Reflective Shader - Revision history

Redmaw: Updated Overview description, and added example images for Caustic intensity setting.

2021-03-04T23:50:54Z

Updated Overview description, and added example images for Caustic intensity setting.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:50, 4 March 2021
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	== Overview ==		== Overview ==
	~~The Reflective Shader~~ provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces which can simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces.		This shader provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces, which can simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces. The Reflective shader is primarily intended to follow non-reflective shaders or function nodes in the workflow, such as the Surface layer shader (see Usage section). In the example images below, we compare each of the shader’s settings using Terragen’s standard renderer and the newer Path tracer renderer.

	'''Settings:'''		'''Settings:'''
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	*'''Caustic intensity: '''In the real world, light reflecting off or refracting through shiny objects can cause caustics to form on surrounding objects. In the Reflective Shader, the term "caustics" is a bit more specific. It means only those caustics that are reflection/refractions of direct light sources (e.g. the sun), and only those that land on diffuse surfaces or interact with rough reflections/refractions. "Caustic intensity" controls the brightness of the caustics that this Reflective Shader projects onto other objects. Caustics are difficult to sample, so they create unwanted noise in path traced renders and flickering in anything that caches lighting. Terragen tries to improve this by only roughly approximating caustics so they are easier to sample. Despite this they can still be difficult to render well, so "Caustic intensity" lets you control their intensity or turn them off entirely.		*'''Caustic intensity: '''In the real world, light reflecting off or refracting through shiny objects can cause caustics to form on surrounding objects. In the Reflective Shader, the term "caustics" is a bit more specific. It means only those caustics that are reflection/refractions of direct light sources (e.g. the sun), and only those that land on diffuse surfaces or interact with rough reflections/refractions. "Caustic intensity" controls the brightness of the caustics that this Reflective Shader projects onto other objects. Caustics are difficult to sample, so they create unwanted noise in path traced renders and flickering in anything that caches lighting. Terragen tries to improve this by only roughly approximating caustics so they are easier to sample. Despite this they can still be difficult to render well, so "Caustic intensity" lets you control their intensity or turn them off entirely.
			<ul>
			{\|
			\|-
			\| [[File:ReflShdr_95_PT_CausticIntensitySphere.jpg\|none\|800px\|Path tracer with range of Caustic intensity values.]]
			\|-
			\| [[File:ReflShdr_96_PT_CausticIntensityBridge.jpg\|none\|800px\|Path tracer with range of Caustic intensity values.]]
			\|}
			</ul>

Redmaw: Replaced example images for all settings with ones that match Default shader examples. Updated descriptions. Still working on Caustics & need Blinn description.

2021-03-03T05:31:03Z

Replaced example images for all settings with ones that match Default shader examples. Updated descriptions. Still working on Caustics & need Blinn description.

Show changes

Redmaw: Updated descriptions of Highlight intensity, Caustic intensity, Reflectivity, Reflectivity tint, & Specular roughness settings, to match those of Glass Shader.

2021-02-26T20:15:16Z

Updated descriptions of Highlight intensity, Caustic intensity, Reflectivity, Reflectivity tint, & Specular roughness settings, to match those of Glass Shader.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:15, 26 February 2021
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	<ul>		<ul>
	*'''Reflectivity: '''~~This setting controls how reflective~~ the surface is. ~~Higher values are more reflective. While you can change~~ the ~~colour~~ of ~~the~~ reflectivity ~~via~~ the ~~Colour picker to the right of the slider, it’s recommended that you use the “Reflection tint” to change the colour. This allows you to separately adjust the brightness~~ and ~~the colour of the reflectivity~~.		*'''Reflectivity: '''The ability of the surface to reflect light at glancing angles when roughness is low. At glancing angles this proportion is also removed from the transmitted (refracted) light so that it respects laws of energy conservation. In other words, reflectivity controls the blend between reflections and refractions at glancing angles when roughness is low.
	<ul>		<ul>
	{\|		{\|
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	*'''Highlight intensity: ''' This setting ~~controls~~ the brightness of the ~~specular highlight~~. A value ~~of “0” results~~ in ~~no specular highlights~~, ~~while increasing~~ the ~~value will brighten the highlight~~.		*'''Highlight intensity: ''' This setting is a multiplier for the brightness of reflected light from direct light sources only (e.g. Sunlight, Light Source, Spotlight), not indirect reflections. In Terragen 4.4 and above, this also affects the brightness of direct light sources when they're visibly refracted through the surface. For reflections, the only correct value in a physically-based render is 1, but the specular reflection models are not perfect so it's reasonable to change this slightly.

