VRED 2015 Fundamentals

Autodesk VRED Professional 2015
Fundamentals
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Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface ...................................................................................................v
Class Files ........................................................................................... vii
Chapter 1 Introduction to Autodesk VRED Professional ...............1-1
1.1 Overview of Autodesk VRED Professional .........................1-3
1.2 Overview of the Interface ......................................................1-6
1. Menu Bar .............................................................................1-7
2. Icons Bar..............................................................................1-9
3. Quick Access Toolbar........................................................1-14
4. Modules .............................................................................1-15
5. Render Window .................................................................1-19
6. Status Bar ..........................................................................1-23
1.3 Navigating a Scene..............................................................1-24
1.4 Opening Files .......................................................................1-27
Import Options .......................................................................1-30
1.5 Preferences ..........................................................................1-32
FileIO .....................................................................................1-33
Main Window .........................................................................1-34
Navigator ...............................................................................1-35
Render Options......................................................................1-35
Selection ................................................................................1-37
Transform ..............................................................................1-37
1.6 Saving Files..........................................................................1-38
Practice 1a Working with the Autodesk VRED Professional
Interface................................................................................ 1-42
Chapter 2 Data Preparation...............................................................2-1
2.1 Selecting Objects...................................................................2-3
Selection Display Styles ..........................................................2-4
Selection Methods ...................................................................2-5
2.2 Scenegraph ............................................................................2-8
Scenegraph Hierarchy .............................................................2-9
Node Types ...........................................................................2-10
Scenegraph Shortcut Menu ...................................................2-11
Working in the Scenegraph ...................................................2-12
2.3 Adjust a Model .....................................................................2-18
Surface Normals ....................................................................2-18
2.4 Transforming Geometry......................................................2-22

Using the Transform Manipulator ..........................................2-22
Using the Transform Module .................................................2-25
Practice 2a Selecting and Organizing the Scene ................. 2-26
Practice 2b Adjusting and Transforming Objects in the
Scene.................................................................................... 2-42
Chapter 3 Materials ............................................................................3-1
3.1 Introduction to Materials.......................................................3-3
3.2 Managing Materials ...............................................................3-5
Groups, Tags Section ..............................................................3-7
Preview Section .....................................................................3-12
Attributes Section...................................................................3-13
Material Editor Toolbar ..........................................................3-14
3.3 Assigning Materials.............................................................3-16
3.4 Autodesk VRED Truelight Materials ..................................3-19
Common Truelight Material Attributes ...................................3-21
Texture Channels ..................................................................3-21
Truelight Materials .................................................................3-24
3.5 Ambient Occlusion ..............................................................3-32
Practice 3a Converting Materials.......................................... 3-35
Practice 3b Creating New Materials ..................................... 3-48
Practice 3c Calculating Ambient Occlusion .......................... 3-58
Chapter 4 Camera and Lighting........................................................4-1
4.1 Cameras..................................................................................4-3
Camera Attributes....................................................................4-6
Viewpoint .................................................................................4-9
Practice 4a Working with the Camera .................................. 4-10
4.2 Environments.......................................................................4-19
Practice 4b Creating the Environment .................................. 4-23
4.3 Lights ....................................................................................4-32
Light Sources and the Scenegraph .......................................4-33
Types of Lights ......................................................................4-34
Light Attributes.......................................................................4-37
Practice 4c Working with Lights............................................ 4-41
Chapter 5 Rendering..........................................................................5-1
5.1 Rendering ...............................................................................5-3
OpenGL Rendering..................................................................5-3
Raytracing................................................................................5-4
5.2 Rendering Modes...................................................................5-6
ii
Table of Contents
5.3 Render Settings ...................................................................5-11

File Output Tab ......................................................................5-12
General Settings Tab.............................................................5-14
Raytracing Quality Tab ..........................................................5-17
Practice 5a Creating Renderings with OpenGL.................... 5-20
Practice 5b Creating Renderings with Raytracing ................ 5-28
Appendix A Simple User Interface .................................................. A-1
A.1 Simple User Interface ........................................................... A-3
Menu Bar ................................................................................ A-4
Icons Bar................................................................................. A-4
Quick Access Bar ................................................................... A-4
Status Bar ............................................................................... A-5
Render Window ...................................................................... A-5
Scene Module......................................................................... A-5
A.2 Scene Module........................................................................ A-6
Scenegraph Tab ..................................................................... A-6
Materials Tab .......................................................................... A-9
Environments Tab................................................................. A-12
Camera Tab.......................................................................... A-14
Lights Tab ............................................................................. A-17
Settings Tab.......................................................................... A-19
iii
iv
Preface
Preface
The Autodesk VRED Professional software is a visualization,
analysis, and presentation tool for automotive and industrial
designs. The software enables you to create high-quality,
real-time renderings to realistically visualize, evaluate, and
review your design ideas, and present the rendered models as
design prototypes. The Autodesk VRED Professional 2015
Fundamentals training guide covers the essential core topics
that will enable you to import 3D CAD data, optimize geometry,
assign Autodesk VRED Truelight materials, add cameras and
lights, and create rendered images in both the OpenGL and
Raytracing rendering modes.
The topics in this training guide include the following:
Understanding the Autodesk VRED Professional interface

and navigating the scene.
Open 3D CAD data to display it as a real-time rendering.
Organizing the parts and optimizing the geometry in the

Scenegraph.
Adjusting the model and transforming the parts.
Working with Truelight materials and assigning them to

enhance the visual display of the objects.
Adding cameras and viewpoints to a scene.
Setting environments and using HDR images as a scene

background.
Adding light sources for additional illumination.
Creating rendered images using the OpenGL render mode.
Working with the Raytracing render mode to produce

high-quality visualizations.
Creating rendered images using the Raytracing render mode.
Icon Reference Chart

The following icons are used throughout this training guide to
help you to quickly and easily find helpful information.
Indicates the Learning Objectives that are covered in
the current chapter or section of the training guide.
Students and Educators can Access Free Autodesk

Software and Resources
Free products are
subject to the terms and
conditions of the
end-user license and
services agreement that
accompanies the
software. The software
is for personal use for
education purposes and
is not intended for
classroom or lab use.
vi
Autodesk challenges you to get started with free educational

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Bring Autodesk software into your classroom, studio, or
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Get started today - register at the Autodesk Education
Community and download one of the many Autodesk software
applications available.
Visit www.autodesk.com/joinedu/
Class Files
Class Files
To download the Class Files that are required for this training
guide, use the following steps:
1. Type the ftp address shown at the bottom of the page into the
address bar of your internet browser. If you are using an
ASCENT ebook you can select the link instead. The ftp
address must be typed exactly as shown.
Address bar
ftp://ftp.ascented.com/cware/vulpes1.zip
2. Press <Enter> and follow the instructions to download the zip

file that contains the Class Files.
3. The zip file contains an .exe file that you need to extract. To
extract the files, double-click on the .exe file and follow the
instructions to unzip the file. Once unzipped, a Class Files
folder is automatically added to the C:\ drive on your
computer.
Do not change the location in which the Class Files folder is
created. Doing so can prevent the practices in the training
guide from working correctly.
4. Repeat Steps 1 to 3 for each of the .zip files listed below. You
must have all of the files to complete the practices in this
training guide.
vii
viii
Chapter 1
Introduction to Autodesk VRED
Professional
In this chapter you learn how to plan presentation projects, start the Autodesk
VRED Professional software, and become familiar with the software interface.
You also learn how to open 3D scene files, import files, and save files.
This chapter contains the following topics:
Overview of Autodesk VRED Professional

Overview of the Interface
Navigating a Scene
Opening Files
Preferences
Saving Files
11
12
Introduction to Autodesk VRED Professional
1.1 Overview of Autodesk VRED

Professional
Learning Objective
Understand how the Autodesk VRED Professional
software can be used for design visualization and
presentations.
The Autodesk VRED Professional software is a visualization,

analysis, and presentation tool for automotive and industrial
designs. The software enables you to create real-time graphic
renderings using realistic materials and physical camera
settings. The software also offers surface analysis tools for data
quality verification.
The high quality, real-time renderings enable you to realistically
visualize, evaluate, and review your design ideas. The
completed models can be used as design prototypes or
marketing material. A rendering of an automotive design in the
Autodesk VRED Professional software is shown in Figure 11.
Figure 11
13
There are three versions of the Autodesk VRED software:

This training guide is
designed for the
Autodesk VRED
Professional software.
Autodesk VRED: The standard version of the software,

which can be used by designers, engineers, and marketing
professionals to create high quality renderings of 3D CAD
designs and present design animations.
Autodesk VRED Design: In addition to creating high

quality renderings, the Autodesk VRED Design software has
capability to create Variants and Variant sets for effective
presentation and communication.
Autodesk VRED Professional: The Autodesk VRED

Professional software is the most advanced of the three
versions and includes high-end analytical capabilities. In
addition to creating high quality renderings, this version can
be used for surface and gap analysis. This version also
enables you to create stunning presentations by creating
Variants and Variant sets along with various display options.
In the Professional version, the Powerwall display and
Immersive display capabilities are included as well.
Input into Autodesk VRED Professional

As Autodesk VRED Professional is visualization software and
not a modeling tool, the initial creation of the geometry in a scene
is always an imported 3D CAD data file that has been created in
a 3D modeling tool. These 3D CAD data files can be imported
into the Autodesk VRED Professional software from multiple
data sources, including:
14
AutoCAD drawing files (.DWG and .DXF), including objects

created in vertical applications, such as the AutoCAD
Architecture software.
Autodesk Inventor files (.IPT and .IAM).
Autodesk Alias files (.WIRE).
Scene files from the Autodesk Maya (.MA, .MB),

