Surface Controls

The Surface Controls allow you to apply different surface attributes to your effects. It allows you to adjust the visible textures on the surface of an effect as well as change the content that some effects use to generate reflections. The image below shows the Surface Control as the second button from the left side. Please note that the image below might be slightly different in different effects.

Surface Sheen
This slider controls how much gloss you see on the surface of the effect. Adjusting the lighting control will impact the way the sheen reflects both the cast and the ambient lighting that is placed on the effect.

Sheen Width
This slider controls the spread of the sheen on the surface. Increasing this setting spreads the reflective sheen across a wider area. Decreasing it will tighten the width for a more concentrated sheen area.

Surface Color
This slider control along with the color box controls the opacity and color settings to the background color of an effect. By moving the slider higher the stronger the opacity and the more pronounced the effect on the background color.

Reflective
This slider adjusts the opacity and reflective qualities of the Reflection Map. By reducing the strength, you will create a semi-transparent depth effect. Checking the Apply Background Image check box options is advisable when using this control, as it shows the background image under the semi-transparent area of the effect.

Reflection Map
This menu allows you to select different image reflection maps that form the color and reflective qualities of the depth effect. You may load any textured image by choosing "Custom Map" from the menu. Use the arrows at the top and bottom of the menu to scroll through the pre-installed maps.

Hue
This slider controls shifts the color values of the image across a color spectrum. You can shift the colors in the artwork while not affecting the lightness or saturation.

Saturation
This slider makes the colors in the image more or less vibrant. This will not effect the overall tone or lightness of the image.

Luminance
This slider adjusts the luminance or "light" qualities in the image. It will darken or lighten the image.

Softness
This slider will soften the selected image making it look out of focus.

Surface Map Orientation
This menu allows you to rotate the map direction in specified direction increments. You may also flip orientation both horizontally or vertically.

By Joe Cilinceon, © July 24, 2002