Environment Editor
The Environment Editor lets you edit the settings that define the appearance and properties of the environment. The environment provides lighting, shadows, reflections, and other visual effects that add photo-realism when displaying your model in Hardware Shade mode. An environment can be a simple colored background or a complex three-dimensional texture, and often include an environment shader, reflection maps, textures, and background images.
Environment Editor icons
- Delete the current environment shader.
- Load an environment shader into the scene.
- Save the current environment shader.
Related video
Environment shader: Basic parameters
Image Based Lighting
Reflection Map
Either type the full or relative path to the High Dynamic Range (HDR) image to be used as a reflection map or click the file browser icon and navigate to the file. HDR images are the only type of image allowed to be used as reflection maps for Image-Based Lighting.
HDR images can be created using Adobe Photoshop software or purchased from HDRIshop. Some free images are available on the Internet as well (search for “royalty-free HDR images”).
- Rotation - Rotates the image so that he objects reflect different parts of the image.
Tone Mapping
The contribution of image-based lighting to illuminating the model can be controlled by tone mapping. HDR images, since they have a wide range, may produce a resulting image that may need to be "toned" to represent lighting that is suitable for the scene. The tone mapping does not affect regular lights.
As with digital photography and images that are higher than 24 bits, the longer the original data is maintained and the later in the process that it is reduced to 24 bits, the more value the high dynamic range data can contribute to the final image.
- Gamma - Sets the brightness of the mid-tone values of the reflection map. Lower values create darker reflections; higher values create brighter reflections.
- Exposure - Sets the overall brightness of the reflection map. Lower values reduce the exposure of the image; higher values increase the exposure compensation.
- Saturation - Sets the amount of color in the reflection map that will be used.
Background
Specify the appearance of the environment background, and optionally specify an environment map for reflections.
Color
The color of the background. The default setting is black.
If a Backdrop image has been specified, it overrides the color.
If this parameter is texture mapped, then the Environment texture selected is used to create reflections on surfaces.
Backdrop
Browse to the location of the image file or series of image files, to use as a background.
Environment shader: Advanced parameters
Ground Plane
Preview
Enables you to see the placement of the ground plane in the Left and Back windows while adjusting the plane Height slider. This is for display purposes only: the plane is not real geometry and cannot be picked, transformed, grouped, and so on.
Height
Enables you to set the ground plane for reflections and shadows.
Shadows
Enables shadows and makes the Shadow Blur, Shadow Position, and Shadow Transparency options available.
Shadow Position
The shadow is generated from either a spot light or directional light that you create in the scene by the user. The appropriate light is selected through the Light Lister. You can modify the color and transparency of the shadow in the Light Editor.
- Directly Above - The shadow is generated from a single light source located directly above the model. The light source cannot be edited.This is the default.
45 degrees left - The shadow is generated from a single light source located at 45 degrees to the left and above the model. The light source cannot be edited.
45 degrees right - The shadow is generated from a single light source located at 45 degrees to the right and above the model. The light source cannot be edited.
Shadow Blur
Enables you to slide between Hard Shadows (0) and Soft Shadows (1). Setting the value higher than 0.7 may cause longer processing times.
Shadow Transparency
Enables you to slide between opaque shadows (0) and very pale shadows (0.9).
Reflections
Turn on Reflection to enable ground-plane reflections of the scene. Adjust the following parameters:
- Reflectivity - Sets the amount the ground plane will reflect, from 0 (no reflection) to 1 (mirror-like).
- Reflection Depth - Real life reflections fade out; Reflection Depth sets the fade on the ground plane.
- Reflection Blur - Sets the amount by which the reflections are blurred on the ground plane.
- Reflection Blur Depth - Similar to Reflection depth, it sets the amount by which the blur will increase the further the distance a point on the surface is from the ground plane.
Shader Glow
The Shader Glow parameters determine the type of effect produced when a shader’s glow intensity (Glow Intens value) is not zero.
Glow Type
The type of glow a shader produces when its Glow Intensity value is not zero. The default setting is Linear.
Off | No glow |
Linear | Glow slowly diminishes from the surface |
Spectral | Lower wavelengths (red) refract (or spread) more than the higher frequencies (blue) |
Rim Halo | Forms a circular ring with a soft central glow. The size of the ring is determined by the halo Spread value. |
Halo Type
The type of halo a shader produces when its Glow Intensity value is non-zero. The default setting is Linear.
Off | No halo |
Linear | Halo slowly diminishes from the surface |
Spectral | Lower wavelengths (red) refract (or spread) more than the higher frequencies (blue) |
Rim Halo | Forms a circular ring with a soft central glow. The size of the ring is determined by the halo Spread. |
Auto Exposure
Evaluates glows in the scene, and based on the maximum intensity found, automatically adjusts the intensity of shader glows. The default setting is on.
Although Auto Exposure is very useful, you should not use it during an animation. This is because each frame could have a very different intensity adjustment, resulting in glow flicker between frames.
Quality
Controls the resolution of the glow. The slider range is 0 to 5. The default value is 0.5.
