Rendering How do I > Apply a planar projection on to a solid texture

Apply solid textures

Learn how to apply solid textures.

Typically, you use solid textures to make an object appear to be carved out of a block of solid material (for example, wood or marble). Solid textures determine the color of a surface based on the XYZ values of each point on the surface. Solid textures are, therefore, not affected by the parameterization of a surface, and will not distort (the way a surface texture will) when mapped to a surface with uneven parameterization.

Create cloud effects using solid textures

To create a cloud using the sCloud texture, create a new shader and set the shader parameters as follows:

Set Shading Model to LAMBERT
Set Color to white (or grey for smoke)
Set the Refractive Index value to 1
Map Transparency with an sCloud texture.

Transparency is a 3-channel (RGB) mapping. As a result, the sCloud texture requires more settings to work properly as a transparency map. Set the sCloud parameters as follows:

Set Invert ON
Set Color1 and Color2 to white
Adjust the Transp_range value to make the cloud more dense.

Apply the shader to a sphere.

Create flame effects using solid textures

To create flames using the sCloud texture, create a new shader and set the shader parameters as follows:

Set Shading Model to LIGHTSOURCE
Set Color to black
Set the Refractive Index value to 1
Set Transparency to its maximum setting (white)
Set the Glow value to 0.5
Map Incandescence with an sCloud texture.

Set the sCloud parameters as follows:

Set Color1 to pure green and Color2 to pure red
Set the Transp_range value to 0.3
Set the Center_thresh value to -0.5
Set the Amplitude value to 2
Set Rgbmult to a Value of 2.

Apply the shader to a sphere or an elongated (non-proportionately scaled) sphere. Non-proportionately scale the sCloud texture's Object Placement Object to create a more vertical looking flame.

Create smoke effects using solid textures

To simulate smoke, use the Create flame effects using solid textures example to create a shader, set the shader Color to black, and apply the shader to an elongated sphere positioned above the flame sphere. Animate the transformation icon slowly upwards.

To create an explosion effect, animate the sphere being scaled up.

To create a roaring fire, animate the transformation icon for the texture, moving it upward at a constant rate.

Create glow effects using solid textures

To create glows using the sCloud texture, create a new shader as described in Create flame effects using solid textures. Set the sCloud texture's Amplitude value to 0, assign the shader to a sphere, and put the object that you want to glow inside the sphere.

Convert a solid texture to a File texture

One of the disadvantages of using a solid texture is apparent during animation. When you animate a surface that is mapped with a solid texture, the surface will appear to flow through the solid material. One method of solving this problem is to convert the solid texture into a File texture.

To convert a solid texture into a File texture

Pick the surfaces you want to create a new shader for.
In the Multi-lister, pick the shader for the selected surfaces.
Select Edit > Convert Solid Tex in the Multi-lister. A dialog box appears.



The default value for Pix Size is 256 pixels square. Image files are created and sized so that the Pix Size corresponds to the longest dimension of the largest selected surface. If more than one surface is selected, the other image files are proportionally smaller. The valid range is 8 to 1024 pixels.

Larger image files require more memory to render, and depending on the render specifications, may not noticeably improve render quality. Anti Aliasing is recommended in most circumstances, but Convert Solid Tex will take four times longer than if Anti Aliasing is OFF.

Convert Solid Tex places the newly generated image files in a sub-directory (that has the same name as the shader being converted) in the pix directory of the current project.

Click OK. Information is displayed in the information line.



The progress bar at the far right indicates the status of the current pix creation.

Re-parameterize a polyset

Pick the polyset(s) you want to re-parameterize.
Create a new shader and click the Map button beside any parameter in the shader's Control Window. (The specific parameter you map the Projection texture to is unimportant.)
Select the Projection texture from the Texture Procedures window.
Select a Projection type in the Projection texture's Control Window.
Position and orient the Projection texture's Texture Projection Object in the modeling windows.
In the Projection texture's Control Window, set Clean Seams and Normalize Seams ON, and click the Apply Mapping button beside Project to UV. The polyset is now re-parameterized.
Create a new shader (or use an existing shader) that uses a surface texture only (no environment textures or solid textures), and assign it to the polyset. The surface texture now appears projected onto the polyset.

If, after rendering, you are not satisfied with the position and orientation of the texture on the polyset, you can re-parameterize the polyset by re-positioning and re-orienting the Projection texture's Texture Projection Object, and then clicking the Apply Mapping button again.

Apply the camera projection method to solid textures

Set Projection to CAMERA. The Projection Texture Parameters window expands, listing all cameras that have an image plane. (You can only use the CAMERA projection method for cameras that have an image plane.)





