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The Show Map on Back option causes planar maps to project through the object and be rendered on the object's back.

The U and V coordinates define the X and Y positions for the map. For each coordinate, you can specify an Offset value, which is the distance from the origin. The Tiling value is the number of times to repeat the image and is used only if the Tile option is selected. If the Use Real-World Scale option is selected, then the Offset fields change to Height and Width and the Tiling fields change to Size. The Mirror option inverts the map. The UV, VW, and WU options apply the map onto different planes.

Tiling is the process of placing a copy of the applied map next to the current one and so on until the entire surface is covered with the map placed edge to edge. You will often want to use tiled images that are seamless or that repeat from edge to edge.

Tip

Tiling can be enabled within the material itself or in the UVW Map modifier. •

Figure 17.5 shows an image tile that is seamless. Notice how the horizontal and vertical seams line up. This figure shows three tiles positioned side by side, but because the opposite edges line up, the seams between the tiles aren't evident.

The Material Editor includes a button that you can use to check the Tiling and Mirror settings. The Sample UV Tiling button (fourth from the top) is a flyout button that you can switch to 2×2, 3×3, or 4×4.

FIGURE 17.5

Seamless image tiles are a useful way to cover an entire surface with a small map.

You can also rotate the map about each of the U, V, and W axes by entering values in the respective fields, or by clicking the Rotate button, which opens the Rotate Mapping Coordinates dialog box, shown in Figure 17.6. Using this dialog box, you can drag the mouse to rotate the mapping coordinates. Dragging within the circle rotates about all three coordinates, and dragging outside the circle rotates the mapping coordinates about their center point.

FIGURE 17.6

The Rotate Mapping Coordinates dialog box appears when you click the Rotate button in the Coordinates rollout.

The Blur and Blur Offset values affect the blurriness of the image. The Blur value blurs the image based on its distance from the view, whereas the Blur Offset value blurs the image regardless of its distance.

Tip

You can use the Blur setting to help make tile seams less noticeable. •

The Noise rollout

You can use the Noise rollout to randomly alter the map settings in a predefined manner. Noise can be thought of as static that you see on the television added to a bitmap. This feature is helpful for making textures more grainy, which is useful for certain materials.

The Amount value is the strength of the noise function applied; the value ranges from 0 for no noise through 100 for maximum noise. You can disable this noise function at any time, using the On option.

The Levels value defines the number of times the noise function is applied. The Size value determines the extent of the noise function based on the geometry. You can also Animate the noise. The Phase value controls how quickly the noise changes over time.

The Time rollout

Maps, such as bitmaps, that can load animations also include a Time rollout for controlling animation files. In this rollout, you can choose a Start Frame and the Playback Rate. The default Playback Rate is 1.0; higher values run the animation faster, and lower values run it slower. You also can set the animation to Loop, Ping-Pong, or Hold on the last frame.

The Output rollout

The Output rollout includes settings for controlling the final look of the map. The Invert option creates a negative version of the bitmap. The Clamp option prevents any colors from exceeding a value of 1.0 and prevents maps from becoming self-illuminating if the brightness is increased.

The Alpha From RGB Intensity option generates an alpha channel based on the intensity of the map. Black areas become transparent and white areas opaque.

Note

For materials