CompuServe Messages

Oh, so you wanted Fractal for bitmap creation? Go for it – great tool. I thought you were talking about theories not aplication <g>. You may want to also invest in a program that respects alpha channels however. R3's abilities with them haven't gotten much splash but their usefulness may make them the defacto standard in professional material bitmaps soon. Age and wear – it's touched on. Materials et. al. is really the subject for another book. After 110 text pages on the subject of materials I thought I had better get off it <g>. Your best bet is to create several GOOD grayscale, tileable bitmaps that represent randomness – splatters, streak, droplets, dents, scratches etc. – and use them often as masks and maps. It is not uncommon to use the same bitmap four or five times within the same material. Making tileable maps is covered to some extent if you need tips on that process. – Phil