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Metal Highlights 1335
gloss iness, the curve is at its maximum width.
At 100% glossiness, the curve is extremely
narrow.
Inter face
Specular Level—Affects the intensity of the specular
high light. As you increase the value, the highlight
grows brighter. Default=5.
Clickthemapbuttontoassignamaptothe
specular level component. See
Specular Level
Mapping (page 2–1342)
.Thisbuttonisashortcut:
you can also assign specular level mapping in the
Maps rollout (page 2–1315) .
Glossiness—Affects t he size of the specular
high light. As you increase the value, the highlight
gets smaller and the material appears shinier.
Default=25.
Clickthemapbuttontoassignamaptothe
glossiness component. See
Glossiness Mapping
(page 2–1342)
. This button is a shortcut: you can
also assign specular level mapping in the
Maps
rollout (page 2–1315)
.
Soften—Softens the effect of specular high lights,
especially those formed by glancing light. When
Specular Le vel is high and Glossiness is low, you
cangetharshbacklightsonsurfaces.Increasethe
valueofSoftentomitigatethiseffect.At0,there
is no softening. At 1.0, the maximum amount of
softening is applied. Default=0.1.
Note: The Soften control was a check box in
releases prior to 3ds Max 2.Whenyouloada
material created in an earlier version of 3ds Max,
if Soften was originally off, the new Soften value
is 0.0. If Soften was originally on, the new S often
value is 0.6.
Highlight graph—This cur ve shows the effect
of adjusting the values of Specular Le vel and
Glossiness. As you decrease Glossiness, the curve
grows wider; as you increase Specular Level, the
curve grows tal ler.
Metal Highlights
Material Editor > Standard material > M e tal B asic
Parameters rollout > Spec ular Highlight group
Material Editor > Raytra ce material > Raytrace B asic
Parameters rollout > Shading: M etal > Specular Highlight
group
Metal-shaded materials generate their own
specular color. Also, the highlight curve for the
Metal shader differs in shape from the curve for
Blinn Oren-Nayar-Blinn, and Phong highlig hts
(page 2–1334)
.
Note: For the Raytr ace material (page 2–1353) ,the
Specular Color component appears in the Specular
Highlight group. Also, highlight controls that don’t
per tain to the current shader are labeled “N/A.”
Procedures
To increase or decrease the size and intensity of a
highlight:
• Change the Glossiness value.
The width of the Highlight curve and the
highlights in the preview change. At 0%
glossiness, the curve is at its maximum width.
At 100% glossiness, the curve is extremely
narrow.
To increa se or decrease the st rength of a h ighlight:
• Change the value of Specular Level.
The intensity of the Highlig ht curve and the
highlight in the preview change. At 0% specular
level, there is no highlig ht. At 100% specular
level, the curve is at its maximum heig ht with no
overloading. At va lues greater than 100%, the