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Material Components
This section describes the various components you can use to set a material channel value. It also describes how to set the parameters for each component.
Color Components
A color component is an RGB color that is directly applied to a channel. Colors can only be used in the Color channels: Diffuse, Ambient, Specular, Specular Halo, and Volume.
When you're using a color in these channels you cannot combine it with a texture. If you choose a texture component for any of the Color channels, the color oval appears blank. The Volume channel can only be set with a color.
To use a color as a component:
1 In the Materials Lab, click the color oval in one of the channel rows on the Material Grid and choose a color from the palette.
Value Components
Value components are numerical values you use to set the intensity of a channel. Values can only be used in the Value, Optics or Volume channels.
A value is indicated by either the numerical field in the left side of the channel in the Material Grid, or the slider that extends out from the channel. The sliders let you quickly set the value of a channel, and the numeric field shows the current setting.
Values can be used with textures. In this case the value sets how much of the texture is applied to the channel. For example, if you use an orange-colored texture to set the Diffuse Color channel, the value would indicate how much of the texture color is used as the Diffuse Color.
A value of 100 means that all the texture information is used in the channel; a value of 0 means that none of the texture is used.
Not all channels use values. The Color channels only use colors or textures. The Refraction channel can only be set with a value.
To use a value as a component:
- In the Materials Lab, drag the slider next to the channel whose value you want to set. As you drag, the numerical value appears in the number field.
Some channels let you set negative values.
Texture Components
When you use a texture as a component, Bryce extracts values from the texture to use as a value for the material channel. There are two types of texture components you can use: pictures and 3D textures. Pictures are images you import from either the Picture Library or from another application. 3D textures are procedural textures generated by Bryce and stored in a texture library.
You can assign up to four textures as components for a material. These textures can be any combination of pictures and 3D textures.
Each texture component is assigned a letter: A, B, C, or D. The texture you assign to a component is used throughout the material, so the texture you assign as component A in the Diffusion channel is the same component A used in the Ambience channel and so on.
When you're setting channel values, you can mix and match components. For example, you can assign component A to Diffusion and component D to Ambience. You can also combine textures within the same channel using the blend modes AB and ABC. In this case the texture you assigned to A is blended with the textures assigned to B and C to set a material channel value. Refer to "Combining Components" for more on blend modes.
The Texture Component Window
The Texture Component window displays the attributes of a selected texture component. You can have up to four windows visible in the Materials Lab.
The Component window displays the selected component and its current attributes.
The six buttons on the Texture Component window let you set the type of component, the texture mapping mode, and access the texture transformation controls and the Deep Texture Editor.
To use a Texture as a component:
The component window corresponds to the columns in the grid, so if you click column A in the grid, texture component A becomes active.
3D Textures
3D textures have three different types of outputs: Color, Alpha channel, and Bump. These outputs are used differently by the material channels.
Color channels use the texture's color to set the value of the channel. For example, if you use a texture in the Diffuse channel, the colors in the texture appear wherever the object reflects light diffusely.
Value, Optics, and Volume channels use the alpha channel information from a texture to set the value of the material channel. For example, when you use a texture to set Specularity, the texture's alpha channel information determines which areas of the object are shiny. As a result, you'll see the pattern of the texture on the object.
The Bump information in a 3D texture is used only by the Bump Height channel. The Bump channel in the texture determines the pattern of bumps or dents in the object. In fact, you won't be able to see the effects of the Bump Height value unless you assign a texture to the channel.
To use a 3D texture as a component:
1 In the Materials Lab, click a channel column.
A randomly selected texture appears in the Component window.
2 If you want to change this texture, click the triangle button next to the texture name at the top of the window and choose a preset texture from the menu.
The texture you selected appears in the Component window.
2D Textures
2D textures are pictures you've created in another application or ones you select from the Pictures Library. The data in the channels of these pictures are used as values in the material channels.
To use a 2D texture as a component:
1 In the Materials Lab, click a channel column. A texture appears in the texture component window.
2 In the Component window, click the P button at the bottom of the Component window.
A default picture appears in the Component window.
3 To change the picture, click the pink button at the top of the component window.
4 Click an image square to load an image.
5 If the image you want is not in the library:
The picture is loaded into the first image box and its alpha channels are loaded into the second box.
You can invert the alpha channel by clicking the invert button.
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