is accessible from two
locations in the UI and is described fully in the Adding Vector Shaders
section.
This shader setup creates two default shaders in the Shaders palette for
creating flow maps and normal maps. The Vector (Screen Space) shader is
for viewing vector (colors) in tangent space, while the Vector (World Space)
shader is for viewing vector (colors) in world space. These shaders come
with channels already plugged into the shader component inputs by default
to get you started.

VECTOR BRUSH 131
Vector File Space
Vector File Space Though vectors are often measured in the range -1.0 to +1.0 to represent
the vectors in xyz space, Mari operates in the range 0.0 to 1.0. In order to
accommodate vector brushing, the -1.0 to +1.0 range is converted into 0.0
to 1.0, and the specific RGB values that indicate vector directions are
adapted to reflect this. Thus, -1.0 becomes 0, 0.0 becomes 0.5 and +1.0
stays as it is. The colors are converted to the corresponding number on the
0 to 1 scale to keep all the vector data the same.
In the Channels and Image Manager palettes, File Space fields allow you to
set whether the channel or image should be exported as a Normal file (in the
way Mari stores them), as a Vector file (-1.0 to +1.0 range), or as a Vector
(flipped Y) file, which is the same as the Vector file in terms of range, but
inverts the vectors in the Y direction. This allows you to easily export
inverted vectors for use in other parts of your pipeline. Channel or image
files exported in the Vector file space format can later be re-imported and
changed back to the Normal file space format if desired.
NOTE: For Vector (flipped Y) this only inverts the vectors in the Y
direction. The vectors in the X or Z direction are not changed.
Steps for To use vector brushing in your Mari project, follow these steps:
Working with 1. Painting Vectors
2. Modifying Vectors with Paint Blending Modes
Vector Brushing
3. Inspecting Your Vector Work
4. Adding Vector Shaders
5. Adding Vector Adjustments and Procedurals
6. Changing the File Space
7. Creating Flow Maps on Multiple Objects
Painting Vectors Begin by starting Mari and opening your project.

1. Make sure you have a paintable layer selected, then select the Vector
Paint tool.
2. In the Shaders palette, ensure that the channel you are using for your
vector paint is selected in the shaders Vector shader component.
3. If you want to see the directional markers while you paint, select the
Vector Inspector icon in the Vector toolbar.

VECTOR BRUSH 132
Modifying Vectors with Paint Blending Modes
4. Select a brush from the Brush Editor palette. Once you have set up the
brush options, paint in a direction across the surface of the model.
A specific color is selected depending on the direction of your brush
stroke.
NOTE: Think of the four main colors as being the four cardinal points on a
compass. These have specific colors to represent their directions. Strokes
between these points are blends of the two colors. The four main colors
are:
• Left to Right: (RGB: 1, 0.5, 0.5)
• Right to Left: (RGB: 0, 0.5, 0.5)
• Top to Bottom: (RGB: 0.5, 1, 0.5)
• Bottom to Top: (RGB: 0.5, 0, 0.5)
These colors may vary depending on the lighting model you are using and
any adjustments that are selected, for instance the Tangent to Screen
adjustment.
You may find it useful to paint vectors while using a Flat lighting model to
make accurate vector painting easier.
Modifying To adjust the paint blending mode, follow these steps:

Vectors with 1. With unbaked paint on your model, select one of the following modes
from the Painting Mode dropdown menu:
Paint Blending • Paint Flow Vectors,
Modes • Paint Normal Vectors,
• Nudge Flow Vectors,
• Nudge Normal Vectors,
• Scale Vectors,
• Add Normal Maps, and
• Mix Normal Maps.
2. Selecting a paint blending mode can be done in either the Paint or
Vector Paint toolbars, as the dropdown menu is in both. Alternatively,
select them from the Painting Mode dropdown in the Projection palette.
NOTE: As with other paint blending modes, the vector modes apply to
paint that has not been baked down yet.

VECTOR BRUSH 133
Inspecting Your Vector Work
Inspecting Your To inspect your vector brush work, follow these steps:
Vector Work 1. Select the Vector Inspector tool .
The directional markers appear.
NOTE: The Vector Inspector displays the channel that is selected in the
Vector shader component of your current shader. If there is nothing
selected in the Vector shader component, the shader displays the diffuse
channel.
2. You can move the buffer around the canvas by simply dragging it
around. You can also use the Tool Help shortcuts to modify it.
3. The Vector Inspector toolbar includes the following options:
• Enable - selecting this checkbox enables or disables the directional
markers of the Vector Inspector. Note that while in the Vector Inspec-
tor tool, this is not the case. The markers remain on until you change
to a different tool. If you don’t have the tool active and want to enable
markers quickly, click the icon on the Vector Painting toolbar.
• Line spacing - adjusts the space between the directional markers.
• Line length - adjusts the length of the directional markers.
• Start Color - changes the color at the base of the directional marker.
• End Color - changes the color at the tip of the directional marker.
• Vector Space - sets whether the vector space is converted to either
ScreenSpace, TangentSpace (no change), or WorldSpace. Screen space
is the most useful option for painting flow and normal maps.
4. In addition to the options on the toolbar, the following options are
listed on the Tool Properties palette when the Vector Inspector tool is
active:
• Rotation - lets you adjust the rotation of the inspector buffer by either
entering a value in the entry box or adjusting the slider.
• Translation - adjusts the translation (position) of the inspector buffer.
NOTE: The Rotation and Translation options are both available in the
Tool Help shortcuts whenever the Vector Inspector tool is active.
Adding Vector To create vector brush default shaders, follow these steps:
Shaders 1. Open the Shaders palette to manage newly-created shaders.
2. Create a default vector shader by either:

VECTOR BRUSH 134
Adding Vector Adjustments and Procedurals
• clicking the icon on the Vector Painting toolbar, or

• navigating to Python | Examples > Setup Vector Brush.
Clicking the icon or script automatically creates two shaders in the
Shaders palette, three channels in the Channels palette, and the neces-
sary layers for each channel in the Layers palette.
The default created shaders are Vector (World Space) and Vector (Screen
Space), and each of these have the newly-created channels set to the
corresponding shader component inputs.
During shader setup, the following three channels are created in the
Channels palette:
• Vector (Paint),
• Vector (World Space), and
• Vector (Screen Space).
NOTE: Running the script changes the Painting Mode to Paint Flow
Vectors and switches the paint tool to Vector Painting, if this is not
already selected.
EXPERIMENT: If you prefer, you can create the shaders and channels
manually. To do this:
1. Create the channels you want to use for your vector painting and add
the Vector, Tangent To Screen, or Tangent To World adjustments and
procedurals in the Layers palette.
2. Create your shaders and assign your vector channels to the Diffuse
Color and Vector shader inputs.
For example, the default vector shaders assign the Vector (Screen
Space) channel to the Diffuse Color input and the Vector (paint) channel
to the Vector input.
3. Once you’ve set up the shaders, go back to the Vector (Paint) channel
and begin painting your normal or flow maps in the Vector layer.
Adding Vector Select one of the following default channels created with the setup vector
brush script described in the Adding Vector Shaders instructions:
Adjustments and • Vector (Paint)
Procedurals • Vector (World Space)
• Vector (Screen Space)

VECTOR BRUSH 135
Adding Vector Adjustments and Procedurals
Notice that the layers created by the setup vector brush script already
show Vector, Vector (Tangent To World Space), or Vector (Tangent To
Screen Space) layers in the Layers palette.
If you aren’t using the setup vector brush script, and want to add new
adjustments or procedurals, follow the steps below:
To add vector adjustments to your project, follow these steps:

1. Select the channel from the Channels palette that you are using in the
shader component inputs described in Adding Vector Shaders, and open
the Layers palette.
2. To add an adjustment:
• from the Layers menu, navigate to Add Adjustment Layer,
• right-click any layer in the Layers palette, navigate to Add Adjustment
Layer, or
• in the Layers palette, click the adjustment icon and select either
Tangent To Screen or Tangent To World from the dropdown list.
3. Adjust the properties in the layer attributes pane of the Layers palette.
To add vector procedurals to your project, follow these steps:

1. Select the channel from the Channels palette that you are using in the
shader component inputs described in Adding Vector Shaders, and open
the Layers palette.
2. To add a procedural:
• from the Layers menu, navigate to Add Procedural Layer,
• right-click any layer in the Layers palette, navigate to Add Procedural
Layer, or
• in the Layers palette, click the procedural icon
and select either Basic > Vector or Procedural > Misc > Flow from the
dropdown list.
3. Adjust the properties in the layer attributes pane of the Layers palette.
NOTE: For a full description of the layer properties for both adjustments
and procedurals, see the Layer Types and Examples section in the chapter
on Layers on page 222.

VECTOR BRUSH 136
Changing the File Space
Changing the File Changing the file space before exporting can be done on channels, images
and paintable layers. This converts the file space range from 0 to 1 (the
Space Mari convention), to -1.0 to +1.0 (Vector convention) or -1.0 to +1.0 with
inverted Y vectors (Vector inverted convention). To change the file space on
channels, follow these steps:
1. Open the Channels palette and select the channel you want to change.
2. Under Channel > Format | File Space, click the dropdown menu and
select either Normal, Vector, or Vector (flipped Y).
The file space is changed in all paintable layers in the channel except for
shared layers.
To change the file space on images, follow these steps:

1. Open the Image Manager palette and select the image you want to
change.
2. Under Image Info > MriImage > Info | File Space, click the field and
select either Normal, Vector, or Vector Y Flip from the dropdown menu.
Creating Flow It may often be necessary to create flow maps for different objects in a
project, effectively separating the vector data into more than one channel.
Maps on Multiple Following the steps below prevents the vector markers from appearing on
Objects multiple objects when attempting to focus on creating flow maps on only a
single object.
1. To set up a basic channel on objects that do not need flow maps, in the
Channels palette, either:
• right-click on the palette and select Add Channel from the dropdown
menu, or
• click on the add channel button.

Mari displays an Add Channel dialog box.
NOTE: Ensure that you have the correct object(s) selected before you
begin, to avoid creating any unnecessary channels on the wrong object.
2. Create a channel, called "gray" or similar, and set the Color to mid-gray
(RGB: 0.5, 0.5, 0.5) with a Scalar Color Space. Create the channel for
only the selected object, for this example, called Object A.
Using the gray Quick Channel can simplify the process, but if you have
multiple quick channels in the Channels palette, make sure you rename it

VECTOR BRUSH 137
Creating Flow Maps on Multiple Objects
to avoid any confusion when setting up the shader in the instructions

below.
TIP: Create the channel or quick channel with a 256x256 Size to avoid
taking up unnecessary space.
3. Set up vector default shaders by navigating to Python > Examples >

Setup Vector Brush or by clicking the icon in the Vector Painting
toolbar.
The script creates two default shaders, and associated channels and
layers in each of the Shaders, Channels, and Layers palettes. These allow
you to quickly set up the shaders for vector painting and flow maps.
4. With Object A still selected, in the Shaders palette, select the Vector
(World Space) shader that was created by the vector default shader
script.
The Diffuse Color shader component should already be filled in.
5. Click on the dropdown menu for the Vector shader component and
select the "gray" channel you created in the Channels palette.
The Vector shader component, when set up this way, blocks out the vec-
tor inspector markers on objects you don’t want to create a flow map
for.
6. Lock Object A by clicking on the padlock icon in the Objects
palette. Due to the fact that vector paint can still be applied to the
object - even if vector inspector directional markers aren’t shown - this
ensures you don’t paint over your textures.
7. Select a second object for which you want to create a flow map. For this
example, the second object is called Object B. Create default vector
shaders, channels, and layers using the script in step three above.
The Vector (Paint) channel is already set to the Vector shader compo-
nent in the Vector (World Space) and Vector (Screen Space) shaders.
This allows you to see the flow map channel where the vector markers
are present, without affecting other objects.
8. If you don’t already have them activated, turn on the vector painting
directional markers by clicking on the icon in the Vector Painting
toolbar before painting your flow maps.
If you paint on the model now, paint is applied to all unlocked objects.
However, only objects with the Vector (Paint) channel listed in the shader’s

VECTOR BRUSH 138
Creating Flow Maps on Multiple Objects
Vector shader component field show the vector inspector markers.
NOTE: For more information on shaders and shader components, please

see the chapter on Shaders on page 281.

13 EXPORTING AND IMPORTING TEXTURES
Importing is how you can pick up an existing set of textures to work on.
Similarly, exporting is how your work moves on into the next step in the
pipeline:
• Importing loads images into the current channel or layer, or as new
channels and layers on your model.
• Exporting saves out the paint on your model as a set of image files (one
file per UV patch).
Exporting and importing can be done for both a single channel or layer, as
well as multiple channels, layers, even objects in a project. In essence, you
can:
• export or import the entire channel (including all layers),
• export or import selected layers, and
• export all channels or objects in a project, or all layers in a layer stack.
Mari supports standard image formats for export and import (such as .tif,
.exr, .psd, .png, .jpg, .tga, and .dds). You can find a full list of supported file
formats in the import and export dialogs.
Importing When you create a set of new channels, either when creating your project
or when using the Channel Presets button, you can import a set of existing
Textures When textures. See Channels on page 264 for more information.
Creating
Channels
Steps for To import and export textures in Mari, follow the instructions below:
Importing and 1. Import Existing Textures to Channels
2. Import Existing Textures to Layers
Exporting
3. Export Textures from Channels
Textures 4. Export Texture from Layers
5. Importing and Exporting Ptex Files
6. Export to Maya
EXPORTING AND IMPORTING TEXTURES 140
Import Existing Textures to Channels
Import Existing 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Textures to 2. To import, select a channel from the Channels palette and do one of the
following:
Channels • from the Channels menu, select Import > Import into Layer Stack to
import textures into the current layer stack of the selected channel, or
• from the Channels menu, select Import > Import into New Channel
from the Channels menu to import textures into a newly created chan-
nel.
If you select Import into Layer Stack the Import dialog displays. If you
select Import in New Channel the Add Channel dialog displays first,
allowing you to set the options for the new channel, before opening the
Import dialog.
3. Now you can select Import Individual Files, or Import a Sequence of

Files.
NOTE: For more information on setting the options for a newly created
channel, please see Create and Delete Individual Channels on page 267.
TIP: The import menu options are also available from the right-click
dropdown menu on the main canvas and in the Channels palette.

Import Individual If the object has less than 20 UV patches, the Import dialog box has a
Files Named Files tab. This lets you individually pick which files to load for each
patch.
1. Click on the Named Files tab.
The tab shows all the patches on the object.
2. For each patch, set the file you wish to import.

You can either:
• type the file path and name directly, or
• use the open button to open a navigation window to find the file.
You can now set resize details and import the textures.
TIP: By default, if your model has more than 20 patches, the Named Files
tab does not display.
To change this, set the Patch Cutoff preference to a number greater than
the number of patches in the file. Alternatively, you can use the
MARI_NAMEDFILEIMPORT_SEQUENCELIMIT environment variable to
override the preference setting. Please see the section on Environment
Variables That Mari Recognizes on page 370 for more information on
environment variables.

Import a Sequence of If your patches have a consistent naming/numbering system, you can import
Files them as a sequence.
1. Click on the Sequence tab.
2. Enter the location of the files to import in the Path field.
NOTE: This isn’t the name of the files themselves. It’s the name of the
directory in which the sequence of files exists.
You can either:

• enter the full path to the directory containing the files (or pick from
the dropdown), or
• use the navigation controls to navigate to the directory:

3. When you've selected the path, the file area shows all the existing image
sequences under that path.
4. You can use the Filter field to narrow down the list of textures shown.
Enter filter text, and the display updates to only show the textures with
that text in their name.
5. Set a Template for Mari to use when gathering the names of images in
the selected sequence.
You can either:
• Edit this line manually. As you edit, you'll see the File Example update
with the name of an example file in the sequence.
• Click on an existing set of images in the main list. The Template auto-
matically populates with the corresponding values.
If you edit the line manually, you can use any of the following variables,
which Mari replaces with the appropriate values when it imports the
images:
• $ENTITY - the name of the object.
• $CHANNEL - the name of the channel.
• $LAYER - the name of the layer.
• $UDIM - the UDIM patch value.
• $FRAME - the animation frame number.
• $NUMBER - the number of the file within the batch (for example,
“$NUMBER of $COUNT” gives strings like “22 of 28”).
• $COUNT - the total number of files in the channel.
• $[METADATA VALUE] - any user-defined variables (for example, if a
patch has a user attribute called “PROJECT”, with a value of “Project1”,
Mari replaces the variable “$PROJECT” with “Project1”).

Import Existing Textures to Layers
NOTE: For more information on how the UDIM patch values are allocated,
please see the section on Using UDIM Values on page 188.
NOTE: If you choose to import a layered .psd file, layers are imported
directly into the selected channel. If attempting to import layers with the
same name, Mari asks whether to update the layers or create new ones.
You can now set resize details and import the textures.
6. Choose whether you want to Use Template For only a single layer when
importing or for everything.
7. Click Import All Patches to import the textures.
Mari imports the images and loads them into the layer stack of the
selected channel.
Import Existing 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Textures to 2. To import, select a layer from the Layers palette and do one of the
following:
Layers • from the Layers menu, select Import > Import into Layer to import tex-
tures into the currently selected layer, or
• from the Layers menu, select Import > Import into Layer Stack to
import textures into the layer stack as a newly created layer.
The Import dialog displays.

Export Textures from Channels
3. Now you can select Import Individual Files, or Import a Sequence of

Files, following the steps described previously in this chapter.
NOTE: The Import into Layer Stack option occurs in both the Channels
and Layers menus, and the right-click menus in either palette. The result
of importing textures into the selected channel’s layer stack occurs
regardless of which menu option you use.
TIP: The import menu options are also available from the right-click
dropdown menu on the main canvas and in the Layers palette.
Export Textures Once you've finished working on your textures, to export the files (for
example, for use in the next stage of the pipeline) select the channel(s) you
from Channels want to export.
From the Channels menu, select Export or Export Flattened.

1. To export the channels without flattening them, do one of the following:
• from the Channels menu, select Export > Export Current Channel to
export the currently selected channel, or
• from the Channels menu, select Export > Export All Channels to export
all channels in the Channels palette, or
• from the Channels menu, select Export > Export Everything to export
all channels for all objects in the project.
2. To flatten the channels before exporting them, do one of the following:
• from the Channels menu, select Export Flattened > Export Current
Channel Flattened to flatten and export the currently selected channel,
or
• from the Channels menu, select Export Flattened > Export All Channels
Flattened to flatten and export all channels in the Channels palette, or
• from the Channels menu, select Export Flattened > Export Everything
Flattened to flatten and export all channels for all objects in the proj-
ect.
The Export dialog displays.

3. Now you can select Export Individual Files, or Export a Sequence of

Files.
TIP: The export menu options are also available from the right-click
dropdown menu on the main canvas and in the Channels palette.
Export Individual If the object has less than 20 UV patches, the Export dialog box has a
Files Named Files tab. This lets you individually pick the patches to export, and
where to export them.
1. Click on the Named Files tab.

2. For each patch, set the file to export it to.

You can either:
• type the file path and name directly, or
• use the open button to open a navigation window to create a new file
in a directory, or select an existing one to overwrite.
You can now Set Small Texture Preferences and Export the textures.
TIP: By default, if your model has more than 20 patches, the Named Files
tab does not display.
To change this, set the Patch Cutoff preference to a number greater than
the number of patches in the file. Alternatively, you can use the
MARI_NAMEDFILEIMPORT_SEQUENCELIMIT environment variable to
override the preference setting. Please see the section on Environment
Variables That Mari Recognizes on page 370 for more information on
environment variables.
Export a Sequence of 1. Click on the Sequence tab.

Files
2. Enter the location to export the files to in the Path field. You can either:
• enter the full path to the directory (or pick from the dropdown), or
• use the navigation controls to navigate to the directory.

3. When you've selected the path, the file area shows all the existing image
sequences under that path.
4. You can use the Filter field to narrow down the list of textures shown.
Enter filter text, and the display updates to only show the textures with
that text in their name.
5. Set a Template for Mari to use when generating the names of images in
the selected sequence.
You can either:
• Edit this line manually. As you edit, you'll see the File Example update
with the name of an example file in the sequence.
• Click on an existing set of images in the main list. The Template auto-
matically populates with the corresponding values.
If you edit the line manually, you can use any of the following variables
(which Mari replaces with the appropriate values when it exports the
images):
• $ENTITY - the name of the object exported.
• $CHANNEL - the name of the channel exported.
• $LAYER - the name of the layer exported.
• $UDIM - the UDIM patch value.
• $FRAME - the animation frame number.
• $NUMBER - the number of the file within the batch (for example,
“$NUMBER of $COUNT” gives strings like “22 of 28”).
• $COUNT - the total number of files in the channel.
• $[METADATA VALUE] - any user-defined variables (for example, if a
patch has a user attribute called “PROJECT”, with a value of “Project1”,
Mari replaces the variable “$PROJECT” with “Project1”).

6. Set the Use Template For field to determine if the template above is
used for Only this layer (the selected layer in the channel’s layer stack)
or Everything (to include all layers in the stack).
7. You can now Set Small Texture Preferences and Export the textures
Exporting to a If you want to export the channels in your project to a layered .psd file,
Layered .psd File simply change the file extension to .psd in the Export dialog.
NOTE: When exporting multiple channels to a layered .psd file, all

channels must have the same resolution and bit depth.
The $CHANNEL Template environment variable does not work when
exporting multiple channels to a layered .psd file.
You can now Set Small Texture Preferences and Export the textures.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with the different Template variables, and see

how the File Example changes to show how Mari generates exported
filenames.
Set Small Texture 1. Select whether to enable Small Textures.

Preferences and With the small textures dropdown set to enabled, Mari exports any
Export patches filled with a constant color as 8x8 pixel textures, no matter
what resolution the patches are in Mari.
• Enabling Small Textures saves disk space if you're exporting a channel
that hasn't been fully painted.
• Disabling Small Textures lets Mari always export patches at their full
size (even if they haven't been painted).
2. Select whether to Keep or Remove alpha channels when exporting
textures. This can help decrease the resulting file size when exporting
images that don’t need Alpha Channels.
3. Click Export All Patches to export the textures.
Mari exports your textures to disk in the background.
4. To check the progress of the export click the icon at the bottom
right of the main window.
Mari shows the export progress.

Export Texture from Layers
Export Texture Instead of exporting work on whole channels, you may wish to export only a
selection of layers by selecting them from the list in the Layers palette. As
from Layers with channels, you can export multiple layers as they are in your layer stack
or flattened into a single file.
From the Layers menu, select Export or Export Flattened.

1. To export layers without flattening them:
• from the Layers menu, select Export > Export Selected Layers to
export the currently selected layers, or
• from the Layers menu, select Export > Export All Layers to export all
layers in the layer stack.
2. To flatten the layers before exporting them:
• from the Layers menu, select Export Flattened > Export Selected Lay-
ers Flattened to flatten and export the currently selected layers, or
• from the Layers menu, select Export Flattened > Export All Layers
Flattened to flatten and export all layers in the layer stack.

Importing and Exporting Ptex Files
3. Now you can select Export Individual Files or Export a Sequence of Files
from this chapter.
NOTE: Since exporting all the layers in a layer stack would be the
equivalent of exporting an entire channel, the Export All Layers and
Export All Layers Flattened options in the Layers menu exports the same
result as the Export Current Channel and Export Current Channel
Flattened options in the Channels menu.
TIP: The export flattened menu options are also available from the right-
click dropdown menu on the main canvas and in the Layers palette.
Importing and As Mari supports .ptx files, it is also possible to import and export Ptex
files in Mari. This can only be done for a Ptex project. However, unlike the
Exporting Ptex steps described in this chapter, importing and exporting Ptex files behaves
Files a little differently.
For more information on how to import and export Ptex files, see Export a
Ptex Channel or Layer on page 299 or Import a Ptex Channel or Layer on
page 301 in this guide.

Export to Maya
Export to Maya Mari can also export data for use in Maya. It does this by exporting
textures and creating a custom .ma file that references them. All exported
files contain UDIM offsets so that Maya can import and read the UV
patches correctly.
To create the .ma file for use in Maya follow the steps below:
1. Navigate to Menubar | Python > Examples > Export for Maya.
The Mari To Maya Export dialog displays.
2. In the Output Folder pane, either enter the filepath or click Browse to
find the location to which you would like the files to be exported.
3. From the list in the left pane, select which channels you want to export.
4. Once you have selected the channel and the filepath, click + (plus).
The selected channel and filepath are added to the For Export pane on
the right.
5. If you have added a channel by mistake, or want to edit the filepath,
simply select the channel from the For Export pane and click - (minus).
6. At the bottom of the dialog, the 8-bit Files and 16/32-bit Files
dropdown menus list all of the file formats in which you can export your
channels for use in Maya. Before you select OK, make sure you set your
desired file format.
If you have already exported these files to the same file location, you
can opt to select the Force Overwrite checkbox to export over and
replace them.
7. Select OK.
Your channel is exported to the selected file location in your choice of
file format. The textures, regardless of whether they are diffuse or dis-
placement, are exported as UV patches.

Export to Maya
Using Your Textures in Maya

Once the .ma file has been created, you can load your textures into Maya.
Follow the simple steps below to set up your textures:
1. In your Maya scene, import the .ma file that was created after export
from Mari.
This can be found under the directory you saved the exported file to.
2. Navigate to your Hypershade. You should now see that for each channel
you exported out of Mari, a Lambert shader was created containing the
channel.
3. You can hook up the layered texture element to different parts of your
other, independent shader to achieve the desired look.

14 STORING RESOURCES USING SHELVES
You can store just about anything you can grab from within Mari, in
Shelves. Most artists like to store their favorite brushes, colors, and images
(for clone stamping or painting through). Power users can also add any
preset Mari function to a shelf.
By default, the Mari Shelf palette comes with six shelves:

• Menu — items that you can select from the F9 pie selection control
menu.
• Personal — selected items you use regularly.
• Basic Brushes — a set of predefined basic brushes.
• Hard Surface Brushes — a set of predefined hard surface brushes.
• Organic Brushes — a set of predefined organic brushes.
• Project — items just for the current project.
You can also create any number of customized shelves.
Your shelves display in both the Shelf palette and on the Shelves tab in the
Brush Editor (see Configuring Brushes on page 32). You can also make any
shelf into a separate, custom palette. Mari also lets you export and import
entire shelves and items within shelves, for example to share with other
users.
TIP: For details on using the pie selection control menu, see Using
Shortcuts.
Steps for Using To use shelves within Mari, follow these steps:
Shelves 1. Open Shelves
2. Add a Brush to a Shelf
3. Add a Color to a Shelf
4. Add an Image to a Shelf
5. Create a Custom Shelf
6. Modify Custom Shelves and Their Contents
7. Import and Export Shelves and Items
8. Create a New Shelf Palette
9. Add Any Mari Function to a Shelf
STORING RESOURCES USING SHELVES 155
Open Shelves
Open Shelves 1. Start Mari and open your project.

2. If the Shelf palette is not already open:
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Shelf, or
• right-click in the toolbar area and select Shelf from the dropdown menu.
The Shelf palette displays.
TIP: The default layout in Mari has the Shelf palette already open.
As described above, the Shelf starts with six default shelves: Menu,
Personal, Basic Brushes, Hard Surface Brushes, Organic Brushes, and
Project. The Menu and Personal shelves are empty when you first start
Mari. The Project shelf only displays when you have a project open (and is
empty when you start a new project).

Add a Brush to a Shelf
Add a Brush to a To add a brush to a shelf:

Shelf 1. Open the Brush Editor palette:
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Brush Editor, or
• right-click in the toolbar area and select Brush Editor from the drop-
down menu.
The Brush Editor palette displays.
2. On the Presets tab, click to display the tab in the Brush Editor with the
brush you want to copy.
3. Click the shelf in the Shelf palette you want to copy the brush to
(Personal, Project, or Create a Custom Shelf).
4. Drag and drop the brush from the Brush Editor to the Shelf palette.
You now have easy access to that brush whenever you want to use it.
TIP: You can also change the properties of a preset brush, and then save
it to your Personal shelf, using the Brush Editor — see Configuring
Brushes.

Add a Color to a Shelf
Add a Color to a To add a color to a shelf:

Shelf 1. If the Colors palette is not already open:
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Colors, or
• right-click in the toolbar area and select Colors from the dropdown
menu.
The Colors palette displays.
TIP: The default layout in Mari has the Colors palette already open.
2. Click the shelf in the Shelf palette you want to copy the color to
3. When the color you want to copy is in the Foreground or Background
color swatch, drag and drop it from the Colors palette to the shelf where
you want to store it.
TIP: The swatch on the shelf only holds the color values, not the alpha.
Swatches on shelves always have an alpha of 1.0. You can also drag and
drop color swatches from anywhere else they appear in Mari (such as the
Properties palette or Select Color dialog box).
You can display a large array of color swatches in a shelf by minimizing
the icon size: right-click anywhere in the shelf, and select Toggle Icon
Size from the dropdown menu. Icons switch from large to small (or vice
versa).
Add an Image to To add an image to a shelf (for example, for painting through or clone
stamping):
a Shelf 1. If the Image Manager palette is not already open:
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Image Manager, or

Add an Image to a Shelf
• right-click in the toolbar area and select Image Manager from the
dropdown menu.
The Image Manager palette displays.
TIP: The default layout in Mari has the Image Manager palette already
open. (Click to give it focus.) See Managing Images in Mari for
instructions on loading images into the Image Manager.
2. Click the shelf in the Shelf palette you want to copy the color to

Create a Custom Shelf
3. Drag and drop an image from the Image Manager to the shelf where you
want to store it.
TIP: You cannot copy temporary, cropped images from the Image
Manager to a shelf — unless you save them first.
Below is an example of a color, brush, and image copied to the Personal
shelf.
TIP: You can rename an item in a shelf, by double-clicking its name and
typing over. You can also drag any item from any shelf to the Personal,
Project, or custom shelves.
Create a Custom To create custom shelves (for example particular sets of color swatches,
images, or brushes):
Shelf
1. In the Shelf palette, click at top left.
The Create New Shelf dialog box displays.

Modify Custom Shelves and Their Contents
2. Type a name for the shelf and click OK.

The new shelf displays at right in the Shelf palette.
Modify Custom The Shelf palette includes a right-click dropdown menu with options to
rename, delete items from, and assign shortcut keys to items in the
Shelves and Personal, Project, or custom shelves. (It also includes features to Import and
Their Contents Export Shelves and Items.)
TIP: Some of the customization features are not available for some of the
preset brushes shelves (their name and contents cannot be changed).
1. To rename a shelf, right-click anywhere in the shelf and select Rename

Shelf.
The Rename Shelf dialog box displays.

Modify Custom Shelves and Their Contents
2. Type the new name, and click OK.

Mari renames the shelf.
3. To delete an item from a shelf, right-click it and select Delete Item.
Mari removes that item from the shelf.
4. To assign a shortcut key to an item in a shelf, right-click it and select
Assign Shortcut.
The Assign Keyboard Shortcut dialog box displays.
TIP: Resize columns and the dialog box to better view shelf names and
the Shortcut column.
5. Double-click in the Shortcut column for the selected item, type a

shortcut key, and click OK.
You can now use that shortcut to select that item.
6. To delete a shelf, open it, and click at right. Mari asks you to confirm
deleting the shelf and all its contents.
7. Click OK.
Mari deletes the shelf.
EXPERIMENT: As a learning exercise, try this:

• create a custom shelf,
• rename it,
• add an item to it,
• rename the item,
• delete the item, then
• delete the shelf!

Import and Export Shelves and Items
Import and You can import and export shelves, and items in shelves, for example to
share with other Mari users.
Export Shelves
and Items
TIP: You can “Import” or “Load” all items from an exported shelf into a
selected shelf. “Import” means to add the items you're importing to those
already there, and “Load” means to replace all items there with the ones
you're loading.
1. To export a shelf, right-click anywhere in the shelf and select Save Shelf.
The Save Shelf dialog box displays.
2. Navigate to where you want to save the shelf, give it a name, and click
Save.
Mari saves the shelf as an .msh (Mari shelf) file.
3. To import all items from a shelf that's been exported, into the Personal,
Project or a custom shelf, right-click anywhere in that shelf and select
Import Shelf.
The Import Shelf dialog box displays.
4. Navigate to the folder that contains the .msh file you want to import,
select it and click Open.
Mari adds that shelf's items to the selected shelf.
5. To replace all items in the Personal, Project or a custom shelf, with
items from a shelf that's been exported, right-click anywhere in that
shelf and select Load Shelf.
Mari warns you that all items in the current shelf will be replaced.
6. Click OK.
The Load Shelf dialog box displays.
7. Navigate to the folder that contains the .msh file you want to load,
Mari replaces all items in the selected shelf with those from the shelf
you loaded.
8. To export an item from a shelf, right-click it and select Save Item.
The Save Item dialog box displays.
9. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the item, give it a name
and click Save.
Mari saves the item as an .msi (Mari shelf item) file.
10. To import an item that's been exported, to the Personal, Project or a
custom shelf, right-click anywhere in that shelf, and select Load Item.
The Import Shelf dialog box displays.

Create a New Shelf Palette
11. Navigate to the folder that contains the .msi file you want to import,
Mari adds that item to the selected shelf.
NOTE: Importing custom Photoshop brushes automatically displays them

in Mari in a custom shelf. For details on importing custom brushes into a
new shelf, please refer to Import a Custom Photoshop Brush on page 44.
EXPERIMENT: Another learning exercise:

• create a custom shelf,
• add an item to it,
• export the item,
• export the shelf,
• create another custom shelf,
• import the item you exported from the first shelf into the second shelf,
• import all items you exported from the first shelf into the second shelf
(import shelf),
• replace all items in the second shelf with the items you exported,
• from the first shelf (load shelf), and
• delete both shelves!
Create a New To turn any shelf into a custom palette:

Shelf Palette • With the shelf selected, click on the left.
Mari creates a new palette for that shelf.
TIP: Mari adds “spawned” palettes to the View > Palettes and the
dropdown Palettes menus.
If you rename a palette, Mari renames it in all places (Shelf palette,
spawned palette, and menus).
EXPERIMENT: Spawn a couple of shelves and drag items between them.

Try adding an item to the spawned palette and see how this affects the
original shelf.

Add Any Mari Function to a Shelf
Add Any Mari To add any Mari function to the Personal, Project or a custom shelf:
Function to a 1. From the Edit menu, select Shortcuts.
The Manage Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box displays.
Shelf
TIP: Resize columns and the dialog box to better view the names and
descriptions of Mari functions.
2. Click to expand the hierarchical list of Mari functions (actions, tools,

palettes, and so on.)
3. Click to open the shelf you want to drag a function to.
4. Drag and drop the function from the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts dialog
box to the shelf.

15 SELECTING ITEMS
Mari has two selection tools:

• Select - this lets you select areas on the model(s) in your project. You
can select whole objects, patches, or areas on the surface of the objects.
• Marquee Select - this lets you select areas on the screen.
Selection Tool The selection tool lets you select areas on the objects in your project. Once
you have made a selection, you can choose to show or hide the selected
areas, or to lock them for editing.
Area selected on the model

SELECTING ITEMS 166
Selection Tool
Selection Modes Mari has three selection modes. These control how you select things in your
project, from whole objects to sections of surface.
Mode Description Example

Object lets you select whole objects at a
time. Clicking on an object selects
the whole of that object – every
patch, every point on it.
Patch lets you select individual patches

on an object. Clicking on a patch
selects only that patch (and all
points within the patch).
Face lets you select areas on the

objects. You can use standard mar-
quee and loop select tools to select
parts of your objects.
In all three modes, you can add to, or remove from, the current selection.
You also have the option of selecting all items or none, or invert the current
selection.

SELECTING ITEMS 167
Selection Tool
In Face selection mode, you can grow or shrink the current selection.
Initial selection. Selection grown. Selection shrunk.
There are also quick menu items for selecting large areas on your model at
once. In the Selection menu, you can opt to:
• Select All - to select all of an object, patch or face.
• Select None - to de-select patches and faces.
• Select Invert - to select the inverse of the selected area.
• Select Visible - to select the visible area of a patch, face, or object.
Smart Selection The smart selection mode of the Select tool lets you create selections based
on the surface of the model. Similar to how Photoshop's magic wand tool
lets you select areas of similar color, this lets you select areas that face in
the same direction.
You can base your smart selection on:
• Connectedness
• Edge Angles
• Orientation
If you are working with the Select tool in Face mode, you can also create a
smart selection by double-clicking on the face of the model. Double-clicking
creates a smart selection (to select faces connected in UV) based on the
settings of the Smart Type dropdown, listed above.
Visibility and You can show or hide things based on whether they are selected. For
Locking example, you can select a patch or area on an item, and then hide
everything not selected.
Similarly, you can lock objects and areas based on whether they are selected
or not.

