Rhino Environment Maps

Rhino Rhino for Windows
1

Hi everyone :slight_smile: !
Can anyone explain what are environment maps and how do we use them?
Is it also possible to use them along bump and texture maps?
Thanks!
L

2

Hi Leyla - the environment map in a Rhino material is mostly used to mimic reflections from an envronment. The projection used in the mapping favors a ‘chrome ball’ type image for the environment for the most realistic mimicking of reflections-

here is a chrome ball image:

UFFIZI_Probe
UFFIZI_Probe.PNG512×512 331 KB

At low ‘concentrations’ this can be used to add a bit of life to shiny materials

image
image.png805×368 79.4 KB

and at higher numbers can mimic chrome or mirrored surfaces.

image
image.png792×369 81.5 KB

This is not accurate like a raytraced environment in a reflective material but is a good cheap substitute that does not use a lot of machine resources to render in a viewport.

These can be combined with any of the other channels like bump etc. though these would generally not use a chrome ball, I guess.

-Pascal