Autodesk Showcase (.A3S), Autodesk 3ds Max, or
Autodesk 3ds Max Design (.3DS) applications.
Files from other Autodesk applications, such as Autodesk

Revit or Autodesk Simulation designs, must be exported
as .FBX files before they can be imported into the Autodesk
VRED Professional software.
Other major CAD data applications and visualization

software, such as CATIA, Creo Elements/Pro, SolidWorks,
STEP, IGES, Deltagen, and Stereolithography (.STL) files.
The exchange files format, such as .OBJ and .FBX, is the

recommended file format to use for importing because they
can include the animation and camera data.
15
1.2 Overview of the Interface

Learning Objective
Understand and work with the various components of the
Autodesk VRED Professional interface.
To launch the Autodesk VRED Professional software,

double-click on
(VRED Pro) on your desktop.
Once you open the Autodesk VRED Professional software, the

screen consists of the main rendering window, with the interface
tools along the top and the bottom of the application screen. The
Autodesk VRED Professional interface is designed for intuitive
and efficient access to commands and actions. The interface
includes the Menu Bar, Icons Bar, Quick Access Bar, Modules,
Render Window, and Status Bar. The interface (shown in
Figure 12) displays a rendered image of a car model in the
rendering window with a Scenegraph module along the left side
of the screen. The background of the Render Window has been
set to white for printing clarity throughout this training guide.
1
2
3
6
Figure 12
16
The components of the interface are:
1. Menu Bar
1. Menu Bar
4. Modules
2. Icons Bar
5. Render Window
3. Quick Access Bar
6. Status Bar
The Menu Bar is displayed along the top edge of the software
window, directly under the software title heading. Working
commands are grouped together in each of the menus. Some
commands open a sub-menu, which contain options for that
command. An example of this is shown in Figure 13 for the
File>Import menu option.
Figure 13
The menus that are available in the Menu Bar are:

File
Contains the New, Import, Export, Publish and various

versions of the Open and Save commands. The Open
Recent command provides you with a list of recently
opened files to select from. The Open Examples
command opens the Open File dialog box in the Autodesk
VREDPro/examples folder, where you can open one of the
example files that are provided with the software. The
Save and Save As commands enables you to save the
current scene as various type of VRED files, such as .VPE,
.VPB, and .VPF.
Edit
Contains Undo and Redo commands. You can also open

the Preferences window to set the preferences, or the
Script Editor to write and run customization scripts that
have been written in Python the coding language.
17

View
Contains toggles for controlling the display of various utility

tools (such as grid, ruler, clipping plane, etc.) in the Render
Window.
The Toolbars menu option opens a sub-menu that
contains a list of all of the toolbars, and enabling you to
display the selected toolbars in the Icons Bar. You can also
open a window that displays the list of shortcuts, routes,
and Undo/Redo history.
The Terminal menu option opens the Terminal module,
where you can enter an input command in the Python
coding language for providing feedback for any command,
as well as display errors and warnings. You can also save
the Terminal module output to a file.
18
Visualization
Contains tools to set the different rendering modes, such

as Raytracing, Ambient Occlusion, Surface Analysis, etc.
The menu provides options for selecting among the
different renderpasses and controlling the OpenGL
settings. You can also control the Raytracing Downscale,
Antialiasing, and other rendering options. By default, the
scene is displayed as Realistic Rendering in OpenGL.
Scene
Contains options that enable you to create objects, such as

3D geometry, 2D shapes, cameras, and lights. It also
provides you with a list of various modules included with
the software, enabling you to open and close the modules
as required.
Animation
Contains options for opening the modules, enabling you to

control the settings for creating and playing animations.
Interaction
Contains options that enables you to set the type of

navigation that is being used in the Render Window. You
can also open the modules for controlling the settings of
the utility tools, such as Annotation, Clipping,
Measurement, etc. The toggles for controlling the display
of these utility tools are provided in the View menu.
Rendering
Contains options that enables you to open the module for

setting the render options. You can also access modules
for setting the special render settings, such as render
layers or clustering.
Window
Contains options that enables you to set and customize the

display settings of the Render Window and the layout of
the software interface.
Help
Enables you to access the general information of the

software. The Documentation option connects you to the
online Autodesk VRED Professional Help documentation.
The Python Documentation option opens the Python
Help documentation, which provides you with a list and
description of python commands and algorithms. The Help
menu also contains options for providing you with
information about the software version, license, features,
and improvements.
2. Icons Bar
The Icons Bar is located directly below the Menu Bar, as shown
in Figure 14. The toolbars contain icons that are logically
grouped together, providing easy access to commonly used
commands.
Render Options toolbar
File toolbar
View toolbar
Synchronisation toolbar
Mode
toolbar
Materials toolbar
Figure 14
The display of the icon

name below each icon
can be toggled on or off.
In the Preferences
dialog box, in the Main
Window node, clear or
select the Show
Toolbutton Text option.
This option is turned on
by default.
The name of the icon is displayed below each icon to easily

identify it. Hovering the cursor over an icon also displays its
name, as shown for Toggle Statistics in Figure 15. The
icons in the File toolbar open specific dialog boxes, while
most of the commands on the other toolbars work as toggles,
performing an action when selected.
Click an icon to toggle the command. The currently active

command is indicated using an orange icon, as shown for
Boundings and Headlight in Figure 15. Click again on an
active command to toggle it off, changing the icon to display
as gray, as shown for Wireframe in Figure 15.
Active commands
Inactive command
Figure 15
19
Some of the tools display a small arrow near the bottom right
corner and above the name text. This indicates that the icon
has a drop-down list that contains various options and
settings for the command. Click and hold on an icon (for at
least two seconds) to open the drop-down list, as shown for
the Transform tool in Figure 16.
Figure 16
The top portion of the

shortcut menu displays
a list of all of the
Modules and the bottom
portion displays the list
of all of the toolbars.
The software provides you with options for displaying the

toolbars in the Icons Bar. In the View>Toolbars menu
(shown on the left in Figure 17), you can select the specific
toolbars you want to be displayed in the Icons bar. Clearing a
toolbar option removes the toolbar from the Icons Bar. You
can also right-click anywhere in the Icon Bars, Menu Bar, or
the Quick Access Bar to open a shortcut menu, as shown on
the right in Figure 17. A list of available toolbars is provided
near the bottom of this shortcut menu, which also enables
you to select the toolbars that display in the Icons Bar. The
toolbars that are enabled have a checkmark in front of them.
Figure 17
110
File Toolbar
The File toolbar contains the following:
Icon
Description
Opens a dialog box where you can select a file to open.
Open
Opens a dialog box where you can select a file to combine with
the current scene.
Add
Save
Enables you to quickly save a scene. If the current scene is an

unnamed file or is not a native file, then a dialog box opens that
enables you to save it as an Autodesk VRED Professional file.
Render Options Toolbar

The Render Options toolbar contains the following:
Icon
Antialias
Description
Toggles antialiasing on and off for still frames. You can also
enable Downscale Antialiasing or Raytraced
Antialiasing.
Toggles raytracing on and off.
Raytracing
Toggles raytracing downscale on and off. When on, you can
select between Low, Medium, and High.
Downscale
Region
Isolate
Toggles region rendering on and off. When on, hold <R> and
click to create a region window around a specified region to
calculate rendering for it. Only works with the Raytracing
rendering mode.
Toggles isolation on and off. Select objects and toggle on to
display only the selected objects in the Render Window.
Turning it off displays the complete model in the Render
Window.
Toggles the backplate on and off. When on, the backplate is
displayed in the scene.
Backplate
Wireframe
Toggles the wireframe display on and off. When on, the

selected objects display as a wireframe in the Render
Window.
111
Boundings
Toggles the boundings display on and off. When on, a

bounding box encloses the selected objects in the Render
Window.
Toggles the headlight on and off.
Headlight
Statistics
Toggles the Statistics window on and off. The Statistics

window displays various specifications, such as Frames per
second, Occlusion culling, triangles and lines drawn, etc.
View Toolbar
The View toolbar contains the following:
Icon
Fullscreen
Description
Toggles the full screen display on and off. When on, the
Render Window fills the entire screen, without displaying
the interface components. Press <Esc> to revert back to
the regular display.
If you are you are using multiple screens, you can use the
Multi-display fullscreen option to display the Render
Window on several screens
Toggles the presentation mode on and off. Only the
hotkeys present in the Variants module become available.
Presentation
Displays the complete scene.
Show All
Zoom To
Grid
Ruler
Transform
112
When on, the selected objects are completely zoomed in to

fill the Render Window. If no selection is made, the Initial
camera view is displayed.
Toggles the display of grid on and off. When on, you can
select the grid in xy, xz, and yz directions. You also have
the options for displaying or hiding the grid labels and
modifying the settings.
Toggles the display of the ruler on and off. When on, you
can display the manipulator handles to select the position
of the ruler. You can also display the grid and lock the
axes.
Toggles the display of the transform manipulator on and
off. You can display the Translation, Rotation, and Scale
manipulators.
Synchronisation Toolbar
The Synchronisation toolbar contains the following:
Icon
Description
Enables you to connect to another Autodesk VRED
Connect
Toggle for a cluster.
Cluster
Toggle for tracking.
Tracking
Materials Toolbar
The Materials toolbar contains the following:
Icon
Texturing
Description
Toggles the texturing mode to on and off. Also provides
you with the option for modifying the Planar Projection
and the Tire Projection manipulators.
Mode Toolbar
The option for
displaying or removing
the Mode toolbar in the
Icons Bar is not
available in the View
menu, and can only be
accessed from the
shortcut menu.
The Mode toolbar contains the following:

