TG Dusty / TG Dusty Texture

PARAMETERS

Listing :

  Dust Power
  Dust Colour Strength
  Dust Min Angle
  Dust Max Angle
  Dust Strength Facing Away From Viewer
  Dust Strength Facing Viewer
  Angle for View Angle Fade
  Dust Noise Strength of Effect
  Dust Noise Type
  Dust Noise Scale
  Dust Noise Octaves
  Point Dust Source?
  Dust Source Distance
  Dust Source Position
  Dust Amb, Diff, Shininess
  Dust Rough, Reflect, Tint
  Clear Amb, Diff, Shininess
  Clear Rough, Reflect, Tint
  Dust Colour
  Dust Specular Colour
  Clear Specular Colour

  TG Dusty Texture Map Parameters

Dust Power

Range : -10 to 10

Determines the overall strength of the dust effect, including colour and reflectance. The range 0 to 1 is the standard range, with 0 meaning that the dust has no effect, and 1 meaning it reaches a normal intensity (as determined by the material settings) at the maximum dust depth.

Values greater than 1 give an “overloaded” effect, similar to the dust having a glow of its own, while negative values give a “colour subtraction” effect (not related to anything real world, but potentially useful for unusual effects!).

Dust Colour Strength

Range : 0 to 1

The dust effect is comprised of two fades, one fading the colour from the base material to the dust colour, the other fading the reflectance from the base material values to the dust material values. The Dust Strength controls the overall effect of both these fades, while the Dust Colour Strength affects only the fade in colour. If set to 0, then the colour used is always the base colour (Dust Colour has no effect), but the reflectance values will still fade from base to dust material values, allowing you to create “tarnishes” with little or no colour change.

Dust Colour Strength of 1

Dust Colour Strength 1

Dust Colour Strength of 0

Dust Colour Strength 0

Sample renders for Dust Colour Strength. Note the base material is blue, and the Dust Colour is red. When Dust Colour Strength is 1, the full effect of the colour of the dust can be seen - when it is 0, no colour change is seen, although the change in the reflectance attributes between the “dust” and the “base” material is still visible (the dust has no reflectivity set). Note that no Dust Noise was used in this render, to keep the results clearer to see. And yes, there is a chequered plane above the sphere as well as below!

Dust Min Angle; Dust Max Angle

Range : -10 to 10

These two angles control where the dust reaches its maximum, and where it fades entirely to the base material, depending on the angle between the object surface and the direction the dust is coming from. In effect, it controls how far around the object the dust “wraps” or “lays”, determining when the dust effect reaches its most intense (overriding the base material entirely) and when it disappears altogether (leaving the base material only).

The following test renders use red as the dust, and blue as the base material, with most features (noise, angle to viewer etc) disabled to make the effects of the Dust Min and Max Angles clearer.

These first three images use a Dust Max Angle of 1, and vary the Dust Min Angle :

Dust Min Angle 0

Dust Min Angle 0

Dust Min Angle -1

Dust Min Angle -1

Dust Min Angle -2

Dust Min Angle -2

These two images keep the Dust Min Angle set to -1, and vary the Dust Max Angle :

Dust Max Angle 0.5

Dust Max Angle 0.5

Dust Max Angle 0

Dust Max Angle 0

Dust Strength Facing Away From Viewer; Dust Strength Facing Viewer; Angle for View Angle Fade

Range : -10 to 10 for the strengths; 0 to 1 for the angle

As well as varying with the angle between the surface and the dust source, the dust effect also varies with angle of view. Generally, dust is less noticeable on surfaces pointing at the viewer, and more noticeable on surfaces at steep angles to the viewer, and these parameters control that effect, by letting you vary the strength of the dust based on the angle between the surface and the viewer.

For the two Strength variables, a value of 0 represents no dust material, and a value of 1 represents maximum dust material (the maximum being controlled not only by the fade with angle between the surface and the dust source, but also by the Dust Strength and Dust Colour Strength parameters). Setting both the Strength variables to the same amount will mean that the strength of the dust effect does not vary with angle of view - more importantly, setting both Strengths to 1 will turn off the angle of view processing, resulting in slightly faster render times.

The final control, Angle for View Angle FAde, determines the angle between the surface and the viewer at which the fade happens. A value of 0 or close to 0 represents surfaces pointing toward the viewer, while values of 1 or close to 1 represent those which are almost at right angles to the viewer. So, setting low values will mean that the dust effect only fades on surfaces which are pointing almost directly at the viewer, while setting high values will limit the dust effect to only appearing on surfaces angled almost away from the viewer.

