Environment

Category: Environment

Shader Family: Environment

Output: Color

Takes a single image file and maps it to the environment using one of five possible mapping methods. This shader supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, and is thus typically used to light a scene with a combination of final gathering and direct lighting. You can control the intensity of the image in the background, the intensity of it's reflections in the scene, and the intensity of the final gathering lighting.

Name

The shader's name. Enter any name you like, or leave the default.

Image

Defines an image clip to use as an environment map. Click Edit to open a property page for the image clip being presently used. To retrieve a new clip, click New and indicate whether you wish to create a new clip or create one from a source.

Environment Mode

Specifies the kind of mapping used by the image. Choose from one of the following:

Spherical: maps the image spherically around the scene.

Cylindrical: maps the image cylindrically around the scene.

Cubic Strip: takes an image in which the faces of a cube are laid out horizontally, side by side, and maps it in a cubic shape around the scene.

Cube Cross: takes an image in which a cube has been unfolded to look like a cross and maps it in a cubic shape around the scene.

Cube Cross Sideways: a cubic cross, but rotated 90 degrees.

Intensity

Background	Controls the degree to which the selected image shows up in the background. Eye rays that hit nothing will evaluate the environment shader making it appear in empty areas of the scene's background.
Reflection	Controls the intensity of the reflections. Higher values will cause bright areas of the image to appear more intense on the surfaces of reflective scene objects.
Image	Controls the intensity of the image lighting in the scene. Higher values brighten the lighting, while lower values darken it.
Transformation	A transformation matrix that allows you to scale, rotate, and translate the image in X, Y, and Z, to adjust how it is placed around the scene.

Render Tree Usage

You can connect this shader to any object's material node, using the environment input port, to create reflections for only that object. Alternatively, you can apply the shader to an entire render pass by putting it in the pass' environment shader stack.