Allow manipulation via script of Material channels
Rheia Silvercloud
A suggestion to improve tools texture / material artists have at their disposal: allow, via script, the ability to animate or alter specific underlying maps / channels. Examples of this include:
Allowing for JUST the Normal Map to be scrolled / animated via the texture animation commands
Allowing for JUST the Red Channel of the Emissive Map to be scrolled / animated via the texture animation commands
Allowing for JUST the Alpha Channel to be scrolled / animated via the texture animation commands
Allowing Alpha or Emissive to have their strength controlled via script in PBR Materials.
Coupled together, these would drastically increase the flexibility of Materials without introducing such advanced systems such as custom shaders
Along with this, include minor modifications to the scripting system to allow these to select either the U or the V, as opposed to having to wholesale rotate the texture, thus preserving some integrity of the orientation.
None of this should imply or provide greater (or lesser) access TO the texture, merely the aspects in question, thus preserving intact any permissions.
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SL Feedback
Merged in a post from Rheia Silvercloud:
Title: Please allow for discrete animation of textures
Details: While it is possible to use various forms of animation (texture rotation, texture scroll, flip-book, and scaling) for textures, these all operate on the whole, complete texture, allowing nothing less or more.
I am instead proposing that via the use of scripts, make the various maps freely animate-able, both in scaling, rotation, horizontal and vertical motion (I can see flip-book being a problem in this proposal).
In this, one might define the Normal map to scroll smoothly upward in a loop, or the alpha only to scroll sideways, or the same and similar for each of the unique channels used (Diffuse ONLY, specular ONLY, normal, metallic, alpha, emission, roughness, all independent. I can see, logically, that Ambient Occlusion, where present, SHOULD be linked to the Diffuse, but the rest should be able to be manipulated via script separately.
While not as ideal as user-defined, channel-discrete shaders, this nonetheless would spell a massive boon to texture-based animation in SL without requiring the use of external media, and thus can boost creativity and visual "pop".
SL Feedback
Merged in a post from Rheia Silvercloud:
Title: Please Provide Texture Manipulation in Scripts
Details: While it is possible to use various forms of animation (texture rotation, texture scroll, flip-book, and scaling) for textures, these all operate on the whole, complete texture, allowing nothing less or more.
I am instead proposing that via the use of scripts, make the various maps freely animate-able, both in scaling, rotation, horizontal and vertical motion (I can see flip-book being a problem in this proposal).
In this, one might define the Normal map to scroll smoothly upward in a loop, or the alpha only to scroll sideways, or the same and similar for each of the unique channels used (Diffuse ONLY, specular ONLY, normal, metallic, alpha, emission, roughness, all independent. I can see, logically, that Ambient Occlusion, where present, SHOULD be linked to the Diffuse, but the rest should be able to be manipulated via script separately.
While not as ideal as user-defined, channel-discrete shaders, this nonetheless would spell a massive boon to texture-based animation in SL without requiring the use of external media, and thus can boost creativity and visual "pop".