SELECTING ITEMS 168
Selection Tool
Selection and You can use the selection to control where paint can bake onto the surface
Painting of your model. If Project On (on the Projection palette) is set to Selected,
then Mari only bakes paint onto selected areas.
Saving Selected Mari lets you save selections and come back to them later. Once you've
Areas made a selection (in any mode — objects, patches, or faces), you can create
a selection group. Clicking on a selection group selects the items in that
group.
Example of a selection group containing patches

SELECTING ITEMS 169
Marquee Select Tool
Example of a selection group containing faces

You can use this to set up face selections of specific areas on your model,
and then to reuse these selections. This lets you define your own selection
areas for relevant features that aren't necessarily reflected in how the
patches on the model are put together. For example, you could use this to
create a selection for the blacksmith's deltoid muscle, or his collarbones.
Marquee Select The Marquee Select tool lets you select an area onscreen, to control where
you can apply paint. When you've made a selection with the Marquee Select
Tool tool, paint only bakes down within the selected areas.

SELECTING ITEMS 170
Steps for Making Selections
Marquee Select — paint only shows within the selection area.
TIP: This works like the Select tool when Project On is set to Selected,
except that you're selecting areas on the screen rather than on your
model.
You can't use the Marquee Select tool to select areas to show/hide or to
lock.
Steps for Making To make a selection within Mari, follow these steps:
Selections 1. Selecting Objects, Patches, or Faces
2. Saving Selections on the Model
3. Selecting Areas Onscreen
Selecting 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Objects, 2. Choose the Select tool .
Patches, or 3. You can use the Selection toolbar to switch selection modes.
Faces

SELECTING ITEMS 171
Selecting Objects, Patches, or Faces
If you can't see the Selection toolbar, right-click on the toolbar area and
choose Selection from the dropdown menu.
4. Set the selection mode.
In this mode You can...

Object click on an object to select it.
Patch click on a patch to select it, or click and drag a selection to

select all the patches under that selection.
Face click and drag to make the selection.
5. On the Tool Properties toolbar, set the selection details:

• Facing — whether to only select the (visible) front of the model, or to
select “through” the model, including the back side.
• The selection tool shape – either:
• a square selection box,
• a lasso selection (allowing you to draw any shape of selection),

or
• smart selection (letting you select areas based on the shape of

the model).
Smart selection only works in Face selection mode.
6. Click and drag to make your selection.
7. You can use modifier keys to add to, remove from, or invert the
selection:
Hold down... To... Effect

Shift Add to the selection Areas that were unselected become
selected, areas that were already selected
stay selected.
Ctrl/Cmd Remove from the selection Areas that were selected become
unselected, areas that were already
unselected stay unselected.
Intersect the selection Areas that overlap with the current selec-
(Windows)
tion become unselected, areas that were
unselected become selected.

SELECTING ITEMS 172
8. You can select all, none, or invert the current selection. Use the buttons
on the Tool Properties toolbar, the options in the Selection menu, or the
right-click menu on the canvas.
9. In the Face selection mode, use the Grow and Shrink buttons to change
the size of the current selection.
You can use the Grow/Shrink by field to set how these work. Edges
grows along the edge of the current selection, Vertices grows using the
vertices as a guide.
TIP: You can only grow the selection up to the edge of the patch(es) that
your face selections cover.
The Smart Selection mode works slightly differently from the other two
modes. To use it:
1. In Face Selection mode, click .

2. In the tool properties toolbar, set the Smart Type. This sets how to
create the selection area:
• Connectedness — selects the areas on the model connected to the
selected face. When you look at the area in the UV view, this selects
the whole connected area within the current UV patch. If the UV patch
holds several different areas, only those areas you click on are
selected.
• Edge Angle — selects based on the degree of change between neigh-
boring faces. The selection goes until it hits an angle higher than the
Smart Angle.
• Orientation — selects the area that faces in the same direction as
your initial selection.
3. Set the Smart Angle — this defines the maximum angle for the smart
selection.
• For Edge Angles, this sets the maximum angle between areas on the
model surface. For example, if the angle is set to 30, this selects areas
up to a 30 degree change of facing.
• For Orientation, this sets how far from the facing of your original
selection the selection goes to. For example, if the angle is set to 30,
this selects areas up to 30 degrees away from the facing of your orig-
inal selection.
4. Click and drag to make the selection.
Mari creates a selection around the area you drag.
Alternatively, you can use the buttons on the Tool Properties toolbar to

SELECTING ITEMS 173
quickly select patches. To do this:

1. In Patch Selection mode, click any of the selection modes in the Tool
Properties toolbar (Rectangle, Lasso, Smart).
2. To quickly select all patches, click the button on the Tool
Properties toolbar.
All patches on your current object are selected.
3. To quickly clear your selection so that none of your patches are
highlighted, click on the button on the Tool Properties
toolbar.
Any patches you have selected are unselected.
Hiding and Locking 1. In either the Patch or Face selection modes, select an area on your
model.
2. From the Selection menu, select Hide Unselected.

Mari hides everything except your selection.
You can clear the selection, and the other areas remain hidden.

SELECTING ITEMS 174
3. Conversely, from the Selection menu, select Hide Selected.

Mari hides only the selected areas.
4. To show the hidden patches again, from the Selection menu, select Show
Selected, Show All, or Show Entire Object, to restore visibility of faces.
5. To lock the selection so that you can't paint on the locked areas, from
the Selection menu, select Lock Selected.
Mari locks the selection. Try painting a few strokes over the model —
the paint does not “stick” to the locked areas.
6. As with hiding, you can also lock the inverse of your selection by
selecting Lock Unselected from the Selection menu, or if you want to
lock the whole model in order to work on something else, you can Lock
All.
7. To unlock the selection, from the Selection menu, select Unlock Selected,
or unlock the whole geometry by selecting Unlock All.

SELECTING ITEMS 175
Saving Selections on the Model
8. If you’ve locked multiple patches, faces, and even objects and want to
quickly unlock everything in your project, select Unlock Entire Object
from the Selection menu.
TIP: You can also show/hide and lock selections from the right-click menu
on the canvas.
Saving 1. With the Select tool, create your selection.

Selections on You can select in any mode — object, patch, or face.
2. Right-click on the selection. From the dropdown menu, pick Create
the Model Selection Group.
3. Open the Selection Groups palette.

SELECTING ITEMS 176
Saving Selections on the Model
This displays all the selection groups for your project.
4. Click to select a selection group.

When you click on the selection group, Mari changes to show that selec-
tion. You can switch between selection groups by clicking them in the
list.
Object groups can be added to selection groups. You can create up to
200 of these groups.
5. If you have a selection group highlighted in the list, but have used the
Select tool to make another selection, you can reload the selection
group by clicking on the button.

SELECTING ITEMS 177
Selecting Areas Onscreen
6. You can also lock and unlock selection groups, as well as showing and
hiding them.
To... Click on...

lock the selection group
unlock the selection group
hide the selection group
show the selection group
TIP: You can also create patch selection sets by right-clicking on your
selection and selecting Create Patch Selection Set. This can also be done
in the Patches palette by right-clicking on your selection and selecting
Create Set.
Selecting Areas Use the marquee select tool to select an area onscreen, rather than on the
model. The marquee select tool lets you build up your selection (adding and
Onscreen removing to the selection as required), then transform it – moving it around,
rotating it, or resizing it.
1. Paint a few strokes onto your model, so you can see the effects when
you start drawing marquee selections.
2. Select the Marquee Select tool .
3. In the Tool Properties, select the tool type. You can select a rectangle,
lasso, ellipse, or wand.

SELECTING ITEMS 178
Tool Lets you

Draw a rectangular selection.
Draw the outline of your selected area. You can draw any shape
you want.
Draw an elliptical selection.
Select by color. When you click, Mari creates a selection around

the point you clicked. The selection is based on color – areas with
a similar color to the original point are selected. You can change
the color threshold for the selection.
4. Click and drag to create your initial selection.
Initial buffer, with Marquee select — only the paint

unbaked paint. within the selection is visible.

SELECTING ITEMS 179
5. To edit the shape of the selection, change the Mode in the Tool
Properties. You can set this to:
Mode Does Notes

Replace the new selection replaces the In Replace mode (the default), you can:
existing selection. • hold down Shift, click and drag to add
to the current selection, or
• hold down Ctrl/Cmd, click and drag to
remove from the current selection.
Transform lets you move your selection In Transform mode, you can:
area around (move, rotate, or • hold down Shift, click and drag to
scale the selection) move the current selection,
• hold down Ctrl/Cmd, click and drag to
rotate the current selection, or
hold down Shift+Ctrl/Cmd, click and
drag to scale the current selection.
6. If you want to soften the edges of the selection, turn up the Feathering.
Higher values give the selection a softer, fuzzier edge. At 0, the
selection has a hard edge.
7. In Wand mode, you can change the Color Threshold (how close the
colors need to be to be selected when you click). At 0, only areas of the
exact shade as the pixel you click on are be selected. As the value
increases, more colors are selected when you click.

SELECTING ITEMS 180
Moving and To move or distort the selection, set the Mode to Transform.
Distorting Marquee
Selections To Do this: Example
move the selec- hold down Shift, click and drag
tion
rotate the selec- hold down Ctrl/Cmd, click on

tion your desired point of rotation,
and drag
scale the selec- old down Shift+Ctrl/Cmd, click

tion up or down and drag

16 WORKING WITH PATCHES
Models that you paint in Mari are divided into patches. You can change the
properties of the patches, such as the patch resolution. You can also edit
patches as a whole – by copying and pasting between patches, filling
patches with color, or flipping the paint on them.
Patch Resolution Each patch on a channel is stored at a particular resolution. Resolution is a

determination of how many pixels are used for an item. For example, a
patch may have a resolution of 512 x 512. This patch is stored as an
output file 512 pixels wide by 512 pixels high. Higher resolutions take more
memory and require more storage, but provide more detail.
Resolutions available in Mari range from 256 x 256 to 32k x 32k (32768 x
32768). Resolutions in Mari are always “square”, with the width equal to
the height.
You set the resolution for a channel when you create it. You can however
change the resolution later, for example downsizing if you find the file's
getting really big and you don't need so much detail, or upsizing if the shot
focuses on something that you find needs more detail. You can either:
• change the resolution of the entire channel at once (that is, all patches
in the channel), or
• resize specific patches within the channel.
Changing the resolution of a patch in one channel does not affect the
resolution of the same patch in another channel. For example, a particular
patch could be at 512 x 512 in the bump channel and 2k x 2k in the diffuse
channel. All layers in a channel or patch are resized when the channel or
patch is resized, but you cannot resize individual layers.
TIP: For more details on working with channels, see Channels.
Changing Mari lets you change patches as a whole. You can:

• copy textures from one patch to another
Patches as a
• fill patches with a single color
Whole • rotate or flip the paint on a patch
WORKING WITH PATCHES 182
Changing Patches as a Whole
• mirror paint from one side of a patch to the other

• link patches together.
Here's an example.
The original patch. Flipped horizontally. or rotated 90 degrees

counter-clockwise.
TIP: Edits to patches only apply to baked paint. Unbaked paint in the
paint buffer is not affected.
When you are copying patches onto other patches, unless your patches are
identically shaped, you can see:
• blank areas at the edges, where the texture from the source patch runs
out due to the change of shape, and
• traces of the “overpaint” around the edges of the patch.
You can also see these when transforming paint on patches unless your
patches are square.
The overpaint is used to ensure that the patches fit together without visible
gaps. You can view the overpaint for patches in the UV view. Turn the UV
paint display on in the Display Properties dialog box (right-click on the
canvas, select Display Properties from the dropdown menu, and turn on
Render UV Image).

Saving Images of UV Masks on a Patch
Note the blank patches and “bleed” from the overpaint areas.
The original patch. Rotated 90 degrees.
Paint transforms only apply within each patch. If you have more than one
patch selected, each patch transforms independently. For example, if you
flip two side-by-side patches horizontally, each patch flips separately.
Two patches selected. Flipped horizontally.
Saving Images of Mari has a function that allows you to save an image of the outline of a UV
mask. You can then save these images for use as a mask in another
UV Masks on a program, if required.
Patch
Patches selected in UV view. B/W UV masks in the Image Manager.

Bleeding Patch Edges
Bleeding Patch By default, Mari creates an overspill area at the edge of UV patches to
prevent seaming. In some cases, the overspill may not be large enough to
Edges prevent seaming artifacts, or you may get render artifacts if your renderer
expects a larger bleed area.
For example, from some angles, Mari's blacksmith demo asset shows a
seaming artifact in the hair just above the left ear when viewed front on.
This is because the bleed for that edge of the UV patch is slightly too small.
From front on, you can see a This is caused by a too small
slight line at the patch edge. overspill edge.
TIP: You can view the overspill bleed by turning on Show UV Patches in
the Display Properties dialog box.
If you are experiencing problems with seaming artifacts (either within Mari
or after rendering) try conducting a full patch bleed. This extends the bleed
area across the entire UV patch.
UV patch after full bleed. And the artifact is eliminated.

Linked Patches
NOTE: Mari does not do a full bleed by default because it takes much
longer to calculate.
For performance reasons, Mari divides large patches into smaller, more
manageable 256x256 tiles. When baking paint into a channel, Mari always
performs an individual edge bleed for every tile affected by the paint. The
bleed operation fills the tile but does not affect surrounding tiles.
When bleeding is done per tile, some exceptional conditions may occur
depending on how the tile lines up with the geometry shell:
• As bleed width is extended from the shell to the tile boundary, it may
vary depending how close the shell boundary is to the tile boundary.
• Resizing a patch changes the tile grid causing it to line up differently
with the geometry shell, which can affect bleed results.
• Tile corners that just touch the outer shell of the geometry can result in
unexpected bleed behavior.
Edge bleeding per patch is different because it renders the entire patch first
and then performs a full bleed on it. This avoids the conditions mentioned
previously but requires much more memory and processor time, especially
when bleeding large patches.
The per tile method is the default behavior and ensures that normal paint-
bake operations are performed quickly. Full patch bleeding should only be
used in situations where exported tile-bled patches are causing problems in
third party applications.
Linked Patches Mari has the ability to link patches together to provide a way of sharing the
same underlying image data between multiple patches quickly and easily. A
patch is given the same paint as the patch it is linked to if the linked patch
is painted after they have been linked. This function can be found within the
Patches palette. It is best to view the model in UV view when attempting to
link or unlink patches.
The linked patches feature works best when the underlying UV maps are
identical. If they are not, then the differing UV maps result in different edge
bleeds, which could manifest as bleeding artifacts on linked patches. If you
need to avoid edge bleeding artifacts, you can use the Whole Patch
Projection option in the UV view.

Steps for Working with Patches
NOTE: Please be aware that if painting on more than one linked patch,
any overlap of paint can cause baking artifacts. If you have trouble
painting on linked patches because of these overlaps, you can lock the
patches you don’t want to paint on directly.
TIP: If you notice paint conflicts and you are already taking care to avoid
overlapping paint, try locking neighboring linked patches to the one you
are painting on to avoid conflicts.
Steps for To manage the patches in your Mari project, follow these steps:
Working with 1. View and Resize Patches
2. Using UDIM Values
Patches
3. Copy and Paste Patches
4. Extract Patches to the Image Manager
5. Fill Patches with Color
6. Flip and Rotate Painting
7. Mirror Painting
8. Save Images of the UV Masks
9. Bleeding Across Patch Edges
10. Link or Unlink Patches
View and Resize 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Patches 2. To open the UV view, click either the UV or Ortho/UV tab at the top of
the canvas.

View and Resize Patches
The UV view displays all individual patches on the model, and labels the
patches with the size format in an abbreviated mode, such as 4K instead
of 4096x4096. The label also lists all active patch sizes in a comma-
separated list.
3. Zoom in to view the details of a specific patch more easily.

Once you zoom in enough, Mari displays the patch details (such as reso-
lution and color depth).
4. If you select one or more patches and you want to switch the view to
display all of the selected patches, press A.
Mari focuses the view on the patches that are selected.
If you don't have any patches selected, the view focuses on the model as
a whole (changing to show the whole model).
TIP: If you find that the view starts cutting through the front clipping
plane, try pressing A.

Using UDIM Values
Resize Patches 1. Select the patch(es) to resize.
TIP: You can select the patches in any view — you don't have to be in the
UV view to do this.
2. From the Patches menu or the right-click dropdown menu on the canvas,
select Resize Selected and then a resize option. You can select a specific
resolution from the list (up to the maximum resolution for the channel),
or choose to halve or double the resolution.
If you try to double the size of a selection already at the channel's max-
imum resolution or halve the size of one at 256 x 256, nothing happens.
NOTE: If attempting to resize patches in a channel that contains layers

shared from other sources, the shared layers are not resized; all other
layers in the channel are resized.
NOTE: If you don’t select a patch or a layer when resizing, Mari asks if
you want to resize all patches or layers before continuing.
Using UDIM Each patch represents one square unit in UV space; for instance, a square
with dimensions 1x1. UDIM values are a way of representing the integer
Values coordinates of that square, from the coordinates of its bottom-left corner
in UV space.
Channels can contain up to ten patches across, and any number of patches
upwards. This means that patches can have U indices between 0 and 9
inclusive, and V indices can be zero or any positive integer. With these
values, the UDIM for a patch can be calculated using the formula:
udim = 1001 + u + (10 * v)
NOTE: The U index limit of ten is currently hardwired.
The UDIM value of the bottom-left patch, which represents the UV space
region (0,0) to (1,1), is 1001. The next patch to the right has a UDIM value
of 1002, and the patch directly above the bottom-left is 1011. For
example, the patch representing the UV space region (2,5) to (3,6) has a U
index of 2 and a V of 5, so replacing the values in the formula, we get:

Copy and Paste Patches
udim = 1001 + 2 + (10 * 5) = 1053
(...)
(0,1)
(0,0) (1,0) (2,0) (9,0)
Copy and Paste See Copying and Pasting Paint for details on how to copy and paste
individual patches.
Patches
Extract Patches To extract one or more patches to the Image Manager:

to the Image 1. Select the patches to extract.
2. From the Patches menu, select Extract Selected.
Manager
Mari copies the patches to the Image Manager. See Managing Images in
Mari.
TIP: You can only copy patches up to 8K resolution.
Fill Patches with To fill one or more patches with a color:

Color 1. Set either your foreground or background color to the color you want to
fill.
See Managing Colors in Mari for details on selecting colors.
2. Select the patch(es) to fill.
3. From the Patches > Fill menu, select either:
• Black - to fill the patches with a constant black color.
• Gray - to fill the patches with a constant gray color.
• White - to fill the patches with a constant white color.
• Foreground - to fill the patches with the foreground color.
• Background - to fill the patches with the background color.
• Transparent - to make the patches transparent.

Flip and Rotate Painting
• UV Mask - to make patches a UV mask.

• Wireframe - to fill patches with a wireframe.
Mari fills the patches with the selected color, mask, or wireframe.
Flip and Rotate 1. Select one or more patches with baked paint.
Painting See Selecting Items for details on selecting patches.
2. From the Patches > Transform menu, select the transformation:
• Flip Vertical — to flip the selected patch(es) vertically.
• Flip Horizontal — to flip the selected patch(es) horizontally.
• Rotate 90 CCW — to rotate the selected patch(es) 90 degrees coun-
terclockwise.
• Rotate 90 CW — to rotate the selected patch(es) 90 degrees clock-
wise.
• Rotate 180 — to rotate the selected patch(es) 180 degrees.
NOTE: The transform functions in the Patches menu are applied to

selected patches for the current and selected layers. If you don’t select a
patch or a layer, Mari asks if you want to apply the transform to all
patches or layers before continuing.
Mirror Painting 1. Select a patch with baked paint.

See Selecting Items for details on selecting patches.
2. From the Patches > Mirror menu, select the mirror operation:
• Mirror Left to Right — to mirror the selected patch from left to right.
• Mirror Right to Left — to mirror the selected patch from right to left.
• Mirror Top to Bottom — to mirror the selected patch from top to bot-
tom.
• Mirror Bottom to Top — to mirror the selected patch from bottom to
top.
NOTE: The mirroring functions in the Patches menu are applied to

selected patches for the current and selected layers. If you don’t select a
patch or a layer, Mari asks if you want to mirror to all patches or layers
before continuing.

Save Images of the UV Masks
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with flipping, rotating, and mirroring patches.

Apply paint first to see what happens to the paint when the patch is
changed.
Save Images of 1. Select one or more patches.

the UV Masks See Selecting Items for details on selecting patches.
2. From the Patches menu, select UV mask to Image Manager.
Mari takes a snapshot of the UV outlines on the selected patches and
puts it into the Image Manager. It creates a separate image for each
patch selected.
You can now use the images or save them to disk. See Managing Images
in Mari for details on using the Image Manager palette.
Bleeding Across If you are seeing seaming artifacts at the edge of your patches, try doing a
full bleed across the affected patches.
Patch Edges 1. Select the patches to bleed.
See Selecting Items for details on selecting patches.
2. From the Patches menu, select Bleed Patch Edges.
Mari calculates a full bleed for the selected patches, taking the existing
textures next to the patch on the model into account. This may take a
few seconds.
Link or Unlink To link together two or more patches:

Patches 1. Within the Patches palette, select the patches you want to link together.
You can select the patches by clicking on them in either the palette
channel or on the canvas.
This is best done in UV view for easier selection visibility.
2. Click the Link Selected Patch Images icon to link the selected patches.
In the UV view, a colored background displays behind the selected
patches to denote which patches have been linked.

Link or Unlink Patches
To unlink patches:
1. Within the Patches palette, select the patch or patches that you want to
unlink from the linked selections.
2. Click the Unlink Selected Patch Images icon to unlink the selected patch
from any other patches.
In UV view, the colored background no longer shows behind the unlinked
patch. Any other linked patches still show the colored background
behind them.
3. If you want to unlink all patches in the project, right-click the Patches
palette and select Unlink All Linked Patch Images or right-click on the
canvas and select Patches > Link | Unlink All Linked Patch Images.
4. If you want to specify that a particular patch be used as a "master"
patch, from which the other linked patches can be initially copied, you
can do this by first selecting the desired "master" patch on its own and
linking it using the Link Selected Patch Images button. You can then
select the master patch and the rest of the patches to re-link them
using the Link Selected Patch Images button again.
NOTE: When linking patches, if any patches have been previously linked,
Mari determines which set of linked patches has the most patches in the
selection set and retains those links while re-linking the other selected
patches.
TIP: You can also find all of the options discussed in this chapter in the
right-click dropdown menu on the canvas.

17 CONFIGURING THE USER INTERFACE
Mari provides a fully customizable GUI. You can set it up to suit your
working style and preferences.
The main GUI elements that you can customize are:

• palettes — areas that contain controls and information, for example to
view and configure tool properties, colors, or project elements. You can
select which palettes to display and where to put them.
• toolbars — panels that contain Mari tools and common functions, for
example to paint, erase, open or close a project. Toolbars contain icons
you click to quickly access common tools and functions. You can create
new toolbars, with shortcut buttons to your favorite functions.
• HUD — the heads-up display (HUD) displays information about the
current tool and other Mari and project information at the top of the
canvas.
• status bar — the status bar displays information about current
processes, as well as progress bars and error warnings.
Palettes and toolbars can be either docked (fixed in one place) or undocked
(“floating” above the canvas). Palettes can be docked to:
• any side (including top or bottom) of the Mari window, or
• each other (in a separate window).
Docked palettes can also be stacked — in the space of a single palette, with
tabs to select which palette appears on top.
Similarly, toolbars can be docked on the top, left, or right of the Mari
window (but not the bottom). By default, toolbars appear at the top, but
can be moved.
Once you have your workspace laid out properly, you can save the layout
for later use. If you decide that you don't like your custom layout, you can
revert to the default layout.
CONFIGURING THE USER INTERFACE 194
Steps for Customizing Your Workspace
Steps for To customize your workspace, follow these steps:

Customizing 1. Choose and Organize Palettes
2. Choose and Organize Toolbars
Your Workspace
3. Create Custom Toolbars
4. Configure the HUD
5. Save Your layout
6. Understanding the Status Bar
Choose and To select and position palettes:

Organize 1. To select which palettes to display:
• from the View menu, select Palettes, and then a palette from the sub-
Palettes menu, or
• right-click an empty spot on the toolbar area, and select a palette from
the dropdown menu.
The dropdown menu lists palettes at top, and toolbars below.
TIP: When you open a palette, it displays where it was the last time it
closed.
2. You can do the following to position a palette:

• move — click in the title bar and drag.
• undock — click in the title bar and drag to the middle of the canvas, or
outside the main Mari window.
• dock — drag to an edge of the canvas (left, right, top, or bottom).
The side of the canvas expands to “grab” the palette
• dock beside another palette — drag onto the side of another undocked
palette, between docked palettes, or between a docked palette and an
edge of the canvas.
Palette(s) “shuffle over” to make room for the new palette, if there is
enough room, otherwise they stack (see below).
• dock on top (stack) — drag on top of a docked palette. Palette(s)
“shuffle up” slightly, to display tabs below for selecting which palette
displays (on top).

Choose and Organize Toolbars
TIP: If you dock two floating palettes together, they appear as a separate
palette window.You can also use the standard controls at the top right of
the palette to minimize, maximize, switch between floating and docked,
and close the palette.
Mari also has a show/hide palette function: press the Home key (or select
from the View menu) to toggle between showing and hiding the current
palettes.
TIP: Palette behavior is customizable. Experiment with the palettes to see

how they can be docked, undocked, moved, and stacked.
Choose and To select and position toolbars:

Organize 1. To select which default toolbars to display, right-click an empty spot on
the toolbar area, and select from the dropdown menu (as for opening
Toolbars palettes, above).

Choose and Organize Toolbars
TIP: The default toolbars are:

• Ptex - ptex settings (changing face resolution, texel density, and so
on).
• Channels - buttons to switch between the four default views for paint-
ing (Channel, Stack, Layer, and Paint).
• Navigation - buttons to set your navigation preferences while moving
around the canvas.
• Tool Properties - lets you set the properties for the current tool.
• Project - common project functions (New project, Open, Save, and so
on).
• Lighting - buttons to switch between the three lighting modes and to
toggle shadows on or off.
• Painting - buttons to clear the paint buffer or open the Brush Editor.
• Tools - all the painting tools.
• Selection - buttons to switch between three selection modes (objects,
patches, and faces) when using the Select tool.
• Canvas - view options for the UV and 3D views.
• Mirroring - buttons to switch between four paint mirroring settings.
• Vector Painting - enable the vector grid and quickly set up vector
shaders.
• Color Space - lets you specify your color space and the settings asso-
ciated with your choice.
2. To position a toolbar, click the drag control at its left or top edge, and:
• move — drag to another position.
• undock — drag to the middle of the canvas, or outside the main Mari
window.
• dock — drag to an edge of the canvas (left, right, or top — not bot-
tom); the side of the canvas expands to “grab” the toolbar.
• resize — drag left or right, or up or down.
TIP: If the toolbar is too small to fit all of its items, a double chevron
appears at the end (»). Click this to see all the tools in the bar, or resize
and position the toolbar to see all items.

Create Custom Toolbars
Create Custom If you want quick access to functions not included on the default toolbars,
you can create as many additional toolbars as you need. To create a new
Toolbars toolbar:
1. From the Edit menu, select Toolbars.
The Manage Toolbars dialog box opens.
2. Click Add to create a new toolbar.

Mari prompts you to name the toolbar.
3. Give your toolbar a name, and click OK.
The new toolbar displays under Custom Toolbars in the Manage Tool-
bars dialog box, and an empty toolbar displays for it on the main screen.

Create Custom Toolbars
TIP: If the empty toolbar does not display, make sure that the Visible
checkbox in the Manage Toolbars dialog box is ticked.
Also note that the new toolbar may display at far right, and you may have
to drag its handle to the left to resize it, to make room for new icons.
4. Add functions to your toolbar by dragging from the list on the left in the
Manage Toolbars dialog box, onto the empty toolbar on the main screen.
TIP: Click + to expand the nodes in the list to see the functions available.
At the moment, items cannot be removed from custom toolbars.
5. Click OK to close the Manage Toolbars dialog box when you're happy
with your new toolbar.
EXPERIMENT: Try this to acquaint yourself with managing toolbars:

• create a new toolbar,
• add a few items to it,
• resize it,
• undock it, move it, and re-dock it somewhere else,
• hide it from the display, then
• remove it.

Configure the HUD
Configure the To configure the “heads-up display” (HUD):

HUD 1. From the Edit menu, select HUD Manager.
The HUD Manager dialog box opens. The information you're most likely
to want to display is under Tool Manager and the current project (in the
illustration, Example Project).
TIP: Many of the options in the HUD Manager are for debugging purposes
only. For an explanation of the different options, see the Mari Reference
Guide.
2. Click the checkboxes for the options you want to include in the heads-
up display at the top of the canvas, then close the HUD Manager dialog
box.
Mari displays information in the HUD as you select it in the HUD Man-
ager.
Save Your layout A layout is a record of how your Mari workspace is set up. Once you have
your workspace set up, you can save the layout so you can easily recall it
later. Alternatively, you might want different layouts for painting different
types of objects.

Understanding the Status Bar
1. From the View menu, select Save Layout.

A standard Save dialog box opens.
2. Enter a filename and select a location for your saved layout.
3. To reload the saved layout at any time: from the View menu, select Open
Layout.
TIP: To revert to the default layout: from the View menu, select Default
Layout.
EXPERIMENT: Try moving some palettes and toolbars around, then saving
the layout. Revert to the default layout, then re-load your saved layout.
Understanding The status bar is a fixed panel of icons that appears in the bottom-right
corner of the Mari window. It displays information about the project as
the Status Bar icons, including progress bars for current processes, error warnings, and
features that can be toggled.
All icons display tooltips when the cursor hovers over the icon. Some can be
clicked to toggle the displayed functionality. Though most icons are unique
to a single error warning or feature, there are a few noted in the list below
that are not.
Status Bar Icons

Icon Description Notes
Displays the UDIM number of the patch you have selected. If nothing is
selected, then there is nothing listed after Udim.
Notifies you that there is unbaked paint in the paint buffer. Clicking on this icon This icon only displays in the status
bakes the current painting. bar if there is paint in the paint buf-
fer.
Notifies you that your painting is hidden.
Notifies you that background jobs are currently running. Clicking on this icon
displays a dialog for the progress bar.

Status Bar Icons

Notifies you that the project has changed and allows you to click on the icon to
save changes.
Notifies you that color management is active.
More information on color management can be found under Set How Colors are
Displayed Using the Color Manager on page 216.
Notifies you that you are currently projecting on the front of objects. Clicking
on this icon toggles to Project Through Objects. Clicking on this icon toggles
between projecting through objects and projecting on the front of objects. The
icon takes the default icon’s place when switching to project through.
More information for projecting on or through objects can be found under the
Projectors on page 318 chapter.
Notifies you that you currently have edge masking enabled. Clicking on this icon This is not a unique icon. It also dis-
disables edge masking. plays to indicate that fractal noise
More information on edge masking and the edge masking icon can be found masking is enabled. If both masks
under Edge Masking on page 86. are being used, the icons appear
separately on the status bar.
Notifies you that you currently have channel masking enabled. Clicking on this
icon disables channel masking.
More information on channel masking and this icon can be found under Channel
Masking on page 87.
Notifies you that you currently have ambient occlusion masking enabled. Click-
ing on this icon disables ambient occlusion masking.
More information on ambient occlusion masking and this icon can be found
under Ambient Occlusion Masking on page 88.
Notifies you that you currently have depth masking enabled. Clicking on this
icon disables depth masking.
More information on depth masking and this icon can be found under Depth
Masking on page 89.
Notifies you that you currently have backface masking enabled. Clicking on this
icon disables backface masking.
More information on backface masking and this icon can be found under Back-
face Masking on page 89.
Notifies you that you currently have fractal noise masking enabled. Clicking on This is not a unique icon. It also dis-
this icon disables fractal noise masking. plays to indicate that edge masking
More information on fractal noise masking and this icon can be found under is enabled.
Fractal Noise Masking on page 90.
Notifies you that you currently have the global mask preview enabled. Clicking
this icon disables the global mask preview.
More information on the mask preview and this icon can be found under Mask
What You Can Paint On on page 85.

Status Bar Icons

Warns you that a low memory status has been detected. Low memory affects This is not a unique icon. It also dis-
Mari’s performance and may make it unstable. Try freeing memory or closing plays to warn you that the cache
and restarting Mari to clear this issue. disk is critically full.
Notifies you that there are warning messages present. Clicking on this icon displays these
warnings.
Warns you that the cache disk is critically full. If you don’t free space, data loss This is not a unique icon. It also dis-
may occur. To free space, try: plays to warn you that a low memory
• closing and reopening the project. status has been detected.
• freeing up space on the disk.

• placing your cache on a file system with more free space.
Hovering the cursor over this icon displays the tooltip No space left for this This is not a unique icon. It also dis-
operation. plays to indicate a higher bit-depth
There are a few reasons that this might display, including: than what is configured.
• The virtual texture size is set too low in the Preferences. Attempting to click on the icon for
the Overload warning displays noth-
• There are too many channels in the Channels palette. ing further.
• The patch resolution is set too high on some patches.
Hovering the cursor over this icon displays the tooltip Channels are higher bit- This is not a unique icon. It also dis-
depth than what the virtual texture is configured for. Clicking on the icon plays to indicate virtual texture
increases the bit-depth of the virtual texture to match that of the highest bit- overload. Hovering over the icon for
depth and removes the status bar warning. a tooltip indicates which warning it
is.
Notifies you that Mari is currently loading data from the disk.
Notifies you that Mari is currently loading data from the RAM to GPU memory.
Notifies you that Mari is listening for commands on [COMPUTER NAME] port Clicking on this icon shows you what
[PORT NUMBER]. computer name and port number on
which Mari is listening for com-
mands.
Notifies you that there was an error while Mari was listening for commands.

18 MANAGING IMAGES IN MARI
Mari lets you use external images as a source for:

• clone stamping
• painting through
• picking colors in the Color Manager.
Mari has a palette, the Image Manager, which stores images in use in the
current project. This gives you quick access to the images, and very basic
editing. For each image, the Image Manager shows a small preview and
information such as the location of the image on disk.
When you open a project, the Image Manager loads its images from source
files on the disk and keeps them in memory, ready to use. If any of those
source files change after you open a project, the changes only appear in the
Image Manager when you next open the project. If Mari can't find a source
file for an image in the Image Manager when you open a project, it removes
that image from the Image Manager.
You can also create new images in the Image Manager by:
• Cropping them from existing images,
• Running a script on an existing image, or
• Generating them via a custom Texture Generator.
Mari stores these with the project (rather than loading them from a file on
disk - unless you specifically save them on disk).
TIP: If you need to use a common set of images for multiple projects in
Mari, you can drag them to a personal shelf. See Storing Resources Using
Shelves for details.
Steps for To manage the images in use in your project, follow these steps:
Managing 1. Open the Image Manager Palette
2. Load and Select Images
Images
3. Crop and Filter Images
4. Run Scripts on Images
MANAGING IMAGES IN MARI 204
Open the Image Manager Palette
Open the Image 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Manager Palette 2. Open the Image Manager palette:
• right-click on the toolbar, and select Image Manager from the drop-
down menu, or
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Image Manager.
The Image Manager palette displays, showing images currently in use in
the project.
Load and Select 1. To load one or more images, click .

Images The Open an Image dialog box displays.
2. Select the image(s) you want to load.

Load and Select Images
The Image Manager shows a preview of the image(s). (The actual image
itself may be larger or smaller than the preview.)
NOTE: If you load a layered .psd file into the Image Manager, each layer is
imported as a separate image.
3. Under Advanced Options select whether you would like to apply a

ColorSpace Conversion (Linear to sRGB) to the image before you import
it, and then click Open.
4. Click on a preview to view information about that image.
Information displayed includes:

• Color Depth
• Color Channels
• ColorSpace (which you can set to either COLOR or SCALAR)

Load and Select Images
• the image height and width in pixels

• the path for the source file (from which Mari loads the image when you
open the project).
NOTE: On Windows, file paths have a limit of 32,767 characters in

length. If you load an image into the Image Manager that exceeds this
length, the message Invalid Image Path is displayed in the Path field. This
does not affect the image data or its properties, and you may continue to
use it as normal.
5. To remove images from the Image Manager, select the image (Ctrl/Cmd-
click or click and drag to select multiple images), and click .
The image(s) disappear from the Image Manager. This has no effect on
the image source files — it just means you're not using those images in
your current Mari project.
6. To view a larger version of an image, click .
The larger preview opens in a separate window. You can change the size
of this preview by changing the size of the window. You can also crop
the image from this window (see the next section).
7. To save an image under a new filename, click .
The Save an Image dialog box displays.
8. Enter a new name for the image and click Save.
Mari saves the image. From now on, Mari loads the image from the new
filename when you open this project.
TIP: You can also Open, Save, Save As, or Close images by right-clicking
on the Image Manager and selecting from the dropdown menu. There is
an extra shortcut to open new images as well — double-clicking on an
empty part of the Image Manager. And you can do all of these on multiple
images at once (Ctrl/Cmd-click or click and drag to select multiple
images). You can even drag and drop images into the Image Manager
from your web browser.

