Manipulating Nodes in Genetica

Genetica 3.6 introduces changes that will be more intuitive to new users and lead to faster workflow, but will be a change for long-time users of Genetica.  This article will get you up to speed on the changes you need to know about.

Old-timers will recognize the popup menu shown in the following illustration.  In this example the user has just dragged a Gaussian Blur node over the Colorize node, and the popup menu appears to ask users what type of operation they intended.  Did they want to completely replace the branch?  Did they want to insert the new node below the old one?  Or perhaps they wanted to replace the node while keeping its inputs intact?

While familiar, these popups confuse new users and also slow workflow.  With Genetica 3.6, dropping one node on top of another one will always do a "Replace, Keep Inputs" operation, while other operations happen depending on where the node is dropped.  Other changes include the ability to create nodes by typing, and a new way to work with groups and inputs.  See the video for further details.



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Modify Clothing with Genetica and iClone

This video tutorial examines how to use Genetica to modify the clothing textures of 3D models.  iClone is used to provide us with some models to work with.






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Make a CD Shader In Unity

This tutorial shows how to make a compact disc in Unity with highlights that realistically shift as the viewing angle changes.  The trick that is described relies on existing shaders with very minimal tweaks to shader code.

To follow along with the video, download the assets here.

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Importing Styles into Genetica

Genetica will let you apply sophisticated styles to vector drawings, as previously demonstrated.  Countless styles have been shared by users on Genetica's forum, but integrating freshly downloaded styles into Genetica can be a little tricky at first.  In this tutorial we show you how it's done.




Step 1

Begin by downloading some styles that you'd like to use in your drawings.  To help you follow along with this tutorial we've released a pack of 5 pop-art styles that you can download here.  But you can follow along just as well with any of the user-contributed styles that can be found in various threads throughout our forum, such as this, this, and this one.

Step 2

Using Windows Explorer, navigate into the folder Documents\Genetica User Files\Genetica {Version}\Style Presets\, and then create a new folder named after the new set of style presets you would like to add to Genetica.  In the example shown below, a folder called "Pop Art" was created.  The name you give to this folder will be used by Genetica to name the corresponding category within the application.

Finally copy in the new style files, which should have the STYLE extension.  If the file you have ends in ZIP or RAR, then you'll need to unpack the files first.

That's all you need to do to import the new styles into Genetica.  The remaining steps in this tutorial are for new users who need additional help finding the styles within Genetica itself.

Step 3

Within Genetica, start a new document by clicking File > New in the main menu.  Next, drag a Canvas node from the Library panel into the empty slot in the middle of the workspace.  Finally, switch to the Canvas tab either by selecting the Canvas tab or by double-clicking the newly created Canvas node.

Step 4

In the Canvas tab, use the Shape tool to add one or more shapes to the workspace.  Then select the Style tool and click the Edit button.

Step 5

From within the Edit Style dialog, select the category corresponding to the folder created in Step 2.  Then select one of the new styles to apply it to your drawing.

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Nine Cartoon Backdrops

Here's a new texture pack containing 9 cartoon backdrops. Download the pack here. Usage rights are described here.








Each backdrop is horizontally seamless, making it appropriate for use in side-scrolling games.

In addition to bitmap images, the backdrops are also supplied as Genetica files, allowing them to be fully customized. Genetica is available for download here.

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Mystery Forest Tile Set

We're kicking off the new year with the Mystery Forest texture set, which will get you started creating platform game environments with a mysterious forest vibe.







Download the pack here.  Below is a closer look at the type of environment that can be made with the pack.

The atmospheric background can be created by layering several textures, as shown below.  Begin by tiling "Far Background.png" on a plane.  Next, "Cat's Eyes.png" can be randomly bombed above the same plane.  Layering "Near Background.png" next will cause the eyes to become partially concealed and appear to be peaking through the bushes.  Finally, a particle simulation of "Flare.png" can create the impression that fireflies or mysterious points of light are drifting through the environment.

The wall tiles have been devised with a special scheme that will allow you to create a large variety of configurations with a minimum of tiles.  Begin with a grid with squares marked NW, NE, SW, and SE, as shown below.  Within any one square, only place textures with names ending with the same code.

In addition to rendered bitmap textures, the pack also includes the original GTX files that can be opened and edited within Genetica.  Download Genetica here.

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Walking Paper Girl

We're giving away a character to go with last week's Paper World Texture Set!  The new pack also includes a Unity 3D game project that demonstrates how the character can be used.

Download character pack here.  To learn what's included in the pack, play the following video.



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Paper World Texture Set

Here's a texture set that will get you started creating environments that look like they've been mocked up from arts and crafts materials.  Download the pack here.

In addition to bitmap textures that have been rendered at a size of 512 x 512, the pack includes the original GTX files that can be opened in Genetica either for modification or for rendering at a larger size.  Download Genetica here.

The included textures can be placed on planes, boxes, and cylinders to make environments like the following.

The textures can also be used for 2D side-scrollers.

A number of the textures include opacity channels so that they can be layered on top of other textures.

Full-featured 3D environments will include decal or texture layering functionality for this purpose.  However, textures can still be layered in environments where such functionality is not present, such as Second Life.  To accomplish this, create two surfaces, one of which is slightly in front of the other one.  Then place the transparent texture on the closer surface, and the opaque texture on the farther one.

