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1466 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

• Diffuse (page 3–929) is the color of the object in

direct, "good" lighting.

• Specular (page 3–1014) is the color of shiny

high lights.

Some shaders generate the specular color,

rather than letting you choose it.

• Filter (page 3–939) is the color transmitted by

light shining through the object.

The Filter color component isn’t visible unless

the material’s Opacity is less than 100 percent.

Note: Raytrace material (page 2–1512) uses a

different, six- color model to simulate surface s .

Several components are similar to those in

Standard Material, but they behave differently

in Raytrace.

When we describe an object’s color in

conversation, usual ly we mean its diffuse color.

Thechoiceofanambientcolordependsonthe

kind of lighting. For moderate indoor lighting, it

canbeadarkershadeofthediffusecolor,butfor

bright indoor lig hting and for daylight, it should

be the complement of the primary (key) light

source. The specular color should be either the

same color as the key light source, or a high-value,

low-saturation version of the diffuse color.

For more tips on choosing color components, see

Choosing Colors for Realism (page 2–1400).

Wa rning: When you change the shading type of

a material, you lose the settings (including map

assignments) for any parameters that the new shader

does not suppor t. If you want to experiment with

different shaders for a m aterial with the same general

parameters, copy the material to a different sample slot

(page 2–1420) before you change its shading type. That

way, you can still use t he original material if the new

shader doesn’t give you the effect you want.

Ot her St and ar d M a ter ia l Components

A standard material’s specular color appears in

highlights.Youcancontrolthesizeandshapeof

the highlig ht. A polished surface has a small and

strong highlight. A matte surface has a large, weak

highlight, or no highlight at all.

Standardmaterialsalsohavecontrolsformaking

the object appear t r ansparent, and for making it

self-illuminating so that it appears to glow.

Along with the material’s color components,

components also refers to the parameters that

control high lig hts, tr ansparency, self-illumination,

and s o on.