Crop and Filter Images
Crop and Filter 1. To create a new image by cropping an image from the Image Manager,
Images click to open the image preview window.
TIP: Clicking on the image in this window sets the foreground color to the
color at the spot you clicked.
2. Select the crop mode that you want to use. You can select from the
following options:
• Arbitrary - Click and drag on an arbitrary area of the image.
• Fixed - Enter a fixed size for the crop box (in pixels) and drag it to the
area you want to crop.
• Aspect - Enter a fixed aspect ratio for the crop box (in pixels) and drag
it over the area you want to crop.
3. Now click and drag to select the area to crop, select the Output Size and
click .
The selected area appears as a new image in the Image Manager.
TIP: Mari saves a cropped image as part of the project, not as a separate
file on disk — unless you specifically save it with a new filename.
4. To apply a filter to an image, click to select it in the Image Manager and,

from the Filters menu, select the filter to apply.

Run Scripts on Images
The Apply dialog box displays.
5. Make sure that Apply To is set to Selected Images.
TIP: For details of the filters available and how to apply them, see
Available Filters.
6. Set filter options, and click Apply.

Mari applies the filter to the image in the Image Manager.
TIP: You can filter multiple images at once. Mari applies the same filter to
all the selected images.
Filtering an image in the Image Manager breaks the connection between
the image and the original file. If you want a copy of your updated image
on disk, save it with a new filename.
Run Scripts on The Image Manager has a right-click option to run scripts on images. This
lets you run custom scripts (for example, a Nuke or ImageMagick transform)
Images on the images.
To run a script on an image:

1. Right-click on the image and select Run Script from the dropdown menu.
The Run Image Script dialog box displays.

Run Scripts on Images
2. Type in the script command to run, or select from the dropdown list. The
list holds the last 10 scripts run.
Use the $FILENAME variable for the name of the image file.
TIP: Mari runs the script command and then loads the $FILENAME file. So
all commands must run in place on $FILENAME.
Mari runs the script, then loads the resulting image into the Image Man-
ager: Initially, the previous version of the image also appears in the
Image Manager.
Initial image to the left, modified image to the right.
TIP: You can run scripts on multiple images at once. Ctrl/Cmd-click or

click and drag to select multiple images.
EXPERIMENT: Run some basic scripts on your images. For example, try:
• /usr/bin/convert $FILENAME -flop $FILENAME — to flip the image hor-
izontally.
• /usr/bin/convert $FILENAME –blur 10 $FILENAME — to apply a slight
blur.

19 MANAGING COLORS IN MARI
Mari lets you control both how colors display, and how you select them.
For color (not scalar) channels, you can use the color management
functionality provided by the Color Manager or the ColorSpace toolbar to
apply various color profiles (preset or custom), LUTs (look-up tables), or
colorspace conversions to the painting displayed on the screen. Mari comes
with a selection of preset color profiles, and you can configure your own
too. Mari also lets you select a “split point” - where to split the display
between corrected and uncorrected colors.
You can also have Mari display an onscreen histogram, showing the color
distribution in your painting.
NOTE: The color management functionality provided by the Color

Manager and the ColorSpace toolbar is for display purposes only. The
color profiles, LUTs, and colorspace conversions applied here do not
affect the paint on your model. To apply filters to the paint on your
model, and bake the changes down, please refer to the Filtering Images
and Paint chapter.
Mari always has two colors selected, “foreground” and “background”. These
display in the Tools toolbar, and on the Colors palette. By default, painting
tools use the foreground color.
For picking colors, Mari provides:

• a standard “eyedropper”-style Color Picker tool.
• the Pixel Analyzer palette, which supplements the Color Picker with a
range of colors you've selected, showing their average, minimum, and
maximum color values.
• the Colors palette, which lets you pick colors interactively from a
selection of pickers (including HSV, color values, greyscale, blends, and
from images) or just by entering specific color values.
• the ability to select colors from images in the Image Manager or a shelf.
TIP: You can also change the color depth of a channel if you need to. See
Channels for details.
MANAGING COLORS IN MARI 211
About the ColorSpace Toolbar
About the The ColorSpace toolbar is provided as an efficient way to apply colorspace
conversions and LUTs to the painting displayed on your screen. While this
ColorSpace functionality is also available from within the Color Manager (under the
Toolbar preset ColorSpace color profile) the toolbar is conveniently placed to make
quick adjustments while painting.
The ColorSpace toolbar utilizes the OpenColorIO standard originally

developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks. For a more comprehensive
explanation of OpenColorIO, including LUT generation and suggested
workflow strategies, please visit http://opencolorio.org/.
You can quickly toggle overall color management on/off via a button on the
toolbar, and conveniently load custom color configuration files and custom
LUTs. There are dropdown menus available for applying colorspace
conversions, and a number of other controls for finely tuning them.
Steps for To manage the colors you use in Mari, follow these steps:
Managing Colors 1. Pick Colors from Paint on the Model
2. Select Colors from a Picker or Image
3. Set How Colors Are Displayed Onscreen
Pick Colors from 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Paint on the 2. To pick a single color from the paint already on the model, select the
Color Picker tool , and click on the model.
Model
Mari sets the foreground color to the color at the point you clicked.
TIP: Mari sets the color to what's actually on the model's surface where
you clicked. This may not be exactly the color you see on screen. For
example, if you use full lighting and the area is in shade, it doesn’t appear
darker than it actually is.
3. Open the Pixel Analyzer palette:

• right-click on the toolbar, and select Pixel Analyzer from the dropdown
menu, or
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Pixel Analyzer.
The Pixel Analyzer palette displays details of the currently selected
color.

Select Colors from a Picker or Image
The Values section displays the color's exact numeric value, in the
selected range.
4. Under Accumulate, click the Enabled checkbox.
With this option enabled, Mari keeps track of the colors you select. As
you click on the model, the Colors fields update to display the Current
color selected, plus the Minimum, Average, and Maximum color values
from the tracked series of clicks. (If you drag across the model, Mari still
accumulates colors, as if it were a series of clicks.) You can then click on
any of these swatches to set the foreground color to that value.
5. Click Reset to clear the buffer and start again.
Select Colors 1. Open the Colors palette:

from a Picker or • right-click on the toolbar, and select Colors from dropdown menu, or
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Colors.
Image
The Colors palette displays colors and color pickers.

2. Select a color:
• manually set the numeric values (either type them into the entry boxes
or move the sliders) for the various color attributes — red, green,
blue, alpha; or hue, saturation, and value, or
• click a color field in the tabbed area.
The control dynamically updates as you change the settings.
3. Click to navigate through the tabs available for the color pickers.
These include:
• HSV — to select hue, saturation, and value settings.

• Values — to pick from Byte (8 Bit), Half (16 Bit), or Float (32 Bit) color
values.
• Image — to pick a color from an image (right-click to load an image, or
drag an image from the Image Manager).
• Grey — to select greyscale values (including predefined grey settings,

at the bottom, in steps from black to white).
• Blend — to pick from a field blending four colors (select which colors
by clicking the swatches in the corners to open another color picker
control).

TIP: By default, Mari opens with one HSV tab, one Image tab, and one
Grey tab. You can add additional color tabs:
• To open other tabs, including Blend tabs, click .
• To open a tab as a floating window, click .

• You can also pick colors from images by double- clicking on them.
4. To display the color picker menu when painting, press and hold j.
The color picker menu displays under your mouse cursor. The bar at
right shows the selected color (without a border — so you can compare
directly with what's already painted).
5. To pick colors from an image directly from the Image Manager or a shelf,
double-click on the image. When the image window opens, click within
the image to set the foreground color.
TIP: See also Storing Resources Using Shelves for instructions on making
a custom shelf with small icons of selected color swatches.
EXPERIMENT: Try the steps below to select new colors:

• Pick a color from the Colors palette. Notice as you drag the cursor
across a field, or slide a slider, the Foreground swatch changes and the
RGB values change.
• Load an image into the Image tab in the Colors palette, and pick a color
from it.
• Create a custom, floating Blend window with different colors than the
defaults.

Set How Colors Are Displayed Onscreen
Set How Colors Mari sets how colors are displayed for each project separately. You can set
this using either the Color Manager or the ColorSpace toolbar.
Are Displayed
Onscreen Set How Colors are Displayed Using the Color Manager
1. Open the Color Manager palette:
• right-click on the toolbar, and select Color Manager from the drop-
down menu, or
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Color Manager.
The Color Manager palette displays color-display settings for the cur-
rent project.
2. Under Options, select the main display options:

• Enable Color Management — when selected, applies the color profile

selected in the Current Color Profile section (see below).
• Histogram — when selected, a histogram displays in the bottom left of
the canvas, showing details of the color balance in the current channel.
• Split Point — where (and whether) to split the canvas between color-
corrected and uncorrected. The default is with the slider at the far
right, at 1.00, showing the entire canvas with color correction. Moving
the slider changes the split. For example, moving it halfway along (to
0.50) makes Mari display a split halfway across the screen, with color-
corrected on the left and uncorrected on the right.
TIP: Color correction only applies to color channels. Scalar channels never
use corrected colors. Even if color correction is on, scalar channels
display the actual color values painted on the surface.
3. Under Current Color Profile, select a color profile from the list, or click
New or Edit to create a new color profile or edit the current one.
The Edit dialog box displays the filters available for building up a color
profile. Three filters - Gain, LUT, and Display - are selected by default
and cannot be deleted.
NOTE: You can delete color profiles from the list by selecting a profile
and clicking Delete.
4. Select filters to use from the Available Filters list, and click the right
arrow button to move them to the Selected Filters list. Choose the order

in which to apply the filters in the Selected Filters list, using the up and
down arrow buttons. Then click OK.
The Current Color Profile dialog box lists the selected filters.
5. To view and configure how Mari applies a selected filter, click to expand
it, then set its properties.
TIP: For more details on Mari’s filters, see Filtering Images and Paint.
Set How Colors are Displayed Using the ColorSpace Toolbar:

1. Click or select Enable Color Management in the Color Manager pal-
ette.
2. Select a custom OpenColorIO (.ocio) configuration file by clicking or
use Mari’s default configuration.
For more information on OpenColorIO, including the OCIO file format,
please visit http://opencolorio.org/.
3. Select the colorspace of the current scene using Input ColorSpace
dropdown.
4. Set the display device used to view the scene using the Display Device
dropdown menu.
5. Select the colorspace transform to apply to the scene from the View
Transform dropdown menu.

6. Use the Component dropdown menu to see the individual color

components in the scene.
7. Use the Gain controls to set the amount of exposure adjustment applied
before the display transform by either entering a multiplier (exposure
value), dragging on the slider, or adjusting the F-Stop value.
8. Finally, set the amount of Gamma correction applied after the display
transform by entering a gamma level or by dragging the gamma slider.
EXPERIMENT: Try changing the color profile on a project. First select a

couple of the other predefined profiles, then create one of your own.
Tweak the properties on the filters you added and notice what happens.
Then, load a custom color configuration file via the ColorSpace toolbar,
tweak the properties again and notice how your changes affect the colors
onscreen.

20 PROJECT CONVERSION
If you are an existing user of Mari and upgrading to Mari version 2.0v1 or
later, this chapter is designed to help you upgrade your previous projects
for use in Mari.
It is highly recommended that before you convert any existing projects for
use in Mari 2.0v1, you should take the opportunity to create a new project,
or use the example project that ships with Mari, to familiarize yourself with
the recent changes. This gives you the chance to play around with a project
you won’t be worried about experimenting on.
Before Once you are ready to convert your project, ensure that you archive your
pre-2.0v1 version. To do this, right-click the project in the Projects tab and
Conversion select Archive from the dropdown menu. This archives the project as a .mra
file in the location specified in the Archive dialog.
Converting a project to be compatible with Mari version 2.0v1 or later

cannot be undone. You must have an archived version of the project in
order to roll back any changes made to the project during conversion.
WARNING: If you convert a project without archiving the pre-2.0v1

version, you cannot undo the conversion at any time. In this instance,
once a project has been converted, the changes are permanent.
Upgrade Your Projects created in previous versions of Mari, must be upgraded if they are
to be edited within Mari 2.0v1 or later. Mari does this automatically when
Project you load the project and confirm that you have archived it (or not), as you
see fit.
All the information, such as shader and texture data, that the previous
version of the project contained is upgraded to fit in with Mari’s manner of
using channels, layers, and shaders. Textures should be relatively similar to
the previous version of the project, but some small differences may occur in
how Mari displays lighting, displacement, and bump, among other features.
NOTE: The paint texture, that is, the actual pixel data has not changed.
The difference is in the appearance of the shaders.
PROJECT CONVERSION 221
Upgrade Your Project
Old paint on the model is now contained in a channel labeled All Old
Channels in the Channels palette. Your layer setup may require some editing
to give the project the same look it had before the conversion.
Shaders, as they were known by and used in pre-2.0v1 releases, are also
converted to use the adjustment or procedural layers that match in the
converted project.
For more information on the way channels, layers, and shaders are used
together in a project, please refer to the section on Layer Integration on
page 222 in the Layers chapter.

21 LAYERS
Layers are the primary system for painting in Mari. At its most basic, the
layer system can be used to set up simple stacks for ordering different sets
of paint, and to combine effects in a non-destructive manner. However, the
real strength of the layer system lies in the way layers integrate with
shaders and channels.
Layer Mari’s layer system does not function in isolation; instead, it works
together with shaders and channels to create a cohesive structure for
Integration painting. Layers are entirely dependent on channels and need to have
diffuse, specular, or bump channels already set up in order to be created.
As in previous versions of Mari, channels are created with the choice of

channel type, size, and depth; however, instead of painting directly into the
channel as before, channels now allow the use of separate layers within
them to create your texture. This gives you more control over how you
paint, and gives you the option of creating non-destructive textures that
can be integrated into the rest of your project. Channels are your
foundation for working with layers, but what are these layers capable of,
and what are your options?
Layers can be divided into a few categories: paint layers, layer masks,
adjustments, and procedurals. In turn, these layers can be ordered into
groups, as well as shared, merged, or exported, to name only a few
features. Layers can even be converted into new channels with existing
paint in the base layer. Experiment with them more to discover what you
can do.
For more information about channels, please see Channels on page 264.
Shader Shaders are also important in the use of channels and layers, but they have
received a makeover compared to their use in previous versions of Mari.
Dependence Shaders now allow you to set up lighting and specify which channels should
be used for each channel type in the shader system. Depending on the
lighting system used, you can also control elements that affect your
channels, such as bump weight, reflectiveness, and ambient occlusion.
Shaders also serve the vital purpose of giving you a quick way of comparing
LAYERS 223
Getting Started with Layers
your texture under different conditions. Switching between the pre-existing

shaders gives you a fast way of viewing your textures within the lighting
shader you’ve set up, or simply viewing the current channel or layer stack.
Co-dependence of channels, layers, and shaders.
For more information about shaders, please see Shaders on page 281.
Getting Started You can find most of the new features regarding layers and masks within
the Layers palette or the Layers menu. The Layers palette is divided into
with Layers two panes. The top pane displays all the layers for that channel, and the
bottom pane provides information and controls to adjust the selected layer,
when applicable.
All the controls for adding, editing, or deleting layers can be found on the
right-click menu or the buttons on the palette. Adding layers and masks
immediately adds the selected component, whereas adding adjustments and
procedurals opens a dropdown menu for further selections.
Blend modes are also found on the Layers palette, as well as advanced
blending options. Unlike the Paint Mode, found on the Paint toolbar, these
blend options don’t affect the whole model, but only the selected layer(s).

LAYERS 224
Getting Started with Layers
Ordering Layers Mari applies the layers in the order they appear in the palette, from the
bottom of the list up (as in Photoshop®). You can drag and drop them
around in the palette to change the order.
Every channel that you’ve created automatically has a base layer in the layer
stack. This is the foundation all other layers are built on. If the base layer is
deleted, the object displays the transparency checkerboard wherever paint
from the above layers doesn’t cover the model.
The following table illustrates a basic layer stack with two layers in a
diffuse channel. One layer shows a red stripe, the other shows a blue stripe.
The order of the two layers determines which texture appears on top. The
table shows the results of swapping the order of the layers.
Layer Order Result
The diffuse texture (Base) is

on the bottom, then the Red,
then the Blue.
The diffuse texture is on the

bottom, but this time the
Red is on top of the Blue.

LAYERS 225
Layer Blend Modes
If you like the look of a layer and want to replicate it elsewhere in your
project, you can copy and paste the layer into the layer stack or another
stack. In addition, layers can also be duplicated within the stack.
NOTE: For those unfamiliar with layers, the nearer the layer is to the
bottom of the stack, the further down it sits in the paint order. Any
overlapping paint on layers higher in the stack covers the original paint
lower in the stack.
Filter and Search for In the Layers palette, there are four methods for quickly finding individual
Layers layers in a large layer stack: Name, Type, Attribute, and Color Tag. You can
choose to filter by name, or to select a layer type or attribute, such as only
procedurals, or layers that are visible. Alternatively, you can assign layers
with one of eight color tags, and filter according to color.
Locked and Hidden Layers can be locked to protect them from being mistakenly deleted or
Layers edited. If the layer being locked is part of a group, only that layer is locked;
however, if the layer being locked is the parent layer of the group, then all
the child layers are locked too.
Hiding layers, on the other hand, allows you to examine your work in
isolation. Hiding a layer non-destructively removes the texture from the
object so that you can see the results of the rest of the stack without it.
For more information about locking or hiding other selected items, see
Visibility and Locking on page 167.
Layer Blend Near the top of the palette there are blend mode options in the dropdown
menu. This mode can be set for each individual layer, setting it apart from
Modes the Painting Mode in the Paint toolbar. The key difference is that where
Painting Mode applies to the paint strokes that are baked down onto the
model, the blend modes on the Layers palette apply to paint in the entire
layer; not just what is baked.
NOTE: If the blend mode applied to the layer affects the appearance of
the overall stack, ensure that the layer is placed in the ideal order in the
layer stack. If necessary, the layer can be moved after the blend mode has
been set.

LAYERS 226
Layer Masks
Layer Masks Layer masks allow you to mask out the paint you’ve already created in that
layer. The mask uses a simple black and white map, which is visible by
clicking on Current Paint Target in the Shaders palette. The mask uses black
to completely mask out the texture, whereas white completely unmasks the
texture.
Creating a mask on a layer (painted in black and white) and deriving alpha
values from the mask (where the alpha on a pixel is controlled by the shade
on the original mask), combines the alpha values with the diffuse color from
the layer to create results as shown below:
Initial B/W mask, shown Diffuse layer. Result of creating

in Current Paint Target a layer mask.
Any other color used only partially masks out the texture, with the intensity
of the mask depending on the amount of black or white in the color.
NOTE: It’s not necessary to switch to Current Paint Target in the Shaders
palette when painting a layer mask. You can still paint in the layer as you
would normally, but Current Paint Target provides you with an easy way
to examine your mask in isolation.
TIP: We recommend that you create:

• mask channels with a white background — so you can paint the mask
data black.
• displacement channels with a 50% gray background — this corre-
sponds to the default surface. Mari treats darker colors as negative
displacement (going into the surface) and lighter colors as positive dis-
placement (coming out from the surface).
Alpha and Masks To make creating masks easier, Mari has another function to easily convert
between alpha and mask values.

LAYERS 227
Layer Groups
Creating a mask From Alpha does the opposite of a standard mask. It

converts a layer with alpha values to a black and white mask, where the
shade on each pixel is controlled by the alpha on the original layer to give
the results shown below:
Initial channel with Result of

alpha values. Alpha to Mask.
Layer Groups Multiple layers can be grouped together either by selecting the existing
layers and creating a group with them, or by creating a new group without
any initial layers and moving layers into them later. Layers can also be
moved out of a layer group by simply dragging them back to the main layer
stack or into another group.
Mask Stacks You can also create mask stacks by turning an existing mask into a mask
stack. You must already have a mask attached to a layer to create a mask
stack, but once you do, you can open a separate Mask Stack palette to see
all the mask layers in the group.
Flatten Groups Either for organizational or performance reasons, you may decide you want
to flatten a group into a single layer. Layers that were part of a group
appear as if they are a single layer once flattened. Once a group has been
flattened, it can be added to other groups or used to create a new group as
with any other layer.
Mask Stacks can also be flattened. The only difference between flattening a
layer group and flattening a mask stack is when a mask stack has been
flattened, the group icon disappears from the layer and is replaced with the
mask icon again. All the mask layers that were part of the mask stack now
exist in one single mask.

LAYERS 228
Adjustment Layers
Merge Layers Merging layers is similar to flattening layers, but can be done with any type
of layer. Instead of flattening a group of layers into a single layer, merging
allows you to combine the textures from two or more layers into a single
layer, including any masks or adjustments that might have been applied to
them. However, be aware that this is a destructive process, and the results
may not be the same as anticipated in the layer stack.
NOTE: You cannot merge a layer with a layer group that has not been
flattened. If you want to merge a group with another layer or layers, you
need to first flatten the group.
Adjustment Adjustment layers are filters that can be added to the layer stack to affect
certain layers in the stack. Adjustment layers are location-dependent in the
Layers layer stack and affect only the layers below them.
In addition to adding adjustment layers to the layer stack, adjustments can

also be added to selected layers. These adjustments are exclusive to the
layer they were added to. Whenever an adjustment is added to an existing
layer, it automatically creates an adjustment stack that can be opened in a
separate palette.
Secondary An adjustment layer with a mask on the layer can have a secondary
Adjustments adjustment added to it to apply another adjustment to masked out areas.
Like layer-specific adjustments, these are applied directly to the selected
adjustment layer and can be modified in the lower pane of the palette.
For a full list of adjustment layers and a more detailed description please
refer to Layer Types and Examples on page 243.
Procedural Procedural layers allow you to add texture patterns, grid patterns,
environments, and masks to the layer stack using a variety of parameter
Layers settings. Procedural layers behave similarly to paint layers, with the
exception that their image content cannot be painted on - it can only be
modified by changing the parameters of the layer.
For a full list of procedural layers and a more detailed description please
refer to Layer Types and Examples on page 243.

LAYERS 229
Cube Mapping
Cube Mapping Cube maps provide a context for reflecting images of surrounding
environments on the model, similar to the Sphere Map procedural layer. The
difference is that the environment is modelled by six textures mapped on a
cube surrounding the object as opposed to a single texture mapped on a
sphere surrounding the object. Cube mapping uses the .dds file format to
load files into the Cube Map procedural layer. As with the sphere map, the
cube allows you to modify the falloff starting and ending points to create
the exact level of reflection you want on your model.
Projection Cubic and spherical projection procedural layers allow you to import a
texture into the scene and project it onto the geometry. Using multiple Cube
Shaders Map Projector or Sphere Map Projector procedurals enables you to get the
best possible projection from the different camera locations in a scene.
Using multiple camera locations allows you to account for occlusion and
perspective when projecting textures onto the geometry.
There are three projection procedurals:

• Cube Map Projector,
• Sphere Map Projector, and
• Triplanar Projection.
You can also use masks with the projection procedurals to mask out parts
of the projection. This is helpful in eliminating unwanted artifacts, for
example, where the projection overlaps with other projections in the scene.
Each projection procedural allows you to control:

• texture offset and rotation,
• edge and distance falloff start and end points, and
• falloff curve shapes, using the curve editors.
NOTE: Adjusting options such as falloff and texture offset or rotation

affects the whole scene.
Vector Brushing A Python example script for setting up default vector shaders can be found
under Python > Examples > Setup Vector Brush or by clicking the icon
on the Vector Painting toolbar. This script automatically creates two Vector
shaders in the Shaders palette, three channels in the Channels palette, and
layers to get you started in each of these channels. For more information on

LAYERS 230
Mipmap Behavior
using the setup vector brush script and the default vector shaders, refer to
the section on Adding Vector Shaders on page 133.
The two vector brush shaders are Vector (World Space) and Vector (Screen
Space). The three channels are Vector (Paint), Vector (World Space), and
Vector (Screen Space), and these are automatically assigned to the shader
component inputs for the relevant shaders created by the script. Each of
the channels has layers in the layer stack to get you started. These layers
include Vector, Vector (Tangent To Screen Space), and Vector (Tangent To
World Space).
These channels and layers assist in mapping textures according to direction,

by converting pixels on the object’s surface to RGB values representing -1
to 1 in xyz space. For more information on using the shaders, channels, and
layers together with the Vector Painting Brush, refer to the Vector Brush
chapter in the Mari User Guide.
Additionally, you can opt to add a Flow procedural, which allows you to see
the effects of your vector paint over time. The Time Offset slider represents
the flow of time, while the Speed slider represents the sensitivity of Time
Offset. Adjusting the sliders allows you to see the effects your vectors play
on the flow map, though animating this also displays the effect
continuously. For more information on the vector adjustments and
procedurals, as well as their layer property fields, refer to the section on
Layer Types and Examples on page 243.
Mipmap Behavior For the Cube Map procedural, .dds files with missing mipmaps or partial
mipchains continue to load, but the behavior for these chains is slightly
different. Mari disregards all other mipmaps in the chain; instead, it
regenerates the chain from the top level mip.
In this way, Mari continues to load partial mipmap chains in a workable

manner for .dds files.
Layer Caching Layers can be cached in order to prevent Mari from slowing down. A large
number of layers, or computationally-expensive layers, can lower
performance. Fortunately, caching layers can mitigate this.
Each layer displays a colored bar to the right of the layer. This tells you how
expensive the layer is and its cached state. Inexpensive layers and cached
layers are green, layers cached using Cache Up To Here are blue, and as the

LAYERS 231
Layer Sharing
layers become more complex or higher up in the layer stack they progress to
yellow, orange, and red.
When a layer has been cached, that layer is locked. Any change you may
wish to make requires you to unlock the layer.
For more information about locking other selected items, see Visibility and
Locking on page 167.
Layer Sharing If you want to duplicate a layer as a shared (connected) layer in your layer
stack, you can use the Share Layer option from the context menu. This
allows you to link the layers so that any changes made to the original layer
are also produced on the shared layer. Unlike simply duplicating a layer,
sharing a layer lets you make changes to multiple copies by changing only a
single linked layer.
If you want to duplicate finished layers as shared layers in a new channel,

you can select Share Layers As Channel from the context menu or Layers
menu. As with the shared layer in a layer stack, any changes made to the
original layers are also made to the shared layers in the new channel.
If you want to make changes to the original layers and don’t want them to
be copied over to a shared layer, you can select Unshare Layer from the
context menu to stop sharing the layer, before continuing your work.
Dragging Layers for You can move, copy, and share layers between different layer stacks - even
Moving, Copying, between layer stacks of different channels - by using modifier keys when
dragging:
and Sharing
• Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+drag to share layers.
• Alt +drag (or Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+drag) to copy layers.
• Drag (without any modifiers) to move layers.
Note that the modifier keys need to be held down until the layers are
dropped, otherwise they have no effect.
To drag layers between the layer stacks of different channels, you need to
open those stacks in their own layer stack palettes in advance. Remember
to pin the layer stack palettes using the button in the top-left corner so
that they do not automatically disappear. Alternatively, you can drag and
hover over the relevant channel in the Channels palette to activate its layer

LAYERS 232
Layer Properties
stack in the Layers palette, and then continue dragging and drop the layers
there.
Substacks, such as adjustment stacks or mask stacks, automatically pop up

additional dialogs if you drag your layers over their icons, so you don't need
to open these pop-ups in advance.
Layer Properties Any layer in the Layers palette can be inspected to view the layer
properties, such as File Space, Color Space, and information about the
channel to which the layer belongs. To view the layer properties, right-click
on a layer in the Layers palette and select Layer Properties from the
dropdown menu. The Layer Properties dialog appears with the layer format
and channel information for the selected layer.
Export and Exporting layers to work on in another application is possible on both an

individual and collective layer basis. Importing channels also allows you to
Import import textures that have already been worked on or that come from
another source.
Steps for To use layers in your Mari project, follow these steps:
Working with 1. Open the Layers Palette
2. Add Layers and Masks
Layers
3. Add Adjustments and Procedurals
4. Remove and Disable Layers
5. Add or Flatten Groups
6. Share Layers
7. Cache and Uncache Layers
8. Export and Import Layers
9. Convert Masks
This chapter also includes a reference table of Layer Types and Examples.

LAYERS 233
Open the Layers Palette
Open the Layers 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Palette 2. Set up the shaders, channels, and layers, as described in Layer
Integration on page 222.
3. Open the Layers palette:
• right-click on the toolbar and select Layers from the dropdown menu,
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Layers.
The Layers palette displays, with a default base layer in the layer
stack.
Add Layers and 1. To add a new layer, either:

Masks • from the Layers menu, select Add New Layer,
• right-click any layer in the Layers palette and select Add New Layer, or
• in the Layers palette, click .
The new layer appears in the layer stack, with the paintable layer icon.
2. To add a layer mask, either:

• from the Layers menu, select Layer Mask > Add Mask > Reveal All or
Layer Mask > Add Mask > From Alpha,
• right-click the desired layer for the mask, and select Layer Mask > Add
Mask > Reveal All or Layer Mask > Add Mask > From Alpha, or

LAYERS 234
Add Adjustments and Procedurals

The layer mask is added to the selected layer, with the mask icon next to
the paintable icon.
NOTE: You can right-click any of the layers in the Layers palette to
access the dropdown menu for more layer options. Right-clicking an
existing layer also selects it.
Add Adjustments 1. To add an adjustment layer to a layer stack, either:

and Procedurals • from the Layers menu, navigate to Add Adjustment Layer and select
the filter from the dropdown menu,
• right-click any layer in the Layers palette, navigate to Add Adjustment
Layer and select the adjustment filter from the dropdown menu,
• in the Layers palette, click , or
• with the Layers palette open, press Tab and begin typing the adjust-
ment you want to add. The entry box is populated with the adjustment.
The adjustment layer appears in the layer stack, with the adjustment
icon where the paintable layer icon would normally reside.
2. To add an adjustment to a layer:

• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, navigate to Adjustment
Stack > Add Adjustment Stack and select the filter from the dropdown
menu,
• right-click the desired layer, navigate to Adjustment Stack > Add
Adjustment Stack and select the filter from the dropdown menu, or
• in the Layers palette, click , and select the filter from the drop-
down menu.
The adjustment filter is added to the selected layer, with the adjustment
stack icon one space down from where the mask icon would appear.

LAYERS 235
Remove and Disable Layers
NOTE: Each filter has adjustment controls located in the bottom pane of
the Layers palette. Use these to modify how strongly the filter affects
your texture.
3. When an adjustment or adjustment stack has been added to an existing

layer, you can flatten the adjustment or stack into the layer. To do this:
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Adjustment
Stack > Bake Adjustment Stack, or
• right-click on the layer and select Adjustment Stack > Bake Adjustment
Stack from the dropdown menu.
4. To add a procedural layer, either:
• from the Layers menu, navigate to Add Procedural Layer and select a
procedural from the dropdown menu,
• right-click any layer in the Layers palette, navigate to Add Procedural
Layer and select a procedural from the dropdown menu,
• in the Layers palette, click , or
• with the Layers palette open, press Tab and begin typing the proce-
dural you want to add. The entry box is populated with the procedural.
The procedural layer appears in the layer stack, with the procedural icon
where the paintable layer icon would normally reside.
Remove and 1. To remove a layer:

Disable Layers • with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Remove Layers,
• right-click on the layer and select Remove Layers,
• select the layer and press Delete on the keyboard, or
2. To remove masks from existing layers:
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Layer Mask >
Remove Mask, or
• right-click on the layer and select Layer Mask > Remove Mask from the
dropdown menu.

LAYERS 236
Add or Flatten Groups
3. To only disable the mask on the layer, so you can compare the results of
the layer without the mask in place:
Disable Mask, or
• right-click on the layer and select Layer Mask > Disable Mask from the
dropdown menu.
Once you want to re-enable the mask visibility again, use the same
methods above to navigate to Layer Mask > Enable Mask.
4. To remove the adjustment stack from an existing layer:
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Adjustment Stack
> Remove Adjustment Stack, or
• right-click on the layer and select Adjustment Stack > Remove Adjust-
ment Stack from the dropdown menu.
5. To only disable the adjustment stack, so you can compare the results in
the layer without the stack in place:
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Adjustment Stack
> Disable Adjustment Stack, or
• right-click on the layer and select Adjustment Stack > Disable Adjust-
ment Stack from the dropdown menu.
Once you want to re-enable the adjustment stack visibility again, use the
same methods above to navigate to Adjustment Stack > Enable Adjustment
Stack.
Add or Flatten 1. To add an empty layer group, either:

Groups • from the Layers menu, select Add Empty Layer Group,
• right-click any layer in the Layers palette and select Add Empty Layer
Group from the dropdown menu, or
2. To create a group from existing layers:
• with layers selected, from the Layers menu, select Group Layers, or
• right-click the selected layers and select Group Layers from the drop-
down menu.
3. To flatten a layer group into a single layer:
• with the group selected, from the Layers menu, select Flatten Layer
Group, or
• right-click on the group and select Flatten Layer Group from the drop-
down menu.

LAYERS 237
Add or Flatten Groups
4. To add a mask stack to a layer, in the Layers palette, click . To

create a mask stack from an existing mask on a layer:
Make Mask Stack, or
• right-click on the layer, and select Layer Mask > Make Mask Stack
from the dropdown menu.
The mask stack icon takes the place of the mask icon in the layer
list. Click on the icon to open the mask stack palette.
5. To flatten a mask stack into a single mask:

Flattened Mask Stack, or
• right-click on the layer with the mask stack and select Layer Mask >
Flatten Mask Stack from the dropdown menu.
The mask stack icon reverts back to the normal mask icon and the mask
stack is now only a single mask.

LAYERS 238
Share Layers
1. To duplicate layers, in the Layers palette, click .

The layer is duplicated as a copy.
2. To merge layers, right-click on the selected layers, and select Merge
Layers.
The selected layers are merged into a new layer.
Share Layers 1. To share a layer in the same layer stack:

• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Sharing > Share
Layer, or
• right-click on the layer and select Sharing > Share Layer from the
dropdown menu.
A new channel appears in the channels list. Selecting the channel dis-
plays the shared layer in the layer stack.
2. To share a layer in a different layer stack:
• use Sharing > Share Layer (as outlined above) to create a shared layer,
and then drag that to the stack where you need it, or
• use modifier keys and dragging as outlined in Dragging Layers for
Moving, Copying, and Sharing on page 231.
3. To share a layer, or layers, as a new channel:
• with the layer(s) selected, from the Layers menu, select Sharing >
Share Layers As Channel, or
• right-click on the layer and select Sharing > Share Layers As Channel
NOTE: For layers shared as new channels, you can make the new channel
your current channel by selecting Sharing > Make Shared Channel Current
from either of the menus above.
4. To unshare a layer:
• with the shared layer select, from the Layers menu, select Sharing >
Unshare Layer, or
• right-click the shared layer and select Sharing > Unshare Layer from
the dropdown menu.
NOTE: A shared layer is denoted by the link icon on the layer.

LAYERS 239
Cache and Uncache Layers
TIP: With the possibility of multiple shared layers, it can be difficult to

keep track of them. Ensure that you rename any relevant layers or
channels in order to limit confusion.
Cache and 1. To cache a layer, or layers:

Uncache Layers • with the layer(s) selected, from the Layers menu, select Caching >
Cache Layers, or
• right-click on the layer and select Caching > Cache Layers from the
dropdown menu.
2. To cache all layers up to a point in the layer stack:
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Caching > Cache
Up To Here, or
• right-click on the layer you want to cache up to and select Caching >
Cache Up To Here from the dropdown menu.
Like caching a single layer, all layers cached using Cache Up To Here are
locked and cannot be edited until uncached.
TIP: You can also combine these two functions in order to work more
quickly on your layer stack.
3. To uncache a layer, or layers:

• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Caching >
Uncache Layers,
• right-click on the layer and select Caching > Uncache Layers from the
dropdown menu, or
• click the locked padlock icon .
The cached layer is unlocked and uncached.
4. To uncache all layers that have been locked with Cache Up To Here:
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Uncache Up To
Here,
• right-click on the layer you locked with Cache Up To Here, and select
Uncache Up To Here from the dropdown menu, or
• click the locked padlock icon .

LAYERS 240
Export and Import Layers
The cached layer stack is unlocked and uncached.
NOTE: If you have used the Cache Up To Here option for your caching,
you can only right-click on the top layer in the cached stack to uncache.
This layer is indicated by a blue cache bar.
Alternatively, you can uncache and unlock a layer by clicking on the
padlock icon . This uncaches and unlocks all the cached layers locked
by Cache Up To Here.
EXPERIMENT: If you want to try caching and uncaching layers while using
both the Cache Layers and Cache Up To Here options, try the following:
• Cache Up To Here in your layer stack when, for instance, you need to
increase the frame rate while working on a large layer stack.
• If you want to make changes to a layer under the Cache Up to Here
layer but want to keep your frame rate low, Cache Layers on any com-
putationally expensive layers around the layer you want to edit.
• Uncache Up To Here on your original, top layer in the cached layer
stack.
You can now edit just that one layer, while still having some of the
expensive layers around it cached to prevent your performance suffering.
Export and You can choose to either export layers normally or export them in a
flattened state. If you export layers normally, Mari exports the selected
Import Layers layer(s) to an external location, as one of the supported file formats.
If you export layers flattened, Mari flattens the selected layers into a single
layer and exports this to an external location. This does not affect the
layers in your current project, only the exported file.
Importing files into Mari to use in the Layers palette lets you import the
file(s) into an existing layer. This takes the saved texture and imports it
over any textures in the existing layer, thus overwriting the pre-existing
textures. Alternatively, you can import the file(s) into the layer stack as a
new layer. This automatically adds the new layer to the top of the stack, but
you can move it to anywhere in the stack that you want.
Export Layers To export the current selected layer:

LAYERS 241
1. From the Layers menu, select Export > Export Selected Layers, or right-
click the layer(s) in the Layers palette and select Export > Export
Selected Layers from the dropdown menu.
2. Follow the steps in Export Textures from Channels on page 145 before
clicking Export All Patches.
Mari exports your textures for the selected layer(s).
To export all the layers in the Layers palette:

1. From the Layers menu, select Export > Export All Layers, or right-click in
the Layers palette and select Export > Export All Layers from the drop-
down menu.
Mari exports your textures for the layer stack.
Export Flattened To flatten and export the currently selected layers:

Layers 1. From the Layers menu, select Export Flattened > Export Selected Layers
Flattened, or right-click the layer(s) in the Layers palette and select
Export Flattened > Export Selected Layers Flattened from the dropdown
menu.
Mari exports your flattened selected layers.
To flatten and export all the layers in a layer stack:

1. From the Layers menu, select Export Flattened > Export All Layers Flat-
tened, or right-click in the Layers palette and select Export Flattened >
Export All Layers Flattened from the dropdown menu.
Mari exports your flattened layer stack.

