IViewportShadingMgr Class Reference

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Detailed Description

Viewport manager to control general illumination, including shadow support in the viewport.

New to 3ds Max 2008, the IViewportShadingMgr gives access to the new viewport Shading feature. The viewports have been redesigned to support more realistic rendering including Shadows. The interface also provides access to various flags that control how lights are used in the viewport. This is used closely with the new INodeShadingProperites API, that manages the actual flags set by IViewportShadingMgr The developer can get access to the CORE interface by using

IViewportShadingMgr * pShaderMgr = GetIViewportShadingMgr();

#include <IViewportShadingMgr.h>

Inheritance diagram for IViewportShadingMgr:

List of all members.

Public Types
enum	EViewportDisplayQuality { kNone, kGood, kBest }
enum	EViewportLightFlags { kShadowCasting, kIlluminating, kLocked }
	Please refer to INodeShadingProperties for more details. More...
Public Member Functions
virtual void	SetViewportShadingLimits (int limit, bool bQuiet=true)=0
	Define the viewports shading quality.
virtual int	GetViewportShadingLimits ()=0
	Retrieve the viewport quality.
virtual bool	GetAutoDisplayOfSelLights ()=0
	Get the current state of the Auto Display Selected light flag.
virtual void	SetAutoDisplayOfSelLights (bool bSet)=0
	Set the state of the Auto Display of Selected lights flag.
virtual void	SetCastShadowDefaultLights (bool bSet)=0
	Flag controlling shadow generation for default lights.
virtual bool	GetCastShadowDefaultLights ()=0
	Access the flag defining whether shadows are generated for default lights.
virtual void	DisplayOnlySelectedLights ()=0
	A method that defines that the current selected lights will be part of viewport rendering.
virtual void	LockSelectedLights (bool bSet)=0
	Lock the current selected lights.
virtual void	GetViewportShadingLights (Tab< INode * > &lightList, int type)=0
	A method to retrieve lights based on the usage in the scene.
virtual void	SetGlobalShadowIntensity (float intensity)=0
	Sets the global intensity override for the shadows.
virtual float	GetGlobalShadowIntensity ()=0
	Retreive the Global shadow intensity.
virtual void	SetUseTransparencyInShadows (bool bSet)=0
	Defines whether the viewport shading code supports transparent object/materials in the shadow code.
virtual bool	GetUseTransparencyInShadows ()=0
	Get the current Transparency in shadows flag.
virtual void	SetUpdateShadowInActiveViewOnly (bool bSet)=0
	Defines whether the viewport shading code updates the shadows for all windows or just the active viewport.
virtual bool	GetUpdateShadowInActiveViewOnly ()=0
	Get the current update shadow in active view only flag.
virtual bool	IsShadingLimitValid (int limit)=0
	Determine whether the shading limit is compatible with the current graphics hardware.
virtual Color	GetLightIconColor (INode &lightNode)=0
	Get the light icon color based on the current viewport shading limits.
virtual void	SetUseTransparencyInGI (bool bSet)=0
	Set whether the GI viewport system works with Transparent objects.
virtual bool	GetUseTransparencyInGI ()=0
	Get whether the GI viewport system uses Transparency.
virtual void	SetShadowFilterSize (float filterSize)=0
	Set the shadow filter size of soft-edge shadow.
virtual float	GetShadowFilterSize ()=0
	Get the shadow filter size of soft-edge shadow.

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Member Enumeration Documentation

enum EViewportDisplayQuality

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Enumerator:

kNone	Search for all occurrences
kGood	Hardware shading disabled. Search for all occurrences
kBest	Hardware shading with DirectX shader model 2.0. Search for all occurrences

    {
        kNone,  
        kGood,  
        kBest,  
    };

enum EViewportLightFlags

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Please refer to INodeShadingProperties for more details.

Enumerator:

kShadowCasting	Search for all occurrences
kIlluminating	Light is shadow casting. Search for all occurrences
kLocked	Light is illuminating. Search for all occurrences

                            {
        kShadowCasting, 
        kIlluminating,  
        kLocked,        
    };

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Member Function Documentation

virtual void SetViewportShadingLimits	(	int	limit,
		bool	bQuiet = true
	)		[pure virtual]

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Define the viewports shading quality.

Set the viewport rendering quality to a value defined in EViewportDisplayQuality. Please make sure you call IsShadingLimitValid before this method to determine if the graphics hardware supports this shading level.

Parameters:

limit	The shading limits as defined by EViewportDisplayQuality
bQuiet	True to enable quiet mode. No dialogs will be produced to provide user feedback. This defaults to true.

virtual int GetViewportShadingLimits

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Retrieve the viewport quality.

Get the viewport rendering quality, as defined by EViewportDisplayQuality

Returns:

The rendering quality

virtual bool GetAutoDisplayOfSelLights

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Get the current state of the Auto Display Selected light flag.

This will return the current state of the Auto Display of selected lights flag Any lights that are selected will automatically have their illumination flag set and take part in viewport rendering. If they have their shadow flag set as well, they will become shadow casters.

Returns:

The state of the flag

virtual void SetAutoDisplayOfSelLights

(

bool

bSet

)

[pure virtual]

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Set the state of the Auto Display of Selected lights flag.

