Surface Attributes, Cameras and Lighting

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In this chapter we’ll apply surface attributes to the objects we modeled in Chapter 5, arrange the lighting in the scene and position the camera to achieve a finished, professional-looking image.

Contents

Adding Surface Attributes

  1. First let’s open ShadeExplorer. Choose View > ShadeExplorer. Select the “Documentation - Sample” tab.
  2. From the Catalog pull-down menu select “Object: Beginner Tutorials. Thumbnails of the sample Shade scenes used in this guide appear in ShadeExplorer. Double-click the second thumbnail, “BT_finish.shd,” to open that file.
  3. Before adding surface attributes to the scene let’s check the rendering settings. Choose Rendering > Rendering Settings to open the rendering settings. Verify that Render Background, Reflect Background and Render Shadows are all selected.
  4. Let’s also change the settings for the background of our scene. Choose View > Background to open the Background window and click the color box to the right of “Upper base color.” In the Color Picker dialog you can choose any color you like for the upper hemisphere of the scene. Here we’ll choose white.
Next click the color box for the “Lower base color” and choose gray.

Adding Surface Attributes to the Apple

The Surface window is where you can add, modify and preview surface attributes and textures for any object in the scene. To display the Surface window, choose View > Surface or select the paintbrush icon in the Aggregate window.

The Surface window displays a preview of the surface attributes of the currently selected object. First we’ll add color to the apple stems.

  1. Select one of the stem parts in the Browser and in the Surface window click the Create button. This will create a set of surface attributes for the selected object.
  2. In the Basics list you’ll see a setting called Diffuse. This is the diffuse color setting. Click the color box to the right of the Diffuse slider and select a shade of brown appropriate for an apple stem.
    If you ever want to change the stem’s color, simply select it in the Browser or Figure window and click on the Diffuse color box. Of course, there are many more settings available for advanced texture effects.
  3. Next select the apple itself. Click the Create button in the Surface window, and then click the Diffuse color box and select a red color. Click OK to apply the color.
    Now let’s try adjusting a couple more settings: Enter 0.08 in the Specular1 text box, and enter 0.8 for the Specular1 Size. This will give the apple a little shine.
  4. You should now have a red apple with a brown stem. Although colorful, it probably doesn’t look very realistic; its uniform color makes it look rather plastic. To add realism we will apply a texture map to the apple. A texture map is an image that is mapped onto the object’s surface. To do this, first click the Mapping triangle icon in the Surface window to expand the Mapping settings.
  5. The second pull-down menu lists the various mapping options. Choose Image, and below the (now blank) square click the Edit image button and choose Load... This opens a dialog in which you can choose an image file to map onto the apple’s surface.
    Navigate to “BT_06_apple.bmp” in the Documentation/Beginner Tutorials folder and click Open.
  6. The image is automatically mapped onto the apple and a preview of the flat image is displayed in the Surface window. Let’s change a couple settings here: Set the Projection to Wrap. Set the left Repeat textbox to # Now that we’re done adding surface attributes to the first apple, repeat the above steps for the other apple.
  7. Select the “Apple” parts in the Browser so that the fruit and stem of both apples are selected, and choose Rendering > Render.

Adding Surface Attributes to the Table

1. Select the table top and create a set of surface attributes by clicking the Create button in the Surface window.

2. Select a Diffuse color. Our table top will be wood, so choose a shade of brown. Set the Specular1 value to 0.10 and set the Specular1 Size to 0.50.

3. Let’s map an image onto the table. For the mapping type, select Wood. Select a dark brown for the mapping color, and also change these values: 

  Mapping Color (first slider) 0.20
  Turbulence:                  0.20
  Size:                        0.10
  Projection:                  Z
4. We’ll use the same surface attributes for the doll’s stand later in this chapter, so click the Save button in the Surface window and name the file “wood.” Shade surface attribute files have a “.shdsfc” file extension.
5. Next, select the table leg. We’ll use a premade surface attribute file to give it a metallic look. In ShadeExplorer, switch to the Surface tab and double-click “lame_metal.shdsfc.” The surface attribute file will be automatically applied to the table leg.
6. Select all the parts of the table in the Browser and render the table to check the results.