Icon
Description
Simple UI
Toggles the Simple UI on and off. When on, the options in

all of the interface components (Menu Bar, Icons Bar,
Quick Access Bar, Modules) are simplified.
113
3. Quick
Access Toolbar
The Quick Access toolbar (shown in Figure 18) displays below

the Autodesk VRED Professional Render Window. It enables
you to easily access the modules used for creating realistic,
high-quality renderings. By default, the Quick Access Bar
contains icons for the main modules only, which are listed in a
logical order for creating a final presentation.
Figure 18
The Quick Access Bar is easily customizable and you can add,
delete, or reorder the module icons.
How To: Add a Module Icon to the Quick Access

Toolbar
1. Open a module that is not currently present in the Quick
Access Bar from either the Menu Bar or the shortcut menu.
2. Click and hold the module icon present at the upper-left
corner of the module (e.g.,
for the Animation module).
3. Drag it anywhere over the Quick Access Bar and notice that
the selected module icon is attached to the cursor, as shown
in Figure 19.
Figure 19
4. Release the mouse button to drop the module icon anywhere

in the Quick Access toolbar. The module icon is added as the
right-most icon in the Quick Access Bar, as shown in
Figure 110.
Figure 110
114
How To: Move or Delete a Module Icon on the Quick

Access Toolbar
1. Click and hold (around 3 seconds) on any of the icons in the
Quick Access Bar until a
is displayed on the upper right
corner of all of the icons, as shown in Figure 111.
Figure 111
2. To move the icon, drag the icon to the required position in the
Quick Access Bar. The new position of the icon is displayed
as an orange bar. Drop the icon to move the module icon.
3. To delete the module icon, click
4. Save the new arrangement by clicking

the right of the Quick Access Bar.
4. Modules
, located on
Modules are special dialog boxes that contain information and

the setting parameters of different processes. For example, the
Material Editor (shown in Figure 112) contains a list of the
materials used in the scene, and specific details about these
materials.
Figure 112
115
The top portion of the

shortcut menu displays
a list of all of the
Modules and the bottom
portion displays the list
of all of the toolbars.
The Modules are modeless special dialog boxes which can

remain open while other commands are active.
You can manipulate and modify the parameters in the

modules to make changes as required. The affect of the
modifications and the settings that you select in the modules
are interactively displayed in the Render Window.
You can open the modules from the Menu Bar by clicking
Scene>Material Editor, as shown on the left in Figure 113.
You can also open the modules by right-clicking anywhere in
the Icon Bar, Menu Bar, or the Quick Access Bar, which lists
all of the available modules, as shown on the right in
Figure 113. Alternatively, the modules can also be opened
by clicking on its icon in the Quick Access Bar.
The modules that are open in the scene display a checkmark

in front of them in both the drop-down list and the shortcut
menu, as shown in Figure 113.
Figure 113
116
You can dock and undock all of the open modules in a scene.
If a module is undocked, click and hold on its title bar. Drag it
to either the side or bottom of the Render Window until the
Render Window shifts and a white place holder rectangle is
displayed. Drop the module and it automatically docks itself
in the place holder rectangle. To undock the module, drag it
by its title bar, and drop it somewhere in the middle of the
screen. Alternatively, in the top right corner of the module,
click
to undock the module or dock it back to its previous
docking position (left, right, or bottom). Clearing

module and makes the module undockable. Click
the module.
locks the
to close
When undocked, the modules can be moved by clicking and

dragging on the title bar. You can also change the size of a
module by hovering the cursor over an edge until the cursor
changes into a double sided arrow. You can then move the
edge to change the module size.
117
Hint: Dialog Boxes

In addition to the modules, two types of dialog boxes are used
in the Autodesk VRED Professional software. The regular
modal dialog boxes require a response before you can exit the
dialog box and resume work in the software. Figure 114
displays a warning dialog box, where you are required to either
accept the selection by clicking
, or cancel the
command to exit the dialog box by clicking
Figure 114
The other type of dialog box that is used in the software are
modeless, but require a response to implement any selections
that have been made in the dialog box. Figure 115 shows the
Import Options dialog box, where you can click
to implement the changes, or cancel the command by clicking
. You can minimize this dialog box by clicking
, maximize it to cover the full screen by clicking
it by clicking
Figure 115
118
, or close
5. Render
Window
By default, the Render Window covers the major portion of the

screen. It provides you with the rendered visual display of the
scene objects by calculating all of the render settings for the
selected render mode.
The Render Windows size and resolution is set in the

Window>Render Window Size menu. By default, the size of
the Render Window is set to Use Preferences, as shown in
Figure 116. This option is dependent on the Use Fixed
Resolution option in the Render Options tab of the
Preferences dialog box. By default, the Use Fixed
Resolution option is turned off, and therefore, the size of the
Render Window is dynamic and dependent on the interface
layout and screen resolution. This means that the Render
Window automatically adjusts itself to completely cover the
available area after the regular interface components take
their place.
Figure 116
119
In Figure 117, notice that in addition to the regular interface

components (Menu Bar, Icons Bar, Quick Access Bar, and
Status Bar), only the Scenegraph module is docked at the left
side of the screen. The rest of the screen is filled with the
Render Window.
Figure 117
In Figure 118, three different modules are docked along the

left, right, and bottom edges of the screen. The Render
Window automatically adjusts itself to fill the remaining area.
Figure 118
120
You can specify an exact render resolution by selecting any

of the preset resolutions that is provided with the software.
You can select a preset render resolution in the Window>
Render Window Size menu. On the top in Figure 119, the
render resolution is set to 640X480 (VGA 4:3 ratio). On the
bottom in Figure 119, notice how the Render Window size is
fixed to the selected resolution, and does not fill the empty
space on the screen.
Figure 119
You can also provide your own specific values in the

Preferences dialog box, in the Render Options tab to
customize the Render Window size.
121
The software enables you to create and work in multiple

Render Windows, as shown in Figure 120, using the New
Render Window option in the Window menu. Each Render
Window can be set up independently by defining different
cameras, viewpoints, and different rendering modes.
Figure 120
Hint: Saving Custom Layouts

Once you have made changes to the various interface features
or you have docked your commonly used Modules in a logical
manner, you can save the changes as a customized layout.
Use the save options (Save and Save As) in the Window>
Layout menu, as shown in Figure 121. The newly saved
layout is listed below the Default option. You can create an
unlimited number of layouts, and delete layouts that are no
longer needed using Edit.
Figure 121
122
6. Status Bar
The Status Bar displays along the bottom of the software screen,
as shown in Figure 122. The Status Bar provides information
about the softwares memory usage, and enables you to modify
the viewing information in the scene.
.
Figure 122
The features provided in the Status Bar are:

Icon
Description
Provides information about the current memory usage
and render mode that is being used in the scene.
Opens the Terminal module window where all
messages are listed. You can run commands that have
been programmed in the Script Editor, or you can run
python commands which are already programmed by
default (these commands are listed in the python
documentation).
Provides you with startup information. The last line in
the Terminal window is always displayed here. Clicking
inside this box enables you to input a command in
Python language.
Opens the Connector module.
Enables you to select the units of measurement.
Enables you to specify the Up vector of the model to
ensure that the model displays in the correct
orientation.
The Near Clip Plane value defines how close you can
zoom in the Render Window. A smaller value is used
when you want to zoom in to the smaller parts in the
model.
The Far Clip Plane value defines how far you can
zoom out in the Render Window.
The Field of View value defines an angular
measurement of how much of the horizon can be seen.
Human vision is often approximated with a 45 degree
FOV.
Enables you to save the current view as the Initial
Camera View (ICV), ensuring that the scene always
opens in the specified view.
123
1.3 Navigating a Scene

Learning Objective
Understand how to use the navigation features to move
around in a scene.
The basic navigation tool in the VRED Professional software is

the mouse. There are various ways to use the mouse buttons for
navigating in the Render Window:
Zoom: In the Render Window, roll the mouse wheel away

from you to zoom out and roll it toward you to zoom in.
Alternatively, you can right-click and drag forward and
backward in the Render Window.
Pan: In the Render Window, hold the mouse wheel and move
the mouse to pan. Alternatively, hold <Ctrl> and then click
and drag the left mouse button to pan.
Orbit: In the Render Window, click and drag the left mouse
button to orbit around a pivot point.
Center of Interest
By default, when you dynamically zoom and orbit in the Render
Window, you do so around the center of the models geometry,
known as the Center of Interest (CI). If you want to zoom or orbit
around a different point in the geometry, you can change the CI
using any of the following methods:
Double right-click at the new location on the model geometry.

This sets the CI at the selected point and centers the Render
Window on the new CI. You can then orbit around the new CI
point.
Double-click at the new location. This sets the center of

interest at the selected point without centering the Render
Window or relocating the model geometry.
If you want the center of interest to be positioned at the

center of the model geometry, click
(Home) in the top
right corner of the Navigation Cube. This returns the model to
its original position, focusing the cameras CI to be the center
of the model.
124
Navigation Modes
There are several options available that can change how you
navigate in the Render Window. In the Menu Bar, select
Interaction>Navigation to display the various navigation
modes, as shown in Figure 123.
Figure 123
The available navigation modes are as follows:

Enabled
Enables you to control the navigation with the mouse.