LAYERS 242
Import Layers To import textures into the currently selected layer:

1. From the Layers menu, select Import > Import into Layer, or right-click
the selected layer in the Layers palette and select Import > Import into
Layer from the dropdown menu.
2. Follow the steps in Import Existing Textures to Channels on page 140
before clicking Import All Patches.
Mari imports the textures into the currently selected layer, overwriting
any other textures in the layer.
To import textures into the layer stack:

1. From the Layers menu, select Import > Import into Layer Stack, or right-
click in the Layers palette and select Import > Import into Layer Stack
Mari imports the textures into the layer stack as a new layer that
appears at the top of the stack.
NOTE: Importing a PSD file into a layer stack potentially may display a
dialog regarding layers of the same name. If layers within the .psd have
the same name as layers within the layer stack, Mari asks if you want to
Update, Skip, or Create New. These options allow you to either overwrite
the named layer, skip over the layer during import, or create a new layer,
for example New diffuse if the original layer name was diffuse.
NOTE: Take care when editing an exported Mari .psd file in Photoshop.
Due to the way Mari handles mask stacks and adjustment stacks, a layer’s
sub-stack could be affected by where new layers are inserted in a layer
stack.
For instance, mask or adjustment stacks on an existing layer are shown
as separate groups from the layer in Photoshop. Inserting a new layer
between the group and the original layer before importing the file back
into Mari confuses the layer stack order, causing the mask or adjustment
stack to be made a component of the new layer and not the original.

LAYERS 243
Convert Masks
Convert Masks
Convert Alpha 1. Select the layer on which you want to create a mask.
Values to a Mask 2. Either:
• right-click on a layer in the Layers palette and select Layer Mask > Add
Mask > From Alpha, or
• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Layer Mask > Add
Mask > From Alpha.
Mari adds a mask to the layer. The mask is black and white, with the
color at each pixel taken from the alpha value of the corresponding pixel
in the original layer (regardless of the actual color of the original pixel).
TIP: To really see the effects of this, your channel should have some
transparent areas. If your channel is completely painted, the resulting
mask is just white. If necessary, use the Paint tool in Clear mode to erase
some of the paint off your channel.
Layer Types and Below are descriptions and examples of the different adjustments available
in the Layers palette.
Examples
Examples of each of the filters are applied to the following image, for
illustrative purposes:
NOTE: Be sure to check for out-of-bounds values when adding

adjustment layers. Ensure that your filters are applied correctly by adding
a Clamp adjustment to fix any values that don’t fall between 0 and1.

LAYERS 244
Layer Types and Examples
Type Description Settings Example

Adjustment Layers - Filters
Brightness Changes the brightness of the paint on Adjust the Brightness using the
the model. You can also change the con- entry box or slider.
trast at the same time.
In a layer stack, the Brightness filter is
always connected to the hidden trans-
parency layer at the bottom of a layer
stack if the filter is also at the bottom
of the layer stack. To prevent this from
disrupting the transparency layer, avoid
placing Brightness filters at the bottom
of a layer stack.
Brightness Lookup Changes the brightness of the paint on Use the Map curve to adjust the
the model. You can adjust the bright- specific level of brightness.
ness using the curve to get a specific
brightness value.
Clamp Clamps color values to lie within the Set the Min value and Max value
specified upper and lower values. by using the entry box or adjust-
ing the sliders.
Select the individual color com-
ponent to clamp in the R, G, B,
and A checkboxes.
Color Balance Adjusts the intensities of the colors on Set whether to Preserve Lumi-
your model in the highlights, midtones, nosity, then adjust the Cyan/Red,
and shadows. Magenta/Green, and Yellow/Blue
values in the Highlights, Shad-
ows, and Midtones.

LAYERS 245

Color Lookup Changes the color of the paint on the Use the curves to set the individ-
model. ual Red, Green, and Blue values.
Color Switch Turns individual color channels on or Use the checkboxes to select
off, as well as the alpha channel. which color channels display.
When Mari applies the filter, it
removes any unchecked color
channel or the alpha channel
from the painting.
Contrast Changes the contrast levels on the Select the amount of Contrast
model. and specify a Contrast Pivot
point that you want to adjust
values around.
Copy Channel Copies the value from one RGB color Select the source channel from
channel to the other two. The result is a the list. When you apply the fil-
grayscale image with the intensity val- ter, Mari copies the selected
ues from the selected channel. channel over the other two chan-
nels.

LAYERS 246

Gamma Changes the gamma levels on the model. Select a particular gamma level
using either the entry box or the
sliders.
Invert reverses the gamma con-
version. That is, a higher setting
for Gamma results in a more
washed-out looking image.
Grade Changes the overall color grade of the Adjust the Blackpoint to allow
black and white points, and allows you you to change the depth of the
to adjust the gain and gamma of the darkest point in the paint. The
paint on the model. Whitepoint allows you to
increase the brightest point in
the paint.
Lift, Gain, Multiply, and Gamma
all modify the specified aspects
of the paint to change the overall
texture; while, Offset changes
the black and white points as
one.
HSL Changes the hue, saturation, and light- Change the hue of the colors by
ness of the colors on the model. setting the value for Hue. Adjust-
ing the slider moves the colors
around the color wheel. The rota-
tion value is the degree around
the color wheel that each color
shifts, between 0 and 360
(adjusts the slider between -180
and 180).
The Saturation slider adjusts the
intensity of the colors in the
image data. Select a multiplier
from 0 to 1, where .50 is the
original saturation value.
You can also set the Lightness
value the same way.

LAYERS 247

HSV Changes the hue, saturation, and value Change the hue of the colors by
of the colors on the model. setting the value for Hue. Adjust-
ing the slider moves the colors
around the color wheel. The rota-
tion value is the degree around
the color wheel that each color
shifts (adjusts the slider between
0 and 1).
The Saturation slider adjusts the
intensity of the colors in the
from 0 to 10, where 1.00 is the
You can also set the Value the
same way.
Height As Normal Interprets the texture as height data, Bump Weight adjusts how much
then computes the normals from the bump is applied. Lower values are
height map and converts the normals to smaller; higher values produce
a Diffuse RGB color. This is useful for larger and more obvious dis-
baking normal maps from height maps. placement.
Hue Shift Changes the hue of the colors on the Select the overall hue. The rota-
model. Set the value for Hue by adjust- tion value for the color wheel is
ing the slider. This moves the colors the degree around the color
around the color wheel. wheel that each color shifts,
between -180 and 180.

LAYERS 248

Invert Inverts the colors or the alpha in the Set whether to invert the R, G, B,
layers lower in the layer stack. Invert or A channels individually.
replaces colors with their “opposite” in
the color chart. For example, a color
with a float value of 0.3 is replaced by a
color with a float value 0.7.
Levels Changes the color levels in the paint. Set the:

You can change the white, midtone and • Color Component - to adjust
black points for each color channel or all the specific color channel (Red,
together. Green, or Blue).
• WhiteOut - how strongly to
output the white in the filtered
image. Higher values show the
entire white output; lower val-
ues show decreasing amounts.
• BlackOut - how strongly to
output the black in the filtered
image. Higher values show the
entire black output; lower val-
ues show decreasing amounts.
• White - the upper limit of dis-
played color intensity. Areas
with a value higher than this
are mapped to 1 (white).
• Mid - the middle point between
white and black. Mari remaps
the values so that this is the
middle of the range between
the white point and black
point. Moving this pushes the
values towards that end of the
spectrum.
• Black - the lower limit of dis-
played color intensity. Areas
with a value lower than this
are mapped to 0 (black).

LAYERS 249

Luminosity Outputs just the luminosity value of None.
each pixel. That is, it outputs a gray-
scale image based on the brightness of
each of the pixels in the original image.
Layer masking, projection masks, and
masks on projectors are all hardwired to
use the red color component. If you
want to use another component for your
mask value, the Luminosity adjustment
layer allows you to convert an RGB input
to a greyscale output.
Premultiply Alpha Either pre- or post-multiplies the alpha If the Unpremultiply box is
in the selected image. If you are painting checked, this acts in reverse
using an image without pre-multiplied (that is, removes pre-multiplied
alpha onto one with it, use this filter to alpha).
perform the pre-multiplication, so the
images match and you avoid lines
around the outside of the patch. Post-
multiply works the same, but in reverse:
it removes pre-multiplication to match
images that do not have pre-multiplied
alpha.
Saturation Changes the intensity of the colors in The Saturation slider adjusts the
the image data. intensity of the colors in the
from 0 to 10, where 1.00 is the
Scale Directly modifies the overall scale of the Adjusting the sliders for R, G, B,
color values for each channel individu- and A allows you to specify the
ally. exact level of scale for each
channel, between 0 and 2.

LAYERS 250

Set Value Changes the values of specific RGBA Selecting Red, Green, Blue, or
channels. Alpha from the Channel drop-
down menu allows you to adjust
the slider (from 0-1) to change
the value of the specific color
channel.
Shuffle Shuffles the RGBA channels so that any Change the channels of R, G, B,
of them can be replaced by another or A to affect the overall color of
color channel. the paint on the model.
Layer masking, projection masks, and
masks on projectors are all hardwired to
use the red color component. If you
want to use another color component
for your mask value, the Shuffle adjust-
ment layer allows you to change the
RGBA components so that any can be
replaced by another.
Tangent To Screen Sets up a Tangent To Screen adjustment Suppress the blue value from the
to be used for Vector Brushing. This color-encoded vectors in screen
adjustment is automatically created space by ticking the Suppress-
when creating default vector shaders. Blue checkbox.

LAYERS 251

Tangent To World Sets up a Tangent to World adjustment Suppress the blue value from the
to be used for Vector Brushing. This color-encoded vectors in the
adjustment is automatically created world space by ticking the Sup-
when creating default vector shaders. pressBlue checkbox.
sRGB2Linear Applies an sRGB to linear colorspace Checking Invert applies a linear

conversion. to sRGB colorspace conversion.

LAYERS 252
Below are descriptions and examples of the different procedurals available

in the Layers palette.
Examples of each of the procedurals are applied to the following image, for
illustrative purposes:

Procedural Layers - Basic
Color Applies the selected Changing the Blend Procedural color set to burgundy: Color procedural (Screen blend):
color to the rest of Mode and Amount
the paint on the allows you to adjust
model. how the color is
applied, and how
strongly, to the model.
Color allows you to
select the color from
the HSV swatch pal-
ette.
Constant Generates a constant The Constant slider Constant procedural (Multiply blend):
number across RGB ranges from 0 to
or RGBA compo- 10,000, and defaults
nents that may be to 1.000 when reset.
relied upon for math- Components may be
ematical operations. set to either RGB or
RGBA.
Vector Applies RGBA values The X, Y, Z, and W Vector procedural with XYZW Vector procedural (Multiply
to a vector (XYZW) fields correspond to R, values adjusted: blend):
map to produce a G, B, and A respec-
specific diffuse color tively to give a specific
that represents a vector in a diffuse
vector field. image.

LAYERS 253

Procedural Layers - Environment
Cube Map Simulates a shiny • Cubic Image - the Cube Map procedural (Luminance Cube Map procedural (Luminance
reflective surface location of the cube blend): blend):
using a cubic envi- map.
ronment map as the • Falloff Start - con-
input. This layer can- trols where the
not be cached or cubic image starts.
baked, and is for dis-
play purposes only. • Falloff End - con-
trols where the
cubic image ends.
Sphere Map Simulates a shiny • Sphere Map — the Sphere Map procedural Sphere Map procedural
reflective surface location of the envi- (Luminance blend): (Luminance blend):
using a spherical ronment map.
environment map as • Falloff Start - con-
the input. This layer trols where the
cannot be cached or spherical image
baked, and is for dis- starts.
play purposes only.
• Falloff End - con-
trols where the
spherical image
ends.

LAYERS 254

Cube Map Uses a cubic image • Cubic Image - the
Projector (in a .dds file format) filepath to the cubic
as a texture to proj- image to use for
ect onto the model. projection.
This layer cannot be • Cull Backfaces -
cached or baked, and when the checkbox
is for display pur- is ticked, it ensures
poses only. that projection does
not affect areas
facing away from
the camera.
• Offset X, Y, and Z -
the offset of the
projection image on
the X, Y, and Z axes.
• Rotation X, Y, and Z
- the rotation of the
projection image on
• Edge Falloff Start
and End - modifies
how far away the
falloff starts or
ends.
• Edge Falloff Curve -
allows you to adjust
the otherwise linear
shape of the falloff
to your desired
shape.
• Distance Falloff
Start and End -
adjust the start and
end radial distance
from the camera.
From 0-100, where
100 represents
straight-on projec-
tion.
Curve - allows you
to adjust the other-
wise linear shape of
the falloff to your
desired shape.

LAYERS 255

Sphere Map Uses a spherical • Cull Backfaces -
Projector image of any file type when the checkbox
as a texture to proj- is ticked, it ensures
ect onto the model. that projection does
This layer cannot be not affect areas
cached or baked, and facing away from
is for display pur- the camera.
poses only. • Spherical Image -
the filepath to the
spherical image to
use for projection.
• Offset X, Y, and Z -
the offset of the
projection image on
• Rotation X, Y, and Z
- the rotation of the
projection image on
• Edge Falloff Start
and End - modifies
how far away the
falloff starts or
ends.
• Edge Falloff Curve -
allows you to adjust
the otherwise linear
shape of the falloff
to your desired
shape.
Start and End -
adjust the start and
end radial distance
from the camera.
From 0-100, where
100 represents
straight-on projec-
tion.
Curve - allows you
to adjust the other-
wise linear shape of
the falloff to your
desired shape.

LAYERS 256

Triplanar Uses three different • World Scale - over-
Projection images to project all scale control for
onto the surface of the image projec-
your model from tion.
three different direc- • Image - the images
tions (Top, Front, you want to project
and Right). onto each of the
Each of the parame- three directions.
ters listed (other • Repeat - frequency
than World Scale) are that the image is
for each of these repeated across
three directions. your model.
• Angle - the rotation
angle of the image
on your model.
• U Offset - how
much the image on
the model is offset
by on the U axis.
• V Offset - how
much the image on
the model is offset
by on the V axis.
• U Scale - how much
the image on the
model is stretched
or contracted on the
U axis.
• V Scale - how much
the image on the
model is stretched
or contracted on the
V axis.
• Falloff Start - con-
trols where the
image projection
starts on the model.
• Falloff End - con-
trols where the
image projection
ends on the model.
• Falloff - controls
the falloff of the
image projection
between the start
and end values

LAYERS 257

Procedural Layers - Geometry
Ambient Applies an ambient None. Ambient Occlusion procedural:
Occlusion occlusion shading to
the surface.
This overrides Mari's
default ambient
occlusion shader,
allowing you to
change the details.
For example, you can
edit the channel to
use as an ambient
occlusion map.
If you want to save
the default ambient
occlusion data for
the project as a
channel, you can
bake the ambient
occlusion from the
default shader. You
can then edit this
baked channel as you
want.
Note: This overrides
the ambient occlu-
sion shading Mari
applies by default.
This means that if
you just bake out the
ambient occlusion
and then use this as
the input to this
shader, you see no
difference (you're
applying the ambi-
ent occlusion that
Mari would apply
anyway). Try chang-
ing the ambient
occlusion value
under the Lighting
component of the
shader, or edit the
ambient occlusion
mask channel.

LAYERS 258

Position Displays the graphic None. Position procedural (Normal Position procedural (Normal
representation of the blend): blend):
surface positions
(XYZ as RGB).
Surface Converts the pres- None. Surface Normal procedural Surface Normal procedural
Normal ent surface normals (Normal blend): (Normal blend):
to a Diffuse RGB
color. This is useful
for baking out nor-
mal maps from the
bump channel.
UDIM Mask Masks out all other The UDIM selector UDIM Mask procedural:
UDIMs on a model, allows you to select
except for the which UDIM you can
selected UIDIM. paint on and masks
out all others.
UV Converts the UV to a None. UV procedural: UV procedural in UV view:

color, based on the
UDIM values. Useful
for debugging UV
layouts.

LAYERS 259

Procedural Layers - Fractal
Cloud Blends seamless 3D You can control the Cloud procedural: Cloud procedural over layer:
noise in a cloud pat- look of the cloud pat-
tern with the shaded tern by adjusting the
surface, using the Size and Roughness of
specified Blend the pattern, as well as
Mode. the pattern offset for
Note: If you are the X, Y, and Z values.
accustomed to using Color A and Color B
Fractal Noise from allows you to set the
previous versions of cloud pattern colors
Mari, you can still used on the model.
affect fractal proper-
ties such as Contrast
by adding a Contrast
adjustment to the
Cloud procedural.
Turbulence Blends seamless 3D You can control the Turbulence procedural: Turbulence procedural over layer:
noise in a turbulence look of the turbulence
pattern with the pattern by adjusting
shaded surface, the Size and Rough-
using the specified ness. Color A and
Blend Mode. Color B allows you to
set the turbulence
pattern colors used on
the model.
Procedural Layers - Misc
Flow Displays an image • Animated - Enables In the example below, the Flow procedural would animate the molten
onto the model’s or disables the ani- liquid so that it appeared to moving across the surface of the tex-
surface and uses mation. ture:
vector data to ani- • Time Offset - con-
mate it flowing. trols the flow over
Note: if painting in time.
the Clear blending • Speed - controls the
mode, the Speed sensitivity of Time
attribute is removed Offset, which
in that area. The vec- affects the speed of
tor inspector direc- flow.
tional markers are
still shown on the • Tile Image - the
model. This concerns image used on the
how the Flow proce- model for flow.
dural handles the • Repeat - sets the
alpha component. repetition value of
the tiled image.

LAYERS 260

Oil Blends seamless 3D You can control the Oil procedural: Oil procedural over layer:
noise in an oil pat- look of the oil pattern
tern with the shaded by adjusting the Size
surface, using the and the Organicness
specified Blend or Roughness quali-
Mode. ties. Color A and Color
B allows you to set the
oil pattern colors used
on the model.
Procedural Layers - Noise
Cellular Blends seamless 3D You can control the Cellular procedural: Cellular procedural over layer:
noise in a cellular look of the cellular
shaded surface, the Size and Type of
using the specified cells to use. Addition-
Blend Mode. ally, you can specify
the Distance method
used to achieve a spe-
cific look. Color A and
Color B allows you to
set the cellular pattern
colors used on the
model.
Perlin Blends seamless 3D You can control the Perlin procedural: Perlin procedural over layer:
noise in a perlin pat- look of the perlin pat-
tern with the shaded tern by adjusting the
surface, using the Size and color. Color A
specified Blend and Color B allows you
Mode. to set the perlin pat-
tern colors used on
the model.
Squiggle Blends seamless 3D You can control the Squiggle procedural: Squiggle procedural over layer:
noise in a squiggle look of the squiggle
shaded surface, the Size and color.
using the specified Color A and Color B
Blend Mode. allows you to set the
squiggle pattern col-
ors used on the model.

LAYERS 261

Procedural Layers - Pattern
Cube Blends a seamless You can control the Cube procedural: Cube procedural over layer:
cubic pattern with look of the cubes by
the shaded surface, adjusting the Repeat
using the specified pattern and Gap spac-
Blend Mode. ing. Falloff and Round-
ness give you even
more aspects to fine-
tune the pattern.
Color A and Color B
allows you to set the
cube pattern colors
used on the model.
Object Space A procedural version Adjust the gradient Object Space Linear Gradient Object Space Linear Gradient pro-
Linear Gradi- of the Gradient tool. Start and End points procedural: cedural over layer:
ent This behaves the to determine where
same as Gradient Color A and Color B
without painting the are on the object.
gradient onto the Use the Map to fine-
model. tune the gradient as a
color curve.
Rotation X, Y, and Z
points adjust the gra-
dient along the X, Y,
or Z axes.
Sphere Blends a seamless You can control the Sphere procedural: Sphere procedural over layer:
spherical pattern look of the spheres by
with the shaded sur- adjusting the Size and
face, using the speci- Falloff of the pattern.
fied Blend Mode. Color A and Color B
allows you to set the
sphere pattern colors
used on the model.

LAYERS 262

Tiled Lets you select an • Tile Image — the Tiled image: Tiled Image over layer:
image to tile across location of the
the surface of your image you want to
model. tile across the sur-
This layer is disabled face of your model.
for Ptex channels. • Rotation Angle
(Degrees) — the
angle (in degrees)
that the image is
rotated by.
• U Offset — how
much the image is
offset by on the U
axis.
• V Offset — how
much the image is
offset by on the V
axis.
• U Repeat — the fre-
quency at which the
image is repeated
on the U axis.
• V Repeat — the fre-
quency at which the
image is repeated
on the V axis.
• Mirror U — check to
mirror the image on
the U axis.
• Mirror V — check to
mirror the image on
the V axis.
UV Grid Blends a seamless You can control the UV Grid procedural: UV Grid procedural over layer:
UV grid pattern with look of the UV grid by
the shaded surface, adjusting the Color
using the specified and Thickness of the
Blend Mode. pattern, as well as the
level of Repeat.

LAYERS 263

UV Linear A procedural version Adjust the gradient UV Linear Gradient in the UV tab UV Linear Gradient in the UV tab
Gradient of the Gradient tool Start and End points (without UV image rendering): (with UV image rendering):
for use in UV space. to determine where
Behaves the same as Color A and Color B
Gradient without are on the object.
painting the gradi- Use the Map to fine-
ent onto the model. tune the gradient as a
color curve.
Adjust the Angle of
the gradient and how
much you want the
gradient to be allowed
to Repeat. Repeating
the gradient does so
by tiling.
Procedural Layers - Plant
Wood Blends seamless 3D You can control the Wood procedural: Wood procedural over layer:
noise in a wood grain look of the wood pat-
pattern with the tern by adjusting the
shaded surface, Size of the pattern
using the specified and of the bands, as
Blend Mode. well as the Roughness
of the pattern. The
offset can be adjusted
in X, Y, and Z space.
Additionally, Color A
and Color B allows you
to set the wood pat-
tern colors used on
the model.

22 CHANNELS
Mari supports multiple channels. New projects start with a single channel.
You can add as many additional channels as you need. A single project can
hold all the channel data required for the model — diffuse, dirt, specular,
luminescence, displacement, and so on.
Each object in a Mari project has its own set of channels. See Multiple
Objects for details on working with multiple objects.
Different Ways When you create a channel, you set the color depth and patch size. You can
change both of these after creation. If channels are resized after creation,
to Create Mari automatically resizes all the layers in the channel’s layer stack.
Channels Channels are either color or scalar. Channels can be created:
• using the settings for existing or recently-created channels as a
template.
• in bulk, using Mari's inbuilt presets, optionally importing textures into
the channel at the same time.
• from a preset size, color depth, and type.
• entirely custom and ad hoc.
• by copying a layer to a new channel (see Layers on page 222 for details).
• by sharing a layer as a new channel (see Layers on page 222 for details).
Presets and Mari includes channel presets. These are sets of the “standard” channels
required to paint various types of assets — for example, the channels
Templates required for a vehicle or a digital double. You can use these presets to
create a group of channels at once. If you already have some existing
textures for the new channels, you can automatically load these into the
new channels as they are created.
TIP: You can customize the channel presets functions by writing your own
channel preset and channel template files, to create custom presets and
templates. For more information, refer to Create Multiple Channels from
Presets on page 270 and the chapter on Extending Mari on page 350.
CHANNELS 265
Flatten a Channel’s Layer Stack
Flatten a Channels with large layer stacks or complex groups of layers, adjustments
and procedurals can be flattened into a single base layer to save space and
Channel’s Layer simplify channel organization. Flattening layers does not affect the final
Stack output, as the texture from the accumulated layers is not changed, only
combined into a single layer.
If you are considering flattening the layer stack for a channel so that you
can save space when exporting the channel, please bear in mind that it is
possible to flatten channels on export. Flattening a channel on export does
not affect the layer stack in your project, but combines the layers into a
single base layer in the exported file.
HDR Channels The dynamic range of luminance in the real world is much greater than the
range that is usually displayed on a screen. Low dynamic range (8-bit) color
values can represent RGB levels only within the range of 0 (black) to 1
(white). In Mari, using 16-bit or 32-bit color values, you can clone from, or
paint through, images outside of the 0 to 1 range.
For details on creating, and working with, channels that support HDR
images, see Create and Delete Individual Channels.
Snapshots Mari lets you create incremental copies of your textures as you paint. These
copies, or snapshots, save the current state of either a single channel, or all
channels in a project. Snapshots are useful for:
• Keeping multiple versions of a texture while trying out new ideas.
• Maintaining a development history between sessions, and having the
option to undo mistakes.
Once a snapshot is taken, it is added to the Snapshots palette where you

can see a list of existing snapshots and options for managing them.
Export and Exporting channels to save work to an external source, or to pass on to the
next stage of your pipeline is possible on both an individual and collective
Import channel basis. Importing channels also allows you to import textures that
have already been worked on or that come from another source. For

CHANNELS 266
Edit Paint on Your Channels
channels with large layer stacks, you can also opt to flatten layers before
export to save space and organize finished work.
NOTE: Exporting channels flattened does not flatten the layer stack in
your current project; only the layer stack in the exported file. For this
reason, you won’t need to worry about changing the work in your current
project, but can save time and space when exporting files.
In Export and Import Channels below, you can find steps on how to export
or import channels and associated layers. For more information on
exporting and importing, see the Exporting and Importing Textures chapter
in the User Guide.
Edit Paint on The paint in your channels can be edited or transformed, much the same as
with patches. Where the transform functions differ is in how they change
Your Channels the paint on the model. Patches are very specific and only transform paint
on the selected UV patch. Channels, on the other hand, can include paint
across many patches and faces in their layer stacks. In this way,
transforming a channel can affect a larger amount of paint across a greater
part of a model, depending on how extensive the paint in the selected
channel is.
Convert For more information on the conversion functionality in the Channels

palette and menu, please refer to the Project Conversion chapter.
Channels and
Shaders

CHANNELS 267
Steps for Managing Channels
Steps for To manage the channels in your Mari project, follow these steps:
Managing 1. Create and Delete Individual Channels
2. Flatten Channels
Channels
3. Create Multiple Channels from Presets
4. Set and Change Channel Properties
5. Set and Change Channel Properties
6. Take and Manage Channel Snapshots
7. Share Channels
8. Lock and Unlock Channels
9. Export and Import Channels
Create and 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Delete Individual 2. To open the Channels palette:
• right-click on the toolbar, and select Channels from the dropdown
Channels menu, or
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Channels.
The Channels palette displays, showing the channels in the current proj-
ect, a quick channel creation bar, and channel attributes in the bottom
pane.
NOTE: By default, a channel named "diffuse" is created in the Channels

palette when you start up a new project.

CHANNELS 268
Create and Delete Individual Channels
3. To add a single channel:

• right-click in the Channels palette, and select Add Channel,
• click the button, or

• from the Channels menu, select Add Channel.
The Add Channel dialog box displays.
NOTE: If you are adding channels in a project with more than one object,
instead of the Ok button, there are two buttons in the Add Channel
dialog. You can opt to either add a channel to only the selected object or
to all objects in the project, or cancel.
4. The dropdown list at the top shows the names of channels that you've
created recently. Select one from the list.
The Name, Size, Depth, and Color Space populate automatically.
TIP: If you have never created a project or channel, the dropdown is

empty. In this case, give the channel the name “Diffuse” and leave all the
other values at their defaults.
5. As needed, you can change:

• Name — the name to identify the channel (which you can change later).
• Size — the patch size for the new channel.
• Depth — the color depth (8, 16, or 32-bit).

CHANNELS 269
Create and Delete Individual Channels
• ColorSpace — color or scalar.
TIP: Scalar channels store absolute color values (for example, for painting
masks). These channels do not have a color space LUT applied when
displayed in Mari. However, this setting does not affect exporting. Mari
always exports the colors precisely as painted, regardless of whether the
channel is set to Color or Scalar.
6. If you intend on cloning from, or painting through, either 16-bit or 32-

bit images, the Depth needs to be set to either 16bit (Half) or 32bit
(Float), respectively. In addition, the color depth of the paint buffer
needs to match the depth of the channel.
Furthermore, if you do not want the range of 16-bit or 32-bit images
clamped to values between 0 and 1, you need to uncheck the Clamp
checkbox under the Paint Buffer settings in the Painting palette.
7. If you want, select the initial Color for the channel.
TIP: You can paint the channel a different flat color if you want. With the
patches and paintable layer selected, click on the Fill Foreground, Fill
Background, or Fill Transparent options in the Patches menu. Click on the
Color swatch to select a new fill color from the color picker.
8. Click Ok to add the channel to the object. If you have more than one
object in the project, you can add the channel to the current object or all
objects in the project.
Mari creates your new channel, and displays it in the Channels palette.
When first created, channels are a flat color (as selected in the Add
Channel dialog).
NOTE: If you have already created a channel with a given name and
attempt to create a new channel with the same name, Mari increments
the name to differentiate between the original and new channel. For
instance, if you already have a "diffuse" channel and create another
channel named "diffuse", Mari automatically gives it the name "diffuse1".
9. To create a copy of a channel, either:

• from the Channels menu, select Duplicate Channel, or
• press Alt+drag and drop the channel.
Mari creates your new channel as a copy of the original — including the
layers, but not all the paint in those layers.

CHANNELS 270
Flatten Channels
10. To delete a channel:

• right-click on the channel in the Channels palette, and select Remove
Channel,
• with the channel selected, click , or

• from the Channels menu, select Remove Channel.
If you have other objects in the project that have a channel with the
same name, you have the option of removing the channels from only the
selected object, or all objects in the project.
EXPERIMENT: With a sample project loaded, try this:

• Create a channel called “TEST”, with features: RGBA, bit, and color.
• Then change its color.
• Duplicate it.
• Then delete both new channels.
Flatten Channels To flatten the selected channel, right-click in the Channels palette and
select Flatten, or from the Channels menu, select Flatten.
A progress bar displays showing the time left until the channel has finished
being flattened.
Create Multiple 1. To create multiple channels from presets:

Channels from • right-click in the Channels palette, and select Channel Presets, or
• from the Channels menu, select Channel Presets.
Presets
The Channel Presets dialog opens.

CHANNELS 271
Create Multiple Channels from Presets
2. The Root Path is the base directory for your Mari project. Mari looks
here for textures to import when creating the channels. If the textures
are in a different directory, change the Root Path to point to the
appropriate directory, or use the button to display an Open dialog
to find the right directory.
3. If you want to import existing textures into the channels as you create
them, select whether to import All Patches or only the Selected Patches.
4. If you want to import existing textures, select in Resize how Mari should
deal with patch/image size mismatches (for example, when trying to
import a 2048x2048 image into a 1024x1024 patch). This can be
either:
• Patches to fit images — for example, Mari would automatically resize a
1024x1024 patch to 2048x2048 to fit the image.
• Images to fit patches — for example, Mari would automatically resize
a 2048x2048 image to 1024x1024 before importing it onto the
patch.
5. Enter in a Prefix to assign a designation to the channels. This allows you
to organize them according to categories in your list.
6. Select the channels to create and import from the list by clicking in the
boxes. You can either click to check the boxes individually, or right-click
the list and select Add Custom, Create All, Create None, Import Existing,
or Import None.
7. You can change any selected channel's Size, Type, Fill, Depth, or Files.

CHANNELS 272
Set and Change Channel Properties
8. If you want to import textures listed for the channel, check that Mari
has found them (as indicated by a green bar or a number listing the
number of textures found for the model). If Mari hasn't found them (as
indicated by a red bar ), you can click to open an Open dialog
box and find the texture files.
9. Once you are happy with the channels and textures selected, click OK.
Mari creates the channels, and imports any selected textures.
TIP: Depending on the number of channels and the size of the textures,
the import could take a long time. Consider taking a little break!
Set and Change 1. To change the color depth of an existing channel, either:
Channel • right-click in the Channels palette, and select Convert Channel from
the dropdown menu,
Properties
• with the channel selected, click , or
• from the Channels menu, select Convert Channel.
The Convert Channel dialog box displays.
2. Select the new Type (color depth) and click OK.
Take and Manage You can take snapshots of the current channel or all channels in a project.
Channel
Snapshots
Snapshot Current 1. To take a snapshot of the current channel, either:

Channel • select Channels > Snapshots > Snapshot Current Channel, or

CHANNELS 273
Use the Snapshots Palette
• from the Snapshots palette, with Channels set to Current, click
.
The Snapshot Channel dialog box displays.
2. Enter a name for the snapshot and click OK.
Snapshot all 1. To take a snapshot of all channels in the project, either:

Channels • select Channels > Snapshots > Snapshot All Channels, or
• from the Snapshots palette, with Channels set to All, click
.
The Snapshot All Channels dialog box displays.
2. Enter a name for the snapshot and click OK.
NOTE: Before a snapshot is taken you need to bake or clear the paint
buffer. If you have not done this already, a dialog displays asking you to
do so.
Use the Once taken, snapshots are added to the Snapshots palette. To open the
Snapshots palette:
Snapshots • right-click on the toolbar, and select Snapshots from the menu,
Palette • from the View menu, select Palettes > Snapshots, or
• from the Channels menus, select Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.

CHANNELS 274
Use the Snapshots Palette
The Snapshots palette displays, showing the existing snapshots for the
current channel and for the entire project. Information about the snapshot,
such as when it was taken and by which user, along with a thumbnail
preview, is also displayed.
There are a number of options available for managing existing snapshots.

From the Snapshots palette you can create New snapshots, Extract, Revert,
or Delete snapshots.
To Extract a Snapshot into a New Channel:

1. With the Current button active, select a snapshot and click
.
The Extract Snapshot dialog displays.
2. Enter a name for the new channel and click OK.
Mari creates a new channel with the given name.

CHANNELS 275
Share Channels
To Load an Existing Snapshot:

Select the snapshot and click .
Mari loads the selected snapshot into the current channel.
To Delete a Snapshot:
1. Select a snapshot and click .
The Delete Snapshot dialog displays, asking you to confirm.
2. Click OK.
The snapshot disappears from the Snapshots palette.
Autosnapshots When saving a project, Mari automatically takes a snapshot of all available
channels and adds it to the Snapshots palette. This feature is disabled by
default but can be managed in the Mari Preferences dialog.
To Manage Autosnapshots:
1. Click Edit > Preferences.
The Mari Preferences dialog displays.
2. From the dropdown menu under Data > Channels > Autosnapshot select
whether autosnapshots are:
• Disabled,
• Enabled with Limit, or
• Enabled - Unlimited.
3. When Enabled with Limit is selected, Mari limits the number of
autosnapshots that are stored in the Snapshots palette to the number
specified by the Autosnapshot Limit. If the number of autosnapshots
stored exceeds this limit, the oldest autosnapshot is removed from the
palette.
NOTE: The Autosnapshot Limit does not affect the number of regular
channel snapshots that can be stored in the Snapshots palette.
Share Channels Unlike the layer sharing functionality in the Layers menu and palette,
channel sharing doesn’t have a menu option in either the context menu or
Channels menu. Sharing channels is different from sharing layers, in that the
functionality is much more limited. Channels can be, however, be shared into

CHANNELS 276
Lock and Unlock Channels
the layer stack of other layers. Follow the steps below to share channels
into layers.
To share a channel into the layer stack of another channel in the Channels
palette:
1. Select the channel (channel A), press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift and drag the chan-
nel you want to share over another channel in the Channels palette
(channel B).
Channel B becomes highlighted, to show that it is now the current
selected channel.
2. Don’t drop channel A on top of channel B. Once channel B becomes
highlighted, drag channel A into the layer stack in the Layers palette.
Channel A is now shared and appears in channel B’s layer stack as a
layer of the same name. Both the shared channel and layer display linked
icons in the palette.
TIP: It is much easier to share channels into a layer stack if both the
Channels and Layers palettes are open, not only simultaneously, but side
by side or near each other in your palette configuration.
Lock and Unlock 1. To lock the current channel:

Channels • with the channel selected, from the Channels menu, select Lock Chan-
nel,
• from the Channels palette, right-click on the channel and select Lock
Channel from the dropdown menu, or
• from the Channels palette, click on the lock icon next to the chan-
nel you want to lock.
The current channel is locked.

