8
1310 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
Wa rn in g : When you change the shading type of
a mater ial, you lose the settings (including map
assignments) for any parameters that the new shader
does not support. If you want to experiment with
different shaders for a material with the same general
parameters, copy the material to a different
sample slot
(page 2–1264)
before you change its shading type. That
way, you can still use the original material if th e new
shader doesn’t give you the effect you want.
Ot her Sta nda rd Ma ter ia l Components
A standard material’s specular color appears in
highlights.Youcancontrolthesizeandshapeof
the highlight. A polished surface has a small and
strong highlight. A matte surface has a large, weak
highlight, or no highlight at all.
Standard materials also have controls for making
the object appear t ransparent, and for mak ing it
self-illuminating so that it appears to glow.
Along with the material’s color components,
components
also refers to the parameters that
control hig hlights, tr ansparency, self-illumination,
and so on.
See also
Material Components (page 2–1243)
Choosing Colors for Realism (page 2–1244)
Inter face
The interface for a standard material is organized
into several rollouts:
Shader Basic Parameters Rollout (page 2–1310)
Basic Parameters Rollout (Standard Material)
(page 2–1311)
Extended P arameters Rollout (Standard Material)
(page 2–1312)
SuperSampling Rollout (page 2–1302)
Maps Rollout (Standard Material) (page 2–1315)
Dynamics Propert ies Rollout (page 2–1320)
DirectX Manager Rollout (page 2–1308)
Shader B asic Parameters Rollout
Material Editor > Standard m aterial > Shader Basic
Parameters rollout > Choose shader from drop-down list.
The Shader Basic Parameters rollout lets you
choosethetypeofshadertousewitha
Standard
(page 2–1309)
material. Some additional controls
affect how the material appears.
There are seven different shaders. Some are named
for what they do; others are named for their
creators. These are the basic material shaders:
•
Anisotropic (page 2–1321)
:Forsurfaceswith
elliptical, "anisotropic" highlights. These
highlights are good for mo deling hair, glass, or
brushed metal.
•
Blinn (page 2–1321)
:Forrounder,softer
highlights than Phong shading
•
Meta l (page 2–1322)
:Formetallicsurfaces
•
Multi-Layer (page 2–1323)
:Forsurfaceswith
more complex highlig hts than A nisot ropic
•
Oren-Nayar-Blinn (page 2–1323)
:Formatte
surfaces such as fabric or terra-cotta
•
Phong (page 2–1321)
:Forsurfaceswithstrong,
circular highlights
•
Strauss (page 2–1324)
:Formetallicand
nonmetallic surfaces. The Str auss shader has a
simpler interface than other shaders.
•
Translucent (page 2–1326)
: Similar to Blinn
shading, the Translucent shader also lets you
specify translucency, where light is scattered as
it passes through the material.