Clearing this option disables the mouse for navigation, but
enables the use of the arrow keys to navigate the model.
Trackball
Enables you to navigate the model in all three axes. This

mode can be used when using a trackball mouse which
has three axes navigation.
TwoAxis
Enables you to navigate the model in two axes. This mode

is the standard mode that is used with the regular mouse.
Fly
Selecting this enables you to navigate seamlessly in the

Render Window. Click and hold your left mouse button to
move forward. Click and hold the right mouse button to
move backwards.
Orientation
Enables you to set the virtual camera position. For

example, you can use this to set the virtual camera at the
drivers seat in a car, and then explore the interior of the
car from the drivers point of view.
Auto Center
Sets the center of the model as the pivot point and CI. This
means that the model always orbits or zooms around its
center.
Motion
Factor
Enables you to set the sensitivity of the movement in the

Fly mode.
125
Navigation Cube
The Navigation Cube or the ViewCube (shown in Figure 124)
provides visual clues as to where you are in a 3D scene, and
makes it easier to navigate to standard views (such as the top,
front, right, corner, and directional views). In the Navigation
Cube, click one of the faces, corners, or edges to change the
Render Window to the selected view.
The Navigation Cube navigation affects the selected objects in
the scene. If you have nothing selected, the Navigation Cube
affects the complete scene including the environment.
Home
Figure 124
Click over any labeled orthographic view, such as Front,

Left, etc., to orient the selected object or the complete scene
to the selected view.
Click on a corner or edge of the Navigation Cube to orient the

selected object or the complete scene to a perspective view.
Click and drag the Navigation Cube to orbit around the

geometry in the Render Window. When orbiting around using
the cursor, note that the Navigation Cube orbits to match the
view in the Render Window.
Click
(Home) in the top right corner of the Navigation
Cube to return the model to its Initial Camera View (ICV)
position.
Hint: Zoom To
The
(Zoom To) tool is located in the Icons Bar, in the View
toolbar. This tool enables you to zoom to the extents of the
selected object in the Render Window. By selecting an object
and then clicking
(Zoom To), the view in the Render
Window zooms to the model extents. If no selection is made,
(Zoom To) works similar to
(Home) in Navigation
Cube, returning the model to its original ICV position.
126
1.4 Opening Files

Learning Objectives
Open 3D CAD data files in the Autodesk VRED
Review and modify the import settings for files.
Control the settings while importing a model or scene
using the Import Options dialog box.
The Autodesk VRED Professional software enables you to open

3D CAD geometry from a wide range of CAD design software
programs. You can open a file or multiple files by selecting
File>Open, or by clicking
(Open) in the Icons Bar. The
Open File dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 125.
Figure 125
The Open File dialog box opens in the default

VRED\Examples folder, which is typically saved in the
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ folder. Once you open a file from
a different folder, that folder becomes the new default folder.
The next time you use the Open command, the Open File
dialog box will begin from the selected folder.
127
The Open command enables you to open and edit a new or

existing file as a new 3D scene. You can only have one scene
open at a time. If you have a scene open with unsaved
changes and try to open a new or existing scene, the
software prompts you to save or discard the unsaved
changes or cancel the Open command, as shown in
Figure 126.
Figure 126
You can either import a complete scene which has already

been compiled in the originating CAD software, or you can
import multiple files as separate files and combine them in
the Autodesk VRED Professional software. To import multiple
files, place the files into a single folder, hold <Ctrl>, and
select all of the required files.
The types of files that can be opened into the Autodesk

VRED Professional software are listed in the All Supported
File Types drop-down list in the Open File dialog box. A large
number of 3D CAD data types are supported by the Autodesk
VRED Professional software, as shown in Figure 127.
Figure 127
128
Files that have recently been opened can be reopened

quickly using the File>Open Recent menu option, which lists
all of the recently opened files, as shown in Figure 128.
Figure 128
You can use the File>Open Examples menu option to open

the example files that are provided with the software, such as
armchair.vpb and tracking-art.vpb. The Open Examples
command always opens the Open File dialog box in the
VRED/examples folder.
You can combine other files into the currently open scene by
selecting File>Add. Alternatively, you can click
the Icons Bar.
(Add) in
Although the majority of file types are opened using the Open
command, there are a few file types which cannot be opened
using this command, such as the xml files for Variants and
Sequences. Select File>Import and select the specified
option to open that particular type of file, as shown in
Figure 129.
Figure 129
129
How To: Open a Scene

1. Click
(Open) in the Icons Bar, or select File>Open.
2. In the Open File dialog box, locate the required folder.
3. Select a file from the list.
4. Click
, or double-click on the file.
If the currently open scene contains unsaved changes, a
dialog box opens prompting you to save or discard the
unsaved changes, or to cancel the Open command.
5. If the type of file that you selected is not a VRED native file
type (i.e., .VPB, .VPE, or .VPF), then the Import Options
dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 130. Specify how you
want the file to be opened.
6. Once the options have been set, click
Import Options
The Import Options dialog box (shown in Figure 130) enables

you to set options so that the software can convert and correctly
process a files data. The dialog box is only available for files that
are not a native Autodesk VRED file format.
Figure 130
130
The options in the Import Options dialog box are as follows:
Tesselation
Keep Surface
Data
Preserves all of the surface data that comes along

with the imported geometry
Merge
Geometries
Enables you to merge the imported geometry.
Create Groups
for Layers
Enables you to create groups.
Remove Empty
Groups
Simplifies the geometry structure by removing empty

groups.
Tessellation
Quality
Sets the tessellation quality as Coarse, Low,

Medium, High, or Custom.
Chord Deviation
Enables you to set the distance from the middle point

of the tessellated edge to the geometry.
Normal
Tolerance
Enables you to set the normal deviation that can be

permitted between the normals of the tessellated
edge.
Max Chord
Length
Enables you to set the maximum length of a

tessellated edge.
Enable Stitching
Stitches adjacent edges.
Stitching
Tolerance
Enables you to set the tolerance value that controls

when adjacent edges are stitched together.
Scene
Apply Materials
from Asset
Manager
Replaces each imported material with the

similarly-named material that is found in the Asset
Manager.
Opens the Asset Manager, where you can set the
material folder.
Center in Origin
Moves the imported geometry so that its center is

placed at the center of the environment.
Put onto the

Ground
Moves the imported geometry so that it placed on the

ground surface.
Adjust Object
Size
Activates the Which size fits your object best?

slider bar. You are able to assign the correct size to
the model. This helps to realistically render the model
and gives you better quality.
If you want to add a file to the current scene, you must
know the size that was originally selected to ensure
that the objects fit correctly.
131
1.5 Preferences
Learning Objective
Understand the function of the tabs in the Preferences
dialog box.
You can use the Preferences dialog box (shown in Figure 131)
to control many important operational settings for the Autodesk
VRED Professional software. To open the Preferences dialog
box, select Edit>Preferences.
Figure 131
132
The Preferences dialog box enables you to control the display

and operational settings for every aspect of the Autodesk VRED
software. The dialog box contains a list of nodes along the left
side, and selecting a node from the list opens the settings which
are specific to it. In Figure 131, notice that the node FileIO has
been selected to display the preferences that are used to set the
global settings for importing. You can either set the preference
before you open a file (so that the file opens with all your
preferred settings), or you can adjust the settings while you are
working on a model. If you want to revert to the default settings,
click
node, or click
default settings.
FileIO
to reset the parameters of the selected

to reset all of the nodes to their
This node enables you to set the options for opening data in the
software, as shown in Figure 131. These settings are:
Base rollout: Options that enable you to verify that the

geometry structure is suitable for rendering, rebuild the
geometry, convert the materials to Truelight plastic materials,
and set the temporary path.
Import Dialog rollout: Options that enable you to control the

display of the Import dialog box, add a skydome environment,
and place imported geometry at the origin of the scene or on
the ground.
Texture Compression rollout: Options that enable you to

control the texture compression. The Auto option
compresses textures if they exceed the memory limit, while
Always compresses the file whenever the model is loaded.
You can also use None to never compress the file.
In the FileIO node, there is a list of file format sub-nodes.

Selecting a file format opens its associated preferences. Some
of the file types import settings include:
Maya: Sets the installation path and units that will be used for
imported and exported Maya data, as shown in Figure 132.
Figure 132
133
Main Window
OSB / VPB: Enables you to set the file and texture

compression, as well as set the incremental save function
and the number of backup steps used.
Rhino: Enables you to set the geometry merging and

NURBS import settings for importing Rhino files.
This node enables you to control the settings for some of the
interface components, as shown in Figure 133.
Figure 133
134
Show FPS in Status bar: Toggles the display of the current

frame rate in the lower left corner of the Render Window.
Show Rendering Log Messages in Terminal: During

rendering, the Terminal Window displays all of the log
messages.
Show Internal Nodes in Scenegraph: The internal nodes

are displayed in the Scenegraph.
Show Toolbutton Text: Toggles the display of the name

below the icons in the Icons Bar and the Quick Access Bar.
Window Opacity: Controls the opacity of the module

windows.
Disable Docking: Toggles the ability to dock the module

windows.
Navigator
This node enables you to control the settings for various

navigation modes, as shown in Figure 134.
Figure 134
Render Options
Navigation Mode: Enables you to change the default

Navigation Mode from Two Axis to Trackball, Fly, or,
Orientation.
Invert Zoom: You can invert the zooming in and zooming out
with the direction of rolling the mouse wheel.
Auto Center: Sets the rotation pivot to the center of the

object.
This node enables you to control the settings for the Render
Window parameters, as shown in Figure 135.
Figure 135
135
Pixel Resolution: Enables you to set a custom pixel

resolution for the Render Window.
Use Fixed Resolution: Sets the use of a custom size for the
Render Window.
Enable Downscale: Enables or disables downscale, which

affects the visual quality and is available while using
Raytracing render mode.
Downscale Quality: Sets the downscale quality to Low,

Medium, or High. For efficient interactivity of complex
scenes, it is recommended to have a reduced display quality
(i.e., a medium or high level of downscale quality).
Enable Realtime Antialiasing: Enables or disables realtime

antialiasing for the OpenGL render mode.
Antialiasing Quality: Sets the quality of antialiasing for