CHANNELS 277
Lock and Unlock Channels
The channel's listing in the Channels palette changes to show the

“closed lock” icon .
NOTE: If you attempt to paint on the canvas when a channel is locked, the
paint shows up in the paint buffer. When you attempt to bake, the paint
buffer is cleared without baking the paint down into the locked channel. If
you didn’t want the paint buffer to be cleared, simply undo the bake.
2. To lock all channels:

• from the Channels menu, select Lock All Channels, or
• from the Channels palette, right-click on the channel and select Lock
All Channels from the dropdown menu.
All channels in the Channels palette are locked.
3. To unlock the current channel:

• from the Channels menu, select Unlock Channel,
• from the Channels palette, right-click on the channel and select Unlock
Channel from the dropdown menu, or

CHANNELS 278
Export and Import Channels
• from the Channels palette, click on the lock icon next to the chan-
nel you want to unlock.
Mari unlocks the current channel and changes its listing in the Channels
palette back to the “open lock” icon.
4. To unlock all channels:
• from the Channels menu, select Unlock All Channels, or
• from the Channels menu, select Unlock All Channels.
All channels in the Channels palette are unlocked.
NOTE: Please be aware that if you have used the Lock All or Unlock All
functions from the dropdown menu on the canvas, this does not affect
the lock state of the channels. However, Lock Everything and Unlock
Entire Object applies to all objects, patches, and faces, and channels.
Export and You can export channels with all layers together in a single file, either in a
multi-layered format, such as PSD or PSB, with each layer separate in a
Import Channels non-layered format, such as TIF, or with the layers all flattened together.
You can also export the current channel, all channels, or the channels for all
objects in your project.
Importing channels is done by importing the textures into the layer stack or
into a new channel.
Export Channels To export the currently selected channel:

1. From the Channels menu, select Export > Export Current Channel, or
right-click the channel in the Channels palette and select Export >
Export Current Channel from the dropdown menu.
Mari exports your textures for the selected channel.
To export all the channels in the Channels palette:

1. From the Channels menu, select Export > Export All Channels, or right-
click in the Channels palette and select Export > Export All Channels

CHANNELS 279
Mari exports your textures for all channels in the Channels palette.
To export all the channels from all the objects of your project:
1. From the Channels menu, select Export > Export Everything, or right-
click in the Channels palette and select Export > Export Everything from
the dropdown menu.
Mari exports your textures for all objects.
Export Flattened To export the currently selected channel with flattened layers:
Channels 1. From the Channels menu, select Export Flattened > Export Current
Channel Flattened, or right-click the channel in the Channels palette and
select Export Flattened > Export Current Channel Flattened from the
dropdown menu.
Mari exports your flattened textures for the selected channel.
To export all the channels in the Channels palette with flattened layers:
1. From the Channels menu, select Export Flattened > Export All Channels
Flattened, or right-click in the Channels palette and select Export Flat-
tened > Export All Channels Flattened from the dropdown menu.
Mari exports your flattened textures for all channels in the Channels
palette.
To export all the channels, from all the objects in your project, with
flattened layers:
1. From the Channels menu, select Export Flattened > Export Everything
Flattened, or right-click in the Channels palette and select Export Flat-
tened > Export Everything Flattened from the dropdown menu.

CHANNELS 280
Mari exports your flattened textures for all objects.
Import Channels To import textures into the layer stack of the currently selected channel:
1. From the Channels menu, select Import > Import into Layer Stack, or
right-click channel in the Channels palette and select Import > Import
into Layer Stack from the dropdown menu.
Mari imports the textures into the layer stack of your currently selected
channel.
To import textures into a new channel:

1. From the Channels menu, select Import > Import into New Channel, or
right-click in the Channels palette and select Import > Import into New
Channel from the dropdown menu.
The Add Channel dialog displays.
2. Set the options for your new channel and assign it a name. Click OK.
Mari imports the textures as a new channel.

23 SHADERS
Shaders control how Mari displays the model under certain, user-specified
lighting conditions. Mari uses shaders to specify how different channels
behave in the lighting module and how the paint on the model reacts to
light. Mari always uses a shader to generate the surface displayed on
screen.
The shaders are also highly dependent on the channels and layers in a
project, and you can view current paint layers, targets, and channels
specifically in the Shaders palette.
For more information on how shaders, channels, and layers integrate with
one another, please refer to the Layers Overview in this guide.
There is no default shader for new projects but adding a new shader is
quick and simple, and the default channel can be plugged into the shader
immediately to set up your project. Once you create channels and assign
them to the fields in the shader components, you can build up complex
textures on your model.
Color channel, plus... displacement channel, specular channel,

plus... equals...
SHADERS 282
...this. Here the shader is pulling in all three channels to make a surface that
gives a preview of what the final render may look like.
This lets you, for example, build a shader so you can paint onto the
displacement or specular channels while getting a real-time view of how
your changes affect the final render.
TIP: Shaders only control how Mari displays the model's surface. They do
not affect the contents of the channels in your project.
Shaders include:
• basic lighting details, including ambient, diffuse, and specular light
intensities.
• a method for quickly viewing paint in your current channel, layer, layer
stack, or on your current paint target.
Mari generates the shaded surface by going through the components in the
current shader. Each component takes an input from a channel and is
adjusted according to relevant component sliders. These components are
then added to the current surface. The final shaded surface as you see it on
screen is the final result of these components.

SHADERS 283
Shaders and Lights
For example, you could set up a shader with the following:

1. Create the initial shaded surface from the diffuse channel and set this in
your shader’s Diffuse Color component.
2. Display specular or displacement previews using designated channels as
the inputs, and adjust the sliders to give the shaded surface the desired
look.
3. Adjust ambient light or apply environment images to further build up the
preview of your final rendered image.
As with channels, you set up shaders individually for Multiple Objects.
Shaders and In Mari, shaders and lights are related - they both control how your project
appears on screen, but neither affects the actual data in the channels.
Lights • Shaders do include some basic lighting information, but mostly they
specify what to show on the surface of the model. For example, shaders
may include specular information, which describes how the surface
interacts with the lights in your project.
• Lights provide control on how your project is lit on the canvas. You can
set up four individual lights, each with its own color, intensity, and
direction, by adjusting the settings in the Lights palette.
Default Shaders In any project, Mari has four default shaders that you start with before
adding any custom shaders. These default shaders are:
• Current Channel - displays the paint in your selected channel.
• Current Layer and Below - displays the paint in your selected sub-stack
(such as a mask or adjustment stack) up to the selected layer. If you
don’t have a sub-stack selected, it shows the parent stack up to the
selected layer.
• Current Layer - displays the paintable paint and masks in your selected
layer.
• Current Paint Target - displays the paint in your selected layer, including
any mask or mask stack, adjustment, filter or groups associated with the
layer.
These shaders are also found on the Default Shaders toolbar and allow you
to switch between each shader with a single click. If you want to see how
your paint looks for a single layer, then compare it when added to the rest
of the layer stack, switching between the Current Layer and Current Layer
and Below views can assist you.

SHADERS 284
Diffuse and Specular Settings
Diffuse and Shaders are comprised of two categories: Diffuse and Specular. With the
exception of Flat and Standard Lighting, all shaders consist of components
Specular from both these categories. When creating a custom shader, the Diffuse
Settings options are:
• Lambertian, and
• Minnaert.
When creating a custom shader, the Specular options are:

• Phong,
• Cook Torrance,
• Beckman, and
• Blinn.
These options determine the type of diffuse and specular lighting used for
the shader, as well as which set of shader inputs are available to you.
NOTE: By default, the Phong, Cook Torrance, Beckman, and Blinn shaders,
listed in the Add New Shader dropdown menu, use the Lambertian diffuse
option. To add a shader with the Minnaert diffuse option, select Choose
Diffuse and Specular from the dropdown menu.
Once you have set up the shader, you can still opt to change the lighting on
the model by changing the lights in the Lighting toolbar, in the Lights
palette, or in the Shading menu.
Ambient Ambient occlusion can be set as a shader component input for all of the
custom-created shaders. Using a component input for the ambient
Occlusion occlusion allows you to create your own occlusion map in a separate
channel and plugging this channel into the shader input.
If you don’t want to create a channel specifically for ambient occlusion, you
can opt to calculate the ambient occlusion for each individual object in your
project. For more information, please refer to Ambient Occlusion on
page 336 and Calculating Ambient Occlusion on page 340.

SHADERS 285
Shader Limits
Shader Limits Most shaders do not require texture slots, but if you exceed the amount of
texture slots available you may encounter a rendering error. If this occurs,
there are a number of causes that may have contributed to the error. To
free up texture slots, try:
• turning off features that require extra texture units, such as painting
masks in the Projection palette,
• turning off any filter previews that may be active,
• flattening or caching layers in long or complex layer stacks,
• changing the inputs on the current shader to use fewer texture slots.
NOTE: Even if there are remaining texture slots available, active features
such as depth projection, paint masks, and shadows may not respect the
texture slot limit if more expensive shaders components are in use. You
can turn off these features to free up more texture slots. See About
Masking on page 70 and Object Shadows on page 336 for more
information.
Shading and Using too many custom shaders can make it hard to remember which
channels are being used in which shader inputs. Mari has a few default
Channels shaders that show the contents of the current channel, layer, or paint
target, you can always switch back to these to check your work in isolation.
TIP: A useful way to keep track of which shader you're editing is to add it
to the Heads-Up Display. From the Edit menu, select HUD Manager.
Under Project, put a check in the box next to Current Shader. Mari now
shows the name of the shader you are currently painting as part of the
background information on the canvas. For more information, see the
Configuring the User Interface chapter.
Shaders on If you want to copy a shader you’ve created for one object in your project to
use on another object, you can use the keyboard shortcuts or the options in
Multiple the context menu to cut, copy, and paste shaders between objects. Shaders
Channels are exclusive to each object, as are channels and layers. The only way to
duplicate a shader for use on another object, is to cut or copy and paste it
into the Shaders palette for each object in your project.

SHADERS 286
Steps for Using Shaders
Steps for Using To manage the shaders in your Mari project, follow these steps:
Shaders 1. Open the Shaders Palette
2. Create a Custom Shader
3. Set Shader Details
4. Remove a Shader
Open the 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Shaders Palette 2. Open the Shaders palette:
• right-click on the toolbar, and select Shaders from the dropdown
menu, or
• from the View menu, select Palettes > Shaders.
The Shaders palette displays, showing the default shaders and any
shaders you’ve already set up for your current project.
3. The default shaders in the list are:

• Current Channel,
• Current Layer and Below,
• Current Layer, and
• Current Paint Target.
When you select a shader, the bottom of the palette shows the details,
as shown in the example image below.

SHADERS 287
Create a Custom Shader
4. The shader components that are shown in the bottom pane of the
palette differ depending on what shader is selected.
Create a Custom 1. To add a new shader, either:

Shader • right-click on an empty space in the Shaders palette,
• select Add New Shader from the Shading menu, or
• click the icon in the Shaders palette.

2. Select from the shaders listed in the dropdown menu, or select Choose
Diffuse and Specular to manually set the diffuse and specular options
for your shader.
The new shader appears in the list.
TIP: You can also duplicate an existing shader by selecting Duplicate

Shader from the Shading menu or the right-click menu in the Shaders
palette. The default shaders cannot be duplicated.

SHADERS 288
Create a Custom Shader
3. To duplicate or copy a shader, either:

• right-click on the shader and select Duplicate Shader from the drop-
down menu,
• select Duplicate Shader from the Shading menu,
• click the icon in the Shaders palette, or

• select the shader and use the Ctrl/Cmd+C shortcut to copy and Ctrl/
Cmd+V shortcut to paste.
A copy of the shader appears with the same name as the original but
also a number to differentiate between original and copy.
4. You can give the shader a new name by double-clicking it in the list and
typing the new name.
TIP: You can set a keyboard shortcut for the shader by right-clicking it
and selecting Assign Shortcut from the dropdown menu. See the chapter
on Using Shortcuts on page 25 for details.
TIP: You can right-click any of the shaders, or within the shader dialog, to
access the dropdown menu for more shader options. Right-clicking an
existing shader also selects it.

SHADERS 289
Set Shader Details
Set Shader 1. Select the shader you want to customize from the list at the top of the
Shaders palette.
Details The bottom of the palette displays that shader's details.
2. You can build up your shader by assigning channels to the various

shader component inputs in the bottom pane of the palette.
To assign a channel to an input, click on the dropdown menu and select
a channel from the list.
3. If you haven’t created a channel for a designated input yet, you can
create channels from the Shaders palette.
To create a new channel, click the icon next to the input for which
you want to use the channel.

SHADERS 290
Set Shader Details
The Add Channel dialog box displays.
4. Enter a Name for the channel (recent names are available in the
dropdown list). Select the size, depth, color space, and file space
settings for your channel and click OK.
Mari adds the channel to your shader and automatically makes it the
active channel for the designated input.
TIP: To learn more about each of the settings in the Add Channel dialog,
refer to the Add Channel Dialog Box chapter in the Mari Reference Guide.
5. Once you’ve set up the inputs of each of the shader components you
want to use, you can fine-tune these settings using the sliders in the
bottom pane of the palette.
If you prefer, you can fine-tune the slider settings using the entry box
instead.

SHADERS 291
Remove a Shader
EXPERIMENT: Since the shaders don't affect the content of the channels,
you can safely play around without worrying about overwriting anything.
Try building the example below. Download the blacksmith sample project
from the Mari web site, if you haven't already. Try:
• Creating a new shader.
• Setting the Diffuse Color shader component to the Base Skin (Diffuse)
channel and adjusting the Diffuse and Specular sliders.
• Creating another, different shader and set the Diffuse Color shader
component to Base Skin (Diffuse) again.
How does changing the Diffuse and Specular sliders affect the model on
this shader type.
Remove a Shader 1. To remove a shader:

• right-click on the shader and select Remove Shader from the dropdown
menu,
• select Remove Shader from the Shading menu, or
• click the icon in the Shaders palette.
The shader is removed from the Shaders palette.
NOTE: The default shaders cannot be removed from the Shaders palette.
2. You can temporarily see your model as it appears in other shaders by

simply selecting one of the default shaders or custom-created shaders.
Selecting the shader displays the model as it appears with that shader’s
specific settings.
3. In all the custom shaders, controls for Ambient light do not correspond
to a particular channel input, but to the entire model. Ambient Occlusion
can also be selected from a channel, or created based on ambient
occlusion calculation.
For more information on these shader controls, refer to the Shaders Pal-
ette chapter in the Mari Reference Guide.

24 PTEX
Ptex (Per-face Texturing) is a texture mapping system developed by Walt

Disney Animation Studios as an alternative to traditional methods of
texture mapping. Ptex addresses various issues associated with traditional
texture mapping by eliminating the need for artists to manually create UV
maps.
With Ptex, each face of a geometry has its own unique texture. This allows
for the possibility of dynamically changing the resolution of textures on
individual groups of faces.
Ptex files contain the per-face texture and face/edge adjacency data along
with the geometry metadata, which can be useful for previewing textures
and checking whether they are valid for a given geometry.
Ptex Support in UV patches are 2D textures mapped onto regions of 3D geometry according
to UV maps created by the artist. In addition to working with traditional UV
Mari maps, Mari also supports Ptex. With Ptex, UV patches are no longer a valid
concept since there are no explicit UVs associated with the model. As a
result, UV patches have been replaced with a UV atlas of Ptex faces.
When a new Mari project loads a UV-less .obj file, or a .ptx (Ptex) file
containing geometry, every face of the geometry has a texture assigned to
it, and in turn, every texture is assigned to an unused region of a UV atlas.
The packing of these face textures occurs in order of descending size, and
because of this, adjacent faces with differing texture resolutions may not
be spatially coherent in the UV atlas. Therefore, painting in the UV view
does not make logical sense.
Currently, Ptex support in Mari includes:

• starting a new project with either a UV-less .obj, or a .ptx file
(containing geometry metadata)
• optionally assigning each surface defined in the .obj file its own Ptex
layout
• polygons of arbitrary size and shape in .obj files
• specifying uniform, or worldspace texel density texture resolutions of
faces
• painting onto Ptex geometry in 3D views
PTEX 293
Ptex Modelling Requirements in Mari
• resizing selected Ptex face textures from 1x1 (2x2 for triangles) all the
way up to 8192x8192
• creating new channels that share Ptex face texture resolutions
• exporting a channel to a .ptx file, with the option to include geometry
metadata and face/edge adjacency information
• importing .ptx files into channels that are topologically equivalent
• preserving paint in multiple Ptex geometries, when creating new
geometry versions from .obj files, provided they are topologically
equivalent
• Python bindings for Ptex project creation, per face operations, and
import/export functionality. Refer to the Python HTML documentation
within Python > API for further information
• allowing face texture resizing and data format conversion on import.
Limitations of Mari’s Mari’s implementation of Ptex face texture storage is targeted at the
GPU Previews with flexibility of face resizing and the rendering preview performance of the
GPU. Unlike UV maps, the locality of faces in 3D space is not necessarily
Ptex
maintained in the Ptex texture storage. As a result of this implementation,
when GPU operations require sampling across faces and adjacent faces
reside in texture memory, preview artifacts may be observed.
For example, shaders that use a relatively large sample kernel may
encounter some preview rendering artifacts when unexpected face textures
are sampled.
Artifacts may also be observed when navigating a scene due to the blending
of face textures in generated mip-mapped textures that are used to
improve GPU performance. This may be more apparent when lots of small
face textures are used.
NOTE: These artifacts only affect GPU accelerated previews, and do not
appear in exported texture data files.
Ptex Modelling Mari supports both quad and triangular face textures, which are exposed by
the Ptex file format. All meshes use quad face textures, including mixed
Requirements in meshes; while wholly triangular meshes use triangular face textures. Quad
Mari textures are natively supported in graphics hardware. However, triangular
textures are not supported in the current generation of graphics hardware.

PTEX 294
Minimum Face Size
Mari’s canvas preview of triangular textures uses the system described for
GL displays at http://ptex.us/tritex.html.
Though Mari supports both types of face textures, Ptex dictates that the
dimensions of a triangular face must be equal. Due to this restriction to
triangular textures, if they are applied to polygons with an aspect ratio
significantly different to one, the texture appears blurred or smeared. When
triangular textures are stored in packed format, GPU renderers can only
display half of the texels, resulting in Mari filling in the other half of the
texture with data that it is not representable in the display.
NOTE: Some renderers, such as RenderMan, read all texels and, thus, can
render triangular texels.
TIP: For more information regarding packed format and triangular

textures, please refer to http://ptex.us/tritex.html.
For low-frequency images, the even and odd texels are very similar in color,
and the Ptex packing of triangular textures suggests that a simple mirror of
texels can be used to fill the other half of the texture when exporting to
Ptex. Mari implements this mirroring. For high-frequency images, however,
this mirroring is incorrect and visual artifacts appear in software renderers
using the exported Ptex file.
With the restrictions of triangular textures, we highly recommend not

modelling with only triangular faces. Quad face textures do not have the
same triangular face equality restrictions and are a preferable option for
use in Mari.
Minimum Face Within Preferences, it is possible to set the Minimum Size for face textures
via Ptex > Face Textures | Minimum Size. The default quadrangular texture
Size is 1 and the default triangular texture is 2. This represents the absolute
minimum face texture size that Mari can restrict sizing operations to.
Paint Geometry versions from .obj files can be added to a Ptex project, provided
all the versions are topologically equivalent, that is, they have the same
Preservation number of faces with the same shape, so that the model does not change.
This preserves the paint that has already been applied to the existing
version.

PTEX 295
Steps for Using Ptex
Steps for Using To use Ptex in Mari, follow these steps:

Ptex 1. Create a New Project
2. Set the Ptex face Texture Options
3. Manage Ptex Faces
4. Export a Ptex Channel or Layer
5. Import a Ptex Channel or Layer
6. Paint Preservation with Multiple Ptex Geometries
Create a New Multiple files can be used to create a project in the Ptex workflow. If this is
the case, it is recorded in the dialog’s history as a set of files instead of
Project only one file.
To create a new project, using either one file or a set of files, follow the
steps below:
1. Start Mari and select File > New.
The New Project dialog box displays.
2. Enter a name for your project and the location of the geometry you want
to work on.
3. You have the option to load either .ptx files or .obj files. If you choose
to load an .obj file, the Mesh Options panel displays with options for
setting the Mapping Scheme for the project, using Selection Sets, and
working with Multiple Geometries Per Object.
• Mapping Scheme: If there is a UV map available, and you would like to
use it, select UV if available, Ptex otherwise.If you prefer to use Ptex,
select Force Ptex. This option loads the selected geometry and
replaces the existing UV map with a Ptex map.
• Selection Sets: If you want to select a specific object group in the
geometry while you work, this option allows you to set up selection
sets using Create From Face Groups during project creation.
• Multiple Geometries Per Object: If your .obj consists of multiple geom-
etries, you have the option to Merge Geometries Into One, which is the
default behavior, or Create Separate Geometries (Ptex Only).

PTEX 296
Set the Ptex face Texture Options
If you select Merge Geometries Into One, Mari combines the individual
geometries into a single geometry, while selecting Create Separate
Geometries (Ptex Only) creates individual geometries.
New Project dialog: .obj mesh options.
New Project dialog: .ptx mesh options.
4. If you choose to load a .ptx file, the Mesh Options only provide the
option for selecting Separate Object or Separate geometry in one Object
for the Process each geometry file field.
If you are importing more than one Ptex file, this option allows you to
specify whether you prefer for each separate file to constitute a sepa-
rate object or separate geometries within a single object.
NOTE: Even if you select Create Separate Geometries (Ptex Only), Mari
only displays a single object on the canvas. However, when you export a
channel you have the option to export individual .ptx files for each
geometry.
For Ptex projects, the channel setup and texture import section of the
New Project dialog can be ignored. A single channel named Ptex is
created by default, you can create additional channels once the project
has loaded.
5. Click OK.
Set the Ptex face If you use an .obj file to create a new project, and the file does not have a
UV map assigned (or you selected Force Ptex as the Mapping Scheme), the
Texture Options Ptex Import or Creation dialog box displays once the project is created.

PTEX 297
Set the Ptex face Texture Options
You can also manage Ptex face textures by accessing the Preferences menu.
Import Ptex Options

If you have a topologically matching .ptx file for the .obj, you can import it
using the Import Ptex options field. However, if you don’t have matching
texture sizes, it can be resized upon import from the Ptex Texture Import
dialog.
Create Ptex Options

If you don’t have a matching Ptex file for the .obj:
1. Under Create Ptex options, you can select constant colored textures for
each face, whose resolutions are based on either:
• Uniform Face Size - for face sizes that are equal and determined by the
resolution set in the Per face texture size dropdown menu, or
• Worldspace Density - for a given number of texels per unit of world
space, where small faces have smaller textures and large faces have
larger textures. You can set the number of texels in the Worldspace
Texels field.
NOTE: Please note that texture quality may be affected when painting
across adjacent faces if the faces are spatially different in size.

PTEX 298
Manage Ptex Faces
2. Set the bit depth of the Ptex image data by clicking on the Format
dropdown menu. You can set this to Byte, Half or Float.
3. Click OK.
Manage Ptex Once you have created the project and set the face texture options, a
toolbar displays with a number of options for managing Ptex faces within
Faces your project.
NOTE: When managing Ptex faces, please be aware that all image
channels in your project share the same face texture resolutions.
With the Ptex toolbar you can:

• - double the selected face resolution
• - halve the selected face resolution
• - set the world space face resolution for the selected face
• - set the face resolution for the selected face
• - fill the selected faces with the foreground color
• - fill the selected faces with the background color.
NOTE: When adjusting the resolution of Ptex models, quad faces are
limited to resolutions between 1x1 and 8kx8k, while triangular faces are
limited to resolutions between 2x2 and 8kx8k.
You may notice a slight pause after adjusting the resolution of a selected
face. This happens while Mari regenerates the texture’s proxy on the
CPU.
TIP: These options are also available in the menu bar under Ptex.

PTEX 299
Export a Ptex Channel or Layer
Export a Ptex 1. To export a .ptx channel, select:

Channel or Layer • Channels > Export > Export Current Channel, or
• right-click on a channel and select Export > Export Current Channel.
NOTE: If you want to export more than the current channel, select Export
> Export All Channels or Export > Export Everything from the Channels
menu or right-click menu.
Alternatively, you can also export channels in a flattened format to save
space when exporting. To export flattened channels, navigate to Export
Flattened in the Channels menu or right-click to find the same three
options for flattened channels.
2. To export a .ptx layer, select layers and navigate to:

• Layers > Export > Export Selected Layers, or
• right-click on a layer and select Export > Export Selected Layers.
NOTE: If you want to export more than the selected layers, select Export
> Export All Layers from the Layers menu or right-click menu.
Alternatively, you can also export layers in a flattened format to save
space when exporting. To export flattened layers, navigate to Export
Flattened in the Layers menu or right-click to find the same two options
for flattened layers.

PTEX 300
Export a Ptex Channel or Layer
3. Enter the Ptex export path in the Path field or manually browse to the
location.
4. Set the Ptex File Template for Mari to use when generating the Ptex
filename. You can edit this line manually. As you edit, you'll see the
Example Path update with an example .ptx filename. You can use any
combination of the following variables (which Mari replaces with the
appropriate values when it exports the files):
• $ENTITY - exports a single .ptx file, where the object name is part of
the filename.
• $CHANNEL - exports a single .ptx file, where the channel name is part
of the filename.
• $GEO - exports multiple .ptx files, where the individual geometry
names is part of the filename
• $LAYER - exports multiple .ptx files, where the layer name is part of
the filename.
EXPERIMENT: Experiment with the different Ptex File Template variables,

and see how the Example Path changes to show how Mari generates
exported filenames.
5. In the Ptex Options panel set whether Mari includes or excludes Face
Mipmaps.

PTEX 301
Import a Ptex Channel or Layer
6. In the Ptex Metadata panel set whether Mari includes or excludes the
following information with the file when exporting:
• Geometry
• User Attributes
• Adjacency
7. Set the Use Template For field to determine if the template above is
used for Only this layer or Everything.
8. Click Export.
Mari exports your textures to disk in .ptx format.
Import a Ptex 1. To import a .ptx file to a channel, select:

Channel or Layer • Channels > Import > Import into Layer Stack, or
• right-click on a channel and select Import > Import into Layer Stack.
NOTE: If you want to import into a new channel instead of the current
layer stack, select Import > Import into New Channel from the Channels
menu or right-click menu.
2. To import a .ptx layer, select layers to import into and navigate to:
• Layers > Import > Import into Layer, or
• right-click on a layer and select Import > Import into Layer.
NOTE: If you want to import into the layer stack as a new layer, select
Import > Import into Layer Stack from the Layers menu or right-click
menu.
NOTE: Ensure that you don’t import textures into a layer you want to
preserve current textures on, as importing into a layer updated the
previous paint.

PTEX 302
3. Enter the Ptex import path in the Path field or manually browse to the
location.
4. You can manually select the Ptex files to import or you can set the Ptex
File Template to automatically search for Ptex files that match the
object, channel or geometry variables. You can edit this line manually. As
you edit, you'll see the Example Path update with an example .ptx
filename. You can use any combination of the following variables:
• $ENTITY - imports a .ptx file, where the object name is part of the file-
name.
• $CHANNEL - imports a .ptx file, where the channel name is part of the
filename.
• $GEO - imports .ptx files, where the individual geometry names are
part of the filename.
• $LAYER - imports .ptx files, where the layer name is part of the file-
name.
5. In the Ptex Metadata field you can set whether Mari should:
• Ignore the geometry metadata, or
• Import as New Version.
6. Click Import.
Mari imports the images.
NOTE: If you are attempting to import geometry with degenerate faces

into a Ptex project, Mari removes these faces on import. A warning dialog
displays notifying you of this occurrence.
NOTE: For more information on importing or exporting channels or layers,

refer to the chapters on Channels on page 264 and Layers on page 222 .

PTEX 303
To import a texture to a channel from multiple .ptx files, where multiple

geometries are in an object, follow the steps below.
1. Select:
• Channels > Import > Import into Layer Stack,
• Channels > Import > Import into New Channel, or
• Right-click on a layer in the Layers palette and select Import > Import
into Layer.
2. Enter the .ptx file import path in the Path field or manually browse to
the location.
The same $ENTITY, $CHANNEL, and $GEO environment variables are dis-
played, as described above, and displays an Example Path below the
dropdown menu.
3. Click All.
The Ptex Texture Import: Face Texture Resize Options dialog displays.
If the face dimensions of the incoming import match, it displays the
information, but no further action is required.
If the face dimensions of the incoming import do not match, a resize
method dropdown menu is listed. The options available are:
• Resize incoming faces to existing dimensions- the imported texture
sizes are changed to match those of the existing textures.
• Resize existing faces to incoming dimensions- the existing textures
are changed to match those of the incoming import.
• Largest dimensions available per face- whichever texture is the larg-
est, whether existing or incoming import, this is the texture size used.
This is the default option when resizing is necessary.
4. Click Ok.

PTEX 304
Paint Preservation with Multiple Ptex Geometries
Mari imports the textures and loads them into the selected channel.
NOTE: The resize options are applied per face of the geometry.
The Ptex Texture Import: Face Texture Resize Options dialog is also
displayed when importing new geometry versions from .ptx files.
Paint Though .obj files can be added to Ptex projects with topologically equivalent
versions - that is to say, versions that have the same number of faces, with
Preservation the same shapes - there are caveats to the functionality:
with Multiple • If the .obj file contains multiple geometry groups within it and the proj-
Ptex Geometries ect has been created to treat these as separate geometries within a
file, the .obj file can still be used as a version with fewer groups. These
are matched and the paint preserved.
• If more than one geometry is topologically equivalent, then a match for
their .obj file group names are used to attempt to distinguish between
them.
• If an .obj file with a previously unknown group is used as a version, a
new Ptex texture space is allocated to these new geometries.
• If there are fewer geometry groups in the new version than in the
existing geometry, the extra geometries are hidden.
Any topological changes to geometries added as a version, such as a change

to the model shape or size, do not transfer existing paint. If a .ptx file is
imported as an object version over .obj geometry, any paint that has been
applied is overwritten by the incoming version. A warning message on the
Ptex Texture Import: Face Texture Resize Options dialog alerts you to the
risk of losing existing paint on topologically equivalent versions, as shown
in the example below.

PTEX 305
Paint Preservation with Multiple Ptex Geometries

25 FILTERING IMAGES AND PAINT
Mari includes a set of filters you can use to transform the paint on your
model. You can apply filters to:
• paint in the current channel,
• only the current unbaked paint (the contents of the paint buffer), or
• an image within the Image Manager.
Unlike adjustment filters, the Filters accessed from the menubar apply a
transformation to the paint or image on the paint buffer, the current paint
target, or selected patches on the paint target. Though many of the filters
available are the same or similar, those in the Filters menu do not affect the
layer stack beyond what you choose to apply the filter to. In addition, you
can preview your changes on the canvas before applying them.
There are many filters to choose from, and a complete list is provided in
Available Filters on page 309, but a brief example of the filters Mari can
apply are:
• Blurs to the painting,
• Inverted colors,
• Changes to hue, saturation, or value,
• Removal of specific color channels,
• Application of color correction, and
• Added noise.
Every filter has the option to use a mask to control what part of the
painting it affects. Depending on what you are applying the filter to, you
can mask specific channels or apply an image from the Image Manager to
create a mask.
Some filters do not require any configuration. For example, the Edge Detect
filter has no user-configurable settings. Other filters provide a wide range
of configuration options, including the ability to create, manage and load
preset filters. For example, the Color Curves filter gives you very fine
control over the contents of the RGB color components.
As well as using Mari's pre-defined filters to edit the paint on a the paint
target or in the paint buffer, you can use them as part of a custom color
profile. These filters only affect how the colors display on-screen (rather
than actually changing the painting itself). See Managing Colors in Mari for
details on setting up custom color profiles.
FILTERING IMAGES AND PAINT 307
Steps for Using Filters
To make it easier, Mari provides an interactive preview of each filter. As you

change the settings for the filter, the main canvas updates to show a
preview of how the filter looks.
TIP: Filter previews are not available for scalar channels.
Steps for Using To use filters in Mari, follow this step:

Filters 1. Select and Apply Your Filter
This tutorial also includes a reference table of Available Filters.
Select and Apply 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Your Filter 2. For best results from the filter preview, set the lighting to flat, so the
effects from the filter aren't lost in the effects of the lighting.
3. If you plan to apply a filter to the contents of a specific channel, make
sure it is selected in the Channels palette, and that you select the
Current Paint Target option.
4. If you plan to apply a filter to an image, open it from the Image Manager
by double-clicking on the image before selecting the filter from the
Filters menu.
NOTE: A preview window for the image opens when you double-click it in
the Image Manager.
5. If you plan to mask an area of the Current Paint Target using the
Marquee Select tool, draw the area you want to mask.
NOTE: Using a Marquee Selection as a mask is only possible when

applying a filter to the Current Paint Target.
6. Select the filter you want from the Filters menu (see the table of
Available Filters on page 309).
The dialog box for your selected filter displays.

Select and Apply Your Filter
Each filter has a different dialog box, with applicable Options.

7. Select Options for the filter.
If you’ve already created a preset, select it from the dropdown menu to
load it. If you want to save your current options as a preset, click to
enter a preset name. You can always delete this by selecting .
8. Select whether the filter should be applied to:
• everything on the Current Paint Target (not including any unbaked
paint in the buffer),
• only the Current Painting (that is, the unbaked paint in the buffer), or
• the Selected Images (in the Image Manager).
9. Select whether to use a Mask:
• If you’re applying the filter to the Current Paint Target, you can use
the any channel in the project as a mask.
• If you’re applying the filter to the Current Painting, you can use the
Marquee Selection tool to draw an area that you want to mask. This
area should be drawn before selecting the filter.
Alternatively, you can use an image from the Image Manager.
• If you’re applying the filter to Selected Images, you can use any image
in the Image Manager as a mask.
NOTE: If you choose to use a channel or an image from the Image

Manager as a mask, an Invert checkbox and a Mask Curve editor displays.
For more information on using these, see the next section on Available
Filters.
10. Toggle the Preview switch to see the filter's effects before applying
them.
TIP: Click on the control to toggle the filter on/off while you watch the
effects.
The preview always displays on the whole model - even if you have the
filter set to apply to the Current Painting or Selected Images.

Available Filters
11. Click Apply.
NOTE: If you want a filter to apply only to a specific layer or layers of a

channel, consider using the adjustment filters in the Layers palette. For
more information on adjustment filters and how these work on individual
layers, see Layer Types and Examples on page 243.
EXPERIMENT: The best way to get a feel for what the individual filters do
is to play around with the options with the filter preview on. Take a few
minutes to review details of the various Available Filters. Try applying
some of them to a channel. You don't actually have to save the filtered
effect — turn the Preview option on, see how it looks, and then Cancel to
reject the changes.
Available Filters We mentioned previously that an Invert checkbox and a Mask Curve editor
displays in certain situations. These options are universal to all filter
operations that use a channel or an image from the Image Manager as a
mask.
The Invert checkbox decides whether Mari inverts the input from the mask.
If this is selected, the mask data is black on white rather than white on
black.
The Mask Curve editor sets how the channel masking works. The x axis is
the color of the source pixel (black to the left and white to the right). The y
axis is how paintable the target pixel is. By default, the curve runs from the
bottom left up to the top right. This means that black pixels are totally
masked, white pixels are totally paintable, and there's a constant curve
between the two. Use this if you want to change what pixel values are
masked.
The following table describes and shows examples of each of the filters that
come with Mari, applied to the following image:

Available Filters
Filter Description Options Example

Invert Inverts the colors in the selec- You can set whether to invert the Alpha
tion. Replaces colors with their channel as well as the colors.
“opposite” in the color chart.
For example, replaces a color
with a float value of 0.3 with a
color with float value 0.7.
Luminosity Outputs just the luminosity None.

value of each pixel in the
selection. That is, it outputs a
greyscale image based on the
brightness of each of the pix-
els in the original image.

Available Filters

Blur Applies a standard blur to the You can select the blur radius — the number
selection. of pixels Mari uses when calculating the blur
value for each pixel. The higher the radius,
the more blurred the results.
If you use a larger blur radius, you may get
slight lines on the boundaries between
patches. This is an artifact of the way that
Mari handles the edges of patches.
Soften Blur Applies a subtle softening blur. None.

This is a quick, predefined blur
filter. If you need more control
over the degree or type of
blurring, use either the stan-
dard Blur or Gaussian Blur fil-
ters.
Gaussian Blur Applies a Gaussian blur. Com- You can set both the Radius and the
pared to the standard Blur fil- Amount. The higher the radius, the more
ter, this gives you much finer blurred the results. Amount defines how
control over the degree of much to mix the blurred result with the orig-
blurring, and the option of inal.
using much higher blur values. If you use a larger blur radius, you may get
slight lines on the boundaries between
patches. This is an artifact of the way that
Mari handles the edges of patches.
Gamma Changes the gamma levels in Do Inverse reverses the gamma conversion.
the selection. That is, a higher setting for Gamma results
in a more washed-out looking image.
Selecting Use default gamma disables the
other controls and uses your default setting
for gamma (as set in the Painting tab of the
Mari Preferences dialog box, accessible from
the Edit menu). Otherwise, select a particu-
lar gamma level.

