<     > 

Applying and Editing Realtime Shaders

Applying and editing realtime shaders is similar to applying and editing mental ray shaders. However, it’s important to remember that the render tree is the only place where you can connect them to one another.

Applying Realtime Shaders

You can attach a realtime shader to an object using the render tree, the material manager, or the Render toolbar. Using the render tree to connect realtime shaders to each other gives you the most precise control over the structure of the realtime shader tree.

Using the Render Tree

1. Select an object.

2. Press 7 to open a render tree.

3. From the Nodes menu, choose a realtime shader from the RealTime category.

Or

From the preset manager, drag a realtime shader from the RealTime category to the render tree workspace.

4. Connect that shader to the material node’s RealTime input. For details on how to do this, see Connecting Nodes [Rendering].

5. Now you can get additional realtime shader nodes and connect them together to build a shader network.

Using the Material Manager

1. Select an object.

2. Choose Modify > Materials from the Render toolbar to open the material manager (or press Ctrl+7). For more information, see The Material Manager [Material and Shader Basics].

3. From the material manager toolbar, choose one of the following realtime shaders from the Create > Realtime OGL/DirectX menu:

4. This creates a new material in the library based on the shader type that you selected.

5. With the new material selected, choose Materials > Assign Material to Selected Objects.

Using the Material Menu

1. Select an object.

2. From the Render toolbar, choose one of the following realtime shaders from the Get > Material menu:

3. Press 7 to open the render tree in which you can see and modify the node structure.

4. Applying a realtime shader from the Render toolbar disconnects any existing materials that are applied to the object. A new local material is created for the object and the realtime shader is connected to the new material’s RealTime input. The disconnected materials are not deleted, they still exist in the material library (which you can view and edit from the material manager).

Editing Realtime Shaders

Like all shaders, you edit realtime shaders using their property editors. When you open a realtime shader’s property editor, a combined property editor is displayed. The combined editor displays the property editors of every shader sequentially, from the one you selected to the one farthest from the material node.

Information about realtime shader parameters listed in their property editors is available from the help topic for that property editor.

To open a realtime shader’s property editor

• Do one of the following:

- In the render tree, double-click the realtime shader that you want to edit, or select it and press Enter.

- Select the object whose shader you want to edit and choose Modify > Texture from the Render toolbar. All of the realtime shaders connected to the object are listed alphabetically in the submenu. Select one.

- With the object selected, click the Selection button on the Select panel to display the selected object’s node. Expand its material node and click the shader icon beneath the RealTime node to open its related property editors.

You cannot use the Modify > Shader command to edit realtime shaders. • If the object has a mental ray surface shader attached, this command opens the surface shader’s property editor. • If no surface shader is connected, the command has no effect.

Detaching Realtime Shaders

To detach a realtime shader

• Do one of the following:

- Use the render tree to graphically disconnect and/or delete the shader. For more information on how to use the render tree, see The Render Tree [Material and Shader Basics].

- Delete the shader from the explorer: it is removed, as well as any shaders that were connected to its Previous input.

Deleting a Realtime Shader

You can delete a shader by selecting it in either the explorer, render tree, material manager, or schematic view and pressing Delete. The shader is removed from all views.

Autodesk Softimage v.7.5     <     >