OpenGL render mode.
136
Low: Every second pixel in the Render Window is

processed for rendering, resulting in the clearest
rendering.
Medium: Every fourth pixel in the Render Window is
processed.
High: Every eighth pixel in the Render Window is
processed, resulting in the most reduced visual quality.
Low: One and half times (1.5x) the original resolution is

calculated.
Medium: Double (2x) the original resolution is calculated.
High: Four times (4x) the original resolution is calculated.
Enable Stillframe Antialiasing: Toggles antialiasing for still

rendering in both OpenGL and Raytracing modes.
Stillframe AA After: Sets the time (in seconds) before the

calculations for stillframe antialiasing starts.
Lighting rollout: Options that enable you to set the headlight

behavior state for all new scenes.
Wireframe rollout: Sets the display of selected objects as a

wireframe, and enables you to set the color of the wireframe
and bounding box.
Navigation Help rollout: Contains options that enable you to

control the display of the Navigation Cube, and use the Z-Up
coordinate system.
Selection
Visualization Advanced tab: Enables you to set the

background color of the Render Window. To display the
background color, you must disable the Environment
material in the Material Editor module.
This node enables you to control the settings for selection

display and working in the Render Window, as shown in
Figure 136.
Figure 136
Transform
Bounding Box Visualization Size: Sets a minimum

bounding box size for objects.
Auto Scroll to Selected Node: When you select geometry in

the Render Window, the associated node is automatically
scrolled to and displayed in the Scenegraph.
This node enables you to control the precision settings for the
transform tool, as shown in Figure 137.
Figure 137
Translation Step Size: Sets the default precision range

when moving the geometry.
Rotation Step Size: Sets the default precision range when

rotating the geometry.
Scale Step Size: Sets the default precision range when

scaling the geometry.
137
1.6 Saving Files

Learning Objective
Understand the various save options available in the
software.
In the Autodesk VRED Professional software, files are saved in

the native .VPB file format (VRED Project Binary) by default. You
can also save the files as .VPE (VRED Essentials Project Binary)
or .VPF (VRED Project File) file formats.
There are a number of ways in which you can save the files in
the software. The available save commands are located in the
File menu, as shown in Figure 138.
Figure 138
Save: The default save command, which enables you to

quickly save any changes you made in the scene. The
command can also be started by clicking
(Save) in the
Icons Bar, or by using the shortcut <Ctrl>+<S>. This
command quickly saves the current scene as an Autodesk
VRED Professional native file (i.e., .VPB, .VPE, or .VPF). If
the file that you opened is a not a VRED Professional native
file, this command works as a Save As command, and opens
the Save As dialog box.
138
Save As: Opens the Save As dialog box, as shown in

Figure 139. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut
<Ctrl>+<Shift>+<S> to open this dialog box. In the dialog
box, browse to the folder where you want to save the file,
specify the filename, and select the file format that you want
to save the file as. The available file formats are .VPB
(Autodesk VRED Professional binary file), .VPE (Autodesk
VRED file used in the Autodesk VRED Essentials software),
and .VPF (Autodesk VRED Project file). Click
save the file.
to
Figure 139
Save Selected: Saves only the selected objects in a scene.

Alternatively, you can use the shortcut <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<S> to
open the Save Selected As dialog box. This dialog box
(similar to the Save As dialog box) enables you to browse to
the required folder, enter the filename, and select the
required file format.
139
Publish: Enables you to publish a copy of the file. As with the

other save dialog boxes, the Publish dialog box enables you
to browse to the required folder, enter the filename, and
select the file format. Clicking
opens the Period
of Validity dialog box (shown in Figure 140), which enables
you to limit the period in which the file is accessible, if
required.
Figure 140
Save Package: Saves the file and creates a new folder

named images (as shown in Figure 141), which contains all
of the textures and maps associated with the file.
Figure 141
Export: Enables you to export the scene as a scene, image,

sequencer batch, or variants, as shown in Figure 142.
Figure 142
140
Using the Export options, you can save an Autodesk VRED

Professional file in various file formats, such as .FBX, .OBJ,
.MA, .STL, etc., as shown in Figure 143.
Figure 143
141
Practice 1a
Working with the Autodesk

VRED Professional Interface
Learning Objectives
Open a 3D data file.
Navigate the user interface.
Customize the user interface and save the new layout.
Save the .VPB file and open it in the new, customized
layout.
Estimated time for

completion: 50 minutes
In this practice you will import a .WIRE file, save it as a .VPB file,
and navigate and customize the software interface.
Task 1 - Opening 3D data file.
1. Launch the Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 software.
2. In the Menu Bar, select File>Open, or in the Icons Bar, click
(Open) to open the Open File dialog box.
The Mainville file design

is courtesy of Marc
Mainville.
3. In the C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 1\

folder, select Mainville_Auto.wire. Click
the Import Options dialog box.
to open
By default, all imported

materials are converted
into Truelight plastic
materials. This option is
set in FileIO tab of the
Preferences dialog box.
The VRED materials
display the best shader
quality in OpenGL and
Raytracing render
modes.
142
If you have an open scene, a dialog box prompts you for

confirmation whether you want to close the scene or
cancel the Open command.
If you have an open, unsaved scene, you are prompted to
either save the scene, close the scene without saving, or
cancel the Open command.
4. In the Import Options dialog box, expand the Scene rollout, if
required. By default, all of the options are cleared. ensure
that Apply Materials from Asset Manager is cleared, as
shown in Figure 144.
5. Select the Center in Origin and Put onto Ground options
(as shown in Figure 144) to place the model in the center of
the scene and on the ground surface.
If you are expecting additional parts to be added to the

model at a later stage, then leave the Center in Origin,
Put onto Ground, and Adjust Object Size options
cleared. This will ensure that any additional parts fit
perfectly with the model, as they are built using the
original point of origin.
6. Select Adjust Object Size. Notice that the Which size fits
your object best? area is enabled. Click and drag the slider
bar and place it under the picture of the car, as shown in
Figure 144.
Figure 144
7. In the Tessellation rollout, in Tessellation Quality, select High.

Leave all other options at the default settings. The dialog box
should display as shown in Figure 145.
Figure 145
143
8. Click
. The Loading bar (shown in
Figure 146) displays in the Render Window while the
software calculates the shaders and other associated
parameters. In the Status Bar, the input box displays the
processes that are being calculated, as shown in the
highlighted area in Figure 147.
Figure 146
The model of the car inside the environment dome is loaded

in the Render Window, as shown in Figure 147. Also notice
that in the Status Bar, the input box now displays that the
scene is ready.
Figure 147
144
Task 2 - Navigating the scene.

1. If you have a mouse wheel, scroll the wheel towards you to
zoom into the car. Alternatively, right-click, hold, and drag the
mouse to zoom in and out.
2. Press the mouse wheel and drag the mouse to pan until the
car is somewhere in the middle of the Render Window.
3. Click the left mouse button and drag to orbit around the pivot
point, which is the center of the car.
4. Orbit (click and drag) around the car and notice that the
Navigation Cube, at the top right corner of the Render
Window, moves to match the camera view.
5. Orbit until the Left label is visible in the Navigation Cube.
Click on Left. This automatically places the car and the
environment dome in the Left view, and zooms out
completely, as shown in Figure 148.
Figure 148
6. In the Navigation Cube, click

(Home) to orient the
camera to the original saved position.
7. Using the mouse, zoom out and pan to place the car in the
center of the Render Window.
8. Orbit to the back of the car. Notice that the pivot point while
orbiting is the center of the car.
145
9. Orbit to the front of the car. In the Navigation Cube, click

(Home).
10. Double-click on the front right wheel of the car (as shown in
Figure 149) and then orbit the car. Notice that you are now
orbiting around the front right wheel.
The background color of
the scene has been
changed to white for
printing clarity.
Figure 149
11. Double right-click on the back right wheel of the car. Notice
how the back right wheel moves to the center of the Render
Window. The model will display similar to that shown in
Figure 150. Orbit around again and notice that the pivot
point is now the back right wheel.
Figure 150
146
12. In the Navigation Cube, explore the other orientation views,

including corner and edge positions.
13. When finished, click
(Home) to orient the car to the
Initial Camera View (ICV), as shown in Figure 151.
Figure 151
14. Orbit around until the car is in a position similar to that shown
in Figure 152.
Figure 152
147
15. In the Status Bar, click

new home position.
to save the current view as the
16. Zoom out, orbit around, and pan to different view positions.
17. Click
(Home) and notice the car orients to the newly
saved ICV position.
Task 3 - Customizing the layout.
1. In the Menu Bar, select View>Toolbars and clear Render
Options. Select View>Toolbars again and verify that the
toolbars are selected or clear to match those shown in
Figure 153.
Figure 153
Notice that the Icons Bar now displays only the active
toolbars, as shown in Figure 154. The tools for the Render
Options and Synchronisation toolbars have been are
removed.
Figure 154
2. Right-click on the Icons Bar to open the shortcut menu.

