Modeler

228Color MapLightWave 10 - ModelerIf you select a Color Map, four values and three ranges will beavailable. The values are for Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha. TheRanges are General, Percent and Distance. It’s recommendedthat you don’t use the General field. The Percent is percent, ofcourse. If you use Distance then1m = 100%.AirbrushThe Airbrush tool allows you to “paint” directly on your VertexMaps. How it works depends on which kind of map you’re workingwith.Don’t forget that if you don’t set the Alpha, in the fourth field, youwon’t see the color on your map. (For full color, set it to 100%.)Using this tool with no points selected is a quick and easy way tomake sure that all the points are in your Color Map. (Points withno assigned value are not the same as points with an assignedvalue of zero.)HINT: Use this tool to assign all the points in yourobject to a Vertex Color Map if you are so inclined;but don’t use it to assign the colors. For that, it ismuch better to select the points, and then use the Point Colortool. It will give you a regular LightWave color requester. (But itwill only work on selected points.)Choose the desired map from the Vertex Map drop down in theNumeric panel. All the maps available to the Airbrush will belisted here by name, with the type of map in brackets on the right.Whichever map you pick will be shown in any viewports capableof showing it, assuming it’s the same type of map chosen in theVmap Bar. (ie. Weight Maps will be shown in viewports usingthe Weight Map Render Mode, Color Maps in Smooth Shade,Texture, and Textured Wire, etc.)MetaballIf you select a Metaball Map, one Value and three ranges will beavailable. The ranges are General, Percent, and Distance. Theychange the size of the Metaballs, and the distance at which theyinfluence each other. Once again, any selected points, that is,Metaballs, will react to the numbers you enter in these fields.This tool is not interactive; you won’t see your changes until youclose the panel. All the fields in all categories revert to zero whenthe panel is closed.If you pick a different Weight or Color Map from the Vmap Barat the bottom of the screen while the Airbrush is open, that mapwill replace the one that’s showing, both in the viewports and theAirbrush Numeric panel, if it’s the same type.The “same type” caveat is important. If you have a map of adifferent type showing in the Numeric panel and the Vmap Bar,for instance, a Weight Map in the Vmap Bar, and a Morph Mapin the Numeric panel, any airbrush strokes will be applied to themap in the panel, in this case the Morph Map, and not to the onein the Vmap Bar, even though that’s the one you will be lookingat. So, if the airbrush seems to have no effect, check to makesure you are working on the right map.