ArmorPaint

ArmorPaint is a standalone, real-time PBR texture painting application designed for artists who need fast, GPU-accelerated painting directly onto 3D models. It combines layered, procedural materials and a familiar brush system to let users rapidly create detailed textures without leaving their sculpting or modeling workflow.

Key features

ArmorPaint provides a focused toolset for texturing game assets, film props, and product visualizations. Its core strengths are direct on-model painting, support for industry-standard PBR workflows, and flexible material layering. Users can paint base color, roughness, metalness, normal details, and more while previewing all changes in a real-time viewport with adjustable lighting and HDR environments.

• Real-time viewport with physically based rendering and environment lighting.
• Layered painting system supporting masks and blend modes for nondestructive workflows.
• Brush engine with stamps, smudge, clone, and texture projection tools.
• Procedural materials and generators for wear, edge highlights, and dirt effects.
• Export options for texture sets compatible with common game engines and renderers.

Workflow and interface

The interface is built around a central 3D canvas and a compact set of panels that keep common controls within reach. ArmorPaint prioritizes speed: import a model, set up UV maps and baking targets, and start painting using symmetry, layers, and reference images. Hotkeys and an adjustable brush HUD accelerate iterative passes, while a history stack lets you undo complex operations without losing context.

Material and brush system

Materials in ArmorPaint are node-based but accessible through user-friendly presets. Combine procedural generators with painted layers to simulate complex surfaces like scratched metal, chipped paint, or stained fabric. The brush system supports pressure sensitivity, dynamic spacing, and texture-driven brushes so artists can achieve organic results quickly. Alpha brushes, particle brushes, and multi-channel painting streamline production for diverse asset types.

Baking, projections, and texture management

ArmorPaint includes baking tools that generate ambient occlusion, curvature, normal, and other maps from high-resolution models. Projection painting makes transferring details from reference meshes simple, while texture atlasing and UDIM support help manage multiple tiles for large characters or environments. Exports can be tailored to common naming conventions to plug directly into game engine pipelines.

Performance and compatibility

Optimized for GPU acceleration, ArmorPaint performs well on modern graphics cards and scales down gracefully for lighter hardware. It supports OpenGL and Vulkan backends on various platforms, enabling consistent results across Windows, Linux, and other supported systems. Memory-efficient texture handling and on-demand mipmap generation reduce strain when working with high-resolution maps.

Use cases and practical tips

ArmorPaint is suitable for indie developers, solo artists, and small studios seeking an efficient texturing solution. Start a new project by importing your low-poly model, set up a material template, and establish a layer structure for base, detail, and weathering passes. Use baking to capture fine sculpt details, then blend procedural masks with painted layers to speed up surface variation. Regularly export test maps to your target engine to verify shading and lighting fidelity.

Getting started

To begin, download the application and follow the quick-start guide to import a mesh and set up the viewport. Spend time customizing brush presets and building a library of procedural masks to accelerate future work. Frequent saves and versioned exports make iteration safer and ensure you can revert to earlier texture states as the project evolves. ArmorPaint aims to shorten the path from concept to textured asset with tools tailored for artists who want direct, tactile control over their surfaces.