Each material has five categories of parameters you can set: Pattern, Reflectance, Transparency, Texture and Wrapping. Not all categories are used for each material, only those that are relevant.
Note: Materials in TurboCAD is a vast topic unto itself, and cannot be covered fully here. The TurboCAD Community has a web page where you can get much more information: http://www3.turbocadcommunity.com/tiki-index.php?page=Lightworks Another reference is the book Photorealism in TurboCAD Pro, which is available at www.cadcourse.com.
In the Preview section, you can change the shape and orientation of the preview object. Under Options, you can toggle the display of the preview object or desk. If Auto Update is checked, the preview will update each time a change is made (otherwise you must click the Preview button).
The toolbar on the right side of the editor allows you to specify the elements of the preview.
You can navigate within the preview window using the center mouse button.
You can also see approximately how the material will appear on an object by entering a value into the Model Size field. Simply specify a size that is close to the size of the object to which you will be applying the material.Alternately, you can use the selection arrow under the preview.
This will show you exactly how the material will appear on the selected object.
Warning: If the selection arrow is the specified option for the preview object, and no object is selected, you will get a warning that a preview cannot be generated. This will also happen if the selection arrow is the default and you open the Render Manager with no object selected.
Options
The first set of parameters are the Options. This includes the RED file path.
There are also three options:
Double Sided: Will the material be mapped to each side of a facet.
Reflective Caustics: Will Reflective Caustics be calculated and displayed for this material.
Refractive Caustics: Will Refractive Caustics be calculated and displayed for this material.
Pattern
Note: TurboCAD has several defined patterns, but if you want to apply your own image as a pattern, see Creating a New Material.
The next set of parameters in the Render Manager is for the material's pattern. First there are two options: color or texture.
If set to color, that color will be the color of the material.
If a texture map is selected, the mapped image will be used to color the material.
All texture maps are assumed to be square. If the image used is not square it will be stretched/compacted into a square texture map, possibly deforming the texture.
The size of all texture maps is equal to one unit of the currently defined Space Unit in the Model space. For example if the Space Unit is set to inches the all texture maps are 1in. by 1in. If the Space Unit is in millimeters then the texture map is 1mm. by 1mm. The resulting texture can then be modified by scaling.
There are several parameters that control how texture maps affect a material.
Browse
The browse button opens a File Open dialog from which you can browse for a texture map file (supported file formats are JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP).
Channel
NOTE: This feature is not yet implemented and will inactive in the current application from future versions of the RedSDK editor.
Offset U
This offsets the texture map horizontally. Each unit of offset equals 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space.
Offset by 0.5 Horizontally
Offset V
This offsets the texture map vertically. Each unit of offset equals 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space.
Offset by 0.5 Vertically.
Scale U
This scales the texture map horizontally. The value specifies the number of time the texture map will fit in 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space. For example if the Space Unit is 1 inch, and if the scale is set to 2, the texture map will repeat 2 times within 1 inch. If the scale were changed to 0.2 it would take 5 inches to display the entire texture map.
Scaled by 2 Horizontally.
Scale V
This scales the texture map vertically. The value specifies the number of time the texture map will fit in 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space. For example if the Space Unit is 1 inch, and if the scale is set to 2, the texture map will repeat 2 times within 1 inch. If the scale were changed to 0.2 it would take 5 inches to display the entire texture map.
Scaled by 4 Vertically.
Rotation
This Rotates the texture map by the number of degrees specified.
Rotated by 30 degrees
All texture maps are assumed to be square. If the image used is not square it will be stretched/compacted into a square texture map, possibly deforming the texture.
The size of all texture maps is equal to one unit of the currently defined Space Unit in the Model space. For example if the Space Unit is set to inches the all texture maps are 1in. by 1in. If the Space Unit is in millimeters then the texture map is 1mm. by 1mm. The resulting texture can then be modified by scaling.
There are several parameters that control how texture maps affect a material.
Browse
The browse button opens a File Open dialog from which you can browse for a texture map file (supported file formats are JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP).
Channel
NOTE: This feature is not yet implemented and will inactive in the current application from future versions of the RedSDK editor.
Offset U
This offsets the texture map horizontally. Each unit of offset equals 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space.
Offset by 0.5 Horizontally
Offset V
This offsets the texture map vertically. Each unit of offset equals 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space.
Offset by 0.5 Vertically.
Scale U
This scales the texture map horizontally. The value specifies the number of time the texture map will fit in 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space. For example if the Space Unit is 1 inch, and if the scale is set to 2, the texture map will repeat 2 times within 1 inch. If the scale were changed to 0.2 it would take 5 inches to display the entire texture map.
Scaled by 2 Horizontally.
Scale V
This scales the texture map vertically. The value specifies the number of time the texture map will fit in 1 Space Unit (mm, in. etc.) as specified in the Model space. For example if the Space Unit is 1 inch, and if the scale is set to 2, the texture map will repeat 2 times within 1 inch. If the scale were changed to 0.2 it would take 5 inches to display the entire texture map.
Scaled by 4 Vertically.
Rotation
This Rotates the texture map by the number of degrees specified.
Rotated by 30 degrees
Reflectance
This category defines a material's luster: its brightness, polish, dullness, etc. For example, a brick's reflectance is "Matte" - it is flat and does not reflect light.
Reflectance of most metals is "Conductor" - a set of parameters designed to simulate how metals interact with light.
Glass has its own Reflectance settings.
Some stone materials have "Mirror" reflectance to simulate shininess.
Transparency
This category is relevant for transparent glass and plastic materials. For example, "Eroded" transparency simulates a bumpy or uneven glass surface.
Not all glass or plastic materials have Transparency defined. For example, "Tinted Glass" is smooth, and its transparency is actually defined as part of the "Glass" reflectance.
This is a good example of how complex, and powerful, the TurboCAD materials engine is. You can get similar results by defining parameters in different categories.
Texture
This category enables you to make a surface appear rough or bumpy. The rendering engine simulates shadows along the surface to create the textured effect. For example, you can define a Leather texture.
"Ice" is defined with a rough texture.
Wrapping
This category defines how a pattern or image wraps around surfaces of a 3D object.For materials, such as Granite, the wrapping is defined as "None," which pastes the pattern without distortion onto faces along the three major planes.
The "UV" wrapping is similar to "None" except that you can specify how the pattern is scaled.
With "Auto Axis" the pattern is oriented according to the WCS, regardless of where the faces of the 3D object are located and oriented.
You can also specify the axis along which the pattern will be projected.