Editing Textures and Shaders of Selected Objects

The textures and shaders of a selected object can be edited directly through the Texture menu on the Render tab of the Object Info palette. The Texture menu allows the textures and shaders that make up the textures to be edited, with changes displayed immediately in the drawing.

To avoid making unwanted permanent changes to a texture resource that is used by several objects, select Duplicate (Texture Name) Resource and Edit and work on a copy of the texture resource instead of the original. Changes made to a copy of the texture only apply to the current selection.

Editing the Texture Resource

To edit the texture resource of a selection:

1.	Select the desired textured object(s).

2.	On the Render tab of the Object Info palette, click the arrow next to the texture name to open the Texture menu.

3.	Select Edit (Texture Name) Resource to edit the current texture, or select Duplicate (Texture Name) Resource and Edit to make a copy of the resource for editing.

The Edit (Texture Name) dialog box opens, and a preview window is created around the selected object.

The parameters are the same as those used to create the texture; any changes are reflected directly in the drawing.

 

Parameter	Description
Shaders	Select a different or additional shader, or edit the shader parameters, as described in Creating Textures
Size	Sets the real-world size for each repetition of the texture
Set By Image	For image-based shaders, click to set the real-world size in relation to a segment of the image (if several image-based shaders are used, select the shader in the Choose Image dialog box first). In the Set Image Size dialog box, specify the texture length to use for sizing by dragging the ends of the line segment. Then, specify the real-world size for the line segment in Feature Size. Click OK to exit the Set Image Size dialog box and update the Size value. The size should reflect the file setup. For example, if the layer scale is 1/4” and feet and inches are being used, the size should be in feet, not inches.
Shadows
Cast	Allows objects with this texture to cast shadows (for rendering modes that display shadows)
Receive	Allows objects with this texture to receive shadows (for rendering modes that display shadows)
Radiosity Options	Opens the Radiosity Texture Options dialog box; specify if this texture should always participate in radiosity calculations when rendering with custom radiosity. If the texture should receive light but not emit it, select Receive Light, or if the texture should both receive and emit light, select Receive Light and then also Emit Light. A texture override must also be selected under Allow Special Overrides in the Radiosity Optimizations dialog box. See Setting Custom Radiosity Options. Object overrides supersede texture overrides.
Preview Options
Render Mode	Select a rendering mode for the preview window; this does not change the drawing rendering mode
Update When Values Change	Select to render the preview with the selected Render Mode as parameters change; if deselected, the drawing is not updated until the dialog box is closed
Render Selected Object Only	Select to render only the selected object as parameters change; deselect to render objects within the preview window as parameters change
(Texture Name) is Used by	Indicates the number of objects in the file with the current texture applied

Editing the Shader

If only the shader parameters require editing, they can be accessed quickly from the Texture menu rather than editing the texture first.

To edit one of the shaders that makes up the texture of a selection:

1.	Select the desired textured object(s).

2.	On the Render tab of the Object Info palette, click the arrow next to the texture name to open the Texture menu.

3.	Select Edit (Shader Name) Shader to directly edit one of the shaders that makes up the applied texture.

The Edit (Shader Name) Shader dialog box opens, and a preview window is created around the selected object.

The parameters are the same as those used to create the shader; any changes are reflected directly in the drawing.

 

Parameter	Description
Shader Properties	See Shader Properties for a comprehensive list of shaders and shader properties.
Preview Options
Render Mode	Select a rendering mode for the preview window; this does not change the drawing rendering mode
Update When Values Change	Select to render the preview with the selected Render Mode as parameters change; if deselected, the drawing is not updated until the dialog box is closed
Render Selected Object Only	Select to render only the selected object only as parameters change; deselect to render objects within the preview window as parameters change
(Texture Name) is Used by	Indicates the number of objects in the file with the current texture applied