Shaders

You can render a Flash .swf file using shaders, with a few exceptions. The following shaders do not work with the Flash Renderer:

Live Shadow shader
Matte shader
Reflection shader
Selective Lighting shader
Shadow Map shader
Wire Frame shader

To render a file using the remaining shaders, follow the procedures provided for each shader, in the following sections.

Edge Cartoon Shader

Before you use an Edge Cartoon shader for rendering, try to generate edges with the Use Edge Generator option in the Flash Render Options dialog box. Edges created in this way take up less space than those rendered with the Edge Cartoon shader. See Edge for more information on Edge generation.

Note

If you use the Edge Cartoon shader with Flash rendering, you can get better results if you set a larger Minimum Width value. The larger the Minimum Width value, the more pixel space the Edge Generator uses to create a uniform region for the entire continuous edge.

Flat Shader

There are no problems with the Flat shader when you use the Flash Renderer.

Lighted Shader

Rendering with the Lighted shader is good for low polygon models. No gradients appear when you render with a Lighted shader; they appear only as a flat color.

Multilevel Cartoon Shader

The Multilevel Cartoon shader lets you apply a posterized effect with full control over the luminosity, contrast, and number of steps in the gradient between the shadow and highlight colors.

The Flash Renderer only supports up to four Color Steps between the Shadow Color and Highlight Color. If you specify more than four steps, the gradient between the Shadow and Highlight Color adjusts automatically to only four steps.

MultiLevel Cartoon Shader Settings A. Color Steps

For the best results, use two or three steps, with increased steps resulting in a complex rendering of the .swf file.

Particle Shader

If you use the Particle shader when rendering, always use the Matte Display Mode, as the Flash Renderer is vector-based and cannot support particles.