	<ul>		<ul>
	{\|		{\|
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	*'''Caustic intensity: '''		*'''Caustic intensity: '''In the real world, light reflecting off or refracting through shiny objects can cause caustics to form on surrounding objects. In the Reflective Shader, the term "caustics" is a bit more specific. It means only those caustics that are reflection/refractions of direct light sources (e.g. the sun), and only those that land on diffuse surfaces or interact with rough reflections/refractions. "Caustic intensity" controls the brightness of the caustics that this Reflective Shader projects onto other objects. Caustics are difficult to sample, so they create unwanted noise in path traced renders and flickering in anything that caches lighting. Terragen tries to improve this by only roughly approximating caustics so they are easier to sample. Despite this they can still be difficult to render well, so "Caustic intensity" lets you control their intensity or turn them off entirely.


	*'''Specular roughness: ''' ~~This setting controls how the specular highlight spreads out across~~ the surface. ~~Small values result in smaller~~, ~~sharper~~ and ~~brighter~~ highlights, ~~while larger values result in larger, softer~~ and ~~more diffused highlights~~.		*'''Specular roughness: ''' The microscopic (or subpixel) roughness of the surface. This roughness causes reflections and refractions to look blurry or diffuse, and it changes the apparent size of highlights from bright sources (due to over-exposure). When rendering with the Standard Renderer the roughness only affects reflections/refractions of direct light sources such as the sun. When rendering with the Path Tracer the roughness is applied more correctly, affecting the blurriness of all kinds of reflections and refractions from the surface.
	<ul>		<ul>
	{\|		{\|

Matt: Updated index of refraction

2021-02-26T07:18:41Z

Updated index of refraction

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:18, 26 February 2021
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	*'''Index of refraction: ''' ~~The~~ Index of refraction (IOR) is a property of real world materials which affects light refracted into it from another medium. ~~This setting controls~~ the amount of light reflected off the surface for a given angle. ~~A value of “1~~.~~0” results in~~ no reflection, ~~while~~ the ~~default value~~ of “1.~~33”~~ is ~~good for water~~. ~~Higher values appear brighter~~ and ~~“more” reflective when looking~~ perpendicular to ~~a surface~~.		*'''Index of refraction: ''' Index of refraction (IOR) is a property of real world materials which affects light refracted into it from another medium. Despite its name it also affects the amount of light ''reflected'' off the surface for a given angle; in other words it changes the reflectivity curve which is calculated using the Fresnel equations. In the Reflective Shader the IOR setting must be >= 1. When IOR is exactly 1 there is no reflection. When IOR is greater than 1 some amount of reflection occurs, and the higher the IOR the more visible the reflections. For ''any'' IOR > 1, the reflectivity approaches 100% at glancing angles where light travels parallel to the surface (although this can be changed with the Reflectivity setting and roughness also makes it appear to be less). At any other angle the amount of reflection is reduced, calculated from the IOR. The IOR of water is usually around 1.33, depending on conditions, and most types of glass are between 1.4 and 1.9. IOR is rarely higher than 4.0 in real materials. However, you might want to go higher than this to simulate metals. A higher index of refraction can be used to produce higher reflectivity at perpendicular angles, but this is essentially just a cheat and is not a physically-based way to render metal.
	<ul>		<ul>
	{\|		{\|

Redmaw: Added descriptions and example images for all settings, except Caustics (wip).

