Reflectivity parameters

Show reflections for this material

Check this box to turn on reflections for this material.

Reflect the environment

Click this button to specify that the material should reflect the current environment in Hardware rendering mode, as well as other objects in the scene in Ray Trace rendering mode.

Use reflection map

Use a reflection map when you want your materials to reflect something other than the environment background.

Note

Reflection maps override all other reflections in Ray Tracing. This means that any objects with this material will reflect only the map in both Hardware and Ray Tracing modes, and any other objects will not be reflected. This can result in the material appearing less reflective in Ray Tracing mode.

A reflection map must be a panoramic image in the “vertical cross” format. The image file should have an aspect ratio of 3:4 and pixel dimensions that are a power of 2 (24 x 32, 384 x 512, etc.). The image can either be a regular image (JPG, PNG, BMP) or a High Dynamic Range image (HDR, EXR).

Reflection Effect

Adjusts the overall reflectivity of the material. Enter any numeric value or use the slider to make the reflections dimmer (0) or brighter (2). A Reflection Effect of 0 looks the same as deselecting “Show Reflections for this Material.”

Colorize IBL

Click this radio button to tint the IBL environment reflected in the material. Click the swatch to change the color in the Color window. To change the overall brightness of the color, use the slider.

Enable blended reflections (conserve energy)

Blended reflections are a realistic way of controlling reflection amounts based on physical properties of light (energy conservation). A real surface cannot reflect more than 100% of the light that hits it, and will also be darkened by reflections of darker objects around it. The visual effect is that the reflections will not “blow out” to white as easily, and transparent surfaces will be more opaque as the reflectivity increases.