Share

Shader Editor

Opens Shader Editor, which you use to edit shaders parameters and create textures.

A separate Texture Editor window opens when you map shader parameters to procedural or projected images (see Texture Parameters).

Shader name

The name of the shader. Shader swatches in the Shader Editor are listed alphabetically (except for the DefaultShader). If you change a shader’s name, the swatch display in the Shader Editor may also change.

Shading Type

Defines the basic surface type (for example, matte, reflective). The default setting is Lambert. Each Shading Model has its own set of Shading Parameters.

  • Blinn - A metallic surface such as brass or aluminum.
  • Phong - A glassy or glossy surface (ABS or SAN copolymer), which is often used for car mouldings, telephones, and bathroom fittings.
  • Lambert - A matte surface, such as chalk, matte paint, or unpolished surface.
  • Light Source - A special effect. Light falling on the surface is summed and averaged, and no complex shading is done. The surface does not act as a light meaning that it does not illuminate other objects.

The Shading Parameters differ between Lambert, Blinn, or Phong. There are no Shading Parameters when Shading Model is Light Source.

Shading Parameters

Color

Diffuse Color

The color of the surface.

Diffuse Intensity

The ability of the surface to reflect light in all directions. The Diffuse value acts like a scaling factor applied to the Color setting: the higher the Diffuse value, the closer the actual surface color is to the Color setting. The valid range is 0 to infinity. The slider range is 0 (no light is reflected in all directions) to 1. The default color Value is 0.8.

Click this icon to map this parameter to a procedural texture or projected image. See Texture Parameters.

Gloss

Gloss reproduces the effect of surface shinyness. A high Gloss material has specular highlights the same color as its reflections. A low Gloss material has specular highlights the same color as its diffuse shading. Values in the middle blend between these.

Reflective materials with a low Gloss appearance could previously be achieved only with a layered shader.

Specular Color

The color of shiny highlights on the surface. A black Specular produces no surface highlights. The default color Value is 0.5.

Tip: For glossy plastic surfaces, use a whitish Specular color. For metallic surfaces, use a Specular color similar to the surface color.

Click this icon to map this parameter to a procedural texture or projected image. See Texture Parameters.

Specular Intensity

Specularity works with Gloss to determine the appearance of specular highlights that are based on the color of the bright parts of the environment cast on the object.

Specular reflections (the blurry ones), which in the past only reflected the light sources, such as point and directional lights, used to be colored only by Specular Color. Now they are colored by a blend of the Specular Color and the (diffuse) Color (which is actually the diffuse color of the surface), with the blending being controlled by Gloss. When Gloss is 1.0, it's pure “Specular Color”, when Gloss is 0.0 it's pure (diffuse) “Color.”

This is handy because it lets you do with one shader something that used to require a layered shader. It's also positively irreplacable with image based lighting (IBL), since even a layered shader wouldn't give you independent control over reflected and specular part of IBL.

Experiment with these two parameters together in Hardware shading to get new effects.

Low gloss and high specularity can produce a satiny, lustrous surface like a pearl or wood with an oiled or waxed finish. High gloss and low specularity gives small precise highlights, like highly polished enamel surfaces or wood with a varathane finish.

Specular Rolloff

The ability of the surface to reflect its surroundings (the environment, other surfaces), or the Reflection map, if any, when viewed at oblique angles. This parameter appears only when Shading Model is BLINN. To help visualize the effect of Spec. Rolloff in the shader swatch, temporarily assign a Reflection map to the shader.

The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.3.

Tip: Use a Spec. Rolloff value of 0.7 to simulate a wet surface (for example, wet paint).

Shinyness

Controls the size of shiny highlights on the surface. This parameter is only available when Shading Model is PHONG. The valid range is 2 to infinity. The slider range is 2 (broad highlight, not very shiny surface) to 100 (small highlight, very shiny surface). The default value is 20.

Eccentricity

Controls the size of shiny highlights on the surface. This parameter is only available when Shading Model is BLINN. The valid range is 0 (no highlight) to 0.999 (broad highlight, not very shiny surface). A value of 0.1 produces a small highlight (very shiny surface). The default value is 0.3.

Parameters

Reflectivity

The ability of the surface to reflect its surroundings (the environment, other surfaces), or the Reflection map, if any. Reflectivity values for common surface materials are: car paint (0.4), glass (0.7), mirror (1), chrome (1). To help visualize the effect of Reflectivity in the shader swatch, temporarily assign a Reflection map to the shader.

The valid range is 0 to infinity. The slider range is 0 (no reflections) to 1 (clear reflections). The default value is 0.5.

Note: Reflections are calculated only during raytracing.

Reflection Source

  • Map - Maps a texture onto the surface to simulate reflections. By default, reflection mapping only works during raycasting. To use reflection maps during raytracing, set the shader’s Use Refl. Map parameter ON.

