Some people may not be aware that a Studio Artist layer contains both a raster image buffer as well as a bezier path frame. The path frame stores vector paths or regions. One of the cool things about the internal graphics model that Studio Artist uses is that each paint stroke consists of raster paint and a vector path. This gives you the ability to rerender paint paths after the fact to higher resolutions as well as to interpolate paint paths over time to create an animation.
To see the contents of the current layer's path frame you need to be in one of the vector editing operation modes, which include Bezier Draw, Bezier Edit, Bezier Warp, or Bezier Collection.
There are a large number of menu commands under the main Path menu that let you work with the bezier path frame in different ways. The Generate Path menus provide different ways of creating sets of bezier paths. The Path Layer Commands menus provide different ways of manipulating or transforming the existing paths in the current layer's path frame.
The Path Layer Record Options let you turn on or off different path recording options. For example, if the Mouse Draw menu option is checked then when you draw a paint path by hand the vector path associated with the drawing will be added to the current path layer. The Auto Draw option will generate vector paths for all of the paint strokes created with a paint synthesizer action command.
Paths added to the current path layer will keep accumulating in the path layer until the path layer is erased. You can do this with the Erase menu under Path Layer Commands, or you can use the full erase button at the top right of the canvas. There are 2 erase buttons next to the background popup at the top right corner of the canvas. The right one with the arrow erases the raster part of the current layer. The left one with the circle erases the complete layer, which includes the raster part, the vector path frame, and the hidden blanking buffer (used internally in the paint synthesizer).
The Paint Paths menus provide a way to paint in the current path frame (or selected paths in the path frame) with the current paint synthesizer preset. So, you could do things with the Path menus like create a bezier path frame from the source edges, and then paint it with a black pen as a way to accent an image.
The Convert to Paint Synthesizer menu commands are particularly powerful. Many people are not aware that the paint synthesizer can encapsulate an entire color painting or drawing in a single action step. Running the Convert to Paint Synthesizer : as Autodraw Path Memory menu will do this. The contents of the current path frame are loaded into the paint synthesizer's internal bezier path frame, and the current paint preset's parameters are adjusted accordingly to draw off of the internal bezier path frame.
By using this command, you can design a single keyframed PASeq action step that will interpolate over time to animate between a series of hand or action drawn paints. I'll be discussing this more here on the tutorial group.
One thing to be aware of when working with bezier path recording from your hand or action painting is that Studio Artist does not know how to convert paint paths with a lot of paint synthesizer path randomization into vector paths. So, if your goal is to record your paint strokes as vector paths, you should turn off the path randomization options in the paint synthesizer for a given preset before doing your hand or action painting you will be recording into the bezier path frame. If the feel of the particular paint preset depends on path randomization, you can add it back into the final encapsulated paint preset after you have completed the Convert to Paint Synthesizer : as Autodraw Path Memory step.
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It would be helpful if you would take the above discussion and break it into small steps with screen shots or videos indicating exactly how to do each step, showing where you start, which adjustment you are making, (what buttons you are pushing) step by step to the end result.
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Rondan