Complex Brush Shapes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Tomasz 'Millennium' Jachimczak
tomasz@planetunreal.com

This tutorial will deal more with the actual creation of brushes then with the implemenation. Using a brush is easy, but actually creating one is a little more difficult. This tutorial will show you how to create a simple table into one brush. I will not be telling exact sizes or anything like that, but you will be able to follow quite easily.

The Table Top : This will be the easy part. All you have to do is to create a simple cube with the size of the table that you want. Make it either square or rectangular if you like, but make sure that it is not to think, otherwise the table will look akward.

The Legs : The legs of the table are another simply thing to do (Do you see why I chose a table for an example now? Hehee) Make a brush that is the shape of a long peice of wood. use something that will sit under your table and then allow the table to "rest" on it when it is complete. When you choose how thick, and how high you want your table legs to be, an them in. I will be using pictures here from a table that has got six legs and is pretty close to the ground, but that is merely an example.

The Edges : You could leave your table at that, but why not add in some edges for the underside of the table to add in that little "extra" and make the table look once more that little more realistic. Make a brush in the shape of a basic plank of wood, then place it so that each end will reach a set of legs, but no poke through into the other side of the leg. If you find that you brush is too long, don't "scale" the brush, but change the actual length of the cude that you are using. If you scaled the brush, it would later effect the textures on the brush, and that would look poor when you actually used it in a level later on. When you have got the plank in between two legs, just under the table top, intersect the brush, and then add it into the world. Repeat this process until you have got the entire underside of the table with an adge.

When you have done the steps that are written above, you will be able to create one brush from the entire table. To do this, create a brush from one of the primative (anything, but most likely a cube brush) and make it large enough to "surround" the table entirely. (For example if you table is roughly 200 wide, 150 long, 64 high, then make a brush that is 220 x 170 x 80) and place it so that the table does not protrude from any point within the vube. Now simply press the intersect button and it will change your red builder brush into the shape of the table. You could use this brush straight away, but I would suggest placing it off to the side, and making a table there that will not be used at all, so that when you go to use the brush again, you will be able to do a simly "copy polygons to brush" and then use it wherever you like.

If you do create a nice complex brush (even if it is quite simple) please send it down to the site so that we can post it here and let everyone use them. If you would like to save your brush at this point, make sure that the red builder brush is the shape of you table (or whatever you built) choose the brush menu and select "export brush". This will then give you the option of exporting and saving the brush. 

