Scope#
The Scope texture is a very powerful feature that allows to create 1D, 2D and 3D gradients in world-space depending on whether the shaded point is inside our outside a user defined volume. Volume definition is created using one or several Scope items that represents primitive volumes (box, sphere, cylinder).
The gradient is defined by specifying an Inside Color and an Outside Color. Scope items can define falloff zones that are used to blend the inside and outside colors based on the position of the shaded point in the falloff zone.
Scope items are Scene items that are used by Scope textures to define world-space gradients. Scope items can be edited like Locators (transformations, parenting, constraints...) and are able to define volumes using the Shape, Falloff and Falloff Exponent attributes
| Shape | Description |
|---|---|
| Box | The Scope item defines a cubic volume |
| Sphere | The Scope item defines a spherical volume |
| Cylinder | The Scope item defines a cylindrical volume |
Effects of the Shape attribute (from left to right): Sphere, Box and Cylinder
Using the Falloff attribute, you can specify the gradient zone between the inside and outside color.
- Setting a falloff value to 0% will cancel the gradient effect.
- Setting a falloff value to 100% will define a gradient on the entire volume of the Scope item.
Falloff Exponent is used to control the speed of the gradient in the falloff zone of each Scope item.
Effects of the Falloff attribute on a spherical Scope item (from left to right): 0%, 33%, 66%, 100%
You can also specify if the gradient region is defined inside or outside the Scope item using the Inside Out attribute.
Effects of the Inside Out attribute on a spherical Scope item: the gradient is inverted
Scope textures used to define (from left to right) a cubic gradient, a spherical gradient and a cylindrical gradient
Multiple Scope items (as well as Groups containing Scope items) can be used to define complex volumes. When multiple Scope items are being used, you can define how the volumes are combined together to define the resulting volume:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Union | Volume primitives of every Scope item are added together to define the resulting volume. |
| Intersection | Only the intersection of every Scope item volume defines the resulting volume. |
Effects of the Modes attribute when combining 2 Scoipe items (a box (far left) and a sphere(left)): Union (right) and Intersection (far right)
In addition to the Mode attribute, you can select the number of dimensions used to evaluate the Scope items.
| Dimensions | Description |
|---|---|
| X | The X dimension is used to define a 1D gradient from the Scope items |
| Y | The Y dimension is used to define a 1D gradient from the Scope items |
| Z | The Z dimension is used to define a 1D gradient from the Scope items |
| XY | The X and Y dimensions are used to define a 2D gradient from the Scope items |
| XZ | The X and Z dimensions are used to define a 2D gradient from the Scope items |
| YZ | The Y and Z dimensions are used to define a 2D gradient from the Scope items |
| XYZ | The X, Y and Z dimensions are used to define a 3D gradient from the Scope items |
Effects of the Dimensions attribute on a spherical Scope item (from left to right): X (1D gradient), XZ (2D gradient) and XYZ (3D gradient)
