DriveWorks Pro 24

Reflective

Reflective - Render Property

The Reflective render property is used specifically for creating objects that have shiny or reflective surfaces. This render property works with Screen Space Reflections to create an Appearance that will reflect other models in a 3D scene.

Using the Reflective render property and SSR can improve the look and feel of your 3D models by imitating natural surface reflections.

Setting up an Appearance to use the Reflective render property

In each Appearance there is a property in the Information Panel called Render Properties.

1. In a DriveWorks 3D Document, navigate to and select an Appearance.
2. In the Information Panel select the Render Properties drop down.
3. Select Reflective from the drop down list.
4. On the Default Camera or any other Camera Entity ensure Screen Space Reflections is enabled.
5. Select the Alpha Mode required for images applied to the PBR Advanced render property.

   Alpha Mode allows images with transparency to display any objects or scenes behind them.

   See Alpha Mode below for more information.

Alpha Mode

Alpha Mode allows images with transparency to display any objects or scenes behind them.

For Render Properties, other than Glass, the Alpha Mode can be set to:

• Default

  Will display any alpha in the image as fully visible.

• Cutout

  Will display any alpha in the image as fully visible or fully transparent, depending on the Cutout Threshold.

  • Cutout Threshold

    Set a value between 0 and 255 for the threshold to use to determine the pixels that will be displayed.

Using images with transparency, with the Cutout Alpha Mode, can enhance the DriveWorks 3D model by reducing the need for complex geometry.

For example, the image below:

Can be applied, as an appearance, to a Model.

The gray and white chequered background represents the alpha channel used in the image.

The Alpha Mode settings applied are shown in the table below:

Default	Cutout

Render Property Settings

The settings available on the Reflective render property are grouped into the following categories:

Diffuse Color settings

Sets the color to use for the diffuse color of the Appearance.

Will apply a hexadecimal value to the Diffuse Color in the Parameter Panel.

• Red

  Modifies the amount of red in the Diffuse Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

• Green

  Modifies the amount of green in the Diffuse Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

• Blue

  Modifies the amount of blue in the Diffuse Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

• Alpha

  Controls the alpha channel or transparency of the Diffuse Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

  If the geometry wih the Diffuse Color applied is to have Shadow Casting or Edge Sketch applied, the appearance is required to be fully opaque.

  The alpha applied needs to be exactly 255. Anything less than this value is considered not fully opaque.

• Ambient Intensity

  Controls the ambient intensity of the Appearance as a whole. Enter a number.

• Diffuse Intensity

  Controls the intensity of the Diffuse Color/Texture. Enter a number.

Specular Color settings

Sets the color to use for the specular.

Will apply a hexadecimal value to the Specular Color in the Parameter Panel.

• Red

  Modifies the amount of red in the Specular Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

• Green

  Modifies the amount of green in the Specular Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

• Blue

  Modifies the amount of blue in the Specular Color. Enter a number from 0 to 255.

• Intensity

  Controls the intensity of the specular highlight on an Appearance. Enter a number.

• Reflectivity

  Controls the amount of reflectivity of an Appearance. Enter a number from 0 and above.

• Reflective Scatter

  Controls how reflected light is scattered off the Appearance. Enter a number from 0 and above.

Texture Offset settings

• Offset X

  Offset an applied texture in the X Axis. Allows you to position textures accurately on surfaces. Enter a number.

• Offset Y

  Offset an applied texture in the Y Axis. Allows you to position textures accurately on surfaces. Enter a number.

Texture Transforms settings

• Scale X

  Modifies the scale of a texture to suit the size of the model.

  Enter a number from 0 and above.

  See Scaling Textures below for information on how scaling affects the applied texture image.

• Scale Y

  Modifies the scale of a texture to suit the size of the model.

  Enter a number from 0 and above.

  See Scaling Textures below for information on how scaling affects the applied texture image.

• Angle

  Change the rotation of a texture on a model. Enter a number from 0 to 360.

Scaling Textures

The scale of a texture is applied differently when World Position Textures is enabled.

• When World Position Textures is Disabled:

  A scale of 0.5 will stretch or shrink half of a texture repetition over the corresponding axis of the geometry it is applied to.

  A scale of 1 will stretch or shrink one full texture repetition over the corresponding axis of the geometry it is applied to.

  A scale of 2 will stretch or shrink two full texture repetition over the corresponding axis of the geometry it is applied to.

  For example:

  Geometry Scale in the X and Y axis = 0.5 (meters)

  Texture Transform Scale X and Y axis = 1

  Will result in one full texture repetition over the 0.5 meter of the X and Y axis.