Threshold
The minimum brightness at which surfaces will glow. For example, if the Threshold value is 0.5, only surface regions with an intensity over 127 (255*0.5) will glow. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.
Glow
The Glow parameters control the appearance of shader glow effects. These parameters are similar to the light Glow parameters.
- Glow Color - The color of shader glows. The default color Value is 0.392.
- Intensity - The brightness of shader glows. The Intensity value acts as a scaling factor applied to Glow Color. As value increases, so does the apparent size of the shader glow effect. A negative value subtracts from other glows. The slider range is 0 to 10. The default value is 1.
- Spread- Controls the size of the shader glow effect. Negative values can have odd but useful effects. For example, a Spread of -6 and a 2D Noise of 1 produces an image of a fiery bubble. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.05.
- Eccentricity - Determines how focused the glow effect is. The slider range is 0 (concentrated glow, fast decay) to 1 (ball-like glow). The default value is 0.1. The degree to which a glow effect can be focused is limited. For very low values of Eccentricity (0.01), increase the Quality value. Generally, it is better to use a glow with a low Spread value and a halo with a high Spread value.
- Radial Noise - Randomizes the spread of shader glows to simulate starburst effects and eyelashes refracting light. The slider range is 0 to 4. The default value is 0. Negative values of Radial Noise will create a thicker noise. Use the Noise Freq. parameter (under Radial Effects) to adjust the smoothness of this effect.
- Star Level - Simulates camera star filter effects. The slider range is 0 to 4. The default value is 0. The Star Level parameter is often effective when combined with a high value of Radial Noise. Use the Star Points parameter to set the number of points on the star. Use the Rotation parameter to rotate the star.
- Opacity - Allows a shader glow to obscure objects. (Opacity can be thought of as the opposite of transparency.) The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.
Halo
The Halo parameters control the appearance of shader halo effects. These parameters are similar to the light Halo parameters.
- Halo Color - The color of shader halos. The default color value is 0.392.
- Intensity - The brightness of shader halos. The Intensity value acts as a scaling factor applied to Halo Color. The slider range is 0 to 10. The default value is 1.
- Spread -Controls the size of the shader halo effect. The Spread value also controls the size of the glow if Glow Type is Rim Halo. Halo size is generally larger than glow size when the halo Spread and glow Spread values are the same. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.3.
- Eccentricity, Radial Noise, Star Level - Control the appearance of shader halo effects. These parameters operate the same way as the Glow parameters Eccentricity, Radial Noise, and Star Level.
- Lens Flare - Simulates a bright light source illuminating the surfaces of several camera lenses. The intensity of the flare is determined by the halo Intensity value. The size of the circles created is relative to the field of view of the camera. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0
Radial Effects
The Radial Effects parameters control the appearance of shader glow and halo radial effects (Radial Noise and Star Level).
- Rotation - Rotates glow and halo noise and star effects about the location of the surface. The slider range is 0 to 180 (degrees). The default value is 0.
The Rotation value affects the following Glow and Halo parameters: Star Level and Radial Noise.
- Noise Freq. (Noise Frequency) - Controls the smoothness of shader glow and halo radial noise. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.5.
- Star Points - The number of points on glow and halo star filter effects. A Star Points value of 1 produces a comet-like effect. The slider range is 0 to 10. The default value is 4. Non-integer values could produce a seam or hard line at the top of a star effect.
Linear Reflection Controls
Show Tunnel
If turned on, the tunnel is represented with green lines. It’s useful to turn the display on when creating the reflection band display.
Color
Click the swatch to choose a color other than white for the reflections, or move the slider to change the value of the color.
Intensity
Controls the relative brightness of the reflections. Values greater than one are equivalent to setting a light to the same intensity.
Number of Bands
Controls the number of bands of reflected light in the cylinder.
Band Width
Controls the width of the lights.
Band Fringe
Controls the edge transition of the lights ranging from a hard, sharp transition to a smooth soft transition.
Interactive Placement
Click Interactive Placement to place and scale the size of the light tunnel using the interactive placement manipulator.
- To scale the tube, move one or all of the three cubes.
- To rotate the tube, click a sphere, which enables you to rotate about that axis.
- To move the tube, click an arrow.
Master Lighting COntrols
The Master Lighting Control parameters act as scaling factors that are applied to all lights in the scene.
Intensity
A scaling factor applied to the Intensity value of all lights in the scene. For example, a value of 2 will double the brightness of all lights in the scene. The slider range is 0 to 10. The default value is 1.
Light Color
A scaling factor applied to the Color of all lights in the scene. The default setting is white. A new visualization tool enables you to see your model as if it were surrounded by long fluorescent light fixtures. The linear reflection tool is only available in hardware shade mode.
Ambient Occlusion Contrast
Controls the contrast of shadows when Ambient Occlusion is applied to the surfaces in the scene.
For more information, see the following:
How to create linear reflections
To interactively create linear reflections, turn on Linear Reflection, select Shade On and close the window.
In the Environment editor, scroll to Linear Reflection Controls.
Adjust the Environment settings to suit your model.
Environment Types and examples
There are several different types of environment textures: ball, chrome, cube, sky, and sphere.