Available Filters

sRGB To Linear Applies an sRGB to linear col- Checking Invert applies a linear to sRGB col-
orspace conversion. orspace conversion.
Hue Changes the hue, saturation, To change the hue of the colors, set the
and value of the colors on the value for Hue. This moves the colors around
model. the color wheel. The rotation value is the
degree around the color wheel that each
color shifts, between 0 and 360 (which both
correspond to the original colors).
The options to change the Saturation are:
• Saturation — how large the saturation is.
Select a multiplier from 0 to 2, where 1.00
is the original saturation value.
• Offset — an offset value to add to the ini-
tial saturation value, before applying the
scale.
You can also edit the Saturation curve. This
controls how the filter translates current
saturation values to new values. For each
input value along the bottom of the graph,
the output value is set from the position of
the line above that point. Edit the curve by:
• pulling the anchor points
• clicking between anchor points to add a
new point
• right-clicking to select from a set of pre-
set values.
You can edit the Scale, Offset and Value
curve for the value of the colors in the same
way.

Available Filters

Brightness Changes the brightness of the You can either change the brightness of all
paint on the model, either color channels at once, or one-by-one.
overall or for specific channels. Changing the main Brightness control
You can also change the con- changes (overwrites) any changes you make
trast at the same time. to brightness values for individual color
channels.
Contrast Changes the contrast of the You can select the amount of contrast using
paint. the slider.
Clamp Clamps color values to lie You can set the Upper Value and Lower
within the specified upper and Value by adjusting the sliders or entering
lower values. values in the entry boxes.
Select the individual Color Component to
clamp in the dropdown menu.

Available Filters

Levels Changes the color levels in the As you change the settings, the display at
paint. You can change the the top of the dialog box updates to show
white, midtone and black the current white point, midtone, and black
points for each color channel point.
or all together. You can set the:
• Color Component - whether this is affect-
ing the overall Value of the color, or the
specific color channel (Red, Green, or
Blue).
• White Point - the upper limit of displayed
color intensity. Areas with a value higher
than this are mapped to 1 (white).
• Midtone - the middle point between white
and black. Mari remaps the values so that
this is the middle of the range between
the white point and black point. Moving
this pushes the values towards that end
of the spectrum.
• Black Point - the lower limit of displayed
color intensity. Areas with a value lower
than this are mapped to 0 (black).
• White Output Level - how strongly to out-
put the white in the filtered image. Higher
values show the entire white output, lower
values show decreasing amounts.
• Black Output Level - how strongly to out-
put the black in the filtered image. Higher
values show the entire black output, lower
values show decreasing amounts.
Color Curves Changes the color curve for You can also edit each color curve, control-
each color channel (RGB) in the ling how each color channel appears on
painting. screen. This controls how the filter trans-
lates current color values to new values. For
each input value along the bottom of the
graph, the output value is set from the posi-
tion of the line above that point. Edit the
curve by:
• pulling the anchor points
• clicking between anchor points to add a
new anchor point
• right-clicking to select from a set of pre-
set values.

Available Filters

Color Switches Turns individual color chan- Use the checkboxes to select which color
nels on or off. channels display. When Mari applies the fil-
ter, it removes any unchecked color channels
from the painting.
Tone Mapping Varies the “exposure” of the You can set the:
painting. • White Point — the upper limit of displayed
color intensity; any colors of greater
intensity map to white.
• Exposure — lower exposures give darker
images; higher exposures give lighter
ones.
Copy Channel Copies the value from one RGB Select the source channel from the list.
color channel to the other two. When you apply the filter, Mari copies the
The result is a greyscale image selected channel over the other two chan-
with the intensity values from nels.
the selected channel.

Available Filters

Premultiply Alpha Either pre- or post-multiplies If the Postmultiply box is checked, this acts
the alpha in the selected in reverse (that is, removes pre-multiplied
image. If you are painting alpha).
using an image without pre-
multiplied alpha onto one with
it, use this filter to perform the
pre-multiplication, so the
images match and you avoid
lines around the outside of the
patch. (Post-multiply works
the same, but in reverse
(removes pre-multiplication to
match images that do not have
pre-multiplied alpha).
Edge Detect Finds “edges” (transitions None.
between colors) in the image
and heightens them.
Emboss Applies an “emboss” effect, so None.

that textures look “raised” on
the surface.

Available Filters

Sharpen Removes 'fuzziness' and clari- You can set the amount of sharpening.
fies detail in the image. Higher values mean more sharpening, while a
value of 0.00 is the picture without the filter
applied.
High Pass Removes low frequency infor- You can set the kernel size (the amount of
mation from the image while filtering) by adjusting the Radius.
maintaining higher frequency If you use a large radius, you may get slight
detail. lines on the boundaries between patches.
This can be useful for quickly This is an artifact of the way that Mari han-
creating specular maps where dles patch edges.
only the higher frequency This filter is not supported with Ptex chan-
image highlights are main- nels.
tained.
Color Correction Applies a colorspace correc- You have the option to use Mari’s default
tion to the current channel or Configuration File or a custom one.
painting. Set the colorspace of the current channel or
painting in the Input ColorSpace dropdown.
Set the colorspace correction to apply to the
current channel or painting in the Output
ColorSpace dropdown.
Add Noise Applies noise to the current Use the Amount slider to adjust how much
channel or painting. noise is applied and select the component
you want to affect from the Color Compo-
nent dropdown.
For additive grayscale noise, that modifies
the intensity while retaining the original
color, check the Grayscale checkbox.
You can regenerate the noise using different
random samples by dragging on the Seed
slider.
Adjust the size of the noise applied by drag-
ging on the Size slider.

26 PROJECTORS
In Mari, projectors store the specific camera details of a particular view —

the rotation, zoom, and orientation of the view, plus the current paintable
area, the painting mode, and mask settings. Think of this as being like a
bookmark for the exact view you currently have in Mari.
You can use a projector to take “snapshots” of your paint buffer, work on
them externally, and then project the changes back onto your model. For
example, you can use projectors to easily flip back and forth between Mari
and Photoshop®, editing a texture in Photoshop®, then projecting it back
onto your model and checking it in Mari.
Once you have created a projector, you can use it to project and unproject
on and off the image:
• Unproject takes everything visible from the paint buffer and saves it as a
file.
• Project reads a file and projects it back onto the model.
Unprojecting takes the surface currently visible in Mari and exports it to a

file. This includes everything on the surface, just as it appears onscreen —
it's like taking a snapshot of the model as you can see it right now. So a
particular unprojected file could include parts of several meshes. Once you
have unprojected to a file, you can edit the file in your paint editor of
choice.
When you're happy with the file, you can then flip back to Mari and project
it back onto the view. By restoring the original projector, you can be sure
that you're looking at the exact same view as the snapshot was originally
taken from. When you select the projector and click Import (to the buffer) or
Project (import and bake), Mari projects the file onto the model in the
correct place.
So, once you've set up a particular projector, you can quickly flip between
Mari and another editor. You only need to set the target and source files
for unproject/project once, and then it's just a click to move back and forth
between Mari and your external editor.
To make it easier when you're working on projects with multiple channels,

there is also a batch mode for unproject. This lets you unproject multiple
channels at once.
PROJECTORS 319
Steps for Using Projectors
And to make it even easier to quickly project and unproject, there are Quick
modes for both. These project and unproject from the current view, without
you having to create a specific projector.
There is also support for unprojecting to a layered .psd file. As with the
standard project and unproject features, you can quickly unproject to a
layered .psd file without having to create a projector.
In addition, you can also project on to models using .fbx files created by 3rd
party software such as Maya. Importing the model, cameras, and textures
enables you to quickly create textured models using Mari projectors.
TIP: If you only require a single camera view point, use the Camera > Load
Camera option from the Mari menubar.
Projectors also allow you to export a turntable view of your model. The
turntable takes the model as you can see it through the current shader, and
creates a series of images showing the model rotating through an axis. You
can include custom text or thumbnails of reference images in the turntable.
You can create:
• Render turntables — this exports a single channel, and lets you pick the
shader and lighting to use.
• Diagnostic turntables — these export a set of channels, using the
default shader and flat lighting, to help you check the current look.
The Projectors palette shows the projectors currently defined for the
project.
Steps for Using To use projectors in Mari, follow these steps:

Projectors 1. Set the View
2. Create the Projector
3. Unproject from Your Projector
4. Edit the File(s) Externally
5. Project the File(s) Back onto the Model
6. Use the Quick Project Functions
7. Project onto a Model Using .fbx Files
8. Generate a Turntable from a Projector
9. Save, Load, and Delete Projectors

PROJECTORS 320
Set the View
Set the View 1. Start Mari and open your project.

2. Adjust the view how you'd like it. The projector takes snapshots of the
contents of the paint buffer, exactly as they appear onscreen, so:
• switch to your preferred camera view (UV, orthographic, or perspec-
tive)
• rotate, spin, and zoom the model so you can see the area you need to
work on
• resize the paint buffer (if necessary) to focus in on the specific area
you want to work on
• set the paint blending mode you want
• turn on any masking (edge masking, channel masking, etc.) that you
need.
Create the 1. In the Projectors palette, either:

Projector • right-click and select Create Projector from the dropdown menu, or
• click the button at the bottom of the projectors list.
The new projector displays.

PROJECTORS 321
Create the Projector
2. To rename the projector, double-click on its name in the list and enter
the new name.
3. Click to select your new projector.
The bottom half of the Projectors palette displays details of the projec-
tor.
4. The settings in the Unprojection section control how the projector takes
screen snapshots.
• If Clamp is checked, Mari restricts the range of the image to values
between 0 and 1.
• The Shader Used defaults to Current Paint Target, but you can change
this to determine which shader you want to unproject.
• The Lighting Mode defaults to Flat, but you can change this.
• You can set the Color Depth and the image Size — these default to the
settings of your paint buffer when you create the projector.

PROJECTORS 322
Create the Projector
5. Set the Output File Path, to specify where the projector saves the image.
You can either:
• type this directly, or
• click the button.
The Save File dialog box opens, allowing you to set the location for the
saved files.
6. Navigate to where you want to save the projector, type in the filename,
and click Save.
TIP: If you want to take shots of multiple channels using this projector,
include $CHANNEL in the filename. When Mari saves the files the
projector produces, it replaces this variable with the channel name for
each.
Mari sets the file type (from the listed possibilities) by the file extension
you include.
7. Set the Input File Path, to specify where the projector looks for updated
images to load. As with the output file path, you can type this directly or
click to select from the Pick Path dialog box.
You can also include $CHANNEL in the input file path.
TIP: Decide whether you want to use the same file for output and input,
or use separate files. This depends on how you prefer to work. For
example, you may prefer to export to .tif, edit the file and save the
changes as a .png for re-import. Or you may prefer to use the same .tif
file for both output and input.
TIP: Don't change the settings for Transformation or Perspective. These

show the details of the paint buffer and perspective camera settings
when the projector was created (including, for perspective cameras, field
of vision and clipping planes).
If absolutely necessary, you can edit these, but it's usually easier to just
set the main view to your desired settings and create a new camera.
8. To switch to the view from another projector, either:

• right-click on the projector in the Projectors palette and select
Make Projector Current, or
• double-click on the projector in the Projectors palette.
The view switches back to how it was when you created the projector,
including any masking you had set and the Painting Mode that was in

PROJECTORS 323
Unproject from Your Projector
use. The name of the projector in use appears on the current tab in the
canvas.
TIP: You can also adjust projection mask properties in the Projectors
palette. Note that if you adjust these properties, you need to click the
Update Only Masks From Projector button to see the effect of your
changes in the canvas. When you do, the equivalent projection mask
properties in the Projection palette are also updated.
Similarly, you can adjust other global properties such as the Painting
Mode or Projection behavior in the Projectors palette. If you do, click
Update Global Settings From Projector to update the equivalent global
properties (including masks) in the Projection palette.
TIP: Masks on projectors are hardwired to use the red color component. If
you want to use another color component for your mask value, the
Shuffle adjustment layer allows you to change the RGBA components so
that any can be replaced by another.
Additionally, the Luminosity adjustment layer allows you to convert an
RGB input to a grayscale output.
Unproject from 1. To save a copy of the model as it appears onscreen, either:

Your Projector • right-click the projector in the Projectors palette, and select Unpro-
ject, or
• click the Unproject button in the projector details, or
• click the button to the right of the projector.
The snapshot saves to the filename specified as the Output File Path. If
you have not specified an output file path, the Pick Path dialog displays,
so you can set where the file should go.
2. Mari projects your image in the background. You cannot edit the files
until the projection is complete. While the projection is still taking place,
Mari shows a running man icon at the bottom right of the main
window. Click this icon to see a progress box.

PROJECTORS 324
Edit the File(s) Externally
Edit the File(s) In your preferred editor, open the file and edit it as required.
Externally If you edit the whole snapshot and then project it all back onto your model
in Mari, you may get some artifacts. Typically, you may see a black line at
the “edges” where the projected image wraps around the surface.
The original view in Mari, We edit the whole Projected back onto the
as the projector grabs it. snapshot, even though model, and rotated to
we only want to change show the blurring where
one small section. the projected image
“wraps” around the
surface at the nose and
cheek.
To avoid this:
• Set your projectors up so they face straight onto the area you're working
on.
• When editing the projected image, work on a different layer, only using
the areas on the snapshot that you want to change.
This time, we've created Now we're happy with Now when we project it
a new layer in the our changes, we remove back onto the model,
snapshot. We're only the background layer and Mari only adds the
making changes on the save the file. “changes” layer. There
new layer. are no artifacts, and it
all looks good.

PROJECTORS 325
Project the File(s) Back onto the Model
Project the Back in Mari, click either:

• Import — to load the image from the projector file and put it into the
File(s) Back onto paint buffer, or
the Model • Project — to load the image and bake it onto the surface.
Mari loads the updated image from the location set in the Input File Path
and projects it back onto the model. If you have not specified an input file
path, the Pick Path dialog displays so you can select the file.
EXPERIMENT: Using a sample project, try creating a projector,

unprojecting, editing the unprojected file in an external program in some
obvious way, and then projecting it back onto your model.
Use the Quick The Quick Project functions provide a fast and simple way to project and
unproject from the current view without having to create a projector first.
Project
Functions
TIP: When using quick unproject and quick project, be careful not to
change your view! If you need to change your view, create a projector as
normal, so you can go back to the view and project correctly.
1. To unproject from the current view (that is, the current camera settings
and visible shader), from the Camera menu, select Quick Unproject.
The Quick Projection dialog box displays, allowing you to set a resolu-
tion and file path for the unprojected image.
2. Set the details:

• Path — sets the filename and type. You set the image type by typing
the image extension (for example, .tif, .exr, .psd, .png, .tga, and so on).

PROJECTORS 326
Project onto a Model Using .fbx Files
• Lighting — sets whether the lighting information is output along with

the paint when you unproject. If it is, whether it’s stored as a Separate
File or — in the case of .psd files — an individual Layer.
If you have already set the quick projection details, Mari just unprojects
and updates the file on disk.
3. You can now edit the unprojected image as normal (see Edit the File(s)
Externally).
NOTE: Due to the nature of .psd files, the lighting displayed in your
external image editor is an approximation of what you see in Mari.
TIP: When unprojecting a separate lighting layer it appears brighter, but

when this is multiplied over an unlit pass in an external application, such
as Nuke, the lighting appears as expected.
When projecting, you can either:

• project the image only onto the front patches visible in the current view,
or
• project through all patches in the current view.
1. To project onto the front of the patches, from the Camera menu, select
Quick Project Front.
To project... From the Camera menu, select...

onto the front of the patches Quick Project Front
through all the patches Quick Project Through
Mari loads the updated image from the location set in the Quick Projec-
tion dialog box and projects it back onto the model.
2. If you want to change the quick projection settings, you can open the
Quick Projection dialog box – from the Camera menu, select Quick
Projection Settings.
Project onto a To project onto a model using an .fbx file, you need the following files
created using a 3rd party application:
Model Using .fbx • a 3D model (.obj format)
Files • a camera file (.fbx format)
• texture files (.jpg format for example)

PROJECTORS 327
TIP: To make things easier later on, you should use the same naming
convention for the camera and texture files when you create them.
1. Start Mari and import your model file.

2. In the Projectors palette either:
• right-click and select Load Projector, or
• click .
The Load Projector dialog box displays.
3. Locate the .fbx file associated with your model and click Open.
The Select Entity dialog box displays.

4. Click Select All to highlight all the cameras, then click Import.
Mari imports the camera data from the .fbx file and creates a corre-
sponding number of projectors in the Projectors palette.

PROJECTORS 328
You can click on the individual projectors in the Projectors palette to

view the camera angles that you imported.
5. Select a projector in the Projectors palette and either:
• enter the location of the associated texture file in the Path > Input File
Path field, or
• click to browse for the file location.
6. Select the required file and click Open.

PROJECTORS 329
You can set the other Projector attributes in the same way as described
in Create the Projector on page 320.
7. In Projectors > Action, select either:
• Import - to load the texture from the projector into the paint buffer, or
• Project - to load the texture and bake it onto the surface.
Mari projects the texture onto the model as specified.
Once the texture is loaded, you should be able to tell immediately if
you’ve loaded the wrong texture — simply change the file location in
Projectors > Input File Path if this is the case.
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for all the imported projectors to complete the
process.
9. Once you’re happy with the results, you can export your work as
described in Export Textures from Channels, Generate a Turntable from
a Projector, or Save, Load, and Delete Projectors in the same way as
regular projectors.
NOTE: It’s worth mentioning that projection using .fbx files is not fool-
proof and some extra texturing inevitably is required.
You can reduce the extra work needed by using more camera angles when
creating the .fbx file.

PROJECTORS 330
Generate a Turntable from a Projector
EXPERIMENT: Try:
• Loading some textures through the wrong projector. Can you see that
the image is incorrect?
• Loading textures in a different order. Notice how the textures overlay
each other?
Generate a Mari lets you generate two kinds of turntables:

• Render turntables — this exports the current channel, using a selected
Turntable from a shader.
Projector • Diagnostic turntables — these export a set of channels, with flat lighting
for each one, using Mari's default shader.
TIP: Turntables always rotate around the center of your current view.
That is, the axis for a turntable is a line straight up the middle of the
screen in the current view. This is in the center of the visible portion of
the model.
You can zoom in on a particular part of a model and create a turntable
that focuses on just that part of the model.
Generating a Render 1. Right-click on the projector and select Render Turntable from the drop-
Turntable down menu.
The Render Turntable dialog box displays.

PROJECTORS 331
2. Set the basic image details:

• size of the generated images
• the amount to Antialias the images.
• background for the images — either grey, transparent or the current
background in Mari.
• the number of Frames to generate — that is, how many images should
be in the sequence.
3. If you are using animated models or textures and want to render the
turntable with the animation, check Play Animation. This disables the
Frames control above because the frame range is taken from the Play
Controls palette.
4. If you are combining multiple turntables, select an Offset. This lets you
chain together sequences, by offsetting the image numbers.
For example, with an offset of 0, the first image is MariTurntable_1.jpg.
With an offset of 360, the first image is MariTurntable_361.jpg. You can
use this to generate one sequence of frames for one axis, then move
your model around and make another set of frames for another axis.

PROJECTORS 332
5. By default, the turntable images use the Example LUT (and any other
visual filters you have applied to the view). If you want to create the
images without a LUT, set the Filters to Off.
6. Pick the Lighting for the turntable images. You can pick Flat, Basic, or
Full lighting.
7. You can also include reference images and text in the turntable images.
If you want to include any other information in the turntable files, enter
the details:
• You can set a Comment (and change the Text Size) — Mari includes
this at the bottom of the turntable.
• You can also select up to two Reference images — Mari includes these
to the left of your model. Specify the colorspace for each image (sRGB
or Linear).
8. Set the Path where Mari should create the images, and set the Template
for the filenames.
This must include the $FRAME variable, so Mari assigns the frame num-
bers correctly to the files. Mari can export turntables as either .tif, .png,
.jpg, or .tga files — change the file extension in the Template to set the
file type.
9. Finally, you can enter any shell Command that you want Mari to run on
the files once it finishes creating them.
10. If you want to check the placement of your reference images and
comment text, click Preview. This generates the first image of the
turntable so you can check the appearance.
11. Click OK.
Mari generates a series of images for the turntable.
Generating a 1. Right-click on the projector and select Diagnostic Turntable from the
Diagnostic Turntable dropdown menu.
The Diagnostic Turntable dialog box displays.

PROJECTORS 333
2. In the Channel section of the dialog box, click to uncheck any channels
you do not want to generate turntables for.
3. If you are using animated models or textures and want to render the
turntable with the animation, check Play Animation. This disables the
Frames control above because the frame range is taken from the Play
Controls palette.
4. Set the other details for the turntable(s) to generate. The properties for
diagnostic turntables are the same as for Generating a Render
Turntable, except:
• You cannot set an offset.
• You cannot set the shader or lighting to use – all images use the
default shader and flat lighting.
In addition, you should ensure that the Template includes:
• The $FRAME (%FRAME on Windows) variable, so Mari assigns the
frame numbers correctly to the files.
• The $CHANNEL (%CHANNEL on Windows) variable, so Mari includes the
channel in the filename. If this is not present, and you export multiple
channels, the later channels overwrite the earlier ones.
5. Click OK.

PROJECTORS 334
Save, Load, and Delete Projectors
Mari generates a series of images for the turntable, once per channel.
Generating turntables for a large number of channels takes a while. Mari
shows the progress in the status bar at the bottom right:
Save, Load, and 1. To save a projector to disk, in the Projectors palette, either:
Delete • right-click on an existing projector and select Save Projector from the
dropdown menu, or
Projectors • click on the button.
Mari displays a Save dialog box, for you to select a location on disk and
set the projector's name.
2. To save all the projectors in the project as a single file, right-click in the
Projectors palette and select Save All Projectors.
Mari displays a Save dialog box, for you to select a location on disk and
set the file name.
3. To load a saved projector file, in the Projectors palette, either:
• right-click and select Load Projector from the dropdown menu, or
• click on the button.
Mari displays an Open dialog box, for you to find the projector file. This
can be for a single or multiple projectors.
4. To delete a projector, either:
• in the Projectors palette, right-click on the projector and select
Remove Projector from the dropdown menu, or
• click on the button.
Mari removes the selected projector.

27 MULTIPLE OBJECTS
Mari allows you to load multiple objects into a scene and paint them at the
same time. This lets you paint objects in context – for example, you can
paint all the elements of a character's costume by loading them up onto the
character. You can show and hide objects, so you can easily switch between
working only viewing a single object, and seeing how it fits with the other
objects.
You can load multiple copies of a single object into the project. This allows
you to, for example, build up a road scene with twenty sections of
pavement, two lamp posts and a fire hydrant from three basic models
(pavement section, lamp post, and hydrant).
When you create a project, you must load in an object. Once you've created
the project, you can add more objects to it.
Initial project, with only the With other objects loaded.

blacksmith torso model.
If a project has two or more objects, you can remove objects from it. All
projects must have at least one object.
Removing an object from a project has no effect on the source file for the
object.
The objects within a project are listed in the Objects palette.

MULTIPLE OBJECTS 336
Channels and Shaders
Channels and Each object in the project has its own set of channels. When you add
channels, you have the option to apply the action to all objects in your
Shaders project.
When you add a new object, Mari creates a single channel, diffuse, to hold
the diffuse color. You can add more channels as you would normally.
Similarly, each object has its own shaders. As with channels, there are
default shaders but you must set up your custom shaders separately for
each object. If you want to copy shaders from the Shaders palette of
another object, use the Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V shortcuts to copy the
shader and paste it into the Shaders palette for the current object.
Versioning Objects within your project are versioned. If the source file for the model
changes, you can load a new version of the file – Mari updates the model in
your project, and keeps all the textures you've painted on it.
When you add a new version of a model, Mari assumes that the patch
numbering hasn't changed, and projects the existing textures over the
updated geometry. Whenever you add a new version of an object, check any
textures you've already painted, especially if the patch numbering has
changed.
Ambient Mari does not automatically calculate the ambient occlusion for objects.
This is because ambient occlusion can take a long time to calculate for
Occlusion complex objects, and it is not required unless you are using ambient
occlusion for masking or shading.
If you need ambient occlusion for an object, you must calculate it separately
for each object.
Object Shadows Each object in your scene casts shadows if depth projection is not disabled
under Preferences. To display shadows, you must enable at least one light
to cast shadows by checking the Render Shadows box in the Lights palette
before adjusting the settings in the Objects palette. If this is not selected,
objects with Cast Shadows enabled still don’t appear to be casting shadows.
Shadows can be toggled on or off in the display by selecting the Shadows

button in the Lighting toolbar.

Steps for Working with Multiple Objects:
If Depth Projections have been enabled in the Preferences, there are two
related options that can be set to customize the shadow settings. Depth
Projection Resolution and Depth Projection texture Array Size control the
texture resolution and shadow coverage.
Both these options are dependent on the graphics card. Mari automatically
attempts to set this option at the resolution that works best for your setup.
If there aren’t sufficient graphics memory resources, Mari degrades the
quality of the shadows so as to use fewer resources until shadows can be
rendered.
Steps for Working with multiple objects involves:

Working with 1. Adding and Removing Objects
2. Moving, Viewing, and Locking Objects
Multiple Objects:
3. Adding and Removing Object Versions
4. Calculating Ambient Occlusion
5. Shadow Settings
Adding and 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Removing 2. Open the Objects palette.
This displays all the objects in your project.
Objects

Adding and Removing Objects
3. To add a new object, click the button.

The Add Objects dialog box displays, allowing you to select the new
object file to add.
4. Select the file to add and click OK.
Mari adds the new object to your project. Your new object has a single
channel, Diffuse (to hold the diffuse color). You probably want to add
additional channels (see Create and Delete Individual Channels).
You can add a file that already exists in your project. In this case, the
new object is added as a second instance of the same file, and is initially
on top of the first instance. To move it, see Moving, Viewing, and Lock-
ing Objects.
5. To remove an existing object, select it in the list and click the
button.
Mari asks you to confirm the deletion.
6. Click Yes to remove the object.
You can remove any object from a project, as long as there is at least
one object remaining afterwards.

Moving, Viewing, and Locking Objects
Moving, Viewing, You can move objects around on your Mari canvas. For example, you might
have added an object which has appeared on top of an existing object
and Locking (where the objects appear depends on the configuration of the model file).
Objects 1. To move an object, select the Pan Object tool.
2. Click and drag to move the object. It's that simple.
Initial state. Apron moved to the left.
Clicking on an object selects it. You can then configure and edit it (for
example, to change to paint on a different channel).
3. The Objects palette lets you show/hide and lock/unlock the object:
• To show or hide an object, click .
• To lock or unlock an object, click .

4. If you move the object accidentally, or want to reset the object back to
its original position, Shift-click to reset the object, or press the
apostrophe key (’) on the keyboard to reset all objects.
TIP: You can also use the Pan Object tool to move lights around (see
Configure the Lighting).
Adding and All objects start with an initial version. You can add and remove versions, as
long as at least one version of the object remains. Mari does not enforce
Removing Object
Versions

Calculating Ambient Occlusion
any other restrictions – for example, if an object has three versions, you can
delete any of the three versions.
TIP: Mari does not restrict what you can add as a new version (as we
have no way of knowing what kinds of changes to the models you may
need to make as you develop the asset!). As a result, you can add any
object file as a new version of an existing file – so be careful that you
don't add the wrong file by mistake.
To add a new version to an existing object:

1. Right-click on the object in the Objects palette, and select Add Version
The Add Version dialog box displays.
2. Select the file for the updated object and click Open.
Mari adds the new version to the object's history and updates the dis-
play to show the new version.
TIP: Check any existing paint on the object, as it may have been distorted
by the move to the new mesh.
Calculating To calculate the ambient occlusion for an object:

Ambient 1. Select the object in the Objects palette.
2. Either:
Occlusion
• from the Objects menu, select Ambient Occlusion, or
• right-click on the object in the Objects palette and select Ambient
Occlusion from the dropdown menu.
Mari calculates the ambient occlusion for the object(s) in the current
project. Depending on the size and complexity of your model, this may
be a good time to take a break.
Shadow Settings To allow your model to cast shadows:

1. Select the object in the Objects palette.
2. Under Rendering, enable Cast Shadows.
Each object in your scene has the setting Cast Shadows.
Selecting this checkbox casts shadows from your models onto other
objects in the scene, based on your current lighting setup.

Shadow Settings
3. If you want to turn off shadows, toggle the Shadows button in the
Lighting toolbar.
NOTE: Using variance maps allow the shadow edges to be smoothed out,
but may sometimes cause rendering artifacts. To prevent these artifacts
from occurring, disable the Use Variance Maths checkbox under
Preferences > GPU > Depth Projection.

28 PAINTING ANIMATED OBJECTS
As well as static model files, Mari can import models that include animation
data. This allows you to create a project based on an animated object, so
you can check how your textures work as the model moves.
This support for animation lets you:

• Paint models in context — you can check how the textures look through
the full range of motion.
• Paint specific textures tied into frame ranges. Imagine that in frame 37
of a sequence, a bullet ricochets off your giant robot. Mari lets you open
the model, move to frame 37, and edit the relevant texture layers to
show the chipped paint and the displacement from the impact. You can
adjust and export texture layers frame by frame.
Keyframes Keyframes define when the texture changes within a sequence. When you
create a keyframe, Mari remembers what textures you've got on your model.
Then:
• Any textures you add earlier in the sequence disappear when Mari
reaches the keyframe.
• Any textures you add after the keyframe appear once Mari reaches the
keyframe.
• When you export your textures, you can export a separate version of
each patch for each keyframe.
Keyframes divide the sequence into parts. You can paint in any frame within
a part, and that paint appears from the previous keyframe until the next
keyframe.
The first frame of animation is always treated as a keyframe.

PAINTING ANIMATED OBJECTS 343
Keyframes
Example For example, we're painting an object with a 12-frame animation. We have
some existing paint. Here, the existing paint shows throughout the entire
animation sequence:
1 - KEYFRAME 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12

Keyframes
Now we set a keyframe at frame 4, and paint on frame 3 and frame 6. In

this case:
• The paint on frame 3 appears from frames 1-3.
• The paint on frame 6 appears from frames 4-12.
1 - KEYFRAME 2 3 4 - KEYFRAME
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12

Keyframes
If we add another keyframe at frame 9 and paint on frame 10:

• The existing paint between frames 4 and 12 continues to display in that
frame range, as it was in place before we added the new keyframe.
• The paint on frame 10 appears from frame 9 to 12:
1 - KEYFRAME 2 3 4 - KEYFRAME
5 6 7 8
9 - KEYFRAME 10 11 12
When we export the layer, each patch has three versions — one per
keyframe.
1 - KEYFRAME 4 - KEYFRAME 9 - KEYFRAME

Steps for Working with Animated Objects
Steps for To use animated objects in your Mari project, follow these steps:
• Loading Animated Objects
Working with
• Playing Animation
Animated • Painting Animated Textures
Objects • Exporting Animated Textures
Loading To load your animated object:

Animated 1. Select an animated .obj file sequence, and either:
• create a new project with the file, or
Objects
• add the object to an existing project.
2. On the Mesh Options tab, a new section displays, letting you set which
frames to import.
In addition to the three mesh options offered when opening a new proj-
ect, you can select:
• Start Frame - the first frame of the range that you want to import.
• End Frame — the last frame of the range that you want to import.
• Single Frame — set the controls so as to only import the first frame in
the animation.
• All Frames — set the controls to import all the frames within the ani-
mation.
3. Finish creating the project or adding the new object as normal.
Playing To play back animation:

Animation 1. If it's not displayed, open the Play Controls palette.

Playing Animation
2. Set the desired frame range in the boxes at the top of the palette. This
lets you play only a subset of the animation.
3. To skip to a particular frame, type the frame in the frame box.
4. Set the playback mode in the dropdown.

This can be:
• Loop — keep looping through the animation (start to finish).
• Bounce — keep looping back and forth through the animation (start to
finish, then backwards back to the start).
• Stop — play the animation once and stop.
5. Use the play controls to play through the animation:
Button Effect Shortcut key

Move back one frame. Ctrl/Cmd+Left
Move back to the first frame. Ctrl/Cmd+Down
No button Move to the last frame. Ctrl/Cmd+Up

Play forward. None.
Stop playing. None.
Move forward one frame Ctrl/Cmd+Right
You can also pull the timeline control back and forth to move through
frames:

Painting Animated Textures
Painting Before you paint the animated textures, make sure you've painted all the
non-animated elements of your textures. Any paint you add after you've
Animated inserted a keyframe only appears in one part of the animation (see the
Textures example above).
Once you've got your initial texture set, you can set keyframes.
Setting Keyframes To set a keyframe:

1. Move to the frame that you want to set as your keyframe.
2. Click or press Ctrl/Cmd+K to set a keyframe.
The new keyframe displays as a square in the keyframe timeline.
3. You can remove keyframes by selecting the keyframe in the timeline and
clicking .
Removing a keyframe also removes any paint for that keyframe. Be care-
ful when removing keyframes if you've done any painting!
Painting the To paint a texture within a section of animation:

Textures 1. Move to a frame somewhere within the section of animation you want to
paint.
It doesn't matter which frame within the section you move to – the paint
displays until the next keyframe.
2. Paint your textures as normal.
Bear in mind that:
• Any textures you paint within one section disappear when you reach
the next keyframe.
• You can paint, then add another keyframe, to “build up” an animated
texture (see the Example above for an explanation).

Exporting Animated Textures
Exporting When you export an animated texture, Mari exports a separate file for each
patch, for each keyframe. For example, a model with 20 patches painted as
Animated an animation with 3 keyframes gives 60 files when you export it.
Textures
To export an animated texture:
1. Open the Export dialog box as normal (from the Layers menu, select
Export).
2. Set the export details as normal, except:
• Include the $FRAME keyword in your Template — Mari replaces this
with the frame number of the keyframe for the exported textures,
padded out to five digits. For example, if you are exporting a layer
called color, with keyframes at 9 and 6, then using an export Template
of $FRAME_$LAYER.$UDIM.tif gives the following files for patch 0001:
00001_color.0001.tif, 00009_color.0001.tif, and
00016_color.00001.tif.
• If you want to export only the textures for a particular frame range
(which can include multiple keyframes), enter the range in the Frame
Range field at the bottom of the Export Layer dialog box.
3. Click All or Modified Only as usual to start the export.

Mari exports the files, creating a file for each patch/keyframe combina-
tion.

29 EXTENDING MARI
You can add your own custom attributes to objects in Mari, as well as edit
configuration files. In particular, you can specify sets of:
• keyboard shortcuts - Using a shortcut configuration file has the same
effect as changing each shortcut individually in the Manage Keyboard
Shortcuts dialog box, but lets you change all of them, as a single,
consistent set. You can then also share a set of shortcuts with other
users.
• channel presets - Using a channel preset configuration file, you can
specify categories of preset channels (for example, for different types of
assets), to display in the Add Multiple Channels dialog box when you
create channels for a project in bulk.
• channel templates - Using a channel template configuration file, you can
specify the filename formats to use in the Add Multiple Channels dialog
box. These control the filenames that Mari looks for when importing
textures into new channels.
You can also configure Mari using environment variables.
About Custom You can attach custom attributes to most objects in Mari (such as channels,
models, projectors and lights). Rather than information that Mari needs,
Attributes this is information that can be useful for yourself or other users of the
project to know. For example, you can add the assigned owner of the model
as a custom attribute attached to the model.
You can choose to add custom attributes for the current session only or
save them as part of the project so that they persist when you quit and
relaunch Mari.
About Custom Three types of keyboard shortcuts are available in Mari:

• The default set of shortcuts - that come with the application, as listed
Shortcuts under Help > Shortcuts.
• A custom set of shortcuts - defined in a shortcut configuration file. This
is a text file, called Shortcuts.conf, containing a list of one or more Mari
actions and their shortcuts. Mari looks for this file in the following sub-
directory of your home directory:
• .config/TheFoundry (on Linux),
EXTENDING MARI 351
About Custom Channel Presets
• .mari\TheFoundry (on Windows), or

• .conf/TheFoundry (on Mac).
NOTE: If there is no custom shortcut file, Mari uses the defaults.

