Many Truelight materials used in VRED share properties.
The effect of the object itself giving off light. Incandescence is useful in various cases where an object needs to be lit without the use of a full light object in the scene. Settings are available for the object to affect the lighting of only itself or the surrounding scene.
Intensity - The strength of the effect (Range -0-1000).
Color - The color of the light rays.
Use Texture - Enables the use of a texture to control the intensity of the effect according to the texture values.
Link texture Settings - If this option is selected for multiple texture slots of a material, their texture mapping settings are linked together. When changing, for example, the Repeat UV of a linked texture, it is changed for all linked textures at once. When selecting this option for a texture while other textures of that material already have the link option selected, the texture settings are set to the settings of the already linked textures.
Depending on the type of material, the setting options can vary. For common materials light Plastic and Phong, there are now three mapping types selectable for the using textures:
Mapping Type - Sets the mapping type of the texture. There are three modes which can be selected.
Repeat Mode UV - Sets the repeat mode of the texture. There are four modes:
Repeat UV - Sets the number of repetitions for the UVs.
Offset UV - Sets the offset for the UVs.
Rotate - Rotates the UVs.
Projection Center - Coordinates (x, y, z) of the projection center can be set here.
Projection Orientation - Offers the possibility to incline the projection plane.
Projection Size - Sets the size of the projection. Textures default to infinite projection depth and cover the entire object. You can restrict the texture to one side of the object by limiting the range of the projection. Changing the Z value of the projection size from zero (infinite) to another value achieves the restriction.
Keep Aspect Ratio - If selected, the size corresponding to the original aspect ratio of the texture is automatically adjusted.
Rotate - Sets the projection plane’s rotation on the X/Y/Z- Axis.
Manipulate - Adjusts the texture on the selected object. Hold the Shift key and drag on the manipulator to rotate, scale, or translate the texture. Dragging the blue scale control adjusts the depth limit of the texture.
Fit Size - Adjusts the size of the projection plane to the selected object.
Object Center - Adjusts the projection center to the center of the selected object.
Texture Size X, Y - Defines the textures size on the X-/Y- Axis.
X Repeat UV, Y/UV, Z/UV - Set the repetition value of the U and V- Axis for each projection direction.
X Offset UV, Y/UV, Z/UV - Set the offset value of the U and V- Axis for each projection direction.
X/Y/Z Rotate - Sets the projection orientation.
Manipulate - Applies the texture to the selected surface.
Anisotropy - Sets the texture filter quality for the image texture. Value 1 is lowest quality. Value 16 is highest quality.
Evaluate Ray Lights (Raytracing Only) - Enables evaluation of ray lights on the surface. This is used to be able to look into a ray file light and to make it visible in reflections and refractions. The origins of the rays should be on the surface to be evaluated.
Use as Light Source (Raytracing Only) - Uses the material as a light source for other materials in the scene while raytracing.
Illuminate Shadow Material - Allows the incandescence light shadow materials. Set the Reflection Mode of the shadow material to Diffuse, Glossy, or Diffuse + Glossy.
Cast Shadow on Shadow Material - Allows other objects to cast shadows on the shadow material due to the material's incandescence illumination.
Shadow Intensity - Sets the intensity of shadows cast by the geometry light.
Importance Multiplier - If Use As Light Source is selected, objects with this material function as geometric light sources. A value higher than one increases the probability that the light source emits photons at the photon mapping. This is useful for dark light sources in an interior if incident light comes from outside Environments.
Interactive/Still Frame Quality - Controls the illumination and sets the light sampling quality during interactive/still frame rendering.
Define the shader’s opacity.
See Through - Renders the shader transparent.
Invert Texture - Inverts the texture.
The Texture, Repeat, Offset, Rotate, and Anisotropy settings are described in the General Truelight Material Settings - Incandescence section.
Translucency and subsurface scattering are two different methods for calculating light passing through the back of an object into the observer's eye. While translucency requires far less calculation power, subsurface scattering offers more possibilities and greater flexibility.
Scattering Mode Translucency - There are two modes when operating with translucency, depending on what objects to project:
Color - Determines the color of the scattering/translucent light.
Roughness - Defines the amount of diffusion that is applied to translucent light.
