# Painting with a custom brush

So far you've learned how to create an animation by painting on a series of frames with one of the existing brushes. 3DO Animator tool also allows you to convert any shape into a brush, so you can paint with it. In this section, you learn how to convert a circle to a brush and paint with it.

## For more information

Other sections in this chapter discuss:

- Working with an existing animated brush.
- Creating an animated brush using Anim Selection.

## Creating a custom brush

To begin, you need a shape that you can pick up easily as a brush. To use the brush later, you will also set the number of frames.

1. Type Command - Clear to return to the default settings.

2. Set the number of frames to 20.

3. From the Anim menu, choose Clear > All Frames and press Command - 1 to move to frame 1 of the animation.

4. Select a gradient as the foreground color, as explained in the Studio/32 manual.

   Figure 1: Gradient tear-off window.

5. Select the Ellipse tool and paint a circle about the size of a quarter, using the Shift key to constrain the ellipse to a true circle.

6. Fill the circle radially by clicking the mouse inside.

7. From the Brush menu, choose Last Object >Brush to pick up the circle as a brush (or press Command - B).

8. To prove that you have a custom brush, first paint with it on one frame. The result should look like Figure 2.

Figure 2: Custom brush example.