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Figure 22-31: The Thin Wall Refraction map is applied to a magnifying glass.

Using the Maps Rollout

Now that you’ve seen all the different types of maps that are available, we’ll revisit the Maps rollout (introduced in Chapter 20), shown in Figure 22-32, and cover it in more detail.

The Maps rollout is where you apply maps to the various materials. To use a map, click the Map button; this opens the Material/Map Browser where you can select the map to use. The Amount spinner sets the intensity of the map, and an option to enable or disable the map is available. For example, a white material with a red Diffuse map set at 50 percent Intensity results in a pink material.

The available maps in the Maps rollout depend on the type of material and the Shader that you are using. Raytrace materials have many more available maps than the standard material. Some of the common mapping types found in the Maps rollout are discussed in this section.

Ambient mapping

Ambient mapping replaces the ambient color component of the base material. You can use this feature to make an object’s shadow appear as a map. Diffuse mapping (discussed next) also affects the Ambient color. A lock button in the Maps rollout enables you to lock these two mappings together.

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Figure 22-32: The Maps rollout can turn maps on or off.

Diffuse mapping

Diffuse mapping replaces the diffuse color component of the base material. This is the main color used for the object. When you select a map such as Wood, the object appears to be created out of wood. As mentioned previously, diffuse mapping can also affect the Ambient color if the lock button is selected.

Diffuse Level mapping

Diffuse Level mapping changes the diffuse color level from 0, where the map is black, to a maximum, where the map is white. This mapping is available only with the Anisotropic, Oren- Nayar-Blinn, and Multi-Level Shaders.

Diffuse Roughness mapping

Roughness mapping sets the roughness value of the material from 0, where the map is black, to a maximum, where the map is white. This mapping is available only with the Oren-Nayar- Blinn and Multi-Layer Shaders.

Specular mapping

Specular mapping replaces the specular color component of the base material. This option enables you to include a different color or image in place of the specular color. It is different from the Specular Level and Glossiness mappings, which also affect the specular highlights.

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Specular Level mapping

Specular Level mapping controls the intensity of the specular highlights from 0, where the map is black, to 1, where the map is white. For the best effect, apply this mapping along with the Glossiness mapping.

Glossiness mapping

Glossiness mapping defines where the specular highlights will appear. You can use this option to make an object appear older by diminishing certain areas. Black areas on the map show the non-glossy areas, and white areas are where the glossiness is at a maximum.

Self-Illumination mapping

Self-Illumination mapping makes certain areas of an object glow, and, because they glow, they won’t receive any lighting effects, such as highlights or shadows. Black areas represent areas that have no self-illumination, and white areas receive full self-illumination.

Opacity mapping

Opacity mapping determines which areas are visible and which are transparent. Black areas for this map are transparent, and white areas are opaque. This mapping works in conjunction with the Opacity value in the Basic Parameters rollout. Transparent areas, even if perfectly transparent, still receive specular highlights.

Filter color mapping

Filter color mapping is used to color transparent areas for creating materials such as colored glass. White light that is cast through an object using filter color mapping is colored with the filter color.

Anisotropy mapping

Anisotropy mapping can control the shape of an anisotropy highlight. This mapping is available only with the Anisotropic and Multi-Layer Shaders.

Orientation mapping

Orientation mapping controls an anisotropic highlight’s position. Anisotropic highlights are elliptical, and this mapping can position them at a different angle. Orientation mapping is available only with the Anisotropic and Multi-Layer Shaders.

Metalness mapping

Metalness mapping controls how metallic an area looks. It specifies metalness values from 0, where the map is black, to a maximum, where the map is white. This mapping is available only with the Strauss Shader.

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Bump mapping

Bump mapping uses the intensity of the bitmap to raise or indent the surface of an object. The white areas of the map are raised, and darker areas are lowered. Although bump mapping appears to alter the geometry, it actually doesn’t affect the surface geometry.

Reflection mapping

Reflection mapping reflects images off the surface as a mirror does. The three different types of Reflection mapping are Basic, Automatic, and Flat Mirror. Basic reflection mapping simulates the reflection of an object’s surroundings. Automatic reflection mapping projects the map outward from the center of the object. Flat-Mirror reflection mapping reflects a mirror image off a series of coplanar faces.

Reflection mapping doesn’t need mapping coordinates because the coordinates are based on world coordinates and not on object coordinates. Therefore, the map appears different if the object is moved, which is how reflections work in the real world.

Refraction mapping

Refraction mapping bends light and displays images through a transparent object, in the same way a room appears through a glass of water. The amount of this effect is controlled by a value called the Index of Refraction. This value is set in the parent material’s Extended Parameters rollout.

Displacement mapping

You can use displacement mapping, unlike bump mapping, to change the geometry of an object. The white areas of the map are pushed outward, and the dark areas are pushed in. The amount of the surface that is displaced is based on a percentage of the diagonal that makes up the bounding box of the object. Displacement mapping can be applied only to patches, Editable Meshes, and NURBS objects. For other object types, you can use displacement mapping only after the Disp Approx modifier has been applied.

