To create an image of a chrome ball, first place a highly reflective chrome ball (sphere) in the environment (real world or computer generated) that you want to re-create. Place the ball at the exact location (in the original environment) where you want your model to appear (in the re-created environment), and take note of the ball’s distance from any floor/walls/ceiling or large objects.

Photograph (or render) the ball using a telephoto lens, and take note of the camera’s elevation (the angle between the camera’s view and the environment’s ground plane), and the camera’s inclination (the angle between the camera’s view and the environment’s YZ plane).

The photo essentially contains a compressed sample of the entire environment, except for the area directly behind the ball. The highest resolution is in the direction of the camera, so the image provides the best data compression for that point of view.

A Ball texture that uses a single photograph of a ball has two limitations: the missing area directly behind the ball, and the decreasing resolution toward the edges of the ball. You can overcome these limitations by taking a series of photographs of the ball (up to a maximum of 32). The photographs must be taken on the horizontal plane of the ball (that is, not above or below the ball), at a constant distance from the ball, and at equal intervals around the ball. The Ball texture automatically selects the best image for any particular view (that is, no missing area and maximum resolution). Name the image files <filename>.1 through <filename>.n, where the files represent a sequence going clockwise around the ball when viewed from above.

Remove the ball from the environment, and photograph (or render) the environment again using the same camera position, elevation, and inclination, but a wider angle lens (for example, 24 mm to 50 mm).

The Ball texture can best re-create environments that have no objects in their center (that is, near the chrome ball). For example, rooms and interiors should not contain furniture, and outdoor scenes should not have trees or cars near the chrome ball. (In general, outdoor scenes can contain buildings).

If you are using a single image of a chrome ball, map a File texture to the Ball texture’s Image parameter, and then map the image file of the ball in the environment to the File texture’s Image parameter.

If you are using a series of images of a chrome ball, map a Volume texture to the Ball texture’s Image parameter, and then map one of the image files to the Volume texture’s Pix Sequence parameter. Set the Volume texture’s From and To parameters to the extensions of the first and last image files in the sequence (1 and n).

Map the image of the environment without the chrome ball to the environment’s Backdrop parameter.

Set the Ball texture’s Inclination and Elevation parameters to the inclination and elevation of the camera used to photograph the ball.

For accurate reflections of the re-created environment on your model, set the Ball texture’s Projection Geometry parameters to values corresponding to the distance between any floor, walls, ceiling, or large objects and the chrome sphere when it was photographed.

To simplify the positioning of the environment’s Backdrop image, set the Ball texture’s Eyespace toggle ON. To model background geometry (for example, so you can add shadows, lighting effects, or fog to your scene), set the Ball texture’s Reflect toggle OFF.

The slider range is 0 - 20. The default value is 0.