Scattering Mode Subsurface Scattering - Incoming light on the averted side of an object is refracted in all directions. With this mode, it is possible to simulate the behavior of wax or other translucent materials. There are two modes available:
Single Scattering - Allows light to bounce once inside a material before it is reflected to the outside. This mode is less accurate but requires less calculation time than multiple scattering.
Multiple Scattering - Allows light to bounce several times inside a material before it is reflected to the outside. This mode is more accurate but requires more calculation time than single scattering.
Attenuation - The distance that the light travels inside the medium is depending on the attenuation value. The higher the value, the more light is absorbed inside the medium.
Asymmetry - This value describes the directional characteristic of incoming light, and its weighted behavior. The value -1 defines that light is distributed to the averted side along the incoming light path. The value 1 defines that light is distributed along the incoming light path. The value 0 describes a homogeneous distribution of light inside the medium.
Select Medium - Offers a large selection of refraction indices based on materials existing in reality. The selected medium affects the index of Refraction automatically.
Index of Refraction - The refraction index defines the optical density, and therefore the way light is refracted when passing differently dense materials.
The Texture, Repeat, Offset, Rotate, and Anisotropy settings are described in the General Truelight Material Settings - Incandescence section.
Displacement maps are detailed maps, which are interpreted as height information. Floating point displacement maps may encode displacements in both positive and negative directions using real world values. Using displacement maps you can create highly detailed structures from simple geometry by using a plain image. Each point on the geometry is displaced along the interpolated vertex normals using the height information of the map, resulting in a realistic silhouette, producing correct shadows, and reflections. Accuracy is limited by the resolution of the texture image and memory requirements are low. To avoid cracks in the displaced surfaces the vertex normals should be smooth and consistent. Using a higher tessellated base mesh can improve performance.
Displacement Height - Defines the scaling factor of values for the displacement.
Displacement Offset - Defines the offset of the displacement. Allows you to set the value of the zero plane in the texture. Values below the zero plane displace inside the geometry and values above the zero plane displace outside the geometry.
Use Accurate Silhouettes in OpenGL - This feature allows you to calculate the displacement in OpenGL like in raytracing mode. Selecting it may drastically reduce the performance.
Use Texture - Loads an image texture for the diffuse color channel. Uses the image as pattern on the surfaces.
Link texture Settings - If this option is selected for multiple texture slots of a material, their texture mapping settings are linked together. When changing, for example, the Repeat UV of the linked texture, it is changed for all linked textures at once. When selecting this option for a texture while other textures of that material already have the link option selected, the texture settings are set to the settings of the already linked textures.
Mapping Type - Select the type of mapping, either Planar, or UV.
Repeat Mode UV - Sets the repeat mode of the texture. There are four modes:
For Mapping Type UV - You can set the following parameters:
For Mapping Type Planar - You can set the following parameters:
These settings take effect in Raytracing rendering mode only.
Material ID - Sets the ID of the material in a range of [0, 31].
Line Tube Radius - Defines the radius of the tube when the shader is applied to a line geometry.
Use Local Environment - If selected, diffuse and glossy reflections are calculated from the environment that is assigned to this material in all illumination modes. Specular reflections are determined by the environment that is present in the scene.
Ignore Photon Map - Selecting this option does not include the light values of a photon map when calculating the illumination of a pixel.
Override Illumination Mode - If selected, the setting overrides the global set illumination modes for interactive or still frame rendering.
Interactive/Still Frame - Sets the render quality mode and render quality level during Render View interaction/still frame rendering.
Override IBL Sampling Quality - If selected, the setting overrides the global IBL Sampling quality for sampling the environment map.
Override Reflection/Refraction Sampling Quality - If enabled, the setting overrides the global sampling quality for reflections/refractions.
Override Trace Depth - If selected, the setting overrides the global set illumination modes for interactive or still-frame rendering.
The common settings define material settings that are present in all BRDF materials.
Occlusion Color - Sets the shader’s pre-calculated ambient occlusion color.
Occlusion Intensity - Sets the shader’s pre-calculated ambient occlusion intensity
Compress Textures (OpenGL) - Compresses all used textures to save disk space and helps to reduce memory requirements in large scenes.
Sort Key (OpenGL) - Enables materials to be sorted into groups based on the key that controls the order of the drawing transparent surfaces.
Environment - Right-click opens a context menu to select the HDR-Image to be used as light source.
Lighting Mode - Defines the light model to be used for the shader. There are five different lighting models.