Applying Textures

Applying Textures

The easiest way to apply a texture to an object is to use the Get > Texture menu on the Render toolbar. These commands apply a material and surface shader (if none exists) and a selected texture shader to the selected object or objects.

You can choose the surface shader inputs to which you want to apply a texture. By default, a texture is applied to any combination of the ambient, diffuse, reflection, and transparency parameters of a surface shader when the Texture menu is used.

A Note About Texture Layers

Some of the texturing techniques described in this sections allow you to add textures to an object in layers. Texture layering is the process of mixing several textures together, one after the other, such that each texture is blended with the cumulative result of the preceding textures. You can use this technique to build complex effects by adding texture layers to an object’s material or its shaders.

In XSI, there are several tools and techniques specifically for working with texture layers. These are discussed in Texture Layering.

Three Basic Texturing Methods

The following three texturing methods all accomplish the same results. Some methods may be better suited for advanced users while others let you quickly accomplish basic texturing with a few mouse clicks.

Another method you can use is to drag-and-drop a surface or texture shader from a browser or toolbar onto your object in a 3D view. Although this method is quick and simple, it does not allow for very much control over individual parameters.

Method 1: Texturing Using the Texture Menu

The fastest way to texture an object’s surface is to use the Texture menu. The selected texture is attached directly to the specified surface shader inputs.

To connect a texture to an object’s surface shader texture layers, choose the Modify > Texture > Add command from the Render toolbar. For information, see Adding More Textures.

To texture using the Get > Texture menu commands

1. Select one or more objects to texture.

- If you select more than one object, each object is textured individually.

- If any of the selected objects is already textured, the existing texture is deleted and the new one is applied.

2. From the Render toolbar, choose Get > Texture to display the Texture menu.

3. If necessary, you can use the Apply to section of the menu to change the inputs to which the texture is applied. You can enable any combination of the Ambient, Diffuse, Transparency, and Reflection inputs.

Click any input in the list to enable or disable it. Enabled inputs are indicated by a checkmark. Don’t worry, the menu remains open until you select a texture.

• When you use the Get > Texture menu to connect a texture to an object’s surface shader Transparency input, the Use Alpha and Invert options are activated in the surface shader’s Transparency options.

- The Use Alpha option is activated because the image’s alpha channel, or internal matte, is used more often than the color channels to control transparency.

- The Invert option is activated because in a typical matte, the black areas are transparent and the white areas are opaque. For surface shaders, on the other hand, the reverse is true: black areas are opaque and white areas are transparent. Inverting the transparency gives you the correct transparency defined by the matte.

• When you use the Get > Texture menu to connect a texture to an object’s surface shader Reflection input, the Use Alpha option is automatically activated in the surface shader’s Reflection options.

The option is activated because the image’s alpha channel, or internal matte, is used more often than the color channels to control reflection.

For more information about transparency and reflection options, see Transparency and Reflectivity in the Material and Shader Basics guide.

4. With the menu still open, choose one of the following texture presets:

Texture	Effect
Image	Applies an image over an object’s surface using a user-defined texture projection and support. You can also use the texture image to create a bump map.
Clips	Opens a sub-menu listing all of the scene’s image clips. Choosing a clip applies it to the object as a texture via an Image shader.
Sources	Opens a sub-menu listing all of the scene’s image sources. Choosing a source creates a clip from it and then applies the clip to the object as a texture via an Image shader.
Map Lookup	Extracts or creates a texture map, weight map, or vertex RGBA property and outputs it as a color value.
Cell	Creates a 3D cell-like surface pattern on an object's surface.
Checkerboard	Creates a definable checkerboard pattern.
Cloud	Creates a 3D cloud pattern texture on an object's surface.
Fabric	Creates a 3D highly-definable fabric pattern on an object's surface.
Flagstone	Creates a flagstone/stained-glass pattern on the surface of an object.
Fractal	Creates a procedural fractal texture on the surface of an object. This texture is often used to drive another texture’s parameter, such as Transparency.
Gradient	Creates a definable color and/or alpha gradient with editable colors/alpha values and adjustable patterns.
Grid	Creates a grid pattern on the surface of an object.
Marble	Creates a 3D marble texture on an object's surface. The marble’s age, flaws, and colors are customizable.
Ripple	Creates a waterdrop-like ripple on the surface of an object.
Rock	Creates a highly-definable rock texture on an object's surface.
Snow	Creates a 3D snow texture on an object. Often used to simulate snow-covered objects.
Terrain	Creates a highly-definable terrain pattern on the surface of an object.
Vein	Creates a 3D vein texture on the surface of an object.
Wood	Creates a highly-definable 3D wood texture on the surface of an object. The wood’s age, rings, and colors are customizable.
More...	Opens the browser so you can select any type of texture preset.

