Understanding Surface Material Channels
The fourteen channels of a surface material each represent a different surface property. These properties simulate different physical properties of a surface and the combination defines how the object's surface interacts with light in the Bryce environment. To understand how the channels work, you need to understand a little about how you perceive light and color.
The color and size of an object are determined by how the light that hits the object is reflected back to your eye. Objects appear green because they reflect green light. An object appears shiny because it reflects light back at you.
An object appears transparent because light passes through its surface, hits the objects behind it, and is reflected back through the surface. Bryce's material channels simulate all these behaviors.
When you set a channel value, you're setting how your object's surface interacts with the light that hits it, whether that light is from a direct source like the sun, or an indirect source like light reflected off other surfaces.
When you're creating volume materials, your settings not only control how light interacts with the surface of the object, but also how it interacts with the object's volume.
The effects of the channels are additive, meaning that each value you set directly affects all the other values. So, if you set the Diffuse Color to yellow and the Ambient Color to blue, the object will have a greenish tint.
Channels are interdependent. For example, you won't see the effects of the Transparent Color if the object is not transparent or doesn't have a transparency map applied in the Alpha Channel.
When you're using these channels, it's important to understand the physical property they're simulating. Only then can you make meaningful adjustments to the component values.
For example, if you set both Transparency and Reflection to 100, you'll get an unusually bright object that doesn't look very realistic. The reason for this is that the object is emitting more light than it is receiving, something it couldn't do in reality.
Since material channels simulate real-world surface properties, you should try to keep channel values within a realistic range. For example, in the image above, Transparency and Reflection are both set to 100. With these settings you're saying that 100% of the light that hits the object passes through its surface and 100% of the light that hits the object is also reflected off its surface. The result is an object that emits more light than it receives because it is reflecting the light that hits it as well as the light from behind it.
In reality, an object can only reflect a portion of the light that is passing through it. So, Transparency and Reflection values should always add up to 100.
A good rule of thumb to keep in mind while you're setting these channels is that the Transparency and Reflection channels should always add up to 100 and the Diffusion and Ambience values should also always add up to 100.
Each surface material is made up of fourteen channels, divided into three groups:
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