Select Light Editor in the Modules list to open the Light
Editor module.
3. Notice that in the Quick Access Bar, there is no Light Editor
icon. In the Light Editor module, click its icon in the top left
corner and drag it over to the Quick Access Bar. Notice that
the Light icon is attached to the cursor, as shown on the left in
Figure 155. Release the mouse button to add the Lights
icon to the end of the Quick Access Bar, as shown on the
right in Figure 155.
148
Figure 155
4. Click and hold anywhere in the title bar of the Light Editor
module. Drag it towards the right edge of the Render Window
until the Render Window shifts and a white placement
rectangle is displayed, as shown in Figure 156. Release the
mouse button. The Light Editor module docks along the right
edge of the screen.
Figure 156
5. Notice that the Lights icon in the Quick Access Bar has
turned orange, indicating that the module is currently
displayed on the screen.
6. Click
in the Light Editor module to close it. Notice that the
Lights icon in the Quick Access Bar has turned gray, and the
Render Window expands to cover the available space.
7. Click and hold on any icon in the Quick Access Bar until
is displayed at the upper right corner of each icon.
8. In the Quick Access Bar, click
the icon.
on
(VSets) to delete
149
9. Click and hold
(Lights) and drag it between
(Cameras) and
(Clips). An orange bar is
displayed as shown in Figure 157. Release the mouse
button to place the icon at this new location.
Orange bar
Figure 157
10. At the right side of the Quick Access Bar, click

accept and save the changes.
to

(Graph). The Scenegraph
module opens and is automatically docked at the left side of
the Render Window. Also notice that the icon turns orange in
the Quick Access Bar.
(Lights). The Light Editor
module opens and is docked at the right side of the Render
Window. Also notice that the icon turns orange in the Quick
Access Bar.
13. In the Light Editor module, click
If you are past the
bottom edge and a
place holder rectangle
does not display, move
the module slowly back
up towards the Quick
Access Bar to open the
docking place holder.
14. Click and hold anywhere in the title bar of the Light Editor
module. Drag it towards the bottom edge of the Render
Window until the main render window shifts and a place
holder rectangle is displayed. Release the mouse button to
dock the Light Editor module at the bottom edge of the
screen.
Transform module. Click
the
150
to undock it.
turns gray, and
(Transform) to open the
to lock the module. Notice that

becomes unavailable.
16. Click the Transform module title bar and drag it along all three
edges of the screen (i.e., left, right, and bottom). Notice that
the white place holder rectangle does not display, indicating
that the module is currently a non-docking window.
17. Click on
. Notice how it turns orange and
is enabled.
Click
and the Transform module is docked to the right
side of the Render Window. Also notice that the Render
Window adjusts and becomes smaller to accommodate the
Transform module on the right side. Click
to close the
Transform module and notice that the Render Window
stretches to fill that space.
18. Hover the cursor over the top edge (dotted line) of the Light
Editor until the cursor changes to
. Click and hold this
cursor and move it up and down to make the Light Editor
bigger or smaller. Notice that the Render Window and model
adjusts in size to fill up the rest of the space on the screen.
19. In the Menu Bar, expand Window>Render Window Size
and select 640X482 (VGA 4:3 Ratio). Notice how the Render
Window changes size, similar to that shown in Figure 158.
Figure 158
151
20. Hover the cursor over the top edge (dotted line) of the Light
Editor until the cursor changes to
. Click and hold this
cursor and move it up and down. Notice that this has no
effect on the size of the Render Window, which remains
locked at the 640X482 resolution.
21. Similarly hover the cursor over the right edge (dotted line) of
the Scenegraph until the cursor changes to
. Click and
hold this cursor and move it right and left. Again, notice that
this has no effect on the size of the Render Window.
22. In the Menu Bar, expand Window>Layout and select Save,
as shown on the left in Figure 159. A Warning dialog box
opens (as shown on the right in Figure 159) informing you
that you are making changes to the default layout, which is
not permitted. Close this dialog box.
Figure 159
23. In the Menu Bar, expand Window>Layout and select Save

As. The Store Current Layout dialog box opens.
24. In the Name field, type My_Layout (as shown on the left in
Figure 160), and click
25. In the Menu Bar, expand Window>Layout. Notice that

My_Layout is added to the list, and is the currently active
layout, as shown on the right in Figure 160.
Figure 160
152
26. In the Menu Bar, select Window>Layout>Default to change

it to the default layout. Notice that the Render Window
remains at 640X482 resolution, as the Render Window size
does not get saved with the layout. The order in the Icons Bar
and the Quick Access Bar reverts to the default settings.
Also, all of the modules are back to the closed, default
position.
Task 4 - Saving and opening the scene.
Before saving the file, you will set the Preferences for optimum
size and speed.
1. In the Menu Bar, select Edit>Preferences to open the
Preferences dialog box.
2. Expand the FileIO node and select OSB / VPB to open the
global settings for opening the native .VPB file type. In the
Writer rollout, set File Compression to Best. This has the
fastest saving time and minimal file size. Ensure that the Use
Inline Textures option is selected. This saves the textures
along with the .VPB file. Set the Texture Compression as
Lossless, as shown in Figure 161. Click
accept the changes.
to
Figure 161
153
3. In the Menu Bar, select File>Save, or click

(Save) in the
Icons Bar. Normally, this command quickly saves over the
opened file, however because the opened file is a .WIRE file,
it must be saved as a new Autodesk VRED Professional
native file.
4. The Save As dialog box opens in the C:\VRED Pro
Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 1\ folder because the
.WIRE file was opened from this folder, and so is the default
folder. In the File name field, enter MyMainville_interface.
Note that the file will be saved as an Autodesk VRED
Professional binary file (.VPB) by default, as shown in
Figure 162. Click
Figure 162
5. In the Menu Bar, select File>New to open a new blank

scene.
6. In the warning dialog box, confirm that you want to close the
current scene by clicking
opened.
. A blank scene is
(Open), or in the Menu Bar,

7. In the Icons Bar, click
select File>Open to open the Open File dialog box. It
automatically opens
8. In the C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 1
folder, select MyMainville_interface.VPB, and click
.
9. The mainville car opens in the Render Window in the ICV or
(Home) position, as shown in Figure 163. Notice that
all of the interface components are in the default position, but
that the Render Window is still showing in a 640X482
resolution.
154
Figure 163
10. In the Menu Bar, select Window>Layout>My_Layout to

make it current. Notice that the Icons Bar displays only some
of the toolbars. Also notice the order of the Quick Access Bar
and the modules in custom docking position. The location
and custom interface components were saved with
My_Layout custom layout, but the Render Window size is
still 640X482, as shown in Figure 164.
Figure 164
155
11. Select Edit>Preferences, to open the Preferences dialog

box. Click
to ensure that you revert back to
the default preferences. This sets the Render Window size
back to Use Preferences (dynamic resolution). Close the
dialog box.
12. Set the layout as default by selecting Window>Layout>
Default.
13. In the Menu Bar, select File>Save Package to open the
Save Package dialog box. Save the scene as
MyMainville_interface_package.VPB.
14. In Windows Explorer, open the C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals
Class Files\Chapter 1\ folder. Notice that an images folder
has been created, as shown in Figure 165. Open this folder
and notice that the environment map is saved. If any textures
are present in the file, they are also saved in this folder.
Figure 165
15. In the Menu Bar, select File>Quit to close the Autodesk

VRED Professional software.
156
Chapter Review Questions

1. Match the name for the following interface components with
the numbers shown in Figure 166.
1
2
4
6
Figure 166
Interface Component
Number
Quick Access Bar

Menu Bar
Render Window
Icons Bar
Status Bar
Module
157
2. How can you make a module window undockable?

a. Click
b. Click
c. Click
d. Click
3. In the Quick Access Bar, how do you get a
to display on
the upper right corner of each icon, so that the icons can be
deleted or rearranged?
a. Hold <Alt> and click on the Quick Access Bar.
b. Click and hold for few seconds on the Quick Access Bar.
c. Right-click and hold for few seconds on the Quick Access
Bar.
d. Hold <Shift> and click on the Quick Access Bar.
4. How do you set the pivot point to a selected point and center
the point in the Render Window?
a. Hold <Alt> and click
b. Hold <Shift> and click
c. Double-click
d. Double right-click
5. In the Status Bar, the Input box (shown in Figure 167)
always displays the last line that was displayed in the
Terminal module window.
Figure 167
a. True
b. False
6. Which command saves a file and creates a new folder that
contains all of the textures associated with that file?
a. .Save As
b. .Publish
c. .Save Package
d. .Export
158
Command Summary
Button
Action /
Command
Location
Add
Icons Bar
Menu Bar: File>Add
N/A
Import
Menu Bar: File>Import
Open
Icons Bar
Menu Bar: File>Open
N/A
Open Examples
Menu Bar: File>Open Examples
N/A
Open Recent
Menu Bar: File>Open Recent
N/A
Preferences
Menu Bar: Edit>Preferences
N/A
Publish
Menu Bar: File>Publish
Save
Icons Bar
Menu Bar: File>Save
Shortcut: <Ctrl>+<S>
N/A
Save As
Menu Bar: File>Save As

Shortcut: <Ctrl>+<Shift>+<S>
N/A
Save Package
Menu Bar: File>Save Package
N/A
Save Selected
Menu Bar: File>Save Selected

Shortcut: <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<S>
159
160
Chapter 2
Data Preparation
In this chapter you learn how to select objects, organize parts using the
Scenegraph, transform and duplicate objects, and adjust geometry by fixing an
objects normals. You also learn how to optimize a model.
Selecting Objects
Scenegraph
Adjust a Model
Transforming Geometry
21
22
Data Preparation
2.1 Selecting Objects

Learning Objectives
Identify and set the selection display styles to display the
selected objects in the Render Window.
Select objects in the Render Window using various
selection methods.
Once the model has been opened, you need to select objects or
geometry to modify the features and change the settings of the
geometry. The Autodesk VRED Professional software
enables you to select geometry using a variety of methods. The
most common method is to use the cursor to select objects in the
Render Window. The display option must be selected in order to
display and identify the selected objects in the Render Window,
as shown in Figure 21.
Figure 21
23
Selection
Display Styles
You can control how the selected geometry is displayed in the

Render Window using the Wireframe and Boundings options.
The toggle for the Wireframe and Boundings options are

available in the Render Options toolbar, as shown in
Figure 22.
Figure 22
You can select either of the display options individually, or

select both of them to display at the same time.
If neither of the display tools are used when an object has

been selected, no visual indication of the selection will
display in the Render Window. There is no change to the
behavior of transforms, commands, or other modifications
that are applied to invisibly-selected objects.
Wireframe
In the Icons Bar, click
(Wireframe). When a selection is
made, the selected part is displayed as an orange wireframe in
the Render Window, as shown on the left in Figure 23.
Boundings
In the Icons Bar, click
(Boundings). When a selection is
made, the selected part is enclosed in an orange bounding box,
as shown on the right in Figure 23.
Figure 23
24
Data Preparation
Hint: Changing the Wireframe and Bounding Box Color

