GIG reference manual
TextureEditor materials sheets
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- This material sheet contains 48 simple textures based on 16 maps. The sheet shows three variations of each map: the first variation contains a single diffuse color, the second variation contains two colors which are mixed, and the third variation is similar to the second but has an additional specular attribute. For each texture on the material sheet there are general sliders which control various characteristics of that texture (for instance color, position, rotation, etc.). In addition, each map has its own set of sliders which control the attributes only of those patterns which are based on that map. All of the parameters can be animated.
Most textures are 2D based, while others are 3D (or even a combination of 2D and 3D) based.
Some textures on this sheet are very useful for creating smooth color transitions on objects in the background of a scene.









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The textures on this sheet are based on 8 stone maps. The textures along the bottom row of the sheet are the simplest (and subsequently the most inexpensive to render) textures. As you move up the sheet, the complexity (as well as the corresponding render times) of each texture increases. This is because textures towards the top of the sheet have more atrributes (such as specularity, bump and reflection) than those towards the bottom, and are also based on more complex variations for a given map. The textures in the two upper rows of the sheet contain a "moss" effect, which is set by default to be green. Note that by changing the color of this effect, one can produce other interesting results as well (for instance, by setting the color to a redish hue, you can get a "rust" effect). As in the previous sheet there are sliders wich control various attributes of the different textures. Most of these textures are made up of a combination of 2D based and 3D based maps.









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- All of the textures on this sheet are 2D based. The textures in the left half of the sheet are fractal based and can be used to create realistic cloud-like effects. The colors of these textures can be modifed to give the appearance of sunsets and sunrises. The cloud maps in the two top rows of the sheet utilize two fractal maps, and are therefore more render intensive than the other cloud maps, which utilize only one fractal map.
- The textures in the right half of the sheet are based on the use of a bumpwave map, and have a water-like appearance. The number of seed points in the bumpwave map increases for the textures towards the right hand side of the sheet, the first column of bumpwave map-based textures having one seed point, the second having three seed points, the third having five seed points, and the right most column having eight seed points. As in the other sheets, the complexity (and therefore the number of attributes which can be adjusted) of the textures increases towards the top of the sheet. The seed points of the textures which contain more than one seed point are situated along a "virtual spiral" within the given texture. This "virtual spiral" has two parameters which can be adjusted: the "wave_rot" parameter, which determines how quickly a given spiral curves, and the "wave_radius" parameter, which determines the distance from the center of the spiral to the first completed rotation of the spiral. By adjusting these parameters, it is possible to place the seed points in seemingly random locations within the texture. All of the bumpwave map based textures have parameters such as size, scaling, and position, which can be adjusted.









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- This sheet is organized into four quadrants. Each quadrant is based on the same sequence of mapping variations, which are, from left to right: 2D mapping, 3D XY projection mapping, 3D cylindrical projection mapping, and 3D spherical projection mapping. The four quadrants differ the way in which the basic filemap, an image of the letter "G", is used. In the bottom left quadrant, the mask channel of the filemap is used either as a value map for a one-color texture, or as a mask for a two-color texture. In the bottom right quadrant, the value map (the average value of the red, green, and blue channels) of the filemap is used in the same way that the mask channel is used in the bottom left quadrant. In the top left quadrant, the mask channel is not used, and the red, green, and blue channels of the filemap can be adjusted separately. Finally, in the top right quadrant, a bump map is derived from the filemap, and is either used alone, or in conjunction with the color map.
- The 2D maps can be transformed, scaled and rotated in UV space. The 3D XY projections can be transformed, scaled and rotated in 3D space. The 3D cylindrical and spherical projcetion maps can be transformed, scaled and rotated in the space of the cylinder or the sphere to which the map is projected onto, respectively. Once the map is projected onto the cylinder or sphere, the resulting texture can also be manipulated in 3D space provided that an additional transformation is added to the texture (refer to the example at the end of this section).
- When a file map is scaled by a factor less than 1, the resulting map will repeat over the surface of the object.









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- The textures on this sheet can be useful for creating labels for 3D objects (a label on a bottle, for instance). The file maps are set in such a way that they will not repeat when mapped onto an object with a scale factor less than 1. The mask channel of the file maps is used to make the filemaps completely transparent, except for the letter "G". From the bottom row of the sheet to the top row, the variations of the mappings are: completely transparent, the letter "G" with a solid color as a UV map, the letter "G" with the original colors (also as a UV map), the letter "G" with the original colors but as a 3D XY projection map, as a cylindrical 3D projection map, and finally as a spherical 3D projection map. From the leftmost column of the sheet to the rightmost coulmn, the base textures of the maps are: default diffuse color, molten metal, gold, chrome, transparency without refraction, transparency with refraction, and two different variations of wood.
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- This sheet contains a variety of different textures. The textures on the left side of the sheet (the gold, chrome, molten metal, plastic, and glass textures) are based more or less on the same set of bumpmaps. The glass texture in the second row from the bottom (in the 4th column) is unique in that it is not based on the same bump map as the other textures to the left of it (as are the other glass textures). Instead, it uses a bump map with a matte-like quality, and can be very useful for generating the effect of a matted glass. However, one should be aware that because of the complexity of this texture's bump map, long render times may result.
- The remaining textures on the right side of the sheet are wood textures, the ones in the upper three rows being slightly more complex than the others. The wood textures can be manipulated in various ways, although the direction of the "grain" of the wood is more or less fixed along one of the x, y, or z axes.









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- As an example we show the texture of a 3D cylindrical projection map of sheet 4 (first texture from the bottom in the 3th columm). If you select the texture yourself remember to expand it to display the hidden parameters. The parameters can be explained as follows:
- diff_val: the value parameter of the diffuse reflection attribute in this texture; now it has m3 as a value map
- diff_col: the color parameter of the diffuse reflection attribute; can be changed as every other color slider
- diff_amb: ambiant color parameter for the diffuse reflection attribute, default a black color; can be changed as every other color slider, acts as the background color of the texture
- t: extra parameter of the texture; contains the 2D transformation map "trf2"
- dx: x-position parameter of the 2D transformation map "trf2"
- dy: y-position parameter of the 2D transformation map "trf2"
- rot: rotate parameter of the 2D transformation map "trf2"
- scx: x-scale parameter of the 2D transformation map "trf2"
- scy: y-scale parameter of the 2D transformation map "trf2"
- m3: extra parameter of the texture; contains the 3D projection map "map3cil", which accepts a 2D value map and gives as result a 3D map
- map: 2D map parameter of the map "map3cil; the contents are now a "t" transformated map m
- map_reverse: reverse parameter for the map "map3cil"; it reverses the effect of the map that is used
- m: extra parameter of the texture; contains the value map "G"
Suppose we want to make the direction of a 3D cylindrical projection map adjustable. We first have to add a new parameter called "t3" to the texture. And then we plug the texture "trf3" from the maps listbox into the t3 parameter. Now we change the contents of "diff_val" into "t3@m3". We also change the other entries as shown in the next picture of the texture. The result will look like as follows. The projection direction has changed 90 degrees.
For a better layout of the texture we can mark parameters for collapsing. After collapsing the texture we can save it.
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