billboards_base
A billboards_base material creates coverings for multiple Billboards.
States
In this tab you can set available settings and options:
Passes
Deferred Pass
Indicates that all lights influencing billboards will be computed by means of deferred shading. If disabled, forward shading will be used instead. Forward shading allows making billboards semi-transparent.
Auxiliary Pass
Auxiliary pass is used for writing the contour of object with the specified material into an auxiliary color buffer.
Options
- Axis X - lock a billboard along the X axis.
- Axis Z - lock a billboard along the Z axis.
- Screen aligned - set billboards parallel to each other.
- Angular size - set billboards to always be of the same size regardless to the camera position.
- Ambient emission - enables an additional emission texture providing the ambient emission effect.
- Shadow shafts - simulates visible volumetric shadows, arising when a bright world light source is partially obscured by the object.
Axis X
Locks billboards orientation along the X axis (by default billboards always face the camera).
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Disabled Lock X |
Enabled Lock X |
Axis Z
Locks billboards orientation along the Z axis (by default billboards always face the camera). Billboards can be also locked along both X and Z axes, so they will be oriented perpendicularly to Y axis.
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Enabled Lock Z |
Enabled Lock X and Lock Z |
Screen Aligned
Set billboards parallel to each other. If they are not axes-locked, they will be oriented strictly towards to the screen plane.
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Disabled Screen aligned |
Enabled Screen aligned |
Angular Size
Sets billboards to always be of the same size regardless to the camera position.
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Disabled Angular size |
Enabled Angular size |
Textures
In the Textures tab of the Material Editor you can:
Load the textures - click a Load button near the texture and specify the path to the texture or type the path in the texture field manually
Open the view window to see texture's details - click a View button near the texture
Set the current texture to default one - click a Set to parent button near the texture (if the texture is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green)
The textures available for billboards are listed below.
Base Textures
Base textures are loaded and modified in the Base field of the Textures tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse | diffuse | Diffuse map. A texture to define a surface's main color. |
RGBA:
Notice
An alpha (A) value will store transparency values if an Alpha test option is enabled. Otherwise it will store a detail mask. |
| Normal | normal | Normal map. A texture to store information about a surface's normals deviation. |
RG:
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| Specular | specular | Specular map. A texture to define a surface's shininess and highlight color. |
RGBA:
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Additional Textures
Additional emission texture is present only if an Ambient emission option is enabled and is modified in the Additional field of the Textures tab.
Parameters
In the Parameters tab you can set or modify base and additional parameters.
Parameters of different types are set in different ways:
- expression - vector values can be set either in the field near the parameter or in the dialog window opened when double clicking this field
- slider - the value can be set either by smoothly moving the slider of the scroll box or manually in the box near the parameter (if required, the value bigger than maximum one for the slider can be set)
- color - the color can be chosen in the dialog window, activated after double clicking the color field
All the parameters can be set to default ones - click a Set to parent button near the parameter (if the parameter is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green).
The parameters available for this kind of materials are listed below.
Transform Parameters
Texture transformation parameter is modified in the Transform field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | base_transform | expression | Base texture coordinates transformation. A vector of the four float components, consisting of two pairs of vector elements:
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Auxiliary Parameters
Auxiliary color parameter is present only if an Auxiliary pass is set as a Default. The parameter is modified in the Auxiliary field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auxiliary | auxiliary_color | color | A color picker to choose an auxiliary color for the Auxiliary rendering pass. |
Ambient Parameters
Ambient parameter is modified in the Ambient field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | environment_scale | slider | Environment lighting scale. A coefficient to scale how much the global environment texture illuminates the surface. The higher the value, the more the colors will be corrected (lightened or darkened) according to the environment component. |
Emission Parameters
Emission parameters are present only if an Ambient emission option is enabled and are modified in the Emission field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color | emission_color | color |
A color picker to choose an ambient emission color for the emission texture. |
| Scale | emission_scale | slider | Visibility scale for the emission texture. The higher the value, the more visible emission texture is: light areas will be lighter and brighter. |
| Glow | glow_scale | slider |
A coefficient to scale the glow component of the emission texture, which creates a halo around an object surface.
The higher the value, the larger the halo and the brighter the material.
Notice
To increase the glow parameter a lot, go to the Render settings -> Postprocess tab -> Glow small parameter to increase the glow throughout in the scene. After that, readjust the glow on the per-material basis. |
Shading Parameters
Shading parameters are modified in the Shading field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse | diffuse_color | color |
A color picker to choose the color of the diffuse map. |
| Diffuse | diffuse_scale | slider | A coefficient to scale the brightness of the diffuse map. The higher the value, the brighter the diffuse map is. |
| Specular | specular_color | color |
A color picker to choose the color of the specular map. |
| Specular | specular_scale | slider | A coefficient to scale the brightness of the specular map reflections. The default value of 1 grants the correct color. The higher the value, the brighter the specular reflections are. |
| Glossiness | specular_power | slider |
A coefficient to modify size of the highlight (Phong lighting) of the specular map:
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