ABSTRACT
This chapter covers various kinds of interactive textures presented in order of increasing complexity. The placement of textures assigned to a 3D object follows a predefined texture map, which is a topography of surfaces (called materials in 3D Max and shaders in Maya) covering specific parts of a 3D object. Stencil-shadowed texture, cartoon-shadowed texture, chrome reflective models, or even models with fur are applications of advanced shaders. The chapter looks at interactive shaders that can modify the way pixels are rendered on the object’s surface. It covers examples of interactive shaders, effects applied to a 3D model. The chapter also covers in depth how to let viewers interact with various kinds of textures. Similar seamless textures used as backgrounds for virtual worlds can be applied the same way inside cubes, spheres, or cylinders. The inside face of a cube can be textured with images that tile perfectly with other faces sharing a common side.
