SP - Height painting help

Echu

Hey guys, I'm just starting my project for meetMAT2 contest on SP, and I have a huge question. How do I make a gradient-like height detail? I mean. I've worked with a mask, and then painting details on it, but even if I activate pen pressure for flow, or I use grayscale colors on the mask to smooth the result, doesn't work. Blue is what I intend to do, smooth down under the front plaque, but red is what I get with strong transitions.

gnoop

I suggest to use  "gradient" from filters library with debug preview set on .   Don't think brushes could ever give you a smooth gradient.

1. make a fill layer

2. make a mask of a shape you need

3. put a gradient filter in layers height channel and set it "on" in display gradient(debug)    or just an image file with a gradient

4. rotate the layer with gizmo to what you need.

You could try to do same in mask stack,   with anchoring from another layer etc.

Use blending modes of  layers and masks to mix those gradient layers to whatever you need

Although such surface  sculpting is totally possible in SP I wouldn't call it convenient at all.   And preview is not very informative too.   I bet it's why people still use Zbrush for sculpting .

I suggest also to use Substance Designer for surface sculpting.  Although Painter could do almost everything SD can + having a brush engine   the layer structure with all those anchor things turns it into very complicated to read and figure out mess.   A consecutive node flow in SD makes it a tad easier to read.