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Creating Texture Supports

Texture supports are the structures that hold an object’s texture projections in place. Essentially, they determine how a texture is applied to an object or group of objects. You can quickly create a texture support “on the fly” as you apply textures or you can create one or more texture supports before applying a texture.

An object’s texture support is visible in any 3D view, where it appears as a wireframe icon called the texture-support object. By default, the texture support object is green and its shape depends on the type of projection that you defined:

• If planar XY, XZ, or YZ projection is used, the outline appears as a box.

• If cylindrical mapping is used, it appears as a cylinder.

• If spherical mapping is used, it appears as a sphere.

For more information about working with the texture support object, see Using the Texture Support Object.

Creating a Texture Support On-the-Fly

Creating texture supports as you apply textures is useful if you are adding several textures at once, each with its own type of support (planar, spherical, UV, etc.). The process is identical to applying a texture projection “on the fly” because you are creating both the projection and the support simultaneously.

To define a texture support while applying a texture

1. Select the objects, group, branch, or model to which you want to assign a texture projection.

2. Apply a texture by choosing the Get > Texture button from any toolbar.

3. Select any texture shader from the menu. The shader’s property editor opens.

4. From this property editor, click the New button beside the Texture Projection text box to define a new texture support. A menu opens from which you can select any previously created texture projections.

5. Select Advanced if you wish to open the Create Texture Projection property editor.

Once you define a texture projection, it is automatically made active and the texture (if any) is applied using that projection. For more information about the Create Texture Projection property editor, see the next section.

6. To add subsequent textures, choose Modify > Texture > Add and repeat steps 3 to 5.

Pre-applying a Texture Support Object

By creating a texture support before applying a texture, you can name the support object as well as define a secondary texture support.

To define a texture support before applying a texture

1. Select the object(s), group, branch, or model to which you want to assign a texture support.

2. From any toolbar, choose Get > Property > Texture Projection > Create New Projection to open the Create Texture Projection property editor.

3. In this property editor, you can assign a texture projection (spherical, planar, etc.) or a projection plane, or define a UV projection. The following lists the texture support options:

4. You can then parent the support to the object by selecting Parent to Object. This constrains the projection to the object or group to which you apply the support.

5. You can name the texture support by typing a name in the Projection Name field. This is useful to differentiate between several types of projections assigned to a single object or group.

You can also name the texture support by typing a name in the Support Name field.

6. Use the Coordinate System menu to choose between the default coordinate system, a best fit coordinate system, an object space coordinate system, or a world space coordinate system.

7. Close the Create Texture Projection property editor. If you selected the Camera projection, you must select a camera from a 3D view or explorer.

If the defined texture projections aren’t visible in a 3D view, you can make them appear by selecting Texture supports from the eye icon in a 3D view or by toggling their visibility by pressing j.

Simultaneous Texture Support

An object can have more than one type of texture support assigned to it at any time. For example, a single sphere in a group of three spheres can have a texture support assigned specifically to it or to the entire group.

Applying Multiple Texture Supports to an Object

You can easily create as many texture supports as you wish for each object and then define which texture to use. Repeat the process described in Pre-applying a Texture Support Object for each support that you wish to add.

Applying a Texture Support to a Group or Branch

How a group or hierarchy of objects has been selected determines what kind of texture support is applied to the group or hierarchy. This makes the difference between five objects sharing a common texture or each of the five objects having their own texture support.

To apply multiple texture supports to a group or branch of objects

1. Multiple-select each object to which you want to apply an individual texture support.

2. Choose Get > Property > Texture Projection > Create New Projection from any toolbar. The Create Texture Projection property editor opens.

3. Select a Projection Type and a Texture Support Name.

4. Click OK to apply the new texture supports onto each of the selected objects.

To apply a single texture support to a hierarchy or group of objects

1. Branch-select (middle-click) or model-select (right-click) the group or hierarchy to which you want to apply a single texture projection.

2. Choose Get > Property > Texture Projection > Create New Projection from any toolbar. The Create Texture Projection property editor opens.

3. Select a Projection Type and a Texture Support Name.

4. Click OK to apply the new, single texture support onto all of the selected objects.0

If the defined texture projections aren’t visible in a 3D view, you can make them appear by selecting Texture Controls from the eye icon menu in a 3D view.

Adding a Texture Projection to a Texture Support

One of the advantages of being able to control the texture’s projection within its support object is that you can scale the image down and move it over to make room for a second texture—or even a third.

For example, if you have a model of a letter envelope, you can apply a single planar support to it and use a texture projection for the stamp, another for the address, and yet another for the return address.

To apply another projection to an existing texture support

1. Apply a texture support as described earlier. Every texture support includes a single texture projection that you can scale, rotate, and translate.

2. With the original texture support selected, press j to activate the texture projection manipulators. Scale or translate the texture projection in a way that makes room for another projection.

3. Select the object again and choose Get > Property > Texture Projection > Connect to Support. In the dialog box that opens, name the new texture projection and click OK.

4. You must pick a texture support object. Select the support to which you will add a second projection. This may be easier to do in the explorer than in a 3D view.

5. Once you’ve picked the support, right-click to end the pick session. This adds the second projection to the texture support.

6. Notice how a single texture support now holds two projections. You can easily edit each projection by selecting the texture support object, pressing j, and right-clicking to swap between the projections.

7. Repeat this process to add as many projections as you wish.

Texture Supports and Duplicated Objects

When you duplicate a textured object, you can specify in advance how its texture support will be treated by the Duplicate operation. The results of any duplication will then depend on what behavior you specify, and how you select the original object. Because you set the desired behavior along with the rest of the duplication/instantiation options, it affects every subsequent duplication operation until you specify another behavior.

For more information about duplicating and instantiating objects, see Duplicating and Cloning Objects [Scene Elements].

To specify how texture supports are duplicated

1. Choose Edit > Duplicate/Instantiate > Duplicate/Instantiate Options from the main command panel.

2. In the Duplicate Options property editor that opens, set one of the following Texture Support options:

- Only if selected duplicates the texture support only if it is selected along with the original object(s). If the texture support is not selected, the duplicate object shares the original object’s texture support.

For best results, make sure to branch-select the object whose texture support you want to duplicate. If you node-select both the original object and its texture support, and then duplicate them, the duplicate texture support is a child of, and constrained to the original object rather than the duplicate object. This makes it unnecessarily difficult to move the duplicate object.

- Always duplicate duplicates the original object’s texture support whether the support is selected or not. The duplicate support appears in the same position in the duplicate object’s hierarchy as the original support appears in the original object’s hierarchy.

• Always share does not duplicate the original object’s texture support. Instead, the duplicate object(s) shares the original object’s texture support.

• Freeze projections duplicates the original object, but freezes the texture projection (and geometry stack) of the duplicates. As a result, no duplicate texture support appears in the duplicate object’s hierarchy.

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