8

Environment Panel 269
either in the Material Ed itor or from a
projection light, and so on.
Drag a bitmap from the Material Editor’s
map preview to the Environment Map
button.
OntheEnvironmentpanel,thenameofthe
Environment Map button changes to show the
type of map you chose, and U se Map turns on.
After you have set up the map, you can later tur n
off Use Map to test rendering the scene without
the mapped background.
Youhavesetuptheenvironmentmap,butto
assign a bitmap or adjust map parameters, you
need to use the Ma terial Editor.
You can also create a standalone map in the
Material Editor firs t, and then choose it with the
Material/Map Browser .
To put t he map in the M ateri al Ed itor:
• Drag the Environment Map button to a sample
slot.
The map is now in the Material Editor where
you can adjust it by changing its parameters.
To change the color a nd tint of global lighting:
1.
Choose Rendering > Environment.
2. Click the color swatch labeled Tint.
A
Color Selector (page 1–157) appears.
3. Usethecolorselectortosetthetintappliedto
all light ing except ambient light.
4. Use t he Level spinner to multiply the overall
lighting of the scene.
Shaded viewports update to show g lobal
lighting changes.
5. Close the Environment dialog.
3ds Max uses the global lig hting p ar ameters
when you render the scene.
To change the color of ambient l ight:
Tip:
You don’t need to adjust ambient light if you
are using
radiosity (page 3–50) .
1. Choose Rendering > Environment.
2. Click the color swatch labeled Ambient.
A
Color Selector (page 1–157) appears.
3. Usethecolorselectortosettheambientcolor.
Shaded viewports update to show ambient
color changes.
3ds Max also uses the new ambient color when
you render the scene.
The color of ambient light tints the scene. For
most renderings, the color of ambient light
should be black.
4. Close the Environment dialog.
To change the intensity of ambient light:
Tip:
You don’t need to adjust ambient light if you
are using
radiosity (page 3–50) .
1. Choose Rendering > Environment.
2. Click the color swatch labeled Ambient Light.
A
Color Selector (page 1–157) appears.
3. Change the Value setting (the V component
of the ambient light’s HSV description) to
increase or decrease intensity.
Shaded viewports update to show changes in
the ambient light intensity.
4. Close the Color Selector.
The intensity of ambient light affects contrast
as well as overall illumination (the higher
the intensity of ambient light, the lower the
contrast). This is because ambient light is
completely diffuse, so the angle of incidence is
equalforallfaces.Ambientlightalonecannot
show depth.
Note: 3ds Max has a default ambient light
setting. You can change the default by using