Tkxture v00.07 help

Create patterned material textures
for POV-Ray.

1. Overview map
2. Download and install
3. Main menu
4. Rendering
5. Patterns
6. Color map
7. Translation
8. Warp and turbulence
9. Interior
10. Finish

Tkxture development release.
No permission granted for any of the following:

• no automation use
• no commercial use
• no criminal use
• no embedded use
• no life-support use
• no mission critical use

Tkxture © 2008
Graphics and Engineering
at   www.rgbTerrain.com

Overview

Tkxture writes POV-Ray patterned material texture files.

Fine material production can require extensive adjustment, so the interface is designed for fastest possible workflow on a 1280x960 screen.

Click any area of the adjacent screenshot image map to see details. Click the target map to come back here.

Linux and Windows downloads are here.

Pre-install requirements

Tkxture requires 5 items pre-installed:

1. Tcl - for running the main engine,
2. Tk - to present the Graphical User Interface (GUI),
3. POV-Ray - for production of the Render command image,
4. ImageMagick - to convert rendered images for Tk GUI display,
5. Firefox web browser - for correct presentation of Help.

Linux install

1. Download:
   tkxture00.07.tar.gz
2. From the console, unpack:
   tar -xzf tkxture00.07.tar.gz
3. Change to the directory:
   cd tkxture00.07
4. Make tkxture.tcl executable:
   chmod 774 tkxture.tcl
5. Run:
   ./tkxture.tcl

Questions?
art (at) rgbterrain.com

Windows install

1. Download:
   tkxture0007.zip
2. Unpack, right-click:
   tkture0007.zip

3. Choose:
   Extract All
4. In the Extraction Wizard, click:
   Next, Next, Finish
5. Double-click tkxture0007 folder.
6. Run, double-click:
   tkxture.tcl

  Just say "Texture". © 2008
Graphics and Engineering

Versions

• v00.03 Linux tkxture00.03.tar.gz and Windows tkxture0003.zip
  Initial public release.

• v00.04 Linux tkxture00.04.tar.gz and Windows tkxture0004.zip
  Added explicit file-output-on switch.

• v00.05 Windows tkxture0005.zip
  Windows only, added fully qualified paths and corrected executable name.

• v00.06 Linux tkxture00.06.tar.gz and Windows tkxture0006.zip
  Snappy new Color map interface.

• v00.07 Linux tkxture00.07.tar.gz and Windows tkxture0007.zip
  Added image map capability to Pattern menu.

Main menu

File - Save As (name), Save and Exit.
File reading is not available in this version.

• Save As - save this texture as your named .inc file.
  Default is tkxture.inc, which gets overwritten.
• Save - repeats the last settings.
• Exit - terminates immediately, no Save!

Texture - click, type in your texture name, then hit Enter ("Temp" is shown).
The next .inc file saved contains the names txTemp for texture and inTemp for interior definitions.

Help - Tkxture help, see povray.org for POV-Ray documentation.

In your .pov scene file, use the statement (minus // comment):

  #include "tkxture.inc" // your filename

Inside your .pov object definitions, refer to texture and interior like this:

  sphere { <0, 0, 0>, 0.5
    texture { txTemp } // tx + your texture name
    interior { inTemp } // in + your texture name
  }

Rendering

Click the Render button or hit Alt-r to request a POV-Ray rendering.

A temporary .inc file of the current material is written, applied to a sphere, then rendered.

Turning off Hi Quality speeds up rendering.

Unlock 800x600 as shown to make small renderings inside the GUI.

Locking 800x600 produces large renderings and blocks the GUI. Hit "Q" to quit rendering or click the finished image when done to return to Tkxture.

Patterns

Click the Pattern menu button open. Select a pattern, then corresponding controls appear.

Some patterns have no parameters, most have just a few. The first group use a set number of colors:

• 1 - color
• 2 - brick
• 2 - checker
• 3 - hexagon

Image maps use no colors and apply an image file. Click the Image button open to select.

The rest are color map patterns and use up to 255 colors. Color map indicator shows when active.

Set all colors through the Color map editor.

Color map

Shows active due to the Pattern selected. When inactive, only a set number of colors are available.

Select - to edit color m of n colors.

New and Delete - add and remove colors from the color map end position. Color maps hold 2 to 255 colors.

Phase - analog start point along the gradient 0 to 360, as in a cylinder.

Frequency - to repeat color map.

Level - center of the current color, within gradient span 0.00 to 1.00. Only used in color maps.

Red, Green, Blue - adjust selected color.

Filter and Transmit - transparency. Turn on Interior to get accurate transparency rendering.

Quick color map:

Set the first color to level 0.00, set the last color to level 1.00 and set the rest to intermediate values.

Begin and end with the same color for smooth wrapping.

Color map display refreshes after color or level control is released. Current color display is live during adjustment.

Translation

Scale - increases and decreases the pattern size,

lock - makes x, y and z scale together,

x10 - makes the pattern 10 times larger than the normalized reading.

Translation may be applied before...

... or after warp turbulence.

Rotate - turns the pattern around any axes by degrees.

Warp and turbulence

Warp is shown on.

Click the Warp menu button open, then select and set turbulence. Only turbulence parameters apply to the material at this point.

Select and set any other warp. Now the selected warp is used with turbulence, either before or after. Zero turbulence first to apply only warp.

Warp off applies only simple turbulence x setting to all patterns except agate, which then uses only agate turbulence.

Interior

Click the Interior menu button open, then select a material to preset the Refraction index (IOR, Index of refraction).

Dispersion - spreads light. Accuracy increases with more dispersion samples.

Fade - light absorption in the material. Fade occurs over distance, power is how fast. Fade color may be RGB-locked

Caustics - lensing.

Turning on Interior increases rendering time.

Finish

Shown off. Material surface appearance.

Ambient - material glow, may be RGB-locked.

Diffusion - softens, and Brilliance gives a metal look. Both moderate ambient level.

Iridescence - oilyness effect, thickness and turbulence.

Conserve energy - for auto-realism:

• on, transmit - reflect = illumination
• off, transmit 100% and reflect 100%

Phong - reflection amount.

Phong size - larger number for harder material.

Metallic - highlights.

Specular - reflection and associated Roughness.

Reflection - if min is zero, only max is used.

Metallic - reflection.

Fresnel:

• on, Reflection uses Interior refraction index.
• off, Reflection uses Finish parameters only.

Falloff - distance and exponent or speed.

• ambient + diffuse + reflections = 1.00

Turning on Finish increases rendering time.