  

• When World Position Textures is Enabled:

  A scale of 0.5 will apply half of a texture repetition over a 1 meter length in the corresponding axis.

  A scale of 1 will apply one full texture repetition over a 1 meter length in the corresponding axis.

  A scale of 2 will apply two full texture repetition over a 1 meter length in the corresponding axis.

  For example:

  Geometry Scale in the X and Y axis = 0.5 (meters)

  Texture Transform Scale X and Y axis = 1

  Will result in half a full texture repetition over the 0.5 meter of the X and Y axis.

  

World Position Textures

World Position textures allow seamless texturing over multiple models.

To understand how a World Position Texture is scaled see Texture Transforms settings above.

World Position Textures Disabled	World Position Textures Enabled
The same textured appearance applied to multiple geometries does not flow seamlessly when one of the geometries differs in size.	Enabling World Position Textures allows the same texture to flow into geometries with a different size without the need for complex calculations to scale the texture.

The following parameters can be selected:

Checking each checkbox will add that world position axis value at each pixel's location, to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

This has the effect of making the texture flow along that axis in world space.

• Enabled

  Checking this will enable World Position Textures.

  A rule can also be built for this from the parameter panel by selecting the Enabled (with the address WorldPositionEnabled) property.

• Horizontal
  • X

    Checked by default

    Check to add the horizontal X axis to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

  • Y

    Unchecked by default

    Check to add the horizontal Y axis to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

  • Z

    Checked by default

    Check to add the horizontal Z axis to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

• Vertical
  • X

    Unchecked by default

    Check to add the vertical X axis to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

  • Y

    Checked by default

    Check to add the vertical Y axis to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

  • Z

    Unchecked by default

    Check to add the vertical Z axis to the corresponding texture coordinate value.

Diffuse Texture

• Texture

  Select a diffuse texture from the list of available textures in the Document. Alternatively you can browse for a texture or build a rule to the path of a new texture.

Specular Texture settings

• Texture

  Select a specular texture from the list of available textures in the Document. Alternatively you can browse for a texture or build a rule to the path of a new texture.

Normal Texture

• Texture

  Select a normal texture from the list of available textures in the Document. Alternatively you can browse for a texture or build a rule to the path of a new texture.

Using the Reflective render property

This feature has been designed to provide subtle but realistic reflections on the surface of a model. The effect is created by reflecting the models surfaces with whatever is visible in the 3D scene surrounding it. Typically, by using reflective surfaces such as various woods metals and plastics you can create models that look more realistic.

Subtle Reflections

Using the Reflective render property provides subtle and additional surface detail giving a model further depth and realism overall.

To achieve the most realistic effect on any surface we recommend selecting values that are barely noticeable and on the lower end of the spectrum. Limitations of this feature are apparent when you set the effect to maximum as the reflections will look overly noticeable and unnatural.

In the example shown above, some basic shapes have been set on a reflective floor. The highest setting has been applied to the floors reflectivity and this results in the reflections being noticeably sharper.This demonstrates two imperfections that are possible with SSR. As a 3D designer it is possible to work around these limitations and improve the quality of your scene.

In the next example we have added a normal map, a specular map and a texture to the floor to add further depth and realism. Additionally, we have reduced the reflectivity and specular intensity resulting in the surface reflections looking more subtle. Reflective Scatter has also been applied to the floor and provides a more natural overall look.

Limitations

This rendering effect does have known limitations and these will be described in further detail below.

Limitations:

• Elongated and stretched reflections are caused by the render engine approximating reflections that pass underneath objects in a scene. To reduce the effect of this limitation, lower the reflections clarity or SSR thickness.
• Only models visible to the camera and within the screen space can generate reflections. Consequently, any models or objects that are not within these ranges will be shown without a reflection or will be cut off.
• Reflection visibility is also impacted by whether an object is being occluded by another. An obstructed object will not display a reflection as it's technically considered to be off screen.
• It is recommended that you avoid purposefully creating highly reflective (mirrored) surfaces as the limitations of SSR become more apparent.

The limitations discussed, although deliberate, have been adjusted to ensure that performance is optimal when being displayed in a web browser.

Reflective Examples

SSR and Reflective render are excellent additional features that help to create immersive and more realistic 3D environments and objects. Here are some examples of what these features are capable of.

Other Render Properties

DriveWorks has other render properties available to use on an Appearance.

These add different levels of realism to an Appearance.

• Default
• Specular
• Bump
• Emissive Bump
• Glass
• PBR
• PBR Advanced