Material Editor > Standard material > Anisotropic Basic Parameters rollout > Specular Highlight group
Material Editor > Raytrace material > Raytrace Basic Parameters rollout > Shading: Anisotropic > Specular Highlight group
Anisotropic highlights are good for modeling hair, glass, or brushed metal.
Note: For the Raytrace material, the Specular Color component appears in the Specular Highlight group. Also, highlight controls that don’t pertain to the current shader are labeled “N / A.”
To increase or decrease the strength of a highlight:
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Change the value of Specular Level.
The intensity of the Highlight curves and the highlights in the preview change. At 0% specular level, there is no highlight. At 100% specular level, the curves are at their maximum height with no overloading. At values greater than 100%, the curves are overloaded: they grow wider, and a wider area is at the maximum highlight intensity.
The shape of the Highlight curves affects the blending between the specular and diffuse color regions of the material. The steeper the curve, the less blending there is and the sharper the edge of the specular highlight.
To adjust the shape (anisotropy) of the highlight:
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Change the value of Anisotropy.
The width of the white highlight curve and the highlights in the preview change. At 0% anisotropy, both highlight curves are the same and the highlight is circular, as in Blinn and Phong shading. At 100% anisotropy, the white highlight curve and the highlights are extremely narrow.
Specular Level—Affects the intensity of the specular highlight. As you increase the value, the highlight grows brighter. Default=5.
Click the map button to assign a map to the specular level component. See Specular Level Mapping. This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps rollout.
Glossiness—Affects the size of the specular highlight. As you increase the value, the highlight gets smaller and the material appears shinier. Default=25.
Click the map button to assign a map to the glossiness component. See Glossiness Mapping. This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps rollout.
Anisotropy—Controls the anisotropy, or shape, of the highlight. At 0, the highlight is round. At 100, the highlight is extremely narrow. One axis of the Highlight graph changes to show changes in this parameter. Default=50.
Orientation—Changes the orientation of the highlight. The sample slot shows changes in orientation. This is a value in degrees that can range from 0 to 9,999. Default=0.
Highlight graph—These two intersecting curves show the effect of adjusting the values of Specular Level, Glossiness, and Anisotropy. As you decrease Glossiness, the curves grow wider; as you increase Specular Level, the curves grow taller. As you adjust Anisotropy, the white curve changes to show how wide or narrow the highlight is.