Using Texture Layers

By adjusting the various controls on a basic material, some excellent materials can be created. However, only so much can be done by using blanket, uniform adjustments to material settings. In many cases, values need to modulate across the surface of a 3D model. To increase the possibilities of textures, additional layers need to be added. Layers can be placed in the Shader Tree (see Figure 3.10). The Shader Tree is divided into four sections: Render, Environment, Lights, and Cameras.

Figure 3.10 The Shader Tree

Render

The Render setting is the largest part of the Shader Tree. This setting contains Render Outputs (Alpha and Final Color by default), Shaders, Materials, and Textures. The Render Outputs option determines what images will be created when the final render is completed and can be an extremely powerful tool for creating complex edits after the image is rendered. Shaders handle the way light interacts with the scene and how the scene is rendered, and gives some fine-tuned control over scene rendering. Materials can be placed individually or in groups with textures. Textures can be mathematical or image-based and provide added detail to surfaces.