| Materials are projected onto a model by an imaginary enclosure
around the object. Imagine a cube encompassing the model and the material you wish
to apply is projected from the face of this cube onto your model. Look at the image to the right. In this case, I have not applied the materials to the model yet..as this image is just a representation of the imaginary cube I want you to imagine around your model. Notice that the cube has materials applied to the top, bottom and back. The cube has materials applied via "Object Top", thus the material as it would appear is at the top..the reverse of the material is at the bottom and the material is stretched along the back as if it ran completely through the model. It is also applied to the sides, but they are in shade so you can't see it from this angle.A material projection of a model with UV mapping previously applied handles differently than Bryce primitives. |
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| Imagine that we want to apply our material by one of the options
(world top or object top). The material that you can see on the top part of the cube
will be applied to the model from the top based upon which normals are pointing that
direction.
Notice that the Bryce primitive sphere has had the material applied to the upper part of it only. This is because of the "Object Top" mapping. This dictates to Bryce to apply the material to the faces that point toward the top of the Bryce primitive. |
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| One thing to keep in mind is that when applying materials via
"Object" method is that the orientation of the model when it first appears in
the Bryce window is used as the base for "top, side, front, back, etc.".
So, if we rotate the model..then the imaginary cube that is used to project the material
will also rotate with the model so the material will not appear differently. This applies to all object movements. If the material is applied via an "Object" mapping method, the material will follow the object regardless of what transformation occurs to the model. |
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| However, if the mapping is a "World" mapping option, the material will not follow the model because it is applied using the Bryce world axis as the base orientation for the material. Since this orientation does not change, the material will not change.An additional occurrence when using "World" mapping is that the material will project through the model. In the image to the right, "World Top" mapping has been used. Notice that even though the model rotates, the material does not move. Remember, the cube surrounding is an imaginary cube that is used as a reference for you to understand how the material is applied. |  |
| With the above in mind, if you are
performing an animation and notice that the material does not move with the model, you
need to enter the material lab and change the mapping from "World" to
"Object". For instance, if your current mapping is "World Top",
you would change it to "Object Top". Then the material will follow your
object. Objects have their material applied using "World" or "Object" mapping based upon which face most points toward the axis of orientation and the face of your imaginary cube. If an object is using "front" mapping, the faces that most face the front of the object (according to the object/world orientation) will receive the material. If an object is using "side" mapping, the material will be applied to the object (according to the object/world orientation) that most face those side faces of the imaginary cube around your model. This applies to each mapping mode. The only difference being that the world mapping's do not move the materials with the object. You may also notice a smaller scale of your texture when using world mapping. This can be adjusted by changing the material's frequency. |
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| Using what you now know about mapping, you should be able to realize that the different mapping modes will apply the material based upon the way the normals face your imaginary cube (be it an "object" cube or an "world" cube). For instance, the image to the right shows "object cubic". This means the material is being projected from the imaginary cube from all 6 sides onto the sphere's faces that "most" point in the direction of the cube's face. It also means that the material would follow the object if it were animated or moved to a different position. |  |
| Can you see the seams in the material? This is where the mapping
mode changes from one face of the imaginary mapping cube to another.
If this were "World Cubic" the only difference would be that the material would not move with the object because it is using the Bryce world axis as its base instead of the object's axis. |
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