Configuration file shortcuts override default shortcuts.
• GUI shortcut - defined within the GUI, in the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts
dialog box, for specific actions or project items. You do this by selecting
Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, or right clicking on a project item (channels,
patches, shaders, lights, projectors, and things in shelves), or sets of
those items, by selecting Assign Shortcut from the dropdown menu. GUI
shortcuts override default and configuration file shortcuts.
So Mari accepts the default keyboard shortcuts for an action... unless that
action is also specified in a shortcut configuration file, in which case Mari
uses your custom shortcuts... unless you've overridden any of them in the
GUI with individual custom shortcuts.
TIP: If you are distributing a custom shortcuts file to multiple users, be

aware that any individual custom shortcuts they apply override your
shortcuts file.
The Shortcuts.conf file does not have to list all possible Mari actions. You
can set up a shortcut for any Mari action, but you can only assign
shortcuts to project items (channels, patches, shaders, lights, projectors,
and things in shelves), or sets of those items, from within the Mari GUI
(not from within a customization file).
About Custom You can add channels in bulk to a Mari project, using the Channels >
Channel Presets option. This opens a dialog box, Add Multiple Channels,
Channel Presets where you can select to create a set of channels in a project and optionally
to also import existing textures. In the Add Multiple Channels dialog box,
you can select a Category, which represents a preset bundle of channels.
For example, if you select the “Vehicles” category, you get a list of standard
channels for painting a vehicle.
Mari comes with several default categories, stored in a channel preset file.
If you want, you can replace the defaults with your own customized channel
preset categories. Mari custom channel presets files are XML files with an
.mtd extension. Mari looks for them by default in the following sub-
directory of your home directory:

EXTENDING MARI 352
About Custom Channel Templates

You can select a different channel presets directory on the Paths tab of the
Mari Preferences dialog box.
TIP: If you use a customized channel preset file, Mari ignores its default
channel presets. Only the channels in your custom preset file are
available.
About Custom When you're adding channels in bulk through the Add Multiple Channels
dialog box, you can select to import existing textures into the channels as
Channel Mari creates them. Mari looks for existing textures on disk. If it finds these
Templates textures, you can import them as the channels are created. The channel
template controls the format of the filenames that Mari looks for. For
example, one channel template is
$PATH/$SHOT/color$SHOT_color.$UDIM.tif.
Mari comes with several default channel templates. If you want, you can add
your own channel template files. Channel template files are straight text
files, with an .mtt extension. Mari looks for them in the same directories as
channel preset files.
About Environment variables are named variables used to store a value, such as a
specific file path. They are used to dynamically configure Mari’s behavior
Environment when Mari is launched. For example, Mari uses the information stored in
Variables them to define where to place certain files.
You can:
• Set environment variables that Mari recognizes.
• Create your own environment variables that Mari looks for when
importing images.
• Use environment variables to override any entry in the Mari.conf file.
This file contains all user settings that are not project specific.
Steps for Using To use custom attributes in Mari, follow these steps:
Custom 1. Add Custom Attributes to Objects
2. Remove Custom Attributes from Objects
Attributes

EXTENDING MARI 353
Steps for Customizing Mari
Steps for To customize your installation of Mari, follow these steps:

Customizing 1. Review the Custom Shortcut File Format
2. Define Custom Shortcuts
Mari
3. Review the Custom Channel-Preset File Format
4. Define Custom Channel Presets
5. Review the Custom Channel Template File Format
6. Define Custom Channel Templates
Steps for Setting You can set all the environment variables mentioned in this chapter in the
same manner. To do so, follow these steps:
Environment 1. Choose an Environment Variable to Set
Variables 2. Set the Environment Variable
3. Check That the Variable Now Exists
Add Custom 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Attributes to 2. Open a palette where you want to add custom attributes (for example,
the Channels, Objects, or Projectors palette).
Objects
3. Select the object you want to add custom attributes to and click the
button. You may need to scroll right in the palette to see this button.
The Add User Attribute dialog displays.
4. Set the following:

EXTENDING MARI 354
Remove Custom Attributes from Objects
• Type — whether the attribute's value is an on/off setting (Boolean), a

date (Date), a floating point number (Float), an integer number (Inte-
ger), or a text string (String).
• Name — the name of the attribute. Unless you uncheck Visible below,
this name appears under User Attributes in the palette (in the below
example, the name is MyAttribute). Note that the name should only
include alphanumeric characters and cannot include spaces.
• Description — an optional description of the attribute. This appears in

a tooltip if you hover the mouse over the attribute in the palette.
• Saved — if this is on, the attribute persists when you quit and
relaunch Mari. If this is off, the attribute is only added to the current
session of Mari.
• Read Only — if this is on, users cannot modify the attribute's value. If
this is off, the value is shown in the palette where users can adjust it.
• Visible — if this is on, the attribute appears in the palette. If this is
off, you cannot see the attribute.
NOTE: The above settings cannot be edited later. If you want to change
them, you need to remove the attribute and create a new one.
5. Click Add.
6. If necessary, edit the attribute's value in the palette.
Remove Custom 1. Start Mari and open your project.

Attributes from 2. Open a palette where you want to remove a custom attribute from (for
example, the Channels, Objects, or Projectors palette).
Objects
3. To remove the attribute, click the button next to it in the palette.
Mari prompts you to confirm that you want to remove the attribute.
4. Click Remove.

EXTENDING MARI 355
Review the Custom Shortcut File Format
Review the 1. Read through the following information about the required format of a
Mari custom shortcuts file.
Custom Shortcut 2. Study the example default shortcuts file.
File Format
Text File: A default (DefaultShortcuts.conf) or custom (Shortcuts.conf) shortcuts

<action>=<key(s)> configuration file is a text file that starts with [Shortcuts] and then lists
Mari actions and their shortcut keys, one per line. The actions are the same
as what you find in the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box in Mari, with
the hierarchies spelled out, separated by a backslash (\), and with “%20” for
spaces. After each action is an equal sign (=) and then the key or key
combination. For key combinations, you use one or more modifier” keys, like
Ctrl/Cmd or Alt with a plus sign (+) between each.
For example, below are some shortcuts in the Manage Keyboard Shortcuts

EXTENDING MARI 356
Using Modifier Keys
dialog box alongside their listings in the default shortcuts configuration file.
GUI dialog box entries Configuration file listings

[Shortcuts]
...
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Radius="="
Mari\Tools\Decrease%20Radius=-
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Opacity=]
Mari\Tools\Descrease%20Opacity=[
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Rotation='
Mari\Tools\Decrease%20Rotation=";"
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Aspect=0
\Mari\Tools\Decrease%20Aspect=9
...
Mari\Tools\Color\Eye%20Dropper=C
Mari\Tools\Color\Color%20Popup=j
...
Mari\Tools\Toggle%20Brushes=N
TIP: Case is not important. The lines

Mari\Tools\General\Transform%20Paint=M and
Mari\Tools\General\Transform%20Paint=m have the same meaning. If
you want to set a shortcut key to only the uppercase version of a
character, include Shift in the key sequence. For example:
Mari\Tools\General\Transform%20Paint=Shift+M only invokes the
Transform Paint tool when you hold down both Shift and M at the same
time.
Using Modifier Some modifier keys can only be used as part of key combinations — you
cannot assign a shortcut to the Ctrl/Cmd key by itself, for example. This
Keys table lists the special keys available, the text strings to use for them in
Shortcuts.conf, and whether the key can be used on its own.
Key Text string in file Can be used by itself?

Ctrl/Cmd Ctrl No
Shift Shift No
Alt (not Alt Gr) Alt No

EXTENDING MARI 357
Using Modifier Keys
Key Text string in file Can be used by itself?
(or Windows key) Meta No
Cmd key for Mac

Escape Esc Yes
Caps Lock CapsLock Yes
Space Space Yes
F1 – F12 F1 – F12 Yes
Scroll Lock ScrollLock Yes
Pause Pause Yes
Insert Ins Yes
Left Arrow Left Yes
Right Arrow Right Yes
Up Arrow Up Yes
Down Arrow Down Yes
Home Home Yes
End End Yes
Page Up PgUp Yes
Page Down PgDown Yes
Number Lock NumLock Yes
Backslash \\ Yes
TIP: You can use \ (backslash) as a shortcut, but as it is used as a

directory separator in the action part of the line, you must use a double
backslash to make it clear that you are actually assigning the key rather
than indicating a directory.
Example: The default shortcuts file, DefaultShortcuts.conf, is included in the following

DefaultShortcuts.co sub-directory of the Mari application directory:
nf • Media/Settings (on Linux),
• Bundle\Media\Settings (on Windows), or
• Media/Settings (on Mac).

EXTENDING MARI 358
Using Modifier Keys
We recommend you create your custom shortcuts by copying this file and
editing it, rather than starting from scratch.
NOTE: If you are using a Mac, you need to replace all references of Ctrl in
the table below to Cmd for it to work correctly in Mari.
[Shortcuts]
Mari\Tools\General\Select=S
Mari\Tools\General\Scrub=Shift+?
Mari\Tools\General\Mouse%20Gestures=\\
Mari\Tools\General\Hide%20Widgets=/
Mari\Tools\General\Transform%20Paint=M
Mari\Tools\Default%20Brushes\Paint=P
Mari\Tools\Default%20Brushes\Paint%20Through=U
Mari\Tools\Default%20Brushes\Eraser=E
Mari\Tools\Image\Marquee=M
Mari\Canvas\Bake=B
Mari\Tools\Camera\Rotate=Alt+
Mari\Tools\Camera\Zoom=Alt+Ctrl+
Mari\Tools\Camera\Pan=Alt+Shift+
Mari\Tools\Camera\Spin=Ctrl+R
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Focus=F
Mari\Tools\Color\Eye%20Dropper=C
Mari\Tools\Color\Color%20Popup=j
Mari\Tools\General\Shelf%20Popup=k
Mari\Tools\General\Image%20Popup=l
Mari\Tools\General\Pie%20Selector=F9
Mari\Animation\Start%20/%20Stop%20Animation=Space
Mari\Animation\Step%20Forwards=Ctrl+Right
Mari\Animation\Step%20backwards=Ctrl+Left
Mari\Animation\Add%20Keyframe=Ctrl+K
Mari\Animation\Rewind%20Animation=Ctrl+Down
Mari\Animation\Fastforward%20Animation=Ctrl+Up

EXTENDING MARI 359
Using Modifier Keys
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Camera%20Left=1
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Camera%20Right=2
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Camera%20Top=3
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Camera%20Bottom=4
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Camera%20Front=5
Mari\Canvas\Camera\Camera%20Rear=6
Mari\Canvas\Bake=B
Mari\Onscreen%20Controls\Adjust%20Radius=R
Mari\Onscreen%20Controls\Adjust%20Rotation=W
Mari\Onscreen%20Controls\Adjust%20Squish=Q
Mari\Onscreen%20Controls\Adjust%20Opacity=O
Mari\Actions\Quit=Ctrl+Q
Mari\Actions\Undo=Ctrl+Z
Mari\Actions\Redo=Ctrl+Y
Mari\Actions\Previous%20View="Ctrl+,"
Mari\Actions\Next%20View=Ctrl+.
Mari\Actions\Hide%20Palettes=Home
Mari\Project\Open=Ctrl+O
Mari\Project\Save%20As=Ctrl+Shift+S
Mari\Project\Save=Ctrl+S
Mari\Project\New=Ctrl+N
Mari\Project\Close=Ctrl+W
Mari\Project\Lighting\Flat=F1
Mari\Project\Lighting\Basic=F2
Mari\Project\Lighting\Full=F3
Mari\Palettes\Colors=F6
Mari\Palettes\Tools=F7
Mari\Palettes\Brushes=F8
Mari\Canvas\Camera\View All=A
Mari\Painter\Swap%20foreground%20and%20background=X
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Quick%20Paste=Ctrl+V
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Quick%20Copy=Ctrl+C

EXTENDING MARI 360
Using Modifier Keys
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Select Invert=Ctrl+I
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Select All=Ctrl+A
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Select None=Ctrl+E
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Toggle%20Hidden=Ctrl+H
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Hide%20Selected=H
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Hide%20Unselected=Shift+H
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Show%20All=Ctrl+Shift+H
Mari\Painter\Paint%20Mask=Q
Mari\Painter\Toggle%20Edge%20Mask=G
Mari\Painter\Toggle%20Show%20Painting=.
Mari\Painter\Show%20Paintable=
Mari\Projection\Toggle%20Mask%20Preview%20Enabled=","
Mari\Painter\Invert=Shift+I
Mari\Channels\Toggle%20Channels=T
Mari\Channels\Next%20Channel=PgDown
Mari\Channels\Previous%20Channel=PgUp
Mari\Tools\Toggle%20Brushes=N
Mari\Tools\Decrease%20Aspect=9
Mari\Tools\Decrease%20Radius=-
Mari\Tools\Decrease%20Rotation=";"
Mari\Tools\Descrease%20Opacity=[
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Aspect=0
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Opacity=]
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Radius="="
Mari\Tools\Increase%20Rotation='
Mari\Project\Project%20Explorer\Shader%201=Ctrl+1
Mari\Painter\Set%20Colors%20to%20Black%20And%20White=D

EXTENDING MARI 361
Define Custom Shortcuts
Define Custom To create a Mari shortcut customization file:

Shortcuts 1. Copy the Mari default shortcuts file, DefaultShortcuts.conf, from the
following sub-directory of the Mari application directory:
• Media/Settings (on Linux),
2. Rename the file as a custom shortcuts file: Shortcuts.conf.
3. Edit the file, replacing the defaults with your custom shortcuts.
4. Save the file in the following sub-directory of your home directory:
TIP: If you set an illegal key combination in the Shortcuts.conf file, Mari
ignores the line. For example, the following lines would be ignored:
Mari\Tools\General\Select=Tab (you cannot use tab as part of a shortcut)
Mari\Tools\General\Transform%20Paint=Altw (needs a + between the
two characters).
If the same function key is assigned to more than one function, Mari
ignores both settings and uses the defaults. If a function is assigned to
more than one key combination, Mari uses the defaults.
Mari custom presets file.
Custom Channel- 2. Study the example default presets file.
Preset File
Format
XML File: Header, Channel preset files are XML files with a .mtd extension. Each file can hold
Details, Closing as many channels as you want, divided into categories. The files can have
any name you want, as long as they have the extension .mtd. Mari picks up
Blocks
the settings from all .mtd files present, so you can use multiple files. For
example, you could use one local .mtd file for the user's specific channel
presets and one on a network drive for the group's presets.
Each file must have a header block, one details block per channel, and a

EXTENDING MARI 362
Review the Custom Channel-Preset File Format
closing block. Below are examples of each type of block, with values you
need to change bolded and explained in a table below.
Header Block
This must be the first thing in the file.
<!DOCTYPE MariML>
<Mari Version="2" >
<MriSerializableObject Type="MriSerializableObject" >
<objectName Type="QString" ></objectName>
<selected Type="bool" >false</selected>
<m_Channels Size="1" Type="MriChannelInfo"
ContainerType="QVector">
You must set the following values:
Setting Meaning Example value

m_Channels Size Number of channels in this preset file. 1
Details Blocks
You need one details block for each channel. Separate the blocks with a
blank line.
<MriChannelInfo Type="MriChannelInfo" >

<channelName Type="QString" >My Custom Channel</
channelName>
<fileFormat Type="QString" ></fileFormat>
<path Type="QString" ></path>
<scalar Type="bool" >false</scalar>
<width Type="int" >4096</width>
<height Type="int" >4096</height>
<channels Type="QString" >RGB</channels>
<depth Type="QString" >Byte</depth>
<color Type="MriColor" >(0.5,0.5,0.5,1)</color>
<category Type="QString" >Custom</category>
</MriChannelInfo>

EXTENDING MARI 363
You must set the following values:
Setting Meaning Example value

channelName Name for the channel to create. My Custom Channel1
scalar Whether the channel is color or scalar. false
This is a Boolean; true means a scalar
channel, false means color.
width Width of patches in the channel. Must 4096
hatch the heightType.
height Height of patches in the channel. Must 4096
match the widthType.
channels The color channels for the new channel. RGB
Must be one of:
RGBA
RGB
1
2
depth Color depth for the channel. Must be Byte
one of:
Byte
Half
Float
color Default color for the new channel. This 0.5,0.5,0.5,1
is the color that Mari fills the channel
with when created.
This must be entered as a floating
value, with values from 0 to 1 for the
Red, Green, Blue and Alpha.
category The category for the channel. When the Custom
user selects this category in the Chan-
nel Presets dialog, this channel appears
in the list.
TIP: If the width and height are greater than a project's maximum
resolution, Mari creates the channel at the project's maximum resolution.

EXTENDING MARI 364
Closing Block
This must be the last thing in the file.
</m_Channels>
</MriSerializableObject>
</Mari>
Example: The default channel presets file is included in Mari in the Media/Settings
DefaultChannels.mtd directory (DefaultChannels.mtd). We recommend you create your custom
channels file by copying this and editing it, rather than starting from
scratch.
<!DOCTYPE MariML>
<Mari Version="2" >
<MriSerializableObject Type="MriSerializableObject" >
<m_Channels Size="23" Type="MriChannelInfo"
ContainerType="QVector" >

<channelName Type="QString" >color</channelName>
<category Type="QString" ></category>
</MriChannelInfo>

EXTENDING MARI 365

<channelName Type="QString" >specRough</channelName>
<scalar Type="bool" >true</scalar>
</MriChannelInfo>

<channelName Type="QString" >dispFine</channelName>
</MriChannelInfo>

EXTENDING MARI 366

<channelName Type="QString" >dispBroad</channelName>
</MriChannelInfo>

<channelName Type="QString" >dirt</channelName>
</MriChannelInfo>


EXTENDING MARI 367
Define Custom Channel Presets
<channelName Type="QString" >dirtMask</channelName>

<color Type="MriColor" >(1,1,1,1)</color>
</MriChannelInfo>
</m_Channels>
</MriSerializableObject>
</Mari>
Define Custom To create a Mari custom channel presets file:

Channel Presets 1. Copy the Mari default channel presets file, DefaultChannels.mtd, from
the following sub-directory of the Mari application directory:
• Media/Settings (on Linux),
2. Rename the file to something descriptive, but keep the .mtd extension.
3. Edit the file, replacing the key values.
This is also the directory specified on the Channels tab of the Mari Pref-
erences dialog box.

EXTENDING MARI 368
Review the Custom Channel Template File Format
Mari custom presets file.
Custom Channel 2. Study the example default channel template file.
Template File
Format
Text File: A default (DefaultTemplates.mtt) or custom (<filename>.mtt) channel

<name>="<format> templates file is a text file that starts with [Templates]] and then lists
channel templates and their file formats.
"
Each line is a channel template. The name is listed on the left, and the
format in quotes on the right. The format can include the following
variables, and on Linux they are preceded with the dollar sign ($) while on
Windows they're preceded with the percent sign (%):
Variable Description
Any of the user's envi- These are taken from the shell from which the user opened Mari.
ronment variables Note that PATH here has a specific meaning - it is not the user's
except PATH standard PATH.
PATH The project's root path, as set in the Root Path field of the Add
Multiple Channels dialog box. This overrides the normal PATH
variable from the user's original shell.
PREFIX The filename prefix, as set in the Prefix field of the Add Multiple
Channels dialog box.
CHANNEL Name of the individual channel.
UDIM Udim number for each individual patch.
Example File: On Linux:

DefaultTemplates.mt
[Templates]
t Default="$TEXTURE_HERO_DIR/tif/$SHOT/$CHANNEL/
$SHOT_$CHANNEL_$UDIM.tif"
On Windows:
[Templates]
Default="%TEXTURE_HERO_DIR/tif/%SHOT/%CHANNEL/
%SHOT_%CHANNEL_&UDIM.tif"

EXTENDING MARI 369
Define Custom Channel Templates
Define Custom To create a Mari custom channel templates file:

Channel 1. Copy the Mari default channel templates file, DefaultTemplates.mtt,
from the following sub-directory of the Mari application directory:
Templates • Media/Settings (on Linux),
2. Rename the file to something descriptive, but keep the .mtt extension.
3. Edit the file, replacing the key values.
This is also the directory specified on the Channels tab of the Mari Pref-
erences dialog box.
Choose an 1. Read through the following information on Mari environment variables

and how you can use them.
Environment 2. Select an environment variable you want to set.
Variable to Set

EXTENDING MARI 370
Environment Variables That Mari Recognizes
Environment This table lists the environment variables Mari recognizes.

Variables That
Environment variable Description Example value
Mari Recognizes MARI_CACHE The location(s) of the Mari cache On Linux:
files. This can be just one directory /user/[MyPath]/Mari-
or several (to make caching faster). Cache
You should separate multiple path
entries by a : (colon) on Linux and On Windows:
Mac, or a ; (semi-colon) on Windows. C:\[MyPath]\MariCache
Cache directories must be perma- On Mac:
nent directories and not temporary
/user/[MyPath]/Mari-
locations as they contain important
Cache
project file information.
If this variable is not set, Mari
prompts you where to store the
cache files when you first launch it.
Note that when you set this environ-
ment variable, Mari takes its value
and stores it in the CacheLoca-
tions.ini file (by default found in the
.config/TheFoundry sub-directory of
your home directory on Linux and
Mac, or the
.mari\TheFoundry sub-directory on
Windows). Be cautious of changing
this. The set of cache locations must
not be changed after project cre-
ation; doing so results in project
corruption. For more information
please read the chapter on Installa-
tion and Launch in the Getting
Started Guide.
MARI_DEFAULT_ARCHIVE_ The default path to load and save
PATH project archives.
MARI_DEFAULT_CAMERA_ The default path to load and save
PATH cameras and projectors.
MARI_DEFAULT_EXPORT_P The default path to export textures
ATH to.
MARI_DEFAULT_GEOMETR The default path to load geometry
Y_PATH from.
MARI_DEFAULT_IMAGE The default path to load and save
PATH reference images.
MARI_DEFAULT_IMPORT_P The default path to import textures
ATH from.
MARI_DEFAULT_RENDER_P The default path to save renders
ATH such as turntables.

EXTENDING MARI 371

MARI_DEFAULT_SHELF_PA The default path to load and save
TH shelf files.
MARI_LOG_FILE The name and location of the Mari On Linux:
log file. /user/Mari/MyLog.txt
If this variable is not set, the log is On Windows:
saved to:
C:\TEMP\MyLog.txt
• MariLog.txt in the /home/[User-
name]/Mari/Logs directory on On Mac:
Linux and Mac, or /user/Mari/MyLog.txt
• MariLog.txt in the C:\Users\[User-
name]\Documents\Mari\Logs
directory on Windows.
MARI_NAMEDFILEIMPORT The maximum number of patches 30
_SEQUENCELIMIT objects are allowed to have for the
Named Files tab to appear on the
Import Channel and Export Channel
dialogs.
By default, the Named Files tab does
not appear if you have more than 20
patches in your object, but you can
change this using the Patch Cutoff
preference.
You can use the Named Files tab to
import or export individual files
rather than a sequence of patches
with the udim number (1001, 1002,
etc.) in the file names.
MARI_SCRIPT_PATH A list of paths to run scripts from. ~/Mari/Scripts on Linux
and Mac, or
C:\Users\username\Docu-
ments\Mari\Scripts on
Windows
MARI_USER_PATH Root of the default user path. ~/Mari on Linux and Mac,
or
C:\Users\username\Docu-
ments\Mari on Windows.

EXTENDING MARI 372

MARI_WORKING_DIR The location of temporary Mari files, • MariLog.txt in the /
such as crash logs. home/[Username]/Mari/
If this variable is not set, the files Logs directory on Linux
are saved to the same path as the and Mac, or
log file. • MariLog.txt in the
C:\Users\[User-
name]\Docu-
ments\Mari\Logs
directory on Windows.
XDG_CONFIG_HOME The location of the directory where On Linux and Mac:
the Mari configuration files are /SharedDisk/Mari
stored.
If you're on Windows, you can't
change this directory, and the
Mari.ini file can only be stored in the
default location:
[drive letter]:\Users\[user]
\.mari\TheFoundry.
Image Importing You can set environment variables that Mari looks for when importing
images. You can call these variables anything, and as long as you precede
the variable name in the image import path with $ on Linux and Mac, or % on
Windows. Mari replaces that part of the path with the value of the
environment variable. For example:
On Linux and Mac, if the import path is $SHOW_BASE_DIR/Images/$SHOT,

$SHOW_BASE_DIR and $SHOT is replaced by the values of the environment
variables SHOW_BASE_DIR and SHOT.
On Windows, if the import path is %SHOW_BASE_DIR%/Images/%SHOT%,

%SHOW_BASE_DIR and %SHOT is replaced by the values of the environment
variables SHOW_BASE_DIR and SHOT.
Overriding Mari You can also use environment variables to override any setting in the Mari
Configuration File configuration file named Mari.conf (on Linux and Mac) or Mari.ini (on
Windows). This file contains all user settings that are not project specific.
By default, you can find it in the following sub-directory of your home
directory:

EXTENDING MARI 373
Set the Environment Variable
Here's a short example of what you may find the Mari configuration file:
[HUD]
Canvas_fps_hudVisibility=2
Canvas_triangleCount_hudVisibility=2
Project_currentObjectName_hudVisibility=2
Project_currentChannelName_hudVisibility=2
[Application]
ThreadCount=5
To override a setting in the Mari configuration file, you need to set an

environment variable of the format MARI_<Group>_<Name>. So, for
example, if you wanted to override the application thread count setting in
the above example file and set it to two rather than five, you could set
MARI_APPLICATION_THREADCOUNT to 2.
Set the
Environment
Variable
On Linux 1. The procedure for setting an environment variable depends on what

your default shell is. To get the name of the shell you are using, launch a
shell and enter echo $SHELL.
This returns the type of shell you are using.
2. Depending on the output of the previous step, do one of the following:
• If your shell is a csh or tcsh shell, add the following command to the
.cshrc or .tcshrc file in your home directory: setenv VARIABLE value.
Replace VARIABLE with the name of the environment variable and
value with the value you want to give it, for example:
setenv MARI_CACHE /User/Temp/Mari
• If your shell is a bash or ksh shell, add the following command to the
.bashrc or .kshrc file in your home directory: export VARIABLE=value.
Replace VARIABLE with the name of the environment variable and
value with the value you want to give it, for example:
export MARI_CACHE=/User/Temp/Mari

EXTENDING MARI 374
Set the Environment Variable
For a list of the environment variables that Mari understands, see Envi-
ronment Variables That Mari Recognizes.
On Windows 1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.

2. In the System window click on Advanced system settings in the left
pane.
3. Go to the Advanced tab.
4. Click the Environment Variables button.
The Environment Variables dialog opens.
5. Click the New button under either User variables or System variables,
depending on whether you want to set the variable for the current user
or all users. To set environment variables for all users, you need to have
administrator privileges.
6. In the Variable name field, enter the name of the environment variable
you want to set. For a list of the environment variables Mari
understands, see Environment Variables That Mari Recognizes.
7. In the Variable value field, enter the value for the variable. The value can
be a directory path, for example.
8. Click OK.
On Mac 1. The procedure for setting an environment variable depends on what

your default terminal is. To get the name of the terminal type you are
using, launch the terminal and enter echo $SHELL.
This returns the type of terminal you are using.
2. Depending on the output of the previous step, do one of the following:
• If your terminal is a csh or tcsh terminal, add the following command
to the .cshrc or .tcshrc file in your home directory: setenv VARIABLE
value. Replace VARIABLE with the name of the environment variable
and value with the value you want to give it, for example:
setenv MARI_CACHE /User/Temp/Mari
• If your terminal is a bash or ksh terminal, add the following command
to the .bashrc or .kshrc file in your home directory: export VARI-
ABLE=value. Replace VARIABLE with the name of the environment vari-
able and value with the value you want to give it, for example:
export MARI_CACHE=/User/Temp/Mari
For a list of the environment variables that Mari understands, see
Environment Variables That Mari Recognizes.

EXTENDING MARI 375
Check That the Variable Now Exists
Check That the

Variable Now
Exists
On Linux 1. Launch a shell, if you don't have one open already.

2. Enter echo $VARIABLE. Replace VARIABLE with the name of the
environment variable you set earlier. For example, to check if
MARI_CACHE is set, enter echo $MARI_CACHE.
If the variable is set, its value is displayed in the shell window.
On Windows 1. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.
2. In the command window that opens, enter echo %VARIABLE%. Replace
VARIABLE with the name of the environment variable you set earlier. For
example, to check if MARI_CACHE is set, enter echo %MARI_CACHE%.
If the variable is set, its value is displayed in the command window.
On Mac 1. Launch a terminal, if you don't have one open already.

2. Enter echo $VARIABLE. Replace VARIABLE with the name of the
environment variable you set earlier. For example, to check if
MARI_CACHE is set, enter echo $MARI_CACHE.
If the variable is set, its value is displayed in the terminal window.

APPENDIX A: SHORTCUTS
Keyboard
Shortcuts
Keyboard Shortcuts
Painting Selection
Bake B Quick Copy Ctrl/Cmd+C
Bake and Clear Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+B Quick Paste Ctrl/Cmd+V
Undo Ctrl/Cmd+Z Select S
Redo Ctrl/Cmd+Y Select All Ctrl/Cmd+A
Toggle Painting . Select None Ctrl/Cmd+E
Paint P Hide Selected H
Paint Through U Hide Unselected Shift+H
Eraser E Show All Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+H
Toggle Mask Preview , Clear Marquee Selection Ctrl/Cmd+D
Toggle Edge Mask G Invert Ctrl/Cmd+I
Toggle Masking Ctrl/Cmd+M
Color Picker Menu J
Shelf Menu K
Image Manager Menu L
Pie Menu F9
Zoom Paint Buffer Z
Clear Paint Buffer Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+C
Next Blend Mode Shift+ )
Previous Blend Mode Shift+ (
Last Blend Mode Ctrl/Cmd+9
Reset Blend Mode Ctrl/Cmd+0
Clear Blend Mode Shift+Backspace
APPENDIX A: SHORTCUTS 377
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard Shortcuts
Brush Tools
Adjust Radius R Transform M
Rotation W Mouse Gestures \
Squish Q Hide/Show Widgets /
Toggle Brushes N Color Picker and Pixel Analyzer C
Adjust Opacity O Toggle Vector Inspector Shift+I
Increase/Decrease Aspect Ratio 0/9 Modify Vector Inspector V
Increase/Decrease Opacity [/]
Increase/Decrease Radius =/-
Increase/Decrease Rotation ’/;
Keyboard Shortcuts
Camera View
Focus on Cursor Position F Go to Next Tab Ctrl/Cmd+Tab
Camera View Presets 1,2,3,4,5,6 Go to Previous Tab Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Back Tab
Focus on Selection A Full Screen Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F
View All Shift+A Previous View Ctrl/Cmd+ ,
Ortho Camera F10 Next View Ctrl/Cmd+ .
Perspective Camera F11 Show Console Alt+Ctrl/Cmd+P
UV Camera F12 Toggle Cursor Type F5
Keyboard Shortcuts
Animation Project
Move Forward One Frame Ctrl/Cmd+Right New Ctrl/Cmd+N
Move Backward One frame Ctrl/Cmd+Left Save Ctrl/Cmd+S
Fast Forward Ctrl/Cmd+Up Close Ctrl/Cmd+W
Rewind Ctrl/Cmd+Down

Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard Shortcuts
Add keyframe Ctrl/Cmd+K
Scrub Animation Shift+?
Keyboard Shortcuts
General Channels
Quit Ctrl/Cmd+Q Channel Menu I
Toggle Palettes Home Bake on New Layer Ctrl/Cmd+B
Toggle Tool Properties Palette F7 Duplicate Alt+drag and drop
Toggle Brush Editor Palette F8
Toggle Wireframe View Shift+W
Take Screenshot Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Print
Keyboard Shortcuts
Lighting Color
Flat F1 Swap Foreground and X
Background
Basic F2 Set to Black & White D
Full F3
Keyboard Shortcuts
Navigation UV View Presets
Orbit Alt+Left button Reset Model to Default 1
Pan Alt+Shift+Left button Rotate 90 degrees counter- 2
or Alt+Middle button clockwise
Roll Ctrl/Cmd+R+Left button Rotate 180 degrees counter- 3

clockwise
Zoom Alt+Ctrl/Cmd+Left button Rotate 270 degrees counter- 4
or Alt+Right button clockwise

Mouse Gestures
Mouse Gestures
Mouse gestures
Hold down \ and draw...
Undo Redo
Clear Painting Bake
Previous Channel Next Channel
Toggle Last 2 Channels Paint Tool
Paint Through Tool Selection Tool
Erase Tool Show Palettes
Increase Brush Radius Decrease Brush Radius
Hide Unselected Hide Selected
Show All View All
Toggle Brush Tip

APPENDIX B: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions

This appendix lists some of the most common questions about Mari. If your question isn't answered here,
review the documentation and the release notes or contact The Foundry customer support for help.
I can’t see or bake what I've painted.

There can be several reasons for this:
• Paint Opacity has been set to 0 in the Projection palette.
• A mask is preventing paint from appearing. Check if any of the masks are enabled in the Projection
palette.
• Project On has been set to SelectedOnly in the Projection palette, but you haven't selected any objects,
patches, or faces. Either select the areas where you want paint to appear or set Project On to All.
• The paint is on objects, patches or faces that have been locked. To unlock them, click Selection >
Unlock Selected, Unlock All, or Unlock Entire Object.
• The paint blending mode (Painting Mode in the Projection palette) has been set to a mode that does
nothing to your textures. For example, if your texture is white, the paint is red and Painting Mode has
been set to Hue, the paint is not visible.
• Brush Opacity has been set to 0 in the Brush Editor palette.
• Brush Flow has been set to 0 in the Brush Editor palette.
• The paint buffer has been moved off the screen. To reset the buffer to its defaults, click Reset under
Paint Buffer in the Painting palette.
My object has disappeared from the canvas.

The object may have been moved off the screen. Try pressing A or F to bring it back.
Mari’s bake behavior seems strange.

In the Projection palette, you can set whether Mari bakes automatically when you change the view, and
whether the buffer clears automatically once you bake. Set Bake Behavior to:
• AutoBakeAndClear – Mari automatically bakes and clears the buffer when you move the model.
• Manual – You have to bake manually; and when you do, the paint stays in the paint buffer until you
manually clear it.
• ClearOnly – You have to bake manually; and when you do, the paint buffer clears automatically.
Mari seems slow when using the Clone Stamp tool.

When cloning from a particular channel, the Clone Stamp tool takes a “snapshot” of that channel as it
appears on the screen and uses that as the source. As a result, the resolution of the cloned texture can
APPENDIX B: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 381
depend on the current display resolution within Mari. Higher display resolutions produce better cloning
results, but can dramatically slow Mari's performance.
Increasing the Paint Buffer Size or Virtual Texture Size can affect Mari’s performance.
Increasing the Buffer Size or the Virtual Texture Size, even when your graphics card supports large
textures, can slow Mari’s performance. Adjust the Buffer Size under Paint Buffer in the Painting palette,
and the Virtual Texture Size in the Mari Preferences dialog under Data > Graphics Card.
Displacement preview performance seems slow.

If you have allocated a channel to be used in a Displacement shader component, the Virtual Texture Type
under Edit > Preferences > GPU > Virtual Texture, should be set to at least Half for more precise
displacement. In addition, the channel containing the displacement map should be set to at least 16-bit.
Please note that using values higher than these may reduce preview performance.
Mari keeps highlighting anything I've selected with a selection color. How can I turn this
off?
You can configure the way Mari highlights selected areas. Right-click on the canvas and select Display
Properties. Under Selection, adjust Fill Render and Outline Render.
I can’t find a Save As option.

Mari currently has no Save As functionality. You can, however, duplicate your project by right-clicking on it
in the Projects view and selecting Copy.
If you want to pass your project on to another user, you can also select the project in the Projects view
and click Archive. This creates an archive (a .mra file) that contains your project and all the textures and
models associated with it.
If you use . (full stop) to separate parts of the file name (for example, "test.file"), Mari does not add the file
extension .mra automatically. This allows you to use a different extension if desired. However, in most
cases you most likely want to add the .mra extension to ensure the file is clear.
I want to bake what I’ve painted, but I can’t find the bake button.
The bake button sits at the bottom right of the workspace. It only appears when you have unbaked paint in
the paint buffer.
You can also press B to bake.
Clicking on another application caused the floating palettes in Mari to disappear.

This is not a problem in Mari but caused by your Linux window behavior settings. To fix this on KDE 4, for
example, you can:
1. Go to Settings > System Settings > Window Behavior > Advanced.

2. Uncheck Hide utility windows for inactive applications.
I am having problems with my wacom tablet.

We have found that these links have been useful in solving the problems for some of our users:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wacom
http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/
On Linux, pressing the Ctrl/Cmd, Alt, or (Windows) shortcut key doesn’t do what it
should. Instead, it does something else, like moves the entire Mari window.
This is usually not a problem in Mari but caused by your Linux window manager, which is using one of
these keys as a global shortcut. Depending on your window manager, you may be able to block the global
shortcut, or at least select which of the three keys is used as the global shortcut. For example, if the Mari
shortcuts you often use require you to press the Alt key, you can set the global shortcut to be the
Windows key instead. This way, the Mari shortcuts that don't work are limited to those that require the
Windows key.
To block the global shortcut on a per-application basis (that is, for Mari only) on KDE 4, for example, you
can:
1. Right-click on the Mari title bar and select Advanced > Special Window Settings. This may open an
information dialog where you need to click OK.
2. Go to the Window tab.
3. Click the Detect Window Properties button and then click on the Mari window.
4. Make sure that Use whole window class and Match also window title are checked and click OK.
5. Go to the Workarounds tab.
6. Check Block global shortcuts, select Force from the dropdown menu, and enable the checkbox on the
right. Click OK.
To select which key is used as the global shortcut, again on KDE 4, you can:
1. Go to Settings > System Settings > Window Behavior > Window Actions.
2. Under Inner Window, set Modifier to the shortcut key you need the least in Mari or other applications
you use (for example, the Windows key).
This allows you to use the other two keys (in this case, Ctrl/Cmd and Alt) in Mari.
On Windows, pressing the Windows shortcut key should open the Start menu. This
doesn’t happen when Mari has focus. Why is that?
This is because the Windows key is a shortcut key in Mari. Whenever Mari has focus, the Windows key is
reserved for Mari, so that you can use all the Mari shortcuts.
If you need to access the Start menu, you can either click it manually or move focus to another application
and then press the Windows key.