The default color of the wireframe and bounding box can be
changed in the Preferences dialog box. Select
Edit>Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, select
Render Options. In the Visualisation tab, in the Wireframe
rollout (shown in Figure 24), click on the color swatch to the
right of the Wireframe Color slider to open the Choose a Color
dialog box. Select the color that you want to use and click
. Use the Wireframe Color slider to set the
brightness of the color. Click
color.
to accept the new
Figure 24
Selection
Methods
Selection of objects in the Render Window is accomplished

using <Shift> in combination with the mouse. The different
methods that can be used for selecting objects in the Render
Window are as follows:
Using the Mouse

To display the selection
in the Render Window,
select the Wireframe or
Boundings option in
the Icons Bar.
Hold <Shift>. Note that a square is attached to the cursor (as

shown in Figure 25), indicating that you have entered
selection mode. Click on the object or geometry you want to
select.
Figure 25
Hold <Shift>+<Ctrl> and click on additional parts in the scene

to select multiple geometry.
Hold <Shift>+<Ctrl> and right-click on selected parts in the

scene to remove them from selection.
Hold <Shift> and right-click anywhere in the Render Window

to clear the current selection.
25
Using the Frame Rectangle

Two selection modes use the frame rectangle: Window and
Crossing. When you hold <Shift>, you can use the mouse to
drag a rectangular selection frame around the objects that you
want to select. The direction in which you create the selection
frame determines the selection mode that is used, as follows:
If you drag the selection frame from left to right, you

automatically enter the Window selection mode.
If you drag the selection frame from right to left, you

automatically enter the Crossing selection mode.
Starting from the top or bottom of the selection frame does

not affect the mode that is used.
Window: In this mode, only those objects that are completely

enclosed in the selection frame are selected.
While holding <Shift>, click and hold in empty space in the

upper left corner of the objects you want to select. Drag the
cursor towards the lower right corner of the objects to create
a rectangular, dashed window, as shown on the left in
Figure 26. Release the mouse button to select the
fully-enclosed objects, as shown on the right in Figure 26.
To add additional objects to the current selection, hold

<Shift>+<Ctrl> and click to create another window (from left
to right) around another group of objects. The objects that are
completely enclosed by the new selection frame are added to
the selection.
Figure 26
26
Data Preparation
Crossing: In this mode, all of the objects inside the selection

frame are selected. This includes objects that are underneath
other objects, and objects that are touching (but not completely
enclosed by) the window.
While holding <Shift>, click and hold in empty space in the

lower right corner of the objects you want to select. Drag the
cursor towards the upper left corner of the objects to create a
rectangular, dashed window, as shown on the left in
Figure 27. Release the mouse button to select all of the
objects that are present inside the rectangular crossing
window. This includes objects that are underneath other
objects, and objects that are touching (but not enclosed by)
the window, as shown on the right in Figure 27.
To add additional objects to the selection, hold <Shift>+<Ctrl>

and click to create another crossing window (from right to left)
around another group of objects. The objects that are
underneath other objects and objects that are touching the
new selection frame are added to the selection.
Figure 27
Using the Scenegraph

If geometry is created using many separate and small parts,
selecting individual parts in the Render Window can be difficult.
You can use the Scenegraph module to easily select, modify,
and edit individual parts.
27
2.2 Scenegraph
Learning Objectives
View object hierarchy and understand the types of nodes
that are available in the Scenegraph module.
Select objects and perform various editing operations on
objects using the Scenegraph module.
The Scenegraph is the brain of the software, which lists all of the
parts and geometry that are included in an Autodesk VRED
Professional scene. The list is organized in the form of a tree
structure, as shown in Figure 28. Each geometric part is called
a node. In the Scenegraph you can perform actions and
modifications on these nodes.
The Scenegraph can be toggled open or closed by clicking
(Graph) in the Quick Access Bar, by selecting
Scene>Scenegraph, or by selecting Scenegraph from the
shortcut menu. As with other modules, the Scenegraph is a
modeless dialog box and remains open regardless of the task
that you are performing. By default, the Scenegraph is docked
on the left side of the Render Window, but it can be undocked or
moved as required.
Figure 28
28
Data Preparation
Scenegraph
Hierarchy
The tree structure in the Scenegraph is organized in the form of

nodes. The Root node (shown on the left in Figure 29) is
present at the top of the tree structure with all of the other nodes
and geometry listed under it. By default, the Root node lists the
four camera views and the Environment node. Once you open a
scene or import geometry into an empty scene, another main
node under the Root node is listed, as shown for Armchair on
the right in Figure 29. This main node lists all of the geometry
used for the imported scene. The main Root node cannot be
edited or deleted.
Figure 29
Click
next to a node to expand its subordinate node list, or
click
to collapse the node, as shown on the left in
Figure 210. You can also double-click on a node to expand or
collapse it. Near the bottom of the Scenegraph, a slider bar
enables you to expand or collapse the Scenegraph hierarchy, as
shown on the right in Figure 210.
When the slider is all of the way to the left, the tree structure
collapses to the Root node
When the slider is all of the way to the right, the tree structure
expands fully.
If a group node is selected in the hierarchy of the tree,

moving the slider expands or collapses only that subtree.
Figure 210
29
Node Types
In the Scenegraph, different icons display to indicate the

characteristics of the node. The nodes that are available in the
Autodesk VRED Professional software are as follows:
Icon
Description
A group of objects is placed inside this node.
(Regular group node)
(Cloned group node)
An exact copy of the parent regular group

nodes contents. If any changes are made to
the group node, it is reflected in its cloned
group node as well.
A transformation (i.e., move, rotate, or scale)
has been applied to the objects in this node.
(Transform group node)

Contains material information.
(Material node)
Animation has been applied to the objects in
this node.
(Animation group node)
(Geometry node)
The polygonal geometry inside of a group

node. The geometry is the last hierarchy node
of a group.
Transformation has been applied to the
geometry only.
(Geometry node with

Transformation)
(Nurbs geometry node)
A nurbs geometry inside a group node. This

node stores all of the information about the
mathematical nurbs calculations of the
geometry and ensures that physically correct
visualization results are produced. This
significantly increases the amount of data
stored in the node. To reduce the amount of
data to improve performance, convert the
nurbs surface into polygons. This deletes the
nurbs information by tessellating the surfaces
and building an individual polygon structure
that is based on the provided tessellation
quality.
Contains information about the environment
used in the scene.
(Environment node)
(Light Transform node)
210
Enables you to add transformations to light

sources that have been created in a scene.
Data Preparation
Scenegraph
Shortcut Menu
You can perform a large number of editing and creating actions

using the nodes and the Scenegraph shortcut menu, shown in
Figure 211. When you right-click on a node and select an option
in the shortcut menu, the selected action is performed on all of
the subordinate nodes of the selected node.
Figure 211
In addition to the regular commands to change the tree structure,

the shortcut menu also contains the Create, Edit, and Convert
tools, which are provided in sub-menus.
Create: Contains options that enable you to create standard

geometry, lights, and camera views. The objects are created
under the node that you right-clicked on.
Edit: Contains options that enable you change or modify the

geometry, such as Rename, Duplicate, Clone, etc.
Convert To: Contains options that enable you to convert

existing nodes into groups, material nodes, etc.
211
Working in the
Scenegraph
When you import a file from another CAD application, there

might be a large number of nodes present in the Scenegraph. It
is important to work in the Scenegraph to sort and group the
objects together, complete the model by cloning objects, and
optimize the geometry. Tools have been provided in the
Scenegraph to enable you to clean up and organize the
geometry. The following are common actions that can enable
you to organize the Scenegraph:
Select Objects
To display your
selection in the Render
Window, select the
Wireframe or
Boundings display
option(s) in the Icons
Bar.
You can use the Scenegraph to easily select objects.
Click on a node in the Scenegraph to select it. Once selected,

the node is highlighted in a light gray, as shown on the left in
Figure 212. If the node has subordinate nodes or objects,
they are also included in the selection.
You can also select individual objects inside node, as shown

on the right in Figure 212.
Figure 212
212
To select multiple nodes, hold <Ctrl> and select the required

nodes.
To select a list or range of nodes, hold <Shift>, select the first

node in the list, and then select the last node in the list.
To search for a specific node, enter the name of the node in

the Search bar at the top of the Scenegraph. Nodes that
match the search term are automatically selected, as shown
on the left in Figure 213.
To select a single geometry, all objects, a parent, a subtree,

etc., use the various selection options provided in the
shortcut menu, as shown on the right in Figure 213.
Data Preparation
Figure 213
If you do not know the name of an object in a scene, select it

in the Render Window. The objects node(s) are automatically
highlighted in the Scenegraph.
Display Visibility
To hide the object(s) associated with a node in the Render
Window, click
in front of the node. The node turns gray, and
the icon changes to
, as shown on the left in Figure 214.
Click
to display the associated object(s) in the Render
Window. You can use the Scenegraph shortcut menu to perform
various hide or unhide actions, as shown on the right in
Figure 214.
Figure 214
213
Reorder Nodes and Objects

You can reorganize the hierarchy in the Scenegraph by clicking
and dragging nodes to a new location. You can also move
subordinate geometry from one node to another by dragging and
dropping it into another node.
Split the Scenegraph