Click the Projective Camera toggle box for the camera you want to create a Projection texture for.
Click the Create button. A Stencil texture representing the image plane is automatically mapped to Source Texture.

Source Texture

The two-dimensional texture or image file projected to create a three-dimensional texture.

If you map Source Texture with a File texture, make sure that the File texture's Filter parameter is set to either NONE or BLEND. Higher order filters (QUADRATIC, QUARTIC, and GAUSSIAN) give unpredictable projections.

Although you can use an environment texture or solid texture as a Source Texture, the results are unpredictable.

Create a smear map to a solid texture

Select the surfaces you want to create a smear map for.
In the Multi-lister, double-click the Projection texture to open its Control Window.
In the Projection texture Control Window, click the Convert to Smear button under the Effects section.
A dialog box appears.



The default Pix Size is 256 pixels square. Image files are created and sized so that the Pix Size corresponds to the longest dimension of the largest selected surface. If more than one surface is selected, the other image files are proportionally smaller. The valid range is 8 to 1024 pixels.

Larger image files require more memory to render and, depending on the render specifications, may not noticeably improve render quality. Anti Aliasing is recommended in most circumstances, but Convert to Smear takes four times longer than if Anti Aliasing is OFF.

Convert to Smear places the newly generated image files in a sub-directory (that has the same name as the shader being converted) in the pix directory of the current project.

Click OK. Information is displayed in the information line.



The progress bar at the far right indicates the status of the current pix creation.

When the Convert to Smear operation is complete:
the Projection texture is replaced by its Source Texture,
a File texture is mapped to this texture's Smear Map parameter, and
the File texture's Per Object Images list contains a separate image file for each selected surface.

Each selected surface now has its own Smear Map which has all of the same properties as the original Projection texture.

> Notes

Because the Convert to Smear operation destroys the Projection texture, you may want to save the texture (or copy its shader) before using Convert to Smear.
If you press during the Convert to Smear operation, the files created up to that point will be correct but will not necessarily be assigned. Even if you delete the shader used by Convert to Smear, the image files still exist in a directory with the name of the original shader in the current pix directory. If you do a second Convert to Smear operation using the same shader and objects, the previously created files are overwritten without warning.
You can use Convert to Smear for spline type surfaces.
Any image files created are referenced on the Per Object Images list of the new file texture. Each surface gets its own image file for every Projection texture converted. The File texture created has no default Image file, only per object files, therefore the shader swatch does not display the file texture.

To display the texture on the shader swatch, copy any image file name from the Per Object Images list to the default Image field (click in the Object list to highlight the image file name, then click in the default Image field with the to paste).

Convert to Smear has the following limitations:

If Wrap is OFF for the Projection texture, Convert to Smear does not convert the texture properly.
The Source Texture can only have certain Surface Placement and Label Mapping settings:
Uoffset, Voffset, Utranslate, and Vtranslate can be set to anything
Rotate should be set to 0
Ucoverage and Vcoverage should be set to 1
Urepeat and Vrepeat must have the same value; the Rgbmult on the Smear Map must be scaled by the repeat value. For example, if Urepeat and Vrepeat are both 5, then set the Rgbmult "value" on the Smear Map to 5.
If the Source Texture has an image file or texture mapped to Rgboffset, Rgbmult, or Overlay, then you must map a copy of the Smear Map (the File texture created by Convert to Smear) to that image file or texture.
Bump and displacement maps may show artifacts.

Projection tools

There are two ways to create a Projection texture: using the Multi-lister or using the Projection tools.

To create a Projection texture in the Multi-lister, you first create a shader, map a Projection texture to the shader, and then position the Projection texture using its Texture Projection Object.
If you create a Texture Projection Object in the modeling window, the Projection tools create a corresponding shader and Projection texture in the Multi-lister.

There are eight different types of Projection tools, representing the eight different types of projections. See Projection Texture Parameters in Render > Multi-lister for a description of each projection type.

Apply a planar projection on to a solid texture

Select a tool from the Render > Create texture projectionscascading menu.

The Texture Projection Object is different for each Projection type.

Click or click-drag in a modeling window to place the pivot point of the new Texture Projection Object.



A new shader appears in the Multi-lister, having a Projection texture mapped to its Color.

> Tips

The projection objects are moved by their pivot points. When they are created, the Planar and Tri-planar projections are not centered on their pivot points.
When you are using the Camera projection, it may be helpful to pick the objects you want to texture first, then use the Look at tool in the Cameras palette before creating the projection object.