CompuServe Thread

Try using granite.cel for the reflection map in your sword material, David. -Alan

David, The reason that you're not seeing reflections on your sword is most likely due to the fact that you're sword is flat. You will get the same result if you apply any of the chrome materials to something like letters in a word. The nice reflections will show up on the curved portions of a letter (like the inside of a "c") but the faces of these objects will be just a lifeless gray. I suspect the same is happening with the sword. There are a few things you could do. You could make an animated texture map, but timing would need to be considered as you wouldn't want too much hilight movement when the sword wasn't moving. You could just write down various key positions and use those to aid in making the anim. This way would probably give you the most control. You could also re-loft your sword using say, an ellipse, or maybe even a cool star like object to introduce some curves into the blade. You probably won't need too much curviness and it shouldn't be obvious to the viewer. This way using the chrome materials would work. Other than that, I've made nice looking reflections in flat faced logo's etc. by using a big "S" shaped object in front of my object but behind the camera (or in front of the camera if the objects normals are facing away from the camera) and assigning this object the chrome material. Then you'd assign a flat auto-reflection material to the "front faces" of the logo and the chrome material to the logo object. You do need to assign to the object then the faces. You could rotate the reflector etc. to make the hilights move. There is also a chapter on logo highlighting in the Special F/X book. Though I haven't read it yet, I believe it's on how you can control IPAS routines like hi-lite. Good luck. Dave Mennenoh

David: I just read the answers from others to your message about the sword, and I realized that I had assumed that you lofted the blade. Did you loft it (I'd create it as a diamond with a rounded edge in the center and a good sharp point at the edges). If you did just use a flat piece, you would have a very different effect. Good eyes, DaveM for catching this! Greg Pyros

Reflection maps are always applied spherically. If your sword is falt, it isn't going to catch much of the reflection. You might try mising a blurred textrue map with the reflection map. Also, try tesselating the sword blade and give it a slight outward bulge. his will go a long way in picking up reflections. As for refractions, you might want to check ou the 3DS Special Effects book.