Project Dogwaffle team releases PD Artist 10
The Project Dogwaffle team has released PD Artist 10, the latest update to its $20 paint tool. The software is the sister application to VFX-friendly paint package Howler 10, but lacks its animation features.
In practice, that makes it an interesting application for painting still images, with a range of natural media options, and a lot of unusual procedural brushes.
Paint brushstrokes that scale with Z-depth
The coolest new feature in PD Artist 10 is arguably the new Z-scaling system.
The system enables brushstrokes to scale automatically according to a Z-depth gradient, to give the appearance of objects receding into the distance.
It works with the software’s foliage and particle painting tools, making it a quick way to paint trees and grass in perspective. You can see the new workflow from around 04:00 in the video above
More options for bristle brushes
Other new features in PD Artist 10 include updates to its bristle brushes, which now come with new dynamics options and a ‘Salt and pepper’ setting, which helps to randomise the strokes.
The software’s colour mixer now works with bristle brushes, so users can blend colours in much the same way that they would real-world paints; and preset brushes can be browsed visually.
Control brush strokes with envelope curves or drive particle brushes with audio
There is also a new envelope control, added as a post effect, for more precise control over the forms of brush strokes. You can see it in action from 07:40 in the video above.
And finally, there is an option to use an audio waveform to control particle brushes, along the lines of Corel Painter 2016‘s Audio Expression feature, providing a quick way to generate randomised backgrounds.
Pricing and availability
PD Artist 10 is available now for Windows only, and is priced at $20 if you buy via this website.
Read more about the new features in PD Artist 10 on the product website