Could anyone explain to me what's are the differences between shaders and textures?
Can i create shaders?
When I import my model from SketchUp it brings SketchUp textures. Do I render my project with those textures or should I change them?
Thanks.
P.S. in which date Artlantis 2.0. will be avaiable on stores?
Though people use the word interchangeably, a texture is a bitmap or jpg (or other) image used to create a material, and a shader is a mathematically computer generated material.
While some renderers allow you to create your own shaders, Artlantis 1.26 does not. However, you can modify the existing shaders provided in Artlantis. They are listed as "a Surface" (such as neon glass, and fresnel water) and as "Procedural". Procedural is the other term for "shader", since the material is created not from an image, but from a mathematical procedure.
Textures consist of a series images use to define a material: Color maps(diffuse map), Bump maps, and Specular maps(there are others but this is the basic explanation). The most basic map, and the one used in Sketchup, is simply a picture of the material itself, called a color map, or diffuse map. The materials you've brought in from Sketchup are color maps.
To add further realism to your textured materials, you must master bump and specular maps. Research these concepts, and if you want I'll explain how to apply them in Artlantis.
That is one of the most concise descriptions of Shader/Texture of I have read and although I'd consider myself fairly compitent with Artlantis, it's good to refresh on the terms!
Would it be too much bother for you to explain the application of Bump and Specular maps? It seems much simplar (or rather, intuitive) in Artlantis 2 but having a description to compare against would be useful for me and, I'm sure, invaluable for those just starting out!
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