Attach a Smart material to a layer

When applying a smart material to a paint layer, we have the flexibility to make rapid modifications to the material at any point. Press RMB over any Smart Material and select Attach to the current layer.

The Smart Material is attached to selected layer and you can see how it looks on the Material Preview panel.

We can also sample or experiment with different smart materials on a given layer, and those will be stored in the Materials history Panel.

We can also sample or experiment with different smart materials on a given layer, and those will be stored in the materials history panel.

With the fill tool, you can click on the object or I can use a brush tool to apply the textures by strokes.
And once it is applied, can click on other smart materials and sample those.

And then in the material history panel, you can quickly switch between those different samples.

When you make adjustments on Smart Material Editor, you see the changes applied temporarily within the preview window.
If you make a a broad change here, it’s not yet applied, only seeing the change in the material preview window.
When click the save button, the changes are automatically applied.

Different texture resolution to work preview and export.

One major benefit to having an attached smart material is that 3D coat will store the highest resolution of the smart material in memory, but you have the flexibility of working in a much lower resolution with a much smaller UV map initially while you’re working. (Texture Menu > Mesh and Texture resolution)

But when you are ready to export, then 3D coat will allow you to upscale your UV texture map and have it reproject that high resolution smart material onto that newly scaled UV map.

Tutorials

Adjustments to Paint Layers – Applying a smart material to a paint layer: This video demonstrates the tools in 3DCoat to make quick adjustments to Paint Layers, once paint…or Smart Materials have been applied to them.
It primarily shows how to attach Smart Materials to a layer and sample multiple different materials, which will then be stored in the Materials History panel.
This allows an Artist to iterate quickly and efficiently.