[Figure 8-11] Choose a reflection

type

Enabling Reflections
You can use reflections to reflect an environment image off the current surface. When you click the texture map area, a selection dialog box, shown in Figure 8-11, enables you to apply the reflected texture image as a spherical map or a raytrace reflection. A spherical map reflects the texture image about the selected object as if it were inside a large sphere. A raytrace reflection uses a special rendering technique to follow each light ray as it bounces about the scene to create perfect reflections. More on ray tracing is covered in the Chapter 16, “Rendering Scenes.”

[Figure 8-12] Reflective material on a sphere

Of these two methods, the Spherical Map method renders much quicker, but the Ray Trace Reflection method results in higher quality reflections. You can multiply the reflected image with the Lights and the Object Color by enabling the options under the Reflection texture image. These options will tint the reflected image with the object color and dim the reflected image due to the direct lighting applied to the reflection. Figure 8-12 shows a rendering of a simple ball object that has a reflected material applied to it.

Reflection maps aren’t visible in the Preview panel of the Document Window. You can see them only after rendering the scene.

[Figure 8-13] Bump material

Adding Bump Maps
A Bump Map texture image adds a relief to the surface of the material. This is accomplished by making the light areas of the bump appear to be raised from the surface and the darker areas to be indented. You can use the Amount dial to set the depth of the bumps. Regardless of the Amount value, Bump Maps are simulated only on the object’s surface without altering the actual geometry. To have a Bump Map change the object’s geometry, you can use a displacement map. Figure 8-13 shows a simple material with a bump texture applied. Bump Maps, like reflections, are only visible when rendered and not in the Preview panel.

The Amount value is measured in real-world units based on the type of units set in the Preferences dialog box. If the units are set to meters or feet, this value will be fairly small.

Early versions of Poser applied Bump Maps using a gradient image format with the BUM extension. You can use the BUM files if you add an Image Map node with the BUM file loaded and connect it to the Gradient attribute.