This will set the current state of the Auto Display of selected lights flag If set to true, any lights that are selected will automatically have their illumination flag set and take part in viewport rendering. If they have their shadow flag set as well, they will become shadow casters.

Parameters:

bSet	The flag value

virtual void SetCastShadowDefaultLights

(

bool

bSet

)

[pure virtual]

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Flag controlling shadow generation for default lights.

Defines whether default lights cast shadows in the viewport

Parameters:

bSet	The flag value

virtual bool GetCastShadowDefaultLights

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Access the flag defining whether shadows are generated for default lights.

Returns:

The state of the flag

virtual void DisplayOnlySelectedLights

(

)

[pure virtual]

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A method that defines that the current selected lights will be part of viewport rendering.

When used, all lights that are currently selected will have their Illumination flag set, and will be part of the viewport rendering. All unselected lights will be deactivated.

virtual void LockSelectedLights

(

bool

bSet

)

[pure virtual]

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Lock the current selected lights.

A locked light will be active in the viewport rendering, regardless of other flags set This could be something like a sun light, that always illuminates and casts shadows. Any selected light will have this flag set depending on the parameter value

Parameters:

bSet	The value of the flag to set.

virtual void GetViewportShadingLights	(	Tab< INode * > &	lightList,
		int	type
	)		[pure virtual]

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A method to retrieve lights based on the usage in the scene.

This is a general method to retrieve a list of nodes based on EViewportLightFlags. This is a quick way off accessing all viewport shadow casting lights in the scene.

Parameters:

&lightList	A node tab to retrieve the node list based on type
type	The light type to store based on EViewportLightFlags

virtual void SetGlobalShadowIntensity

(

float

intensity

)

[pure virtual]

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Sets the global intensity override for the shadows.

The intensity value is a global override for the general appearance of the shadow. A value of 1.0, the default will provide the unaltered shadow. A value less than one will fade the shadow to produce different effects.

Parameters:

intensity

The value to set the intensity. This should be between 0 and 1, but the function will clamp

virtual float GetGlobalShadowIntensity

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Retreive the Global shadow intensity.

This will return the current intensity value for the shadows.

Returns:

The intensity value

virtual void SetUseTransparencyInShadows

(

bool

bSet

)

[pure virtual]

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Defines whether the viewport shading code supports transparent object/materials in the shadow code.

This is a performance flag. If it is turned off, then the viewport will become faster as less GPU resources are active. This flag is typically used by the Adaptive Degradation system

Parameters:

bSet	True to turn it on - False to turn it off

virtual bool GetUseTransparencyInShadows

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Get the current Transparency in shadows flag.

See SetUseTransparencyInShadows

Returns:

The current state of the flag

virtual void SetUpdateShadowInActiveViewOnly

(

bool

bSet

)

[pure virtual]

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Defines whether the viewport shading code updates the shadows for all windows or just the active viewport.

The us a performance flag. TO increase performance in the viewports, turning this flag on will only update shadows in the active viewport - if it is a supported mode.

Parameters:

bSet	True to turn it on - False to turn it off

virtual bool GetUpdateShadowInActiveViewOnly

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Get the current update shadow in active view only flag.

See SetUpdateShadowInActiveViewOnly

Returns:

The current state of the flag

virtual bool IsShadingLimitValid

(

int

limit

)

[pure virtual]

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Determine whether the shading limit is compatible with the current graphics hardware.

This method is used to determine if the graphics hardware can support the shading level. This will query the GPU to find out what pixel shader support exists. For "Best", shader model 3 is required, "Good" needs a minimum of shader model 2. The developer should call this method before calling SetViewportShadingLimits as that method will not perform any additional tests.

Parameters:

limit

The shading limit to test

Returns:

True is the shading limit is supported

virtual Color GetLightIconColor

(

INode &

lightNode

)

[pure virtual]

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Get the light icon color based on the current viewport shading limits.

The light icon that gets drawn should reflect the current state of the viewport shading. When the light is shadow casting it will be displayed in a duller color. If the light is currently not illuminating again it will appear duller than the usual wireframe color. This method should be used for any lights that display a viewport icon and want to adhere to the new coloring scheme. The color returned can be used in the GraphicsWindow::setColor function.

Parameters:

&lightNode

The light node to check for the current state of viewport shading flags

Returns:

The new altered color. If viewport shading is set to "None" - this will be the default wireframe color

virtual void SetUseTransparencyInGI

(

bool

bSet

)

[pure virtual]

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Set whether the GI viewport system works with Transparent objects.

virtual bool GetUseTransparencyInGI

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Get whether the GI viewport system uses Transparency.

virtual void SetShadowFilterSize

(

float

filterSize

)

[pure virtual]

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Set the shadow filter size of soft-edge shadow.

This method is used to control the softness of the shadow edge when the viewport shadow mode is set to soft-edge shadow. It has no effect when in hard-edge shadow mode or if an area light with viewport soft shadow turned on.

Parameters:

filterSize

The value to set the filter size. This should be between 0 and 1, but the function will clamp.

virtual float GetShadowFilterSize

(

)

[pure virtual]

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Get the shadow filter size of soft-edge shadow.

This will return the current filter size of soft-edge shadow.

Returns:

The filter size value