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DriveWorks Pro 21
Emissive Bump

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Emissive Bump - Render Property

The Emissive Bump render property gives your model the appearance of being illuminated. This is useful because it adds another level of realism to your 3D models. The Emissive Bump render property causes the model to be self-illuminated which results in the model looking bright or like a light.

This render property lets you add an emissive texture to your 3D Appearance. As well as the Emissive texture you can also set a Diffuse, Specular and Bump Texture. The Emissive Bump render property is the same as the Bump render property but it can use an extra Emissive texture. This lets you create any normal surface and then add emissive areas where they are required.

The Emissive Texture can make a complete surface emissive or it can make a specific part of the model emissive. It depends how the texture is mapped to the models surface.

An Emissive Appearance is not a light. No light will be cast onto other models like a light source. An Emissive Appearance is only self illuminating. However post effects such as Bloom will still interact with the Emissive appearance.
Without Emissive TextureWith Emissive Texture & Bloom

Without an emissive texture the model will simply use the diffuse color or diffuse texture. When an Emissive texture is added it adds an emissive area to the model. The emissive texture gives certain areas of the model emission or a glow. This results in these areas being self-illuminated.

In the above image the emissive texture being used is a 1 x 1 pixel red image. That is all that is needed to give this emissive effect. This is a small file that is easy to upload and use on the model.

Render Properties

The following properties are available on the Bump render property:

  • Diffuse Color (R, G, B, Alpha)
  • Ambient Intensity
  • Diffuse Intensity
  • Emissive Intensity
  • Specular Color (R, G, B)
  • Specular Intensity
  • Reflectivity
  • Texture Transforms
    • X Scale
    • Y Scale
    • Angle
  • Texture Offset
    • X Offset
    • Y Offset
  • Diffuse Texture
    • Texture
    • Source File Path
  • Specular Texture
    • Texture
    • Source File Path
  • Normal Texture
    • Texture
    • Source File Path
  • Emissive Texture
    • Texture
    • Source File Path

Setting up an Appearance to use the Emissive Bump 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 there will be a drop down of Render Properties.
  3. Select Emissive Bump from the drop down list.

Using the Emissive Bump render property

The Emissive Bump render property can be used in several ways. An Emissive Texture can be used with a Diffuse, Specular or Normal Texture, or without any of these textures. You can also use combinations of textures depending on the outcome you need.


Diffuse Color and Emissive Texture

Simple colors can be applied to the surface of a model. An emissive texture can then be added to give areas of the model emission. In the lift buttons above a diffuse color is used with a simple 1 x 1 pixel emissive texture. This is enough to illuminate the buttons.


Diffuse Texture, Specular Texture, Normal Texture and Emissive Texture

A Diffuse texture can also be used with an Emissive texture. The Diffuse texture can be used instead of the Diffuse Color.

A Diffuse texture adds additional detail to the Appearance and the surface of the model. Areas of the diffuse texture can be illuminated with an Emissive Texture. In the images below the diffuse texture has been used to create an emissive texture. Certain tiles have been illuminated in the image. The emissive texture is combined with the diffuse texture to give the effect you see below.

Diffuse Texture without Emissive TextureDiffuse Texture with Emissive Texture
Bloom is also effected by the Emissive texture. Bright areas will be effected by bloom and look brighter as if they are emitting light. The addition of an emissive texture can make a model more realistic.

The textures below were used to make the tiled floor above.

Black areas in the Emissive texture will not self-illuminate. This is how you get certain areas to be emissive and other areas to look regular.

Emissive Texture Examples

Other Render Properties

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

These add different levels of realism to an Appearance.