2021-02-26T05:45:31Z

Added descriptions and example images for all settings, except Caustics (wip).

Show changes

Matt at 02:23, 4 May 2018

2018-05-04T02:23:45Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:23, 4 May 2018
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	* [[Reflective Shader - Quality Tab]]		* [[Reflective Shader - Quality Tab]]

	[[Category:~~Other~~ Surface Shader]]		[[Category:Surface Shader]]

Russe166 at 09:43, 10 December 2014

2014-12-10T09:43:18Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:43, 10 December 2014
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	[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|~~476pxpx~~\|Reflective Shader]]		[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|485pxpx\|Reflective Shader]]

	'''Node Description and Purpose:''' The Reflective Shader provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces in Terragen 2. It can be used to simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces. Control is provided over the strength of the reflectivity, the reflection tint, transparency, index of refraction, and whether reflections are Ray Traced. Ray Traced Reflections will accurately reflect the scene, but increase render times; disabling Ray Traced Reflections will provide a specular effect only.		'''Node Description and Purpose:''' The Reflective Shader provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces in Terragen 2. It can be used to simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces. Control is provided over the strength of the reflectivity, the reflection tint, transparency, index of refraction, and whether reflections are Ray Traced. Ray Traced Reflections will accurately reflect the scene, but increase render times; disabling Ray Traced Reflections will provide a specular effect only.

Russe166 at 09:41, 10 December 2014

2014-12-10T09:41:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:41, 10 December 2014
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	[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|~~485pxpx~~\|Reflective Shader]]		[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|476pxpx\|Reflective Shader]]

	'''Node Description and Purpose:''' The Reflective Shader provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces in Terragen 2. It can be used to simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces. Control is provided over the strength of the reflectivity, the reflection tint, transparency, index of refraction, and whether reflections are Ray Traced. Ray Traced Reflections will accurately reflect the scene, but increase render times; disabling Ray Traced Reflections will provide a specular effect only.		'''Node Description and Purpose:''' The Reflective Shader provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces in Terragen 2. It can be used to simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces. Control is provided over the strength of the reflectivity, the reflection tint, transparency, index of refraction, and whether reflections are Ray Traced. Ray Traced Reflections will accurately reflect the scene, but increase render times; disabling Ray Traced Reflections will provide a specular effect only.

JavaJones at 23:59, 3 June 2012

2012-06-03T23:59:49Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:59, 3 June 2012
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	[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|485pxpx\|Reflective Shader]]		[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|485pxpx\|Reflective Shader]]

			'''Node Description and Purpose:''' The Reflective Shader provides a reflectivity effect for surfaces in Terragen 2. It can be used to simulate wet, smooth, and otherwise shiny surfaces. Control is provided over the strength of the reflectivity, the reflection tint, transparency, index of refraction, and whether reflections are Ray Traced. Ray Traced Reflections will accurately reflect the scene, but increase render times; disabling Ray Traced Reflections will provide a specular effect only.

	==Additional tabs for Reflective Shader==		==Additional tabs for Reflective Shader==

	* [[Reflective Shader - Quality Tab]]		* [[Reflective Shader - Quality Tab]]

	~~<!-- imported from file: module_159.html-->~~

	[[Category:Other Surface Shader]]		[[Category:Other Surface Shader]]

JavaJones at 19:59, 1 June 2011

2011-06-01T19:59:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:59, 1 June 2011
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	~~[[Category:IMPORT]]~~
	~~='''Reflective Shader'''=~~

	[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|485pxpx\|Reflective Shader]]		[[Image:drex_module_159_image_0.png\|485pxpx\|Reflective Shader]]

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	* [[Reflective Shader - Quality Tab]]		* [[Reflective Shader - Quality Tab]]
	~~__NOTOC__~~
	<!-- imported from file: module_159.html-->		<!-- imported from file: module_159.html-->

			[[Category:Other Surface Shader]]