The selected texture is connected to the specified surface shader parameters and the texture’s property editor opens.

If you selected more than one object, a single property editor opens for the multi-selection rather than one property editor per object.

5. From the texture’s property editor, specify a projection type for the texture. For more information about the different types of texture projection, see Types of Texture Projection.

6. If you open a render tree at this point, it should look something like this:

The shader nodes in the above render tree do the following:

Shader	Function
A	The actual image clip (.pic, .tif, or other type of image file). For information, see Clips & Sources.
B	The Image shader that holds the image clip and defines a texture projection for it.
C	The default surface shader Phong.
D	The Material node that accepts almost any shader to define an object’s look.

Method 2: Connecting Shaders Using the Property Editor

You can also texture an object using the connection icons for individual parameters within each shader’s property editor. Every parameter has its own connection icon that opens a menu listing common shaders available for that parameter.

To texture using the connection icon

1. Select an object you wish to texture (or texture further) and open its Surface or Texture shader property editor (Modify > Shader).

2. Select the connection icon at the end of the parameter to which you would like to attach a shader.

If a parameter is already mapped to a shader, its connection icon is red . To connect a new shader or disconnect the current shader, right-click the icon to open a menu. Left-clicking automatically opens the property editor for the currently-connected shader.

3. From the menu that appears, you can either edit, disconnect, blend, or attach a shader by choosing one of the following options:

Option	Result
Edit	If a shader is already connected to the parameter, this option opens its property editor. If the connected shader is a conversion shader, the next connected non-conversion shader’s property editor is opened. See Editing Shaders From a Property Editor in the Material and Shader Basics guide for details.
Disconnect	Cuts the connection between the parameter and an attached shader.
Blend with	Opens a sub-menu from which you can select a texture shader. The selected shader is blended with the parameter’s value via a new texture layer. For more information about working with texture layers, see Texture Layering.
Insert	Opens another menu from which you can select a conversion shader (Invert, Color Correction, and so on). If a shader is already connected to the parameter, the conversion shader is inserted between the parameter and the previously connected shader. Once you connect a conversion shader to a parameter, a small “c” appears in the connection icon.
Edit Conversions	Opens a combined property editor for all conversion shaders connected in series to the parameter. For example, if a Phong shader’s diffuse parameter is connected to a Color Correction shader, which is connected to an Intensity shader, which is connected to an Image texture shader, choosing Edit Conversions opens a combined property editor for the Color Correction and Intensity shaders.
[Various shaders]	Lists shaders that are commonly associated with the parameter. Selecting one of these shaders connects it to the parameter. If a shader is already connected to the parameter, it is disconnected and replaced with the new shader.
Clips	Opens a sub-menu listing all of the scene’s image clips. Choosing a clip connects it to the parameter via an Image shader.
Sources	Opens a sub-menu listing all of the scene’s image sources. Choosing a source creates a clip from it and then connects the clip to the parameter via an image shader.
More...	Opens a browser so you can select any shader from the shader library. The selected shader is connected to the parameter. If a shader is already connected to the parameter, it is disconnected and replaced with the new shader. Note: Once you select a shader from the browser, it appears in a list of most recently used shaders under the More option.

The connection icon changes to indicate that a shader is connected to (or blended with) the parameter.

4. You can now do one of the following:

- Click the connection icon to open the property editor of the shader that you connected to the parameter.

- Right-click the connection icon to reopen the menu from which you can select any of the options listed in step 3.

Method 3: Texturing Using the Render Tree

When you apply a texture to an object using the render tree, you are creating everything from scratch. While the Texture menu commands on the Render toolbar automatically connect a series of mixing shaders between a material and texture, working in the render tree requires that you construct the tree manually.

To texture using the render tree

1. Open a Render Tree view in a viewport or floating window.

2. Select an object and click Update on the render tree command bar.

3. If necessary, apply a surface shader to the material node (such as Phong) using the Get > Material command from the toolbar.

4. Do either of the following:

- Choose Nodes > Texture > name of texture from the render tree command bar

- From a browser or toolbar, drag-and-drop a texturing shader into the render tree work area.

