Colors | Cell | Texture Support | Render Tree Usage
Shader Type: Texture
Output: Scalar value
The Cell Scalar shader, based on Worley noise, adds noise to a particle volume to help define its density’s shape. This shader is similar to the Fractal Scalar shader, but is more useful for creating effects with volume shapes on a larger scale, such as clouds.
You usually use the Cell Scalar shader in conjunction with the Particle Density and Particle Volume Cloud shaders. The cell pattern is added to the shape of each particle, usually to create larger areas in the particle volume, such as puffs of smoke or clouds.
Using this shader, you may need to emit fewer particles to create an effect because you can create a certain level of detail using the shader itself. For example, instead of adding thousands of particles for creating a billowing smoke effect, you can use fewer and larger particles, then add the smoke shape with the fractal patterns from this shader.
For general information about ICE particle shaders, see ICE Particle Shading.
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To save time previewing the results of the cell pattern, click the little V above the Cell Scalar shader’s node in the render tree to display its shaderball view. This way, you can turn off the render region to save time while tweaking only the cell pattern. |
Color
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Fill |
Color that fills the inner parts of the cell pattern. A value of 1 is white (default) and 0 is black. |
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Border |
Color of the borders between the cells. A value of 0 is black (default) and 1 is white. |
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Fill with value of 1; Border with value of 0 |
Fill with value of 0; Border with value of 1. |
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Contrast
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Min/Max |
Sets the minimum and maximum values used to control the contrast between the Fill and Border colors. |
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Bias |
Overall amount of white and black used for the color contrast. |
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Cell Alignment |
Select one of these options to determine how the cells are aligned with each other in a pattern: Random, Random (with more white spots), Random (with less white spots), Grid, Grid2, Grid4, and Honeycomb. |
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Cell Jitter |
If you select a Grid type of Cell Alignment, you can add a bit of jitter to it to make it look less rigid. |
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Random Cell Alignment |
Grid Cell Alignment |
Grid2 Cell Alignment |
Grid4 Cell Alignment |
Honeycomb Cell Alignment |
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Cell Jitter on Grid |
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Shape |
The shape of each cell: Round or Square. |
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Cell Type |
Switches between the default cell shader (Round Cells) and a Flagstone-like shading. |
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Straight Border |
If you select Flagstone as the Cell Type, select this option to create border lines that are of more equal widths. |
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Round Shape with Round Cell Type |
Round Shape with Flagstone Cell Type |
Square Shape with Round Cell Type |
Square Shape with Flagstone Cell Type |
Straight Border |
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Coordinates
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External Coordinates or Auto Spatial (if no input) |
If this option is on, the shader uses the input shader’s texture coordinates. If no input shader is used, basic object texture coordinates are automatically created. |
Coordinate Scale
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Pre-Scale |
Sets the general scale of the texture coordinates: Big Noise, Default, Small Noise. |
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Scale |
Once you have set the Pre-Scale size, you can fine-tune the scale of the texture coordinates. This slider scales the texture coordinates uniformly on all axes. |
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Scale per Axis |
Sets the scale separately on each XYZ axis. |
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Default Noise with a Scale value of 10 |
Big Noise with a Scale value of 100 |
Small Noise with a Scale value of 5. |
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Plug this shader into the density_shape and/or density_texture ports of the Particle Density shader, which is plugged into the density port of the Particle Volume Cloud shader.
For more realistic or complicated smoke effects, you may want to use a Cell Scalar shader in conjunction with one or more Fractal Scalar shaders, each defining a different level of detail.
Autodesk Softimage v.7.5