Adding Surface Attributes to the Glass

  1. We’ll load another premade surface texture for the glass. Select the glass and double-click “glass.shdsfc” from the Surface tab in ShadeExplorer.
  2. Expand the Surface window to show the Effects settings by clicking the black expand/hide triangle. You’ll notice that the Fresnel slider is set to 0.8# Fresnel values are usually used for glass or clear plastic materials when transparency is needed.
  3. When using Fresnel effects be sure to select Ray tracing or Path tracing for the Rendering Method in the Rendering Options for the best results. (For more information on rendering methods see “Rendering Methods.”) Render the glass now to check your results.

Adding Surface Attributes to the Doll

The doll has many parts to which we want to apply different surface attributes. For each part, select it in the Browser and then make the appropriate settings in the Surface window. We’ll start with the eyes. Set the following values: 

Diffuse Color:  black
Specular1:      0.5
Specular1 Size: 0.3
  1. For the doll’s clothes (the hat, body, arms, hands, legs and feet) we’ll load “plastic_black.shdsfc” from the Surface tab in ShadeExplorer.
  2. Next let’s select the stand. We’ll apply the same surface attributes as we used for the table top. In the Surface window, click the Load button. In the Open dialog navigate to the location where you saved the “wood.shdsfc” surface file, and click OK to apply it to the stand.
  3. Let’s adjust the mapping settings for the stand: 
Mapping Color: 1
Turbulence:    0.5
Size:          0.3

Finally, select the doll’s head and adjust these values: 

Diffuse Color: a skin color
Specular1:     0.1
Size:          0.5

Setting Up the Camera

Shade offers two types of cameras: Camera objects and a meta-camera. The meta-camera is the default camera in every Shade scene. Camera objects can be added from the Create tool. Both types of cameras are used fundamentally the same, but camera objects can displayed in the Figure window (represented as a pyramid shape by default) and deleted.

  1. Select Camera from the Create tool. Draw the camera object in the Figure window and position it as shown. The point of the pyramid shape is the Eye point, while the pyramid base shows the angle of the camera lens and the direction the camera is facing.
  2. The Perspective view always shows the viewpoint from the current camera. It is usually easiest to adjust the angle of the camera by using the virtual joystick in the Camera window while watching the Perspective view. If the camera isn’t centered on the scene, click the Eye & Target radio button and move the virtual joystick.
  3. It is also possible to position the camera in the Figure window by moving its control points. Select the camera object in the Browser and choose Enter Modify Mode from the Modify tool. Click and drag on its control points as you would any object to rotate and move the camera.
  4. To quickly focus the camera on an object in your scene, select that object and click the Object button to the right of the Target label under the Set & Link options in the Camera window. (Click the expand/hide button to view the Set & Link options if necessary.)
  5. To switch between cameras, click the Camera pull-down menu and select one of the existing cameras.

Adjusting the Lighting

There are several types of lights in Shade: Distant lights, Point lights, Spot lights, Area lights and more. Here we will use a distant light.

Distant Lights

The most common (and default) light is the Distant light, which simulates parallel light emanating from a distant source, like sunlight.
  1. Open the Distant Light window by clicking the sun icon in the Aggregate window or choosing View > Distant Light. Verify that the Pers radio button is selected, meaning that the hemisphere diagram is showing the Perspective view. Click on the left hemisphere at the position shown in the figure to move the distant light to that position.
  2. To add a second distant light to the scene, choose New Layer from the Distant Light Number pulldown menu. Adjust the Intensity to 1 for full brightness. You can arrange this new light to shine on your scene from a different direction than the first light. Click the color box to select a different color of light.
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