5. Connect the texture shader to the surface shader as desired.

For more information on how to work with the render tree, see The Render Tree in the Material and Shader Basics guide.

Applying a Texture on Multiple Objects

You can apply the same texture to as many geometric objects as you wish.

To apply a texture to multiple objects

• Select the objects and choose Get > Texture > type of texture shader.

A separate texture (or image) shader is applied to each object.

You can also select several objects, open their surface shader property editors (Modify > Shader), and click the connection icon to apply a texture to a specific parameter (for example, Diffuse).

Applying a Local Texture

On a polygon mesh object, you can apply textures either locally to groups of polygons or globally to all the polygons of the object.

To apply local textures to polygons

1. Click the Selection arrow icon on the main command panel and then click the Polygon button to activate polygon selection.

2. Select one or more polygons on an object. The selected polygons are highlighted in red.

3. Apply a surface shader to the selection by choosing Get > Material from a toolbar. Once the shader is applied, a cluster is automatically created.

4. Choose Get > Texture > More from the Render toolbar. The browser opens at the location of the shader library.

5. Select the texture preset you want and click OK to apply the texture to the selected polygons.

To access a local material’s shaders from the explorer, you must open the object’s node to Polygon Mesh > Clusters > Polygon.

6. Set the parameters for the new texture as desired.

Adding More Textures

To add a texture in addition to the one applied using Method 1 (see [here]), choose Modify > Texture > Add from the Render toolbar.

This adds a new texture layer to the object’s surface shader. The parameters that you add the new texture to are added to the layer, and the layer’s texture is blended with them.

For more information about working with texture layers, see Texture Layering.

You can also use this command to apply textures to untextured objects. Rather than connecting the texture directly to the object’s surface shader, it blends the texture with the surface shader’s parameters using a new texture layer.

To add additional textures via texture layers

1. Select the object(s) to which you want to add a texture.

2. From the Render toolbar, choose Modify > Texture > Add to open the Add Texture menu.

3. With the menu still open, choose one of the following texture presets:

Texture	Effect
Image	Applies an image over an object’s surface using a user-defined texture projection and support. You can also use the texture image to create a bump map.
Clips	Opens a sub-menu listing all of the scene’s image clips. Choosing a clip applies it to the object as a texture via an Image shader.
Sources	Opens a sub-menu listing all of the scene’s image sources. Choosing a source creates a clip from it and then applies the clip to the object as a texture via an Image shader.
Map Lookup	Extracts or creates a texture map, weight map, or vertex RGBA property and outputs it as a color value.
Cell	Creates a 3D cell-like surface pattern on an object's surface.
Checkerboard	Creates a definable checkerboard pattern.
Cloud	Creates a 3D cloud pattern texture on an object's surface.
Fabric	Creates a 3D highly-definable fabric pattern on an object's surface.
Flagstone	Creates a flagstone/stained-glass pattern on the surface of an object.
Fractal	Creates a procedural fractal texture on the surface of an object. This texture is often used to drive another texture’s parameter, such as Transparency.
Gradient	Creates a definable color and/or alpha gradient with editable colors/alpha values and adjustable patterns.
Grid	Creates a grid pattern on the surface of an object.
Marble	Creates a 3D marble texture on an object's surface. The marble’s age, flaws, and colors are customizable.
Ripple	Creates a waterdrop-like ripple on the surface of an object.
Rock	Creates a highly-definable rock texture on an object's surface.
Snow	Creates a 3D snow texture on an object. Often used to simulate snow-covered objects.
Terrain	Creates a highly-definable terrain pattern on the surface of an object.
Vein	Creates a 3D vein texture on the surface of an object.
Wood	Creates a highly-definable 3D wood texture on the surface of an object. The wood’s age, rings, and colors are customizable.
More...	Opens the browser so you can select any type of texture preset.

4. From the texture’s property editor, specify a projection for the texture to use. If necessary, add a new projection and specify the projection type.

For more information about the different types of texture projection, see Types of Texture Projection.

5. If you open a render tree at this point, you’ll see that the new texture is blended with the surface shader’s parameters via a new texture layer. The texture is connected to the layer’s Color port. For example:

You can repeat this process as many times as you need to blend as many texture layers as you want with the surface shader’s parameters. You can then continue to edit the texture layers to fine-tune the texture blend.

For more information about working with texture layers, see Texture Layering.

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