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1508 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
Reflection Mapping
Material Editor > Standard material > Maps rollout >
Reflection button
Reflection crea ted by mapping
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 3–997) to use as a reflection map.
You can create three kinds of reflection: basic
reflection maps, automatic reflection maps, and
flat-mirror (page 3–942) reflection maps.
• A basic reflection map creates the i l lusion of
chrome, glass, or metal by applying a map to
thegeometrysothattheimagelookslikea
reflection on the surface.
• An automatic reflection map uses no mapping
at all, but looks outward from the center of the
object, and maps what it sees onto the sur face.
Another way to generate reflections
automatically is to assign a Raytrace map (page
2–1698) to be the reflection map .
• A flat-mirror reflection map is applied to a
series of coplanar faces and reflects objects
facing it, exactly like a real mirror.
Reflection maps don’t need mapping coordinates
(page 3–967) because they’re locked to the
world, not to the geometry. The illusion of a
reflection is created because the map doesn’t
move with the object, but with changes in the
view, as do real reflections.
The most common use of reflection maps in a
realistic scene is to add just a touch of reflection to
anotherwisenon-reflectivesurface. Bydefault,
reflection map strength is 100 percent, as it is for
othermaps.Formanykindsofsurfaces,however,
reducing the strength gives the most realistic
result. A polished table top, for example, primarily
shows a wood grain; the reflect ions are secondar y.
Reflection maps look more realistic if you increase
theGlossinessandSpecularLevelvaluesinthe
Basic Parameters rollout (page 2–1470).They
are also affected by the diffuse (page 3–929) and
ambient (page 3–908) color values. The darker the
color, the stronger the mirror effect.
Even when the Amount spinner is at 100, the
reflection map is t inted by the ambient, diffuse,
and sp ecular (page 3–1014) colors.
In metal materials, the Diffuse color tints the
reflection map. Specifically, the color f rom the
reflect ion map is multiplied by the diffuse color
(including a diffuse map, if one exists). The value
(in the HSV (page 3–1001) de scription) of the
diffusecolorcontrolsthereflectionmapintensity.
If the diffuse color value is 255, the reflect ion is at
full intensity; if the value is 0, the map is not visible.
In non-metal m aterials, the Specular color
multiplies only reflection maps. The va lue (in the
HSV (page 3–1001) description) of the specular
color affects the reflection intensity. If the specular
color value is 255, the reflection is at full intensity;
if the value is 0, the map is not visible.
Procedures
To create an a utomatic ref lection:
1.
IntheMapsrollout,clicktheMapbutton
labeled Reflection.