9

1434 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
Vid eo Color Check
Material Editor > Video Color Check
Left: Mater ial with oversaturated colors
Right: V ideo color check shows black areas that are beyond
the video threshold
Video Color Check checks the material on the
sample object for colors t hat are beyond the safe
NTSC (page 3–980) or PAL (page 3–988) threshold.
Such colors tend to blur or fuzz when transf erred
from computer to video. Pixels containing these
"illegal" or "hot" colors are flagged on the sample
object.
You can have 3ds Max correct illegal colors
automatically w hen you render, depending on the
settings in the Rendering tab (page 3–826) of the
Customize/Preferences dialog (page 3–815).
Use this option as a guide only. The colors in a
rendered scene depend not only on the material
color but also on the intensity and color of the
lighting. Amaterialthatshowsassafeinthe
sample slot mig ht become il legal if rendered under
several bright lights. A safe pract ice for video is
to use colors whose saturation is less than 80 to
85 percent.
Procedures
To check for illegal video colors:
1.
On the Mater ia l Editor, turn on Video
Color Check (page 2–1434).
Theactivesampleslotnowrenders"illegal"
pixels as black. Illegal p
ixels have a color that is
beyond the safe video threshold.
If Video Color Check detects i l legal colors, try
reducing the saturation of the material colors
in question.
2. Yo u c a n a l s o c h e c k f o r l e
gal video colors when
you render a scene.
To change the v ideo sy s tem:
NTSC (page 3–980) is the default video system to
check. You can change t
he v ideo check ing to PA L
(page 3–988).
• IntheToolsmenu>Options>Optionsdialog
> Rendering panel (page 3–826) >VideoColor
Check group, change
the setting to PAL.
Thesampleslotdoes
not automatically update
when you change the video system preference.
Turn video checking off and back on to see the
change.
Note: The Renderin
gpanelalsoshowsoptions
for choosing alternate ways to display illegal
pixels. These apply to renderings only, not to
thesampleslotsi
ntheMaterialEditor.
Mak e Preview, Pla
yPreview,Save
Pr ev iew
Material Editor > M ake/Play/Save Preview flyout
Material Editor me
nu > Material menu > Make Preview,
View Preview, or Save Preview
You can use animated maps to add movement
to a scene. For exa
mple, to simulate a sky view,