Pressing the Alt Gr key does not trigger the same shortcuts as the Alt key. Why is that?
The Alt Gr key is defined differently on the Windows and Linux operating systems. Due to this, Mari cannot
determine what the Alt Gr key is intended to be linked to. If a shortcut lists the Alt key as part of the
controls, this does not include Alt Gr as an alternative. For this reason, it is advisable to avoid using the
Alt Gr key in your custom shortcuts.
On Windows, I’ve removed a drive from Mari’s file browser bookmarks. How do I get it
back? Is it possible to delete a drive from the bookmarks permanently?
All logical drives that Windows can see are automatically added to Mari’s file browser bookmarks when you
start Mari. You can remove these while Mari is running, but the only way to get them to reappear is to
relaunch Mari. At present, you can’t delete a drive from the bookmarks permanently - it always reappears
when you relaunch Mari.
Mari also automatically adds mapped network drives to its bookmarks. You should not disconnect a
network drive while Mari is running and then attempt to reference files from that drive in Mari, as that may
result in undefined behavior.

APPENDIX C: THIRD PARTY LICENSES
Third Party Licenses

This appendix lists third party libraries used in Mari, along with their licenses.
Library Description Licence

argparse Parser for command- Copyright 2008 Larry Gritz and the other authors and contributors. All Rights
line options, argu- Reserved. Based on BSD-licensed software Copyright 2004 NVIDIA Corp.
ments and sub-com-
mands
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are
permitted provided that the following conditions are met: * Redistributions of source
code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
disclaimer. * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/
or other materials provided with the distribution. * Neither the name of the soft-
ware’s owners nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS
SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS”
AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CON-
TRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEM-
PLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY
OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFT-
WARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
(This is the Modified BSD License)

Autodesk FBX File Format Support This software contains Autodesk® FBX® code developed by Autodesk, Inc. Copy-
right 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights, reserved. Such code is provided “as is” and
Autodesk, Inc. disclaims any and all warranties, whether express or implied, including
without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular
purpose or non-infringement of third party rights. In no event shall Autodesk, Inc. be
liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential dam-
ages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss
of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory
of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or other-
wise) arising in any way out of such code.
APPENDIX C: THIRD PARTY LICENSES 385

Curl 7.21.1 URL transfer library Copyright (c) 1996 - 2010, Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>.
All rights reserved.
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose with or
without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this
permission notice appear in all copies.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT-
ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD
PARTY RIGHTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Except as contained in this notice, the name of a copyright holder shall not be used
in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Soft-
ware without prior written authorization of the copyright holder.
EdenCGL Object file loader Copyright (c) 2001-2008, Philip Lamb, phil@eden.net.nz.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this
file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-
2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under
the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDI-
TIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
under the License.
Expat XML parser Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd and Clark
Cooper
Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Expat maintainers.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Soft-
ware without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify,
merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to per-
mit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies
or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO
EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR
THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


FBO Frame buffer object Copyright (c) 2005,
library Aaron Lefohn (lefohn@cs.ucdavis.edu)
Adam Moerschell (atmoerschell@ucdavis.edu)
This software is licensed under the BSD open-source license. See http://www.open-
source.org/licenses/bsd-license.php for more detail.
permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of
conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of
conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of the University of Californa, Davis nor the names of the contrib-
utors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software with-
out specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTIC-
ULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
FreeType Font support Portions of this software are copyright © 2008 The FreeType Project
(www.freetype.org). All rights reserved.


GLEW OpenGL support The OpenGL Extension Wrangler Library Copyright © 2002-2008, Milan Ikits <milan
ikits@ieee.org>
Copyright © 2002-2008, Marcelo E. Magallon <mmagallo@debian.org>
Copyright © 2002, Lev Povalahev All rights reserved.
• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other
materials provided with the distribution.
• The name of the author may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.
“AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
GLib 2.24.0 Core application build- GObject - GLib Type, Object, Parameter and Signal Library
ing blocks for applica- Copyright (C) 2000-2001 Red Hat, Inc.
tions written in C;
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms
used under LGPL v2 of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Founda-
tion; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WAR-
RANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with
this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place,
Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
To see the GNU Lesser General Public License, go to http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ or
/Media/Help/CopyrightNotices in the Mari application directory.


GLSL Cellular 2D and 3D Cellular Copyright (c) 2011 by Stefan Gustavson <stefan.gustavson@liu.se>
Noise Noise Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Soft-
conditions:
GLSL Perlin Noise Perlin noise library 2D, 3D and 4D Perlin noise, classic and simplex, in a GLSL fragment shader.
Classic noise is implemented by the functions:
• float noise(vec2 P)
Simplex noise is implemented by the functions:
• float snoise(vec2 P)
Author: Stefan Gustavson ITN-LiTH (stegu@itn.liu.se) 2004-12-05
You may use, modify and redistribute this code free of charge, provided that my
name and this notice appears intact.


GLSL Classical Perlin and Simplex Copyright (C) 2011 by Ashima Arts (Simplex noise)
(Perlin) and Sim- noise library Copyright (C) 2011 by Stefan Gustavson (Classic noise)
plex Noise
software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Soft-
conditions:
GTS Triangulated surface This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms
library of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Founda-
tion; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
IJG JPEG File format support This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
libnoise Perlin noise library Copyright (C) 2003, 2004 Jason Bevins
of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Founda-
tion; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License (COPYING.txt) for
more details.
Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
The developer's email is jlbezigvins@gmzigail.com (for great email, take off every
'zig'.)


Little CMS Color Management Sys- Copyright (c) 1998-2010 Marti Maria Saguer
tem
conditions:
MD5 MD5 Algorithm Copyright (C) 1999, 2002 Aladdin Enterprises. All rights reserved.
This software is provided ‘as-is’, without any express or implied warranty. In no

event will the authors be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this
software.
Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including
commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to the fol-
lowing restrictions:
The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that you
wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowledg-
ment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrepre-
sented as being the original software.
This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
L. Peter Deutsch ghost@aladdin.com


Mouse Gesture Mouse Gesture Recog- Copyright (C) 2006 Johan Thelin <e8johan@gmail.com>
Package nition Package All rights reserved.
• The names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
MSIntTypes r20 C++ Standards compli- ISO C9x compliant stdint.h for Microsoft Visual Studio
ant stdint.h and Based on ISO/IEC 9899:TC2 Committee draft (May 6, 2005) WG14/N1124
inttypes.h for Micro-
soft Visual Studio Copyright (c) 2006 Alexander Chemeris
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materi-
als provided with the distribution.
3. The name of the author may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR `ÀS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRAN-
TIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DIS-
CLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS
OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR
TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE
USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


OpenColorIO OpenColorIO library Copyright (c) 2003-2010 Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc., et al. All Rights Reserved.
Neither the name of Sony Pictures Imageworks nor the names of its contributors may
be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific
prior written permission.


OpenCV 2.0.0 Open Source Computer IMPORTANT: READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING, COPYING, INSTALLING OR USING.
Vision library By downloading, copying, installing or using the software you agree to this license.
If you do not agree to this license, do not download, install, copy or use the soft-
ware.
License Agreement
For Open Source Computer Vision Library
Copyright (C) 2000-2008, Intel Corporation, all rights reserved.
Copyright (C) 2008-2009, Willow Garage Inc., all rights reserved.
Third party copyrights are property of their respective owners.
• The name of the copyright holders may not be used to endorse or promote prod-
ucts derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors "as is" and any
express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no event shall
the Intel Corporation or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental,
special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procure-
ment of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business inter-
ruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict
liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use
of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.


OpenEXR File format support Copyright © 2002, Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC All
rights reserved.
• Neither the name of Industrial Light & Magic nor the names of its contributors
may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without
specific prior written permission.


OpenImageIO 0.9 A library for reading OpenImageIO and all code, documentation, and other materials contained therein
and writing images are:
Copyright 2008 Larry Gritz and the other authors and contributors. All Rights
Reserved.
• Neither the name of the software's owners nor the names of its contributors may
be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without spe-
cific prior written permission.
(This is the Modified BSD License.)


OpenSSL 1.0.0a A toolkit implementing The OpenSSL toolkit stays under a dual license, i.e. both the conditions of the
the Secure Sockets OpenSSL License and the original SSLeay license apply to the toolkit. See below for
Layer (SSL v2/v3) and the actual license texts. Actually both licenses are BSD-style Open Source licenses.
Transport Layer Secu- In case of any license issues related to OpenSSL please contact
rity (TLS v1) protocols openssl-core@openssl.org.
as well as a full- OpenSSL License
strength general pur-
pose cryptography Copyright (c) 1998-2008 The OpenSSL Project. All rights reserved.
library Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of
also provided with the distribution.
3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display
the following acknowledgment:
"This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the
OpenSSL Toolkit. (http://www.openssl.org/)"
4. The names "OpenSSL Toolkit" and "OpenSSL Project" must not be used to endorse
or promote products derived from this software without prior written permission.
For written permission, please contact openssl-core@openssl.org.
5. Products derived from this software may not be called "OpenSSL" nor may
"OpenSSL" appear in their names without prior written permission of the OpenSSL
Project.
6. Redistributions of any form whatsoever must retain the following acknowledg-
ment:
"This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the
OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)"
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE OpenSSL PROJECT `ÀS IS'' AND ANY
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE OpenSSL PROJECT OR ITS
This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young (eay@crypt-
soft.com). This product includes software written by Tim Hudson
(tjh@cryptsoft.com).


Original SSLeay License
Copyright (C) 1995-1998 Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com)
This package is an SSL implementation written by Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com).
The implementation was written so as to conform with Netscapes SSL.
This library is free for commercial and non-commercial use as long as the following
conditions are aheared to. The following conditions apply to all code found in this
distribution, be it the RC4, RSA, lhash, DES, etc., code; not just the SSL code. The SSL
documentation included with this distribution is covered by the same copyright
terms except that the holder is Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com).
Copyright remains Eric Young's, and as such any Copyright notices in the code are
not to be removed.
If this package is used in a product, Eric Young should be given attribution as the
author of the parts of the library used.
This can be in the form of a textual message at program startup or in documentation
(online or textual) provided with the package.
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the copyright notice, this list of condi-
tions and the following disclaimer.
als provided with the distribution.
3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display
the following acknowledgement:
"This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young (eay@crypt-
soft.com)"
The word 'cryptographic' can be left out if the routines from the library being used
are not cryptographic related.
4. If you include any Windows specific code (or a derivative thereof) from the apps
directory (application code) you must include an acknowledgement:
"This product includes software written by Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com)"
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY ERIC YOUNG `ÀS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRAN-
TIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DIS-
CLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAM-
AGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSI-
BILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


The licence and distribution terms for any publically available version or derivative of
this code cannot be changed. i.e. this code cannot simply be copied and put under
another distribution licence [including the GNU Public Licence.]
PSD PSD file support. Based PSD file support includes Disney technology licensed from Walt Disney Animation
on Disney software. Studios.
Ptex Ptex library Copyright 2009 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
The names “Disney”, “Walt Disney Pictures”, “Walt Disney Animation Studios” or the
names of its contributors may NOT be used to endorse or promote products derived
from this software without specific prior written permission from Walt Disney Pic-
tures.
Disclaimer: THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND CON-
TRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT
NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT AND TITLE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO
EVENT SHALL WALT DISNEY PICTURES, THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBU-
TORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND BASED ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Python 2.6.5 Source code language Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Python Software Foundation; All Rights Reserved


PythonQt Python/Qt bindings Copyright (C) 2010 MeVis Medical Solutions AG All Rights Reserved.
of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Founda-
tion; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
Further, this software is distributed without any warranty that it is free of the right-
ful claim of any third person regarding infringement or the like. Any license provided
herein, whether implied or otherwise, applies only to this software file. Patent
licenses, if any, provided herein do not apply to combinations of this program with
other software, or any other product whatsoever.
Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
Contact information: MeVis Medical Solutions AG, Universitaetsallee 29,28359 Bre-
men, Germany or: http://www.mevis.de
Pystring Pystring library Copyright (c) 2008-2010, Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc All rights reserved.
conditions and the following disclaimer. Redistributions in binary form must repro-
duce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. Neither
the name of the organization Sony Pictures Imageworks nor the names of its con-
tributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE
COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN
NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAM-
AGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSI-
BILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


Qt Application and UI The Qt GUI Toolkit is Copyright (C) 2009 Nokia Corporation and/or its
framework subsidiary(-ies).
Contact: Qt Software Information (qt-info@nokia.com)
Qt is available under the LGPL.
Nokia Qt LGPL Exception version 1.0:
As a special exception to the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1, the
object code form of a "work that uses the Library" may incorporate material from a
header file that is part of the Library. You may distribute such object code under
terms of your choice, provided that the incorporated material (i) does not exceed
more than 5% of the total size of the Library; and (ii) is limited to numerical parame-
ters, data structure layouts, accessors, macros, inline functions and templates.


QtSingleApplica- A QtSolutions archive Copyright (c) 2009 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
tion component which pro- All rights reserved.
vides support for appli-
cations that can be Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com)
only started once per This file is part of a Qt Solutions component.
user; used under LGPL
Commercial Usage
Licensees holding valid Qt Commercial licenses may use this file in accordance with
the Qt Solutions Commercial License Agreement provided with the Software or,
alternatively, in accordance with the terms contained in a written agreement
between you and Nokia.
GNU Lesser General Public License Usage
Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License version 2.1 as published by the Free Software Foundation and appearing in
the file LICENSE.LGPL included in the packaging of this file. Please review the follow-
ing information to ensure the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 require-
ments will be met: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html.
In addition, as a special exception, Nokia gives you certain additional rights. These
rights are described in the Nokia Qt LGPL Exception version 1.1, included in the file
LGPL_EXCEPTION.txt in this package.
GNU General Public License Usage
Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU General Public
License version 3.0 as published by the Free Software Foundation and appearing in
the file LICENSE.GPL included in the packaging of this file. Please review the follow-
ing information to ensure the GNU General Public License version 3.0 requirements
will be met: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.
Please note Third Party Software included with Qt Solutions may impose additional
restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to ensure that they have met the
licensing requirements of the GPL, LGPL, or Qt Solutions Commercial license and the
relevant license of the Third Party Software they are using.
If you are unsure which license is appropriate for your use, please contact Nokia at
qt-info@nokia.com.
QuaZip Qt zip wrapper Copyright (C) 2005 Sergey A. Tachenov
Released under the GNU Lesser General Public License.
Qwt Qt widgets for techni- Mari is based in part on the work of the Qwt project (http://qwt.sf.net).
cal applications


SGI virtual track- Virtual trackball for (c) Copyright 1993, 1994, Silicon Graphics, Inc.
ball interacting with 3D ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
objects
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose and
without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all
copies and that both the copyright notice and this permission notice appear in sup-
porting documentation, and that the name of Silicon Graphics, Inc. not be used in
advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific,
written prior permission.
THE MATERIAL EMBODIED ON THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS" AND
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING
WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL SILICON GRAPHICS, INC. BE LIABLE TO
YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CON-
SEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING
WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF USE, SAVINGS OR REVENUE, OR
THE CLAIMS OF THIRD PARTIES, WHETHER OR NOT SILICON GRAPHICS, INC. HAS
BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE POS-
SESSION, USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
US Government Users Restricted Rights
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions set forth
in FAR 52.227.19(c)(2) or subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and
Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 and/or in similar or successor
clauses in the FAR or the DOD or NASA FAR Supplement. Unpublished-- rights
reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. Contractor/manufacturer is
Silicon Graphics, Inc., 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94039-7311.
OpenGL(TM) is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.
============
Trackball code:
Implementation of a virtual trackball.
Implemented by Gavin Bell, lots of ideas from Thant Tessman and the August '88
issue of Siggraph's "Computer Graphics," pp. 121-129.
Vector manip code:
Original code from: David M. Ciemiewicz, Mark Grossman, Henry Moreton, and Paul
Haeberli
Much mucking with by: Gavin Bell


Skein-Hash Hashing library Source code author: Doug Whiting, 2008.
This algorithm and source code is released to the public domain.
Copyright (c) 2003, Dr Brian Gladman, Worcester, UK. All rights reserved.
LICENSE TERMS
The free distribution and use of this software in both source and binary form is
allowed (with or without changes) provided that:
1. distributions of this source code include the above copyright notice, this list of
conditions and the following disclaimer;
2. distributions in binary form include the above copyright notice, this list of condi-
tions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other associated
materials;
3. the copyright holder's name is not used to endorse products built using this soft-
ware without specific written permission.
ALTERNATIVELY, provided that this notice is retained in full, this product may be
distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), in which case
the provisions of the GPL apply INSTEAD OF those given above.
DISCLAIMER
This software is provided 'as is' with no explicit or implied warranties in respect of
its properties, including, but not limited to, correctness and/or fitness for purpose.
TinyXML TinyXML library This software is provided ‘as-is’, without any express or implied warranty. In no
software.
1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that
you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowl-
edgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrep-
resented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.


Tri Stripper Geometry optimisation Copyright (C) 2004 Tanguy Fautrv©.
library This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no
software.
1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that
you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowl-
edgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrep-
resented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
Tanguy Fautrv©
softdev@telenet.be
yaml-cpp YAML parser and emit- Copyright (c) 2008 Jesse Beder.
ter for C++
conditions:

APPENDIX D: END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
End User Licencing Agreement (EULA)

IMPORTANT: BY INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS
AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DO
NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT DO NOT INSTALL, COPY OR USE THE SOFTWARE.
This END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (this "Agreement") is made by and between The Foundry
Visionmongers Ltd., a company registered in England and Wales, ("The Foundry"), and you, as either an
individual or a single entity ("Licensee").
In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration
(the receipt and sufficiency of which is acknowledged by each party hereto) the parties agree as follows:
SECTION 1. GRANT OF LICENSE.

Subject to the limitations of Section 2, The Foundry hereby grants to Licensee a limited, non-transferable
and non-exclusive license to install and use a machine readable, object code version of this software
program (the "Software") and accompanying user guide and other documentation (collectively, the
"Documentation") solely for Licensee's own internal business purposes (collectively, the "License");
provided, however, Licensee's right to install and use the Software and the Documentation is limited to
those rights expressly set out in this Agreement.
SECTION 2. RESTRICTIONS ON USE.

Licensee is authorized to use the Software in machine readable, object code form only, and Licensee shall
not: (a) assign, sublicense, sell, distribute, transfer, pledge, lease, rent, share or export the Software, the
Documentation or Licensee's rights hereunder; (b) alter or circumvent the copy protection mechanisms in
the Software or reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source
code of the Software; (c) modify, adapt, translate or create derivative works based on the Software or
Documentation; (d) use, or allow the use of, the Software or Documentation on any project other than a
project produced by Licensee (an "Authorized Project"); (e) allow or permit anyone (other than Licensee and
Licensee's authorized employees to the extent they are working on an Authorized Project) to use or have
access to the Software or Documentation; (f) copy or install the Software or Documentation other than as
expressly provided for herein; or (g) take any action, or fail to take action, that could adversely affect the
trademarks, service marks, patents, trade secrets, copyrights or other intellectual property rights of The
Foundry or any third party with intellectual property rights in the Software (each, a "Third Party Licensor").
Furthermore, for purposes of this Section 2, the term "Software" shall include any derivatives of the
Software.
Licensee shall install and use only a single copy of the Software on one computer, unless the Software is
APPENDIX D: END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT 406
installed in a "floating license" environment, in which case Licensee may install the Software on more than
one computer; provided, however, Licensee shall not at any one time use more copies of the Software than
the total number of valid Software licenses purchased by Licensee.
Please note that in order to guard against unlicensed use of the Software a licence key is required to
access and enable the Software. The issuing of replacement or substituted licence keys if the Software is
moved from one computer to another is subject to and strictly in accordance with The Foundry's Licence
Transfer Policy, which is available on The Foundry's website and which requires a fee to be paid in certain
circumstances. The Foundry may from time to time and at its sole discretion vary the terms and conditions
of the Licence Transfer Policy.
Furthermore, if the Software can be licensed on an "interactive" or "non-interactive" basis, licensee shall be
authorized to use a non-interactive version of the Software for rendering purposes only (i.e., on a CPU,
without a user, in a non-interactive capacity) and shall not use such Software on workstations or
otherwise in a user-interactive capacity. Licensee shall be authorized to use an interactive version of the
Software for both interactive and non-interactive rendering purposes, if available.
If Licensee has purchased the Software on the discount terms offered by The Foundry's Educational Policy
published on its website (“the Educational Policy”), Licensee warrants and represents to The Foundry as a
condition of this Agreement that: (a) (if Licensee is an individual) he or she is a part-time or full-time
student at the time of purchase and will not use the Software for commercial, professional or for-profit
purposes; (b) (if the Licensee is not an individual) it is an organisation that will use it only for the purpose
of training and instruction, and for no other purpose (c) Licensee will at all times comply with the
Educational Policy (as such policy may be amended from time to time).
Finally, if the Software is a "Personal Learning Edition," (“PLE”) Licensee may use it only for the purpose of
personal or internal training and instruction, and for no other purpose. PLE versions of the Software may
not be used for commercial, professional or for-profit purposes including, for the avoidance of doubt, the
purpose of providing training or instruction to third parties.
SECTION 3. SOURCE CODE.

Notwithstanding that Section 1 defines “Software” as an object code version and that Section 2 provides
that Licensee may use the Software in object code form only:
(1) The Foundry may also agree to license to Licensee (including by way of upgrades, updates or
enhancements) source code or elements of the source code of the Software the intellectual property rights
in which belong either to The Foundry or to a Third Party Licensor (“Source Code”). If The Foundry does so
Licensee shall be licensed to use the Source Code as Software on the terms of this Agreement and: (a)
notwithstanding Section 2 (c) Licensee may use the Source Code at its own risk in any reasonable way for
the limited purpose of enhancing its use of the Software solely for its own internal business purposes and
in all respects in accordance with this Agreement; (b) Licensee shall in respect of the Source Code comply
strictly with all other restrictions applying to its use of the Software under this Agreement as well as any
other restriction or instruction that is communicated to it by The Foundry at any time during this
Agreement (whether imposed or requested by The Foundry or by any Third Party Licensor); and
Mari 2.5v2
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(2) To the extent that the Software links to any open source software libraries (“OSS Libraries) that are
provided to Licensee with the Software, nothing in this Agreement shall affect Licensee's rights under the
licenses on which the relevant Third Party Licensor has licensed the OSS Libraries, as stated in the
Software documentation. To the extent that Third Party Licensors have licensed OSS Libraries on the terms
of v2.1 of the Lesser General Public License issued by the Free Software Foundation (see http://
www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html) (the “LGPL”), those OSS Libraries are licensed to Licensee on the
terms of the LGPL and are referred to in this Section 3(2) as the LGPL Libraries. The Foundry will at any
time during the three year period starting on the date of this Agreement, at the request of Licensee and
subject to Licensee paying to The Foundry a charge that does not exceed The Foundry's costs of doing so,
provide Licensee with the source code of the LGPL Libraries (“the LGPL Source”) in order that Licensee may
modify the LGPL Libraries in accordance with the LGPL, together with certain object code of the Software
necessary to enable Licensee to re-link any modified LGPL Library to the Software (“the Object””).
Notwithstanding any other term of this Agreement The Foundry shall have no obligation to provide
support, maintenance, upgrades or updates of or in respect of any of the Source Code, the OSS Libraries
(including the LGPL Libraries), the LGPL Source, the Object or any Modification. Licensee shall indemnify
The Foundry against all liabilities and expenses (including reasonable legal costs) incurred by The Foundry
in relation to any claim asserting that any Modification infringes the intellectual property rights of any
third party.
SECTION 4. BACK-UP COPY.

Notwithstanding Section 2, Licensee may store one copy of the Software and Documentation off-line and
off-site in a secured location owned or leased by Licensee in order to provide a back-up in the event of
destruction by fire, flood, acts of war, acts of nature, vandalism or other incident. In no event may
Licensee use the back-up copy of the Software or Documentation to circumvent the usage or other
limitations set forth in this Agreement.
SECTION 5. OWNERSHIP.
Licensee acknowledges that the Software (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Source Code that is
licensed to Licensee) and Documentation and all intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights
relating thereto are and shall remain the sole property of The Foundry and the Third Party Licensors.
Licensee shall not remove, or allow the removal of, any copyright or other proprietary rights notice
included in and on the Software or Documentation or take any other action that could adversely affect the
property rights of The Foundry or any Third Party Licensor. To the extent that Licensee is authorized to
make copies of the Software or Documentation under this Agreement, Licensee shall reproduce in and on
all such copies any copyright and/or other proprietary rights notices provided in and on the materials
supplied by The Foundry hereunder. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to give Licensee any rights
in the trademarks, service marks, patents, trade secrets, confidential information, copyrights or other
intellectual property rights of The Foundry or any Third Party Licensor, and Licensee shall be strictly
prohibited from using the name, trademarks or service marks of The Foundry or any Third Party Licensor in
Licensee's promotion or publicity without The Foundry's express written approval.
Mari 2.5v2
The Foundry
SECTION 6. LICENSE FEE.

Licensee understands that the benefits granted to Licensee hereunder are contingent upon Licensee's
payment in full of the license fee payable in connection herewith (the "License Fee").
SECTION 7. UPGRADES/ENHANCEMENTS.
The Licensee's access to support, upgrades and updates is subject to the terms and conditions of the
"Annual Upgrade and Support Programme” available on The Foundry's website. The Foundry may from time
to time and at its sole discretion vary the terms and conditions of the Annual Upgrade and Support
Programme.
SECTION 8. TAXES AND DUTIES.

Licensee agrees to pay, and indemnify The Foundry from claims for, any local, state or national tax
(exclusive of taxes based on net income), duty, tariff or other impost related to or arising from the
transaction contemplated by this Agreement.
SECTION 9. LIMITED WARRANTY.

The Foundry warrants that, for a period of ninety (90) days after delivery of the Software: (a) the machine
readable electronic files constituting the Software and Documentation shall be free from errors that may
arise from the electronic file transfer from The Foundry and/or its authorized reseller to Licensee; and (b)
to the best of The Foundry's knowledge, Licensee's use of the Software in accordance with the
Documentation will not, in and of itself, infringe any third party's copyright, patent or other intellectual
property rights. Except as warranted, the Software and Documentation is being provided "as is." THE
FOREGOING LIMITED WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, AND The Foundry DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, INCLUDING,
WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER The Foundry KNOWS OR HAS REASON
TO KNOW OF LICENSEE'S PARTICULAR NEEDS. The Foundry does not warrant that the Software or
Documentation will meet Licensee's requirements or that Licensee's use of the Software will be
uninterrupted or error free. No employee or agent of The Foundry is authorized to modify this limited
warranty, nor to make additional warranties. No action for any breach of the above limited warranty may
be commenced more than one (1) year after Licensee's initial receipt of the Software. To the extent any
implied warranties may not be disclaimed under applicable law, then ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE
LIMITED IN DURATION TO NINETY (90) DAYS AFTER DELIVERY OF THE SOFTWARE TO LICENSEE.
SECTION 10. LIMITED REMEDY.

The exclusive remedy available to the Licensee in the event of a breach of the foregoing limited warranty,
TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL OTHER REMEDIES, is for Licensee to destroy all copies of the Software, send
The Foundry a written certification of such destruction and, upon The Foundry's receipt of such
certification, The Foundry will make a replacement copy of the Software available to Licensee.
Mari 2.5v2
The Foundry
SECTION 11. INDEMNIFICATION.

Licensee agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and defend The Foundry, the Third Party Licensors and The
Foundry's and each Third Party Licensor's respective affiliates, officers, directors, shareholders,
employees, authorized resellers, agents and other representatives (collectively, the "Released Parties")
from all claims, defense costs (including, but not limited to, attorneys' fees), judgments, settlements and
other expenses arising from or connected with the operation of Licensee's business or Licensee's
possession or use of the Software or Documentation.
SECTION 12. LIMITED LIABILITY.

In no event shall the Released Parties' cumulative liability to Licensee or any other party for any loss or
damages resulting from any claims, demands or actions arising out of or relating to this Agreement (or the
Software or Documentation contemplated herein) exceed the License Fee paid to The Foundry or its
authorized reseller for use of the Software. Furthermore, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE RELEASED PARTIES BE
LIABLE TO LICENSEE UNDER ANY THEORY FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE,
EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS OR LOSS OF
PROFITS) OR THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, REGARDLESS OF
WHETHER THE RELEASED PARTIES KNOW OR HAVE REASON TO KNOW OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ANY REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL
PURPOSE. No action arising out of or related to this Agreement, regardless of form, may be brought by
Licensee more than one (1) year after Licensee's initial receipt of the Software; provided, however, to the
extent such one (1) year limit may not be valid under applicable law, then such period shall be limited to
the shortest period allowed by law.
SECTION 13. TERM; TERMINATION.

This Agreement is effective upon Licensee's acceptance of the terms hereof and Licensee's payment of the
License Fee, and the Agreement will remain in effect until termination. If Licensee breaches this Agreement,
The Foundry may terminate the License granted hereunder by notice to Licensee. In the event the License
is terminated, Licensee will either return to The Foundry all copies of the Software and Documentation in
Licensee's possession or, if The Foundry directs in writing, destroy all such copies. In the later case, if
requested by The Foundry, Licensee shall provide The Foundry with a certificate signed by an officer of
Licensee confirming that the foregoing destruction has been completed.
SECTION 14. CONFIDENTIALITY.

Licensee agrees that the Software (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Source Code that is licensed
to Licensee) and Documentation are proprietary and confidential information of The Foundry or, as the
case may be, the Third Party Licensors, and that all such information and any communications relating
thereto (collectively, "Confidential Information") are confidential and a fundamental and important trade
secret of The Foundry or the Third Party Licensors. Licensee shall disclose Confidential Information only to
Licensee's employees who are working on an Authorized Project and have a "need-to-know" of such
Confidential Information, and shall advise any recipients of Confidential Information that it is to be used
only as authorized in this Agreement. Licensee shall not disclose Confidential Information or otherwise
make any Confidential Information available to any other of the Licensee's employees or to any third
parties without the express written consent of The Foundry. Licensee agrees to segregate, to the extent it
Mari 2.5v2
The Foundry
can be reasonably done, the Confidential Information from the confidential information and materials of
others in order to prevent commingling. Licensee shall take reasonable security measures, which such
measures shall be at least as great as the measures Licensee uses to keep Licensee's own confidential
information secure (but in any case using no less than a reasonable degree of care), to hold the Software,
Documentation and any other Confidential Information in strict confidence and safe custody. The Foundry
may request, in which case Licensee agrees to comply with, certain reasonable security measures as part
of the use of the Software and Documentation. Licensee acknowledges that monetary damages may not be
a sufficient remedy for unauthorized disclosure of Confidential Information, and that The Foundry shall be
entitled, without waiving any other rights or remedies, to such injunctive or equitable relief as may be
deemed proper by a court of competent jurisdiction.
SECTION 15. INSPECTION AND INFORMATION.

Licensee shall advise The Foundry on demand of all locations where the Software or Documentation is used
or stored. Licensee shall permit The Foundry or its authorized agents to inspect all such locations during
normal business hours and on reasonable advance notice.
The Software may include mechanisms to collect limited information from Licensee's computer(s) and
transmit it to The Foundry. Such information (the “Information”) may include details of Licensee's
hardware, details of the operating system(s) in use on such hardware and the profile and extent of
Licensee's use of the different elements of the Software. The Foundry may use the Information to (a) model
the profiles of usage, hardware and operating systems in use collectively across its customer base in order
to focus development and support, (b) to provide targeted support to individual customers, (c) to ensure
that the usage of the Software by Licensee is in accordance with this Agreement and does not exceed any
user number or other limits on its use, and (d) to advise Licensee about service issues such as available
upgrades and maintenance expiry dates. To the extent that any Information is confidential to Licensee it
shall be treated as such by The Foundry. To the extent that any Information constitutes personal data for
the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 it shall be processed by The Foundry in accordance with
that Act and with The Foundry's privacy policy (see http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/privacy/).
SECTION 16. NONSOLICITATION.

Licensee agrees not to solicit for employment or retention any of The Foundry's current or future
employees who were or are involved in the development and/or creation of the Software.
SECTION 17. U.S. GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS.

The Software, Documentation and/or data delivered hereunder are subject to the terms of this Agreement
and in no event shall the U.S. Government acquire greater than RESTRICTED/LIMITED RIGHTS. At a
minimum, use, duplication or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to the applicable restrictions of:
(i) FAR §52.227-14 ALTS I, II and III (June 1987); (ii) FAR §52.227-19 (June 1987); (iii) FAR §12.211 and
12.212; and/or (iv) DFARS §227.7202-1(a) and DFARS §227.7202-3.
The Software is the subject of the following notices:

* Copyright © 2013 The Foundry Visionmongers, Ltd.. All Rights Reserved.
* Unpublished-rights reserved under the Copyright Laws of the United Kingdom.
Mari 2.5v2
The Foundry
SECTION 18. SURVIVAL.

Sections 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 shall survive any termination or
expiration of this Agreement.
SECTION 19. IMPORT/EXPORT CONTROLS.

To the extent that any Software made available hereunder is subject to restrictions upon export and/or
reexport from the United States, Licensee agrees to comply with, and not act or fail to act in any way that
would violate, the applicable international, national, state, regional and local laws and regulations,
including, without limitation, the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Export Administration
Act and the Export Administration Regulations, as amended or otherwise modified from time to time, and
neither The Foundry nor Licensee shall be required under this Agreement to act or fail to act in any way
which it believes in good faith will violate any such laws or regulations.
SECTION 20. MISCELLANEOUS.

This Agreement is the exclusive agreement between the parties concerning the subject matter hereof and
supersedes any and all prior oral or written agreements, negotiations, or other dealings between the
parties concerning such subject. This Agreement may be modified only by a written instrument signed by
both parties. If any action is brought by either party to this Agreement against the other party regarding
the subject matter hereof, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover, in addition to any other relief
granted, reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses of litigation. Should any term of this Agreement be
declared void or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall have no
effect on the remaining terms of this Agreement. The failure of either party to enforce any rights granted
hereunder or to take action against the other party in the event of any breach hereunder shall not be
deemed a waiver by that party as to subsequent enforcement of rights or subsequent actions in the event
of future breaches. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with English Law.
The Foundry and Licensee intend that each Third Party Licensor may enforce against Licensee under the
Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 ("the Act") any obligation owed by Licensee to The Foundry
under this Agreement that is capable of application to any proprietary or other right of that Third Party
Licensor in or in relation to the Software. The Foundry and Licensee reserve the right under section 2(3)(a)
of the Act to rescind, terminate or vary this Agreement without the consent of any Third Party Licensor.
Copyright © 2013 The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Do not duplicate.
Mari 2.5v2
The Foundry

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USER GUIDE

The EULA can be read in the Mari User Guide Appendices.

Mari™ is a trademark of The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd.

Weta™ Digital is a trademark of Weta Digital Ltd.

Linux ® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Windows ® is the registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Rev: November 29, 2013

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

PREFACE About this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CUSTOMIZING THE VIEW Display Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

USING SHORTCUTS Shortcuts for Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CONFIGURING BRUSHES Steps for Configuring Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

CLONE STAMPING Choosing a Source Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Steps for Clone Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

PAINTING THROUGH AN About Using a Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

CONTROLLING THE WAY About the Paint Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

TRANSFORMING AND Transforming the Paint Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Pinning and Pulling with Pinup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

TOWING PAINT AROUND Steps for Towing Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

COPYING AND PASTING Copying a Single Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

EDITING PAINT ON Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

VECTOR BRUSH Vector Inspector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

EXPORTING AND Importing Textures When Creating Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Import a Sequence of Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

STORING RESOURCES Steps for Using Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

SELECTING ITEMS Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

WORKING WITH Patch Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Steps for Working with Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

CONFIGURING THE USER Steps for Customizing Your Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

MANAGING IMAGES IN Steps for Managing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

MANAGING COLORS IN About the ColorSpace Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

PROJECT CONVERSION Before Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

LAYERS Layer Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Ordering Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

CHANNELS Different Ways to Create Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Flatten a Channel’s Layer Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

SHADERS Shaders and Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

PTEX Ptex Support in Mari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Paint Preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

FILTERING IMAGES AND Steps for Using Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

PROJECTORS Steps for Using Projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

MULTIPLE OBJECTS Channels and Shaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

PAINTING ANIMATED Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Loading Animated Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

EXTENDING MARI About Custom Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

APPENDIX A: Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

APPENDIX B: Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

The Foundry Mari 2.5v2

Mari is a creative texture-painting tool that can handle extremely complex

Display Options You can set:

Toggling Shadows does not enable or disable shadow processing. It simply

Field of view set to 20 Field of view set to 120