User Guide > Rendering and Render Setup > Shading > Shading Nodes > Texture nodes > Environment textures >
Env Ball
Uses an image of a highly reflective chrome ball in an environment (real world or computer generated) to re-create that environment. This is possible because the reflections in the chrome ball provide a (nearly) 360 degree view of the environment.
An Env Ball texture background renders faster than a procedural texture background or a background modeled with surfaces. You can therefore replace a complex background with an Env Ball texture (by rendering an image of a chrome ball in that environment) to reduce rendering times.
Find this texture in the Create bar. To use this texture, see Simulate reflections with Env Ball.
The rotation (in radians) of the ball image about the vertical axis. The valid range is 0 to 3.142. The slider range is 0 to 3.142. The default setting is 0.
Set the Inclination value to the inclination of the camera (the angle between the camera’s view and the environment’s YZ plane) used to generate the image file (by photographing or rendering a reflective ball in an environment). For example, if the camera is parallel to the YZ plane, set the Inclination value to 0. When creating the ball image, a camera inclination and elevation of zero provides the best resolution for the view you intend to use.
The rotation of the ball image about the horizontal axis. The valid range and the slider range are both -1.571 to 1.571. The default setting is 0.
Set the Elevation value to the elevation of the camera (that is, the angle between the camera’s view and the environment’s grid plane: XZ plane for a Y-up scene) used to generate the image file (by photographing or rendering a reflective ball in an environment). For example, if the elevation of the camera is 90 degrees (that is, it is directly above the ball), set the Elevation value to 1.571. If the camera is parallel to the grid plane, set the Elevation value to 0. When creating the ball image, a camera inclination and elevation of zero provides the best resolution for the view you intend to use.
Causes the position of the Env Ball texture’s Image file to be defined relative to the window, not the camera view.
If Eyespace is on, the Env Ball texture’s Image file automatically matches the environment’s Backdrop image file (provided they were both originally photographed/rendered from the same point of view), even if the camera view changes. Reflections, however, are based on the background being infinitely far away; that is, the reflection planes are ignored (see Projection Geometry). Rendering is faster when Eyespace is on. The default setting is off.
Causes the Image file to be reflection mapped onto the background.
If Reflect is off, the Image file is mapped using a solid texture spherical projection. This allows you to model the geometry of the background image and then map the background image to this geometry, for example, to add shadows, lighting effects, or fog to the scene. The default setting is on.
The Projection Geometry attributes controls the appearance of reflections from an Env Ball texture. They define the location of the sky and, or room walls of the original environment so that Maya can calculate reflections on surfaces in the re-created environment.
For example, if the original environment consisted of a grid plane and a sky, then you would set the Sky Radius value to the radius of the sky, and the Bottom value to the distance between the grid plane and the reflective ball. If the original environment consisted of a room, then you would set the Bottom, Top, Left, Right, Front, and Back values to the distance between each wall and the reflective ball.
In some cases you may want to use values different than the original environment. For example, instead of using the Bottom, Top, Left, Right, Front, and Back values to define the walls of a room, you may simply use the Sky Radius attribute. Because Sky Radius defines a sphere, reflections on surfaces in the simulated environment are smoother and less likely to become blurred. You can also combine Sky Radius with Bottom, Top, Left, Right, Front, and, or Back.