The chimney texture is intended for use on a cylinder that has end-caps removed.  If the chimney is sunk halfway into the rear wall of the environment then the smoke texture can be placed on that rear wall as shown below.

To modify any of the designs, open the GTX file in Genetica, then double-click the Canvas node to reveal the Canvas tab as indicated by the following illustration.  Once there, designs can be modified using standard drawing tools.  A tutorial demonstrating those tools can be found here.

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Free Light Strips Tile Sets

This free pack contains two sets of interlocking tiles that can be assembled to create a variety of light strips.  The original texture files are also included for creating light strip sets that match your own custom walls.

The pack and be downloaded from here, and is available for use under these terms.


Download and unpack the ZIP file to find two versions of the set.  The blue version is intended for more neutral environments, while the red version will assist in creating a more foreboding feel.

Within each of the main folders you'll find the individual files forming the set.

As shown above the contents of each set fall into three groups.  Here's a description of each:

1. Individual Tiles

This folder contains the 16 individual textures making up each set.  They can be assembled in a painting program, or they could be placed on squares or cubes and assembled in a 3D environment.

2. Combined Sets

Combined sets contain all 16 tiles packaged into a single texture.  These can be used with certain game engines, such as Torque Game Builder, as described here.

3. Genetica Files

Open the GTX files within Genetica to create custom versions of the set.  Replacing the wall with one of your own materials is easy, with Genetica automatically adding the lights and other details to it.

Many more goodies are on the way!  Use the signup towards the top-right of this page to be informed when more free items are released!

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10 Stunning Images by Allan Miller

Anyone who comes across the artwork of Allan Miller can't help but notice its mesmerizing blend of abstract patterns, intricate details, and symbolism.  We got a hold of Miller to discover the story behind the designs.

Spiral: How did you first get into art?

Miller: I remember in art classes at school as a kid having no ability compared to some others who could draw portraits that actually looked like the subject. However I got into a career in IT and found that I had the ability to think in pictures rather than words. I gave up IT after about 20 years because of the stress and incipient high blood pressure and decided that there must be more to life. I had risen to the top of my IT profession and was looking for a new challenge.

After giving IT up I found I had this urge to do art. It seemed that this visual thinking faculty that I had honed was now looking for something else to do. So I started doing etching and woodblock print making and really enjoyed it. Later I took up digital art which was much cleaner and needed far less space and no messy things like acid baths and presses.

Coming across Genetica back in 2007 revolutionized my images. It has enabled me to achieve a level of subtlety that I was not able to before. Initially I was using the textures in a very much in-your-face sort of way but that is not so much the case now. To take as an example the following image, the misty background is constructed of four textures, one solid as the base and three transparent overlays to build up the effect. The central element also uses four textures. I often use the textures to provide a textured "wash" over solid colors or even other solid textures. I use a palette of basic textures and build up the effect.

You do have to see a full size print to see the subtle details as a lot of it just vanishes on a low resolution computer image. But something still comes through because if I turn the textures off the image can look quite stark, naked even.

Spiral: Where do your ideas come from?

Miller: Well, taking the current series as an example, many of the images have a vaguely techno look. The sequence was triggered by seeing a painting by the French symbolist Gustave Moreau who was very popular in his day. The painting is popularly known as the "Tattooed Salome" and shows a woman dancing--Salome dancing in front of Herod. But what is particularly interesting is that she is depicted wearing a transparent shift which has embroidery on it and the embroidery then looks like tattoos, hence the name of the painting:

But it made me wonder what a male equivalent might look like. And I didn't think of some male ballet-dancer-like equivalent but a "real" man, a warrior, who might have tattoos in the normal course of events. I had a particular warrior in mind who would be wearing high-tech transparent armor with decorations that had a techno feel. I did some initial sketches using an anime figure:

But as always happens the idea took on a life of its own and evolved into the abstract armor images you see in my current series. I started using the shield shape as a shorthand reference to armor but it is quite an ambiguous shape in itself and can be interpreted also as a mask, or even a spaceship.

So all the themes that I follow are triggered by chance events, by something I happen to see--often in a movie. And that trigger lives on in the images even if not in an obvious way. Plus earlier themes live on in later themes in a subtle way.

The images almost create themselves and with just a little help from me. If I try to impose my ideas too strongly the images often don't work. It is almost as though I am just a midwife in the process. Each image usually grows out of the previous one. There aren't many sudden jumps. And if you look at the images in sequence it is almost like looking at the frames of a movie.

One of the main thrusts of my images is to depict "shimmering," or putting it more metaphysically, creative instability. By that I mean the images have to be always moving or coming into being or dissolving away and how they appear to the onlooker is dependent on them. And this is where the backgrounds particularly become important. To facilitate that visual instability I often use multiple vanishing points and try to get an effect where the subject is both advancing towards you and receding at the same time.

But behind it all there is yet another layer. I am a Buddhist and my artwork is an expression of my Buddhist practice. It is just that I am not making recognizably Buddhist icons, and I am using my own visual metaphors to express that. I'm also influenced by Japanese culture and the unique Zen aesthetic.

I sometimes joke that I create art to stop myself from going mad. Or at least to channel my insanity. It is a joke but there is an element of truth there as well. I think I would go nuts if I wasn't able to create images any more.

Allan Miller uses Genetica to create textures and CorelDRAW for the overall design and assembly of his artwork. Miller's latest series can be found here, while previous works are available here.

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