Texture Shader

[Ego Eram Reputo]

The sliders, color selector control, and roll control are the custom ones. These start as a separate VS project, built and then added to the toolbox. Using them from the toolbox is just like any other tool. Yes I used VS form designer, no to ILmerge.

 

[MJW]

Thanks, Ego Eram Ruputo. And Merry Christmas!

[MJW]

 

 

I've released version 2.2.0, which has a new mapping mode called Reflection Map (Equirectangular). It should be useful for producing such things as chrome text. (Reflection mapping is also referred to as "environment mapping.") It's a feature I've intended to add for a long time, and finally gotten around to. Though it doesn't replace the other reflection mapping modes, it's probably the most generally useful.

 

Equirectangular images are 360° spherical images that represent the image in equally-spaced latitude-longitude format. There are many available on the Internet, including those on the Equirectangular Flickr group.

 

Some things to note (which I'll add to as I think of them):

- Though image scaling is supported, values other than the default value of 1 may not produce useful results.

- Likewise, though the normal Image mode is Clipboard, the other modes are supported, and may sometimes be useful when the image scale factor is less than 1.

- Although equirectangular projections are normally twice as wide as they are tall, all aspect ratios are treated as full sphere maps.

-  The offset controls are used to rotate the image sphere about the X and Y axes, while the Rotation control rotates it about the Z axis. The Z rotation is applied last, so it will rotate the sphere that has been rotated about Y and tilted about X.

- Standard reflection mapping considers the sphere to be at infinity, so that for a directional eye vector, only the surface normal matters, not the position of the point. The Reflection Map (Equirectangular) mapping mode allows the sphere radius to be changed, so the reflection varies, even for a flat surface. A Mapping Displacement of 0 specifies an infinite sphere. Increasing the displacement decreases the sphere size. If the sphere is so small that the height-map points are outside the sphere, they will be transparent. The value at which this occurs depends on the canvas size (for obvious reasons).

- Standard equirectangular projections have the following characteristics: They're twice as wide as they are high, since the width represents 360° and the height represents 180°; the top row of pixels and the bottom row of pixels are constant, since the top row represents the sphere's topmost point, and the bottom row represents the sphere's bottommost point; the left edge (nearly) matches the right edge, since the image wraps around.
-  For many situations, images that are not actual equirectangular projections will produce useful results. However, using, for instance, an image that doesn't match at the left and right edge may limit the positions that the sphere can be rotated to without the seam becoming visible.

- Often, it's more effective to use mostly ambient lighting, by using a high value of ambient light, and by ether reducing the directional light intensity, or increasing the specularity so that that the directional light mostly contributes highlights.

- I chose to use equirectangular projections because they're widely available, quite intuitive, and make reasonably efficient use of the image space.

[lynxster4]

9 hours ago, MJW said:

I've released version 2.2.0

 

Now, this looks awesome!  Did you use @dipstick 's emap?  Looks like it.  I have something to play with!

 

Thank you MJW!   Will it give results similiar to this (this is what we were trying to duplicate; link from dipstick):   Bevel Reflect

 

Edit:  At least that's what I was trying to do. I used your EdgeShader plugin to get some height in the middle of the letters to give it a beveled, though rounded look.

 

 

4 hours ago, welshblue said:

Handy for glass text without needing an outside map

 

That is also awesome Welshy!!   What steps did you use?  What map did you use?  Oh, darn...just do a tutorial...

 

Edited February 12, 2018 by lynxster4

[lynxster4]

 

I got some interesting results. I see how the new mapping method 'wraps' around the object.

I used dip's original emap and made more severe modifications to it.

 

 

I'll be playing with this for sure!  Thank you!   

 

[MJW]

8 hours ago, lynxster4 said:

Now, this looks awesome!  Did you use @dipstick 's emap?  Looks like it.  I have something to play with!

 

Thank you! I used a larger version of the the following map:

 

[dipstick]

This works pretty well, thanks for the improvements....

 

[Seerose]

 @MJW! @Welshblau! @Lynxster4! and @dipstick!

 

If i watch your results, keep my breath. Thank you everyone for the wonderful works. 

[dipstick]

I used "Impact" font on my letters. Here are some tests with a few e-maps I have on a heart shape since it's Valentines day tomorrow...

 

[MJW]

@dipstick, I really like the reflecting hearts, but you might want to try the Texture Smoother. It does a pretty good job of smoothing out the waterlines caused by the low resolution of gray-scale height maps.

[lynxster4]

14 hours ago, welshblue said:

Maybe it's me, but I'm finding certain fonts give better results

 

That is a certainty.  Thicker fonts give better results!   

[MJW]

I've released Version 2.3.0. I added a new mapping method called Gradient Map (Equirectangular).  This mapping mode is similar to the reflection mapping mode, but instead of using the reflection vector, it uses the gradient vector. It probably has fewer uses then reflection mapping, but provides an extra option. When used with blurry clipboard images, it can simulate diffuse light sources.

 

EDIT: I probably should mention that "gradient" refers to the slope of the height-map surface, not to a color gradient. I considered calling it Normal Map, but that also has two possible meanings.

[MadJik]

Sorry, I can't find the link to version 2.3...

[lynxster4]

Me, either...

[Pixey]

Me three - waiting with bated breath .  Just love @MJW's Plugins

[MJW]

I'm so sorry! I had a feeling I forgot to do something. It's there now.

[AdamWhite]

Sorry for my bad english, i'm russian.

Hello guys, i created beveled star with Texture Shader (by MJW), but her have some artifacts. How i can remove this? 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Pixey
moved to the correct thread

[lynxster4]

@Pixey  The Topic name got changed to 'Star" instead of 'Texture Shader'.  Thought you might like to know.

 

@AdamWhite, use @MJW's Texture Smoother found here, before using Texture Shader.  

 

 

 

[Djisves]

14 minutes ago, lynxster4 said:

@Pixey  The Topic name got changed to 'Star" instead of 'Texture Shader'.  Thought you might like to know.

Also, it has somehow been moved to general discussion instead of the Plugins forum.

Hopefully one of the moderators will be able to fix this.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

3 hours ago, lynxster4 said:

The Topic name got changed to 'Star" instead of 'Texture Shader'.  Thought you might like to know.

 

 

3 hours ago, Djisves said:

Also, it has somehow been moved to general discussion instead of the Plugins forum.

 

Both issues fixed 😄

[MJW]

@AdamWhite, you did a nice job creating the star height map, even with the artifacts, which come about because of the low precision of black-and-white height maps.

 

Besides the Texture Smoother, another way to create smooth height maps is to create them as 24-bit maps with the Texture Merger.

 

Here is an example created with the Texture Merger, along with a plugin called Angled Gradient.

 

 

(I must admit, it took quite a bit of effort to figure out how to make the star; which is a difficulty with using the Texture Merger to make objects like this. However, with a little careful thought, there's usually a way. I don't know how AdamWhite produced the height map he shaded, but I would think the same approach could probably be modified to use the Texture Merger.)

 

[Pixey]

Many thanks @lynxster4 and @Djisves and @Ego Eram Reputo  Silly me, I had meant to send it to the Texture Shader thread 😬 Those gremlins again