8

1344 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
3.
Use the map controls to set up the map.
Opacity Ma ppi ng
Material Editor > Sta ndard material > Maps rollout >
Opacity button
The gray levels of an opacity map determine the amount
of o pacity.
Yo u c a n s e l e c t a b i t m a p f i l e o r procedural map
(page 3–1091)
to make an object partially
transparent. Lighter (higher-value) areas of
the map render as opaque; darker areas render
as transparent; and values in between are
semi-transparent.
Setting the opacity map’s Amount to 100 applies all
of the map. Transparent areas are fully transparent.
Setting the Amount to 0 is the equivalent of
turning the map off. Intermediate Amount values
are blended with the Opacity value on the Basic
Parameters rollout. Transparent areas of the map
become more opaque.
Specular high lights are applied to tr ansparent
areasoftheopacitymap,aswellastoopaque
areas, creating the effect of glass. If you want
the transparent areas to look like holes, map the
specular level (page 2–1342) as well.
Procedure
To map the opacity value:
1.
Click the Map button for Opacit y.
The
Material/Map Browser (page 2–1291) is
displayed.
2. Choose from the list of map types, and then
click OK.
TheMaterialEditorisnowatthemaplevel,and
displays controls for the map parameters.
3. Usethemapcontrolstosetupthemap.
Filter Color Mapping
Material Editor > Standard material > Maps rollout > Filter
Color button
Mapping filter color
The filter, or transmissive color, is the
color transmitted through transparent or
semi-transparent materials such as glass.
Yo u c a n s e l e c t a b i t m a p f i l e o r
procedural map
(page 3–1091)
to map the filter color component.
This map applies a transparent-color effect based
on the intensity of the map’s pixels.
You can combine a mapped filter color with
volumetric lighting (page 3–284) to create effects
such as colored light through a stained-glass