Geometric
Geometric environments create 3D geometry, which is either a dome or cylinder shape. This geometry shape surrounds your model providing a 360 degree scene that maintains a realistic shape to your model regardless of where you view it from.
Geometric environments use HDR images for the image-based lighting and reflections, which are controlled separately from the background.
Access these Geometric environments from the Shader Library:
Sky
The Sky texture simulates a planetary environment viewed from the surface of a planet.
Sphere
The Sphere environment simulates an environment by mapping a texture or image file directly onto the inner surface of an infinite sphere. The best way to create a sphere environment is to use a ramp texture and paint objects onto it, being sure to avoid the poles and edges.
Access these Sphere type environments from the Shader Library:
Cube
The cube environment texture simulates an environment by mapping six image files onto the inner surfaces of a cube or box. The size and shape of the texture placement object determines the size and shape of the cube or box.
Access these Square type environments from the Shader Library:
Chrome
The Chrome type simulates a showroom environment. This texture consists of a ground plane and a sky plane (with fluorescent style light rectangles), and provides a simple but effective environment to simulate reflections off chrome surfaces.
Ball
The Ball texture uses an image (or series of images) of a highly reflective chrome ball in an environment (real world or computer generated) to re-create that environment. This is possible because the reflections in the chrome ball provide a (nearly) 360 degree view of the environment.
In order to use the Ball environment texture, you must map the texture’s Image parameter with the image of a reflective chrome ball in the environment you want to re-create. You should also map the Backdrop parameter with the image of the environment without the chrome ball.
Add an environment shader to the scene
Alias starts with a default environment shader in the scene. It also provides several default environment shaders in the Shader Library. Some of these, such as the geometric environments, have reflection maps and background images.
When working with environment shaders, turn on Use Environment, Show Background, and Ground Plane in Hardware Shade window so that all the environment effects display in your scene.
LMB-drag an environment shader from the Shader Library into your scene.
In the Shader Library, double-click the environment shader's swatch to open the Environment Editor.
Adjust the parameters in the Environment Editor to get the desired look.
For example, if you added a Geometric environment, use the Image Based Lighting parameters such as Rotation and Tone Mapping to adjust the reflections.
For more information on modifying geometric environments, see Create a geometric environment.
Create a geometric environment
You can start your custom geometric environment by modifying the environment shader that appears in the scene by default. You can also select an existing geometric environment from the Shader Library and modify it. In this example, the geometric environment is created from the default environment shader.
- Use Environment
- Show Background
- Ground Plane
Create the geometric background
In the Shader Lister, double-click the default environment shader to open its parameters in the Environment Editor.
Note: You can also select Edit Environment from the More menu to access the editor.In the Background section of the Environment Editor, click the texture icon
beside Color.
The Environment Texture Editor opens.
Set the Environment Type to Geometric.
By default, the Geometry Type is set to Cylinder Geometry. You can also choose Dome geometry by selecting it as the Geometry Type.
For Texture Source, select Image.
Click the file browser icon
beside Change texture to, and locate the image you want to use as the geometric background.
The background image is mapped to either a Dome or a Cylinder (depending on the Geometry Type chosen) that surrounds your model.
Use the Rotate, Scale, and Height parameters to position the image.
Add the Reflection Map
Use an HDR image to generate reflections in the environment. In this example, the reflection map image is an HDR version of the geometric background image.
In the Environment Editor, click the file browser icon
beside Reflection Map, and browse to the location of the HDR image you want to use.
Adjust the Rotation and Tone Mapping parameters to modify the effect of the reflections.
Adjust the lighting
In the Hardware Shade window, you can specify the lighting to be Image Based, or use a combination of the HDR image light and the preset lighting.
You can also use the light emitted from your reflection map image by setting the Light Source in the Hardware Shade window to Image-Based Lighting only.
Add the environment to the Shader Library
Add your custom geometric shader so you can use it in other files.
Rename your geometric environment.
MMB-drag the shader into your custom Shader Library.
Add image-based lighting
Instead of mapping an environment texture to the Background color of an environment, you can choose a high dynamic range (HDR) image for image-based lighting.
In the Image Based Lighting section of the Environment Editor, click the folder icon beside Reflection Map.
Browse to the location of the HDR image you want to use.
Note: Ensure that Use Environment is turned on in the Enable Environment Effects section of the Hardware Shade window.After the HDR image loads, you might need adjust the tone of it to get the look you want. HDR images cover a wide range of lighting conditions, so the default selection may not be the look you want.
In the Tone Mapping section of the Environment Editor, use Gamma, Exposure, and Saturation to adjust the color, brightness, and tonal range of the HDR image.
Note: In the Hardware Shade window you can specify the lighting to be Image Based Only, or use a combination of the HDR image light and the preset lighting (see Hardware Shade settings).
Create a 3D environment
In the Environment Editor, expand Background, and then click the texture icon
beside Color.
In the Environment Texture Editor, select an Environment Type.
If the chosen Environment Type needs an image, click Change Texture to and browse to the texture image you want to use.
Customize the environment texture by editing the parameters in the editor.