Using the Maps Rollout

Now that you've seen the different types of maps, we'll revisit the Maps rollout (introduced in Chapter 20), shown in Figure 23.32, and cover it in more detail.

Figure 23.32: The Maps rollout can turn maps on or off

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 Table 23.1.

Table 23.1: Material Properties for Maps
Open table as spreadsheet

Material Property	Description
Ambient Color	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.
Diffuse Color	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 also can affect the Ambient color if the lock button is selected.
Diffuse Level	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	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 Color	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.
Specular Level	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	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	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	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	Colors 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	Controls the shape of an anisotropy highlight. This mapping is available only with the Anisotropic and Multi-Layer Shaders.
Orientation	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	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.
Bump	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	Reflects images off the surface as a mirror does. The three 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	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	Changes 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 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 planets. To create several planetary textures, follow these steps:

1. Open the  Space textures.max file from the Chap 23 directory on the DVD. This file contains six simple spheres that represent some space objects.

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, click the Go to Parent button, 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 double-click 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 (which is labeled Noise in the Material Editor) to the Environment Map button at the top of the dialog box, and select the Use Map option.

Figure 23.33 shows the planets in space as a rendered image.

Figure 23.33: Using a variety of techniques, you can create an assortment of 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 and worn.

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

1. Open the  Toolbox.max file from the Chap 23 directory on the DVD. 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 the Glossiness value to 59. Name the material Toolbox.

3. In the Maps rollout, click the button for the Glossiness mapping and double-click 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 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.

5. At the top of the Material Editor, select the second sample slot and name it Hinge. Select the Metal shader from the Shader Basic Parameters rollout for this material also, and increase the Specular Level in the Metal Basic Parameters rollout to 26 and the Glossiness value to 71. Also change the Diffuse color to a light gray. Click the map button next to the Glossiness value, and double-click the Noise map in the Material/Map Browser. In the Noise Parameters rollout, set the Noise map to Fractal with a Size of 10.

6. Drag the "Toolbox" material to the toolbox object and the "Hinge" material to the hinge and the handle.

Note 

Bump and glossiness mappings are not visible until the scene is rendered. To see the material's results, choose Rendering Render and click the Render button.

Figure 23.34 shows the well-used toolbox.

Figure 23.34: This toolbox shows its age with Glossiness and Bump mappings