Displacement mapping isn’t visible in the viewports unless the Displace NURBS (for NURBS objects) or the Displace Mesh (for Editable Meshes) modifiers have been applied.

Tutorial: Creating space textures

“Space . . . the final frontier.” Space is a great place to start creating and using new materials. With objects floating in space, you don’t need to worry about lining things up, and modeling planets is easy because they are made from simple spheres — the materials are what make the planet spheres look good. So, as an example of creating new materials, let’s create several new “space” materials.

In this tutorial, you learn how to make textures for the sun, a moon, and several different planets. To create several planetary textures, follow these steps:

1.Open the Space textures.max file from the Chap 22 directory on the CD-ROM. This file contains five simple spheres that represent some space planets.

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2.Press the M key to open the Material Editor, select the first sample slot, and name the material Sun. Click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch to open the Material/Map Browser, and double-click the Noise map. In the Noise Parameters rollout, select the Fractal option and set the Size to 20 and the Levels to 10. Choose an orange color for Color #1 and black for Color #2. Next, open the Maps rollout and drag the Noise map from the Diffuse mapping to the Self-Illumination mapping. A small dialog box opens, enabling you to Copy the map as an Instance or a Copy or Swap the maps. Select the Copy option, and click OK. Drag the material to one of the spheres in the scene. Click the Go to Parent button to return to the base Sun material.

Tip	Double-click the sample slot to open a magnified view of the material. This lets you see the
	details up close.

3.Select the second sample slot, and name it Planet 1. Then click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch to open the Material/Map Browser again, and doubleclick the Planet map type. In the Planet Parameters rollout, select three shades of blue for the Water Colors and five shades of green for the Land Colors. Set the Continent Size to 20, and enable the Blend Water/Land option. Drag the material to another one of the spheres in the scene.

4.Select the third sample slot, and name it Planet 2. Then click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch to open the Material/Map Browser, and double-click the Planet map type again. In the Planet Parameters rollout, select shades of orange and brown for both the water and landmass of this planet. Set the Continent Size to 40, and enable the Blend Water/Land option. Drag the material to one of the spheres in the scene.

5.Select the fourth sample slot, and name it Planet 3. Then click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch, and double-click the Planet map type once again. For this planet, select different shades of red. Set the Continent Size to 80, the Island Factor to 40, and the Ocean Percent to 20, and disable the Blend Water/Land option. Drag the material to one of the spheres in the scene.

6.Select the fifth sample slot, and name it Planet 4. Then click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch, and double-click on the Swirl map type from the Material/Map Browser. In the Swirl Parameters rollout, select two colors for the Swirl and set the Swirl Intensity to 5.0. For the Swirl color, click the map button and select the Noise map. For the Noise map, set the Size value to 30 and select the Turbulence option. Drag the material to one of the spheres in the scene.

7.Select the sixth sample slot, and name it Moon. Then click the Diffuse color map button, and select Smoke from the Material/Map Browser. Set the Size value to 20, and click the map button for Color #1. Select the Noise map. Set the Size value to 25, and select the Turbulence option. Drag the material to one of the spheres in the scene.

8.Select the seventh sample slot (you need to drag the scroll bar to the right of the sample slots down to access the next row of sample slots), and name it Star Background. Then click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch, and select Noise. In the Noise Parameters rollout, select the Fractal option and set the Size value to 2.0, the High value to 0.5, and the Levels to 2.0. Click the Swap button until Color #2 is black. In the Output rollout, set the Output Amount to 2.0. Choose the Rendering Environment menu command (or press the 8 key) to open the Environment dialog box. Drag the Noise map from the Material Type button to the Environment Map button at the top of the dialog box, and select the Use Map option.

Figure 22-33 shows the planets in space as a rendered image.

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Figure 22-33: Using a variety of techniques, you can create an assortment of different space textures.

Tutorial: Aging objects for realism

I don’t know whether your toolbox is well worn like mine — it must be the hostile environment that it is always in (or all the things I keep dropping in and on it). To render a toolbox with nice specular highlights just doesn’t feel right. This tutorial shows a few ways to age an object so that it looks older.

To add maps to make an object look old, follow these steps:

1.Open the Toolbox.max file from the Chap 22 directory on the CD-ROM. This file contains a simple toolbox mesh created using extruded splines.

2.Press the M key to open the Material Editor, and select the first sample slot. Select the Metal shader from the drop-down list in the Shader Basic Parameters rollout. In the Metal Basic Parameters rollout, set the Diffuse color to a nice, shiny red and increase the Specular Level to 97 and Glossiness value to 59. Name the material Toolbox.

3.In the Maps rollout, click the button for the Glossiness mapping and double-click on the Splat map from the Material/Map Browser. In the Splat Parameters rollout, set the Size value to 100 and change Color #1 to a rust color and Color #2 to white.

4.Click on the Go to Parent button (which is located above the material Type button) to get back the Maps rollout for the base material. In the Maps rollout, click the Bump mapping button and double-click the Dent map from the Material/Map Browser. In the Dent Parameters rollout, set the Size value to 200, Color #1 to black, and Color #2 to white.