    Tip: Map only environment textures to this parameter. Mapping a surface texture or solid texture to this parameter does not produce realistic-looking reflections.

  • Use Environment - Causes the surface to reflect the environment texture assigned to the environment, or the Image Based Lighting tone map. When IBL is on, this option controls diffuse and specular as well as reflected illumination from the Environment. The default setting is OFF.

    Causes the surface to reflect the environment texture assigned to the environment, or the Image Based Lighting tone map. When IBL is on, this option controls diffuse and specular as well as reflected illumination from the Environment. The default setting is OFF.

    Use Environment has a different effect during raycasting and raytracing. During raycasting, the surface reflects the environment texture assigned to the environment. During raytracing, the surface reflects only the environment texture assigned to the environment. Any surrounding objects that would normally be reflected by the surface during raytracing will not be reflected when Use Environment is ON. If Use Environment is OFF during raytracing, the surface will reflect the environment and surrounding objects

Incandescence

The color and brightness of light that a surface appears to be emitting. (Incandescent objects do not illuminate other objects.) For example, to simulate lava, use a bright red Incandescence. The default color Value is 0 (black).

Tip: Use a little Incandescence for vegetation to make it look alive.

Click this icon to map this parameter to a procedural texture or projected image. See Texture Parameters.

Transparency

The color and level of transparency of a surface. For example, if the Transparency Value is 0 (black), the surface is totally opaque; if the Transparency value is 1 (white), the surface is totally transparent. To make an object transparent, set the Transparency color to a shade of gray or to the same color as the shader Color. The default value is 0 (black).

If you change Transparency from the default black (0), the background of the shader’s Shader Editor swatch becomes a checkered pattern. This is a visual aid and is not rendered in your scene.

Tip: To create a realistic looking material, set the Specular, Reflectivity, and Transparency values so that they satisfy the following equation: (Specular x Reflectivity) + Transparency <= 1 For this equation the Specular and Transparency values must each be expressed as a number between 0 and 1. (By default, they are each expressed as a value between 0 and 255 in Alias.) For example, if the Specular value is 0.5, and the Reflectivity value is 1, then the Transparency value should be 0.5 or less.

Click this icon to map this parameter to a procedural texture or projected image. See Texture Parameters.

Bump Mapping

Bump

Makes the surface appear rough or bumpy by altering surface normals (during rendering) according to the intensity of the pixels in the bump map texture.

A bump map does not actually alter the surface. A silhouette of the surface appears smooth.

A two-dimensional bump map does not significantly increase rendering time.

Displacement

Makes the surface actually rough or bumpy by altering the tessellated triangle vertices during rendering, according to the intensity of the pixels in the displacement map texture.

Displacement mapping is similar to bump mapping, except that the surface is actually altered. (A silhouette of the surface appears bumpy.) Displacement mapping, however, requires more rendering time than bump mapping.

Be careful when placing surfaces with displacement maps near other surfaces. Because the actual displacement takes place during rendering, parts of the surfaces may intersect.

You can convert a displacement-mapped surface to a mesh, and the mesh will be displaced according to the map. This is useful for positioning surfaces or camera paths before rendering.

Shading Map

Applies a color map to the surface after it is rendered. The U value of the Shading Map texture is mapped to the surface’s hue, and the V value is mapped to the surface’s intensity (the value defined by [R+G+B]/3). A shading map changes the shader’s color, specular color, and eccentricity, effectively creating a new type of shading model.

A Shading Map is useful for creating non-photorealistic effects (for example, cartoon shading) or for highlighting threshold values (for example, using a ramp texture).

Click this icon to map this parameter to a procedural texture or projected image. See Texture Parameters.

Ambient Occlusion

Concentration

Increasing this value causes the occlusion shadow to retreat to the places where it is darkest.

Contrast

Reduces the effect of occlusion uniformly.

Glow

The Glow parameters define the type of glow produced from light reflecting off a surface, or from surface incandescence.

Glow Intens (Glow Intensity)

The brightness of the shader glow effect. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.

Shader glow appears different at different image resolutions. If the Environment’s Glow Type and Halo Type are both off (in the Shader Glow section of the Control Window), the Glow Intens. value has no effect.

Hide Source

Causes the surface to become invisible when rendered, showing only the glow effect. The default setting is OFF.

If the Environment’s Glow Type and Halo Type are both off (in the ShaderGlow section of the Control Window), or if the shader’s Glow Intens value is zero, Hide Source has no effect.

Tip: Use shader glow and Hide Source to simulate gas effects (for example, an aurora borealis).

Data Transfer Information

VRED Material Tag

Select the VRED material to use in place of the Alias shader when the file is opened in VRED.

Was this information helpful?