Tools > Color > Project Image projects a 2D image onto a polygon object yielding texture-mapped color.
Before invoking the command, the object must have a parameterized texture space (UV coordinates). If a polygon object does not have a texture, use Tools > Color > Generate Texture to "initialize" the object with an empty (white) texture map.
This Project Image function projects a 2D image onto a polygon object. The basic steps are:
Select a polygon object
Invoke Tools > Color > Project Image
Load any 2D image file (.bmp, .jpg, .png, or .ppm)
Register the polygon object and the 2D image to one another
Press Apply to project the image
Repeat starting at Step 3 if required
The controls are:
Image group - specifies the 2D image that will be projected onto the object.
Image Name and Size indicator - indicates the name and pixel dimensions of the image in the Image Viewing Panel.
Image Viewing Panel - displays the loaded image, if any.
Load button - browses the file system and loads a .bmp, .jpg, .png, or .ppm image.
Modify Image dropdown - allows manipulation of the loaded image in basic ways, including:
Clear Image
Flip Horizontal - flip the side to side.
Flip Vertical - flip the image top to bottom.
Flip Orientation - flip the image from one corner to diagonally opposite corner.
Rotate 90 CW - rotate the image 90 degrees clockwise.
Rotate 90 CCW - rotate the image 90 degrees counter-clockwise.
Negative Image - invert all colors (such as white to black)
n-Point Registration group - allows multiple (n) point pairs to be defined in the Object and Image panels of the Viewing Area to align the 2D image to the polygon object. To create a single pair, click once on the object panel and once on the Image panel of the Viewing Area.
Register button - registers the 2D image to the polygon object using the point pairs that have been clicked so far. This button becomes sensitive when three or more point pairs have been clicked. For best results, click 8 or more point pairs.
Clear button - clears all existing point pairs on the polygon object and the 2D image.
In addition to using n-Point pairs to register the 2D image and the polygon object, the object can be manually aligned using the conventional 3D rotation, translation, and zoom controls in the lower "Combined" panel of the Viewing Area..
Projection group - Defines a parameter that controls the 2D image projection onto the polygon object. This parameter is set automatically by the n-Point registration process, and can be adjusted manually.
Field of View (Degrees) decimal field - is like adjusting the distance of the target Object (the "projection screen") from the "projector".
Display group - modifies the translucency of the overlay image in the bottom "Combined" pane of the Viewing Area to allow for visual verification of an n-point registration or manual registration.
Translucency slider and decimal field - control the amount of 2D image translucency from 0 to 1. A value of 0 is fully transparent (invisible) and a value of 1 is fully solid (cannot see polygon object)
Texture Color checkbox - toggles the display of texture color on the polygon object. Users may wish to disable the texture display when projecting subsequent (additional) 2D images
Model group - adjusts the effect of projected color onto the polygon object.
Blend checkbox - When checked, the color of the 2D image blends with any existing texture color on the polygon object. When unchecked, a projected 2D image overwrites any existing color on the polygon object. If the existing color is white, projected color always overwrites it rather than blending with it.
Image Opacity slider and decimal field (0.0 to 1.0; only when the Blend checkbox is checked) - controls the degree of blending of image color with existing color.
Reset Model Opacity button - As multiple images are projected on the polygon object, the opacity of each projected image is maintained. This button causes all colors to be displayed on the object as if they were projected by a single image, which has an effect on the addition of future projected images using blending.
Empty Color dropdown (White, Black, or None) - allows a color to be specified as "no texture". When encountered in the image being projected, this color is considered "empty" and has no effect on resulting texture color.
Example: Use an external image processing program to make all "irrelevant" parts of the image black, load the image into this function, set the Empty Color to Black, and project the image onto the polygon object. The object will have no color distortions in the irrelevant areas.
Reset button - restores the polygon object to its condition before this function started..
Apply button - projects the 2D image onto the polygon object using the current registration of image to object.
OK button - saves the polygon object with its texture color as it appears in the Viewing Area, and closes the dialog.
Cancel button - terminates the dialog without saving changes to the object's texture color.