The Velvet Shader plug-in creates a highlight along the edges of the surface is created to generate velvety impression. The highlight is controlled in using two parameters that describe the transition towards diffuse lighting. Furthermore, a surface color can be added to brighten the barely lit areas. A color texture may be used to add more surface details. This shader is particularly useful when no surrounding reflection is required.

Velvet Shader Properties

• Surface-Color: Assigns the color of the surface (underneath the velvety hairs).

• Specular-Color: Assigns the specular color of the material.

• Edge Rolloff: Defines how much of the surface color is to be seen in barely lit areas.

• Specular low-cut and specular high-cut: Defines the sharpness of the velvety highlight.

• Color Map 2: Offers the possibility to assign a second diffuse color texture that is blended with the first color texture.

• Technique: Shows a list of available techniques.

  • Velvet: Is a technique to use velvety shading,

  • Velvet_Texture: Is a technique to mix a diffuse texture color into the material color.

  • Velvet_MultiTexture_Add: Is a technique to additively blend Color Map 2 with the texture.

  • Velvet_MultiTexture_Blend: Is a technique to blend Color Map 2 with the texture according to their alpha values.

  • Velvet_MultiTexture_Subtract: Is a technique to subtractively blend Color Map 2 with the texture.

  • Velvet_MultiTexture_Modulate: Is a technique to blend Color Map 2 by multiplying it by the texture.

Velvet Shader Best Practices

Apart from the parameters in the plug-in container, it is necessary to assign a material. Therefore, do not forget to adjust material parameters in addition, such as ambient, diffuse, specular color and shininess. When applying a texture technique it is compulsory to assign an texture as a color/basic texture. In case of multi texturing an additional, second texture must be assigned in the corresponding Shader rollout.