Dust Strength Facing Viewer 0

Dust Strength Facing Viewer set to 0

Angle for View Angle Fade 0.9

Angle for View Angle Fade set to 0.9

By reducing the Dust Strength Facing Viewer to 0, the dust effect is removed on surfaces which face toward the viewer, as seen in the left image. Further, but altering the Angle for View Angle Fade to 0.9, the dust effect is constrained only to those surfaces at steep angles to the viewer, as seen in the right image.

Dust Noise Strength of Effect; Dust Noise Type; Dust Noise Scale; Dust Noise Octaves

Range : Strength 0 to 1
            Type 0, 1 or 2
            Scale 0 to 320
            Octaves 0 to 10

Since dust is not usually uniform in thickness, noise is introduced using these parameters. The strength of effect controls the maximum strength of the noise - low values mean that the noise has little effect, high values means that the noise has a large effect. The noise works by reducing the strength of the dust effect, even when it would normally be at its maximum - in other words, the noise results in areas of base material showing through in the dust material.

The other parameters control the noise in the same way as in other TG shaders (eg, the free ones), and so are not covered here.

Dust Noise Strength 0.25

Dust Noise Strength 0.25

Dust Noise Strength 0.75

Dust Noise Strength 0.75

Point Dust Source?

Range : Off or On

When unchecked, the shader uses an Infinite type dust source - the dust is layered on the object surface as if coming from a uniform direction (just like an Infinite light).

When checked, the shader uses a Point type dust source, and the dust is then layered on the object surface from that point source (the dust will lie on the object in the same way as lighting from a point or local light would illuminate it).

This means that the dust effect will have a “centre” on the object when the Point Dust Source parameter is checked. For example, on a flat surface such as a floor, the dust will lie in a circular area, depending on the angle between that point on the surface and the location of the dust source when checked, whereas when unchecked, the floor will be covered with an even layer of dust.

Also note that the Dust Min Angle will control the “size” of the circle of dust. See the sample renders below for the effect of a point dust source (the Dust Source Position was set to be quite close to the plane).

Point Dust Source checked

Point Dust Source checked

Point Dust Source checked, and Dust Min Angle raised to 0.1

Point Dust Source, and Dust Min Angle raised to 0.1

Dust Source Distance; Dust Source Position

Range : Distance 0 to 100; Position -100 to 100 (for each of the three parts of the parameter)

When These control the direction that the dust is layered onto the object from. If Point Dust Source is unchecked, then the Position is the vector that the dust is layered from, eg a value of (0,0,5) will mean the dust is layered “straight down” onto the object, and a value of (5,0,0) will mean the dust is layered directly from the left of the object (if you were looking at it from the Front view). The Distance value will make no difference in the case of an infinite dust source.

If Point Dust Source is checked, then the Position represents the point in World space where the dust is being projected from. The Distance parameter can be used to modify the point in World space beyond normal limits for one parameter, eg a Position of (0,0,100) with a Distance of 10 will place the dust source at (0,0,1000). This also lets you move a point dust source closer or further away, by scaling the distance using the Distance parameter, and saving on the need for adjusting each of the x, y and z parameters separately.

Dust Amb, Diffuse, Shininess, Rough, Reflect, Tint

Range : -100 to 100 for each individual part of the parameters

These control the reflectance attributes of the dust, being the Ambient, Diffuse, Shininess, Roughness, Reflectivity and Specular Tint. All of these work in the same way as with other TG shaders and so are not covered here.

Clear Amb, Diffuse, Shininess, Rough, Reflect, Tint

Range : -100 to 100 for each individual part of the parameters

These control the reflectance attributes of the clear (non-dusty) material.

Dust Colour

Range : Standard RGB range (0 to 1 for each of the x, y and z parameters)

Sets the colour of the dust. This colour will override the base colour (as set in the Colour section of the tS material). Note that the base colour can be any colour shader, either procedural, or plain, or a texture map.

Dust and Clear Specular Colour

Range : RGB values

These set the colour of the specular highlights for the Dust and Clear materials.

TG DUSTY TEXURE MAP PARAMETERS

The alternative version of TG Dusty, TG Dusty Texture Map, shares all the parameters, except for those to do with noise. In place of all the Dust Noise parameters and the Dust Colour parameter, there are the Dust Texture Map parameters, which allow you to select an image, and control the UV repeats for that image.

The fades across the surface relative to the dust source, and relative to the viewer, remain the same, only this time the fade is between the base material colour and the texture map colour. Note that since there are no Noise parameters and no noise effect in this version of the shader, the texture used will have to include its own dust-like noise. One unfortunate side-effect of this, however, is that the noise used to make the dust effect transparent so that the base material would show through, and this is not possible with the texture map version.

TG Dusty Intro

TG Dusty Parameters

TG Dusty Tips

TG Dusty Samples

TG Pack 2 Index