Billboards
Billboard
This type of billboards is appropriate when one or several billboards need to be created. Each Billboard is rendered as a separate object with its own material. It is also possible to use texture atlas and adjust coordinates of the rendered texture for each of the billboard separately.
Billboard Options
The following options are available for a Billboard:
| Width | Width of the billboard rectangle in units. |
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| Height | Height of the billboard rectangle in units. |
| Offset | Offset slots reposition the billboard relative its center along X, Y and Z axes, respectively. When billboards with the offset is rotated, or its movement along one of the axis is locked, they are positioned relative to the offset center. |
| ScaleX ScaleY |
Scale values scale the texture on the billboard along X and Y axes, for example:
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| TranslateX TranslateY |
Translate values offset the texture on the billboard along X and Y. With these parameters, an arbitrary point of the texture can be set as the top left corner of the billboard, for example:
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| Lock axis X | Prevents the billboard from changing its orientation along the X axis. |
| Lock axis Z | Prevents the billboard from changing its orientation along the Z axis. It can be useful for tree or house billboards.
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| Screen aligned | Indicates that a billboard should be always strictly parallel to the screen plane and not rotating (instead of being axis-aligned). |
Billboards
This type of billboards is optimized to render a big number of identical billboards. Such billboards should have the same material applied (a texture atlas can be used, which would make all billboards look unique). As they are handled as one object, rendering is much fast and more efficient if compared to simple Billboard objects.
- Billboards can be positioned manually.
- It is also possible to scatter billboards randomly within a definite volume using a Generator.
Just like Billboard, Billboards can be aligned to the screen plane or locked along one of the axis. (See billboards_base material).
Billboards Parameters
| Depth sort | Indicates that billboards should be sorted in back-to-front order according to their position. This option should be enabled, if alpha blending is used for the billboard material (except for the additive blending). |
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