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Cloud textures are used to create effects such as clouds, smoke, and steam. It can be applied as a transparency map to another shader to make it cloud-like, or can be used as a color map to make a cloudy surface on an object.

Tips for creating a good cloud effect:

Aside from the attributes listed here, Cloud textures inherit many other attributes from the parent class Texture3d.

In the table below, important attributes have their names shown in bold in the Description column.

Node nameParentsClassificationMFn typeCompatible function sets
cloudtexture3dtexture/3d:drawdb/shader/texture/3d/cloudkCloudkBase
kNamedObject
kDependencyNode
kTexture3d
kCloud

Related nodes

layeredTexture, envCube, envSphere, envSky, envBall, envChrome, bump3d, uvChooser, bump2d, texture2d, ramp, file, cloth, water, stencil, checker, fractal, bulge, grid, mountain, texture3d, projection, granite, crater, leather, stucco, brownian, solidFractal, marble, wood, rock, snow, defaultTextureList, place2dTexture, place3dTexture

Attributes (36)

amplitude, centerThresh, color1, color1B, color1G, color1R, color2, color2B, color2G, color2R, contrast, depth, depthMax, depthMin, edgeThresh, eyeToTextureMatrix, normalCamera, normalCameraX, normalCameraY, normalCameraZ, ratio, refPointCamera, refPointCameraX, refPointCameraY, refPointCameraZ, refPointObj, refPointObjX, refPointObjY, refPointObjZ, ripples, ripplesX, ripplesY, ripplesZ, softEdges, transpRange, xPixelAngle

Long name (short name)TypeDefaultFlags
amplitude (a) float1.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Amplitude scales the effect of the fractal noise. Increase Amplitude to make the texture more contrasty, with the light areas lighter and the dark areas darker.
centerThresh (ct) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Center Thresh, along with Edge Thresh, determines how diffuse or concentrated the Edge Rolloff is. For a dense cotton-ball effect, use a low Center Thresh with a high Edge Thresh. For a wispy, broken-up cloud effect use a high Center Thresh and a low Edge Thresh.
color1 (c1) float30.0, 0.0, 0.0outputinputconnectablestorable
Color 1 is one of the two colors that comprise the cloud.
color1R (c1r) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The red value of Color 1
color1G (c1g) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The green value of Color 1
color1B (c1b) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The blue value of Color 1
color2 (c2) float31.0, 1.0, 1.0outputinputconnectablestorable
Color 2 is one of the two colors that comprise the cloud.
color2R (c2r) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The red value of Color 2
color2G (c2g) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The green of the Color 2
color2B (c2b) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The blue of the Color 2
contrast (c) float0.5outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Contrast controls how much the two colors that comprise the cloud mix together. If Contrast is set to 0, the two colors are averaged across the entire texture. If contrast is set to 1.0, the colors do not affect each other at all.

If the Cloud texture is being used as a transparency map, this attribute will not have an appreciable effect.

depth (d) float20.0, 8.0outputinputconnectablestorable
Depth controls how much calculation is done by the Cloud texture. Fractal textures (such as Cloud) are created by an iterative mathematical process; as the process goes over more levels, it produces a more detailed fractal, but takes longer to do so. Normally, the texture will choose a level it thinks is appropriate for the volume being rendered. You can use Depth Min and Depth Max to control the minimum and maximum amount of calculation that the texure will do.
depthMin (dmn) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The minimum value for recursion depth
depthMax (dmx) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
The maximum value for recursion depth
edgeThresh (et) float1.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Edge Thresh. See the description for Center Thresh, above.
eyeToTextureMatrix (e2t) fltMatrixidentityoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The transform to go from eye to texture space (pTx = pEye * matrix). It must come from the 3D placement node.
normalCamera (n) float30.0, 0.0, 1.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The input normal to perturbate
normalCameraX (nx) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The X component of the input normal
normalCameraY (ny) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The Y component of the input normal
normalCameraZ (nz) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The Z component of the input normal
ratio (ra) float0.707outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Ratio controls the ratio for the fractal noise. Increase Ratio to make the detail in the texture smaller and more fine-grained. Decrease Ratio to make the detail larger, giving the cloud a more homogeneous appearance.
refPointCamera (rpc) float30.0, 0.0, 0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The current reference sample point that has to be shaded
refPointCameraX (rcx) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The x component of the current sample position
refPointCameraY (rcy) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The y component of the current sample position
refPointCameraZ (rcz) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The z component of the current sample position
refPointObj (rpo) float30.0, 0.0, 0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The current reference sample point that has to be shaded
refPointObjX (rox) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The x component of the current reference sample position
refPointObjY (roy) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The y component of the current reference sample position
refPointObjZ (roz) float0.0outputinputconnectablehidden
The z component of the current reference sample position
ripples (r) float31.0, 1.0, 1.0outputinputconnectablestorable
Ripples determines how wavy the texture will be by controlling the scale of the fundamental frequence of the fractals.
ripplesX (rx) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Ripple X value
ripplesY (ry) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Ripple Y value
ripplesZ (rz) float0.0outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Ripple Z value
softEdges (se) booltrueoutputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Soft Edges creates a roll-off effect so that the clouds look more transparent at the edges than in the center. When Soft Edges is turned off, there is no such effect. See also Center Thresh and Edge Thresh.
transpRange (tr) float0.5outputinputconnectablestorablekeyable
Transparency Range controls the range over which the cloud texture goes from being opaque to being transparent. If you increase this value, the transition between opaque and transparent areas becomes more gentle and diffuse.
xPixelAngle (xpa) float0.002053inputconnectablestorablehidden
The pixel angle