Splitting the Scenegraph makes it easier to see separate
sections of a large node tree, or drag and drop nodes from one
location to another. At the bottom of the Scenegraph, just above
the Scenegraph toolbar, hover the cursor over the separator (i.e.,
the dotted line) until it changes into a splitting cursor, as shown
on the left in Figure 215. Click and drag the separator up into
the Scenegraph to duplicate it. You can now expand to two
different locations in the upper and lower Scenegraph, enabling
you to drag a node from the upper portion of the Scenegraph
and drop it at a different location in the lower portion of the
Scenegraph (or vice versa). An example is shown on the right in
Figure 215, where obj_02 geometry is dragged from the upper
Scenegraph and then dropped over the obj_10 node in the lower
Scenegraph.
Figure 215
214
Data Preparation
Rename Nodes
You can rename a node by selecting it and then clicking on its
name. The name field will convert into an edit box, as shown on
the left in Figure 216. You can then type the new name directly
into the edit box, as shown on the right in Figure 216. Press
<Enter> to accept the new name.
Figure 216
Group Objects
Grouping enables multiple objects to be treated as a single unit,
but still retain the ability to control each object separately. In the
Scenegraph, right-click on the node under which you want to
create the group. In the shortcut menu, select Create>Group, or
use the shortcut <Ctrl>+<G>. A new folder called Group is
created with the cursor in the edit box for naming, as shown on
the left in Figure 217. Name the group, and then drag and drop
the nodes that you want to be the part of the group. You can also
initially select all of the nodes that you want to be grouped
together and use the shortcut <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<G>. A new node
with the name Grouped_Nodes is automatically created which
contains all of the nodes that were selected, as shown on the
Figure 217
215
Optimize the Model

You can also open the
Optimize module by
using Scene>Optimize,
or by selecting
Optimize from the
shortcut menu of the
Icons or Quick Access
Bar.
Optimizing the model enhances the render capabilities and

speeds up the rendering process. Right-click on the node that
you want to optimize and select Edit>Show Optimize Module to
open the Optimize module, shown in Figure 218. Using the
default settings for optimizing does not make any significant
difference to the Scenegraph, but improves back end
calculations and rendering speed.
Figure 218
The default settings of the Optimize module are:
216
Flush Material Group Nodes: The selected material group

nodes and all subordinate material group nodes are deleted
and converted into a regular group node.
TriangulateReIndex: Splits all of the faces of polygon

meshes that have four or more edges into triangles, and
reassigns the vertex indices.
Unify Vertices: Welds all of the identical vertices in the

geometry.
Optimize Indices and Sort Indices: All of the vertices of the

triangular faces are streamlined reordering and sorting them.
Data Preparation
Isolate View Selection

Using the Scenegraph, you can display individual objects
separately in the Render Window. This can be useful while
working in large or complex scenes that have overlapping
geometry. For example, you can isolate the interior objects and
display them separately, which making it easier to work on only
those objects.
In the Scenegraph, select the object or objects that you want

to display separately. Drag and drop them into the Render
Window, or right-click on the selected object and select
Isolate View Selected. Alternatively, after selecting an object
for isolation, click
(Isolate) in the Icons Bar, or press
<I>. Only the isolated objects are displayed in the Render
Window, and an Isolate View label specifying the object
name is displayed near the upper left corner of the Render
Window, as shown in Figure 219.
Figure 219
Drag and drop a different object from the Scenegraph onto

the Render Window. The previous display is automatically
cleared and the new objects are displayed in isolation.
If you want to return to the complete scene geometry display

in the Render Window, drag and drop the Root node into the
Render Window, or click
(Isolate) in the Icons Bar, or
press <I>. Both

(Isolate) and <I> toggle between the
isolated view of selected objects, or the complete scene view.
If you do not know the name of the geometry you want to

display, select it in the Render Window. This highlights the
name of the object in the Scenegraph. You can then drag and
drop the node to display the objects isolated view.
217
2.3 Adjust a Model

Learning Objective
Check and fix the surface normals of the imported
geometry.
After you import geometry into the Autodesk VRED Professional

software from other CAD programs, there might be
discrepancies in the geometry or in the placement of the
geometry. It is recommended that you resolve those issues
before you modify the scene or manipulate the design for
presentation.
Surface
Normals
The surface of an object consists of polygonal faces. The

orientation of these faces depends on the direction of the surface
normals. Normals are imaginary vectors that are located
perpendicular to one side of each face. The normals should face
toward the viewer (or camera) for the applied materials to display
correctly. The imported geometry should automatically have its
surface normal direction pointing towards the camera, but
sometimes it needs to be corrected.
Checking the Surface Normals

It is important that you verify that all of the normals are facing
towards the camera and correct the surfaces that have reversed
normals before applying materials or editing the geometry. In the
Menu Bar, select Visualization>Vertex/Face Normal
Rendering, or press <F5> to turn on the Vertex/Face Normal
rendering mode. The surfaces can display in four different
colors, which can indicate different problems with the geometry,
Violet
Gold
Green
Blue
Figure 220
218
Data Preparation
Green surfaces render correctly, but surfaces that display in

blue, gold, or violet have issues that must to be corrected, as
described below:
Green: Indicates that the faces and the vertices are

consistent, as well as their normals are facing towards the
camera. Green surfaces render correctly.
Blue: Indicates that the faces and vertices of the geometry

are consistent, but that all of their normals are pointing away
from the camera.
Gold: Indicates that the faces and vertices of the geometry

are inconsistent. The face normals are turned away from the
camera, and the vertex normals are pointing towards the
camera.
Violet: Indicates that the faces and vertices of the geometry

are inconsistent. the face normals pointing towards the
camera, and the vertex normals turned away from the
camera.
Correcting the Surface Normals

You can correct issues with the surface normals using the
Geometry Editor module, as shown in Figure 221. To open the
Geometry Editor module, in the Menu Bar, select Scene>
Geometry Editor. or use the Icons or Quick Access Bars
shortcut menu. In the Normals tab, in the Normal Calculations
rollout, the Flip Normals area provides you with the options for
correcting the orientation of the surface normals.
Figure 221
219
The options in the Flip Normals area are as follows:

Option
Description
Use this to repair surfaces that display as blue. This
reverses the normals for all of the faces and
vertices so that they point towards the camera.
Use this to repair surfaces that display as gold. This
reverses the face normals so that they point
towards the camera.
Use this to repair surfaces that display as violet.
This reverses the normals of the vertices so that
they point towards the camera.
Correcting the Surface Normals for Portions of a

Single Geometry
There are times when some geometry portions of an object are
not green and requires correcting. Selecting the part selects the
complete object, including the parts that are already green and
do not need correcting. In situations like those, you cannot use
the Flip Normal options available in the Geometry Editor. You
can correct the surface normals of those geometry portions by
holding <Alt> and then right-clicking on the portion that needs
correcting. <Alt> and right-clicking cycles through all of the
colors. While holding <Alt>, continue right-clicking on the portion
of the object until it becomes green.
Hint: Using the Adjacency Selection>Crease Angle option
to Correct Surface Normals
If the colors consistently change to other colors except green,
even after using the <Alt> and right-click option many times,
use the Crease Angle in the Adjacency Selection rollout of the
Geometry Editor, as shown in Figure 222. Reduce the number
in small increments (i.e., change it to 40, then 35, etc.) and with
each reduction step try the <Alt> and right-click option on the
faulty geometry. Continue to reduce the Crease Angle until all
of the geometry is green, and then return Crease Angle to the
default value of 45.00.
Figure 222
220
Data Preparation
How To: Fix Surface Normals

1. Check the normals by selecting Visualization>Vertex/Face
Normal Rendering, or press <F5>, to enter the Vertex/Face
Normal rendering mode.
2. Select Scene>Geometry Editor to open the Geometry
Editor module.
3. In the Render Window, select the geometry which is not
green in color.
4. Depending on the color, click on the appropriate button in the
Geometry Editor module, in the Flip Normals area. If a portion
of a single object needs correction, use the <Alt> + right-click
option.
5. Select Visualization>Realistic Rendering, or press <F3>,
to return to the Realisitic Rendering mode.
Hint: Using the Normal Calculations>Crease Angle Option
In the Geometry Editor module, in the Normals tab, in the
Normal Calculations rollout, you can set the Crease Angle, as
shown in Figure 223. This is an evaluation angle, which
defines the smooth angle for the vertices. A higher Crease
Angle value creates a smoother surface, while as a lower
number makes the geometry more faceted. Changing this
value overwrites the original vertex information, and should be
changed with caution.
Figure 223
221
2.4 Transforming Geometry

Learning Objective
Move, rotate, or scale objects using the transform
manipulator handles or by entering exact values.
Transforms are used to move, rotate, or scale objects to fit with

other objects in the scene. You might want to relocate objects
with respect to other objects in the scene, or change the size or
orientation of an object to display a different side of the object in
the scene. You can use the Transform tools to make these
changes. To transform objects, you can use either of the
following methods:
Using the
Transform
Manipulator
Use the transform handles to graphically transform objects in

the Render Window.
Enter exact values to transform an object for all of the axes

using the Transform module.
To display the transform handles in the Render Window, click

(Transform) in the Icons Bar, or select View>Show
Manipulator in the Menu Bar. To display the transform handles,
you must select an object in the Render Window. By default, the
transform handles that are displayed are the Translation (move)
manipulators, displayed at the pivot point of the selected object,
as shown in Figure 224. The transformations are applied
relative to the pivot point.
Translation
handles
Figure 224
On the tools icon, a

small arrow near the
bottom right corner
indicates that it has a
drop-down list.
222
In the Icons Bar, click and hold

drop-down list, as shown in Figure 225.
Data Preparation
Figure 225
The available transform options are as follows:
Translation Manipulator: This manipulator is displayed as

three direction arrows pointing towards the X (red), Y (green),
and Z (blue) axes. These enable you to move the selected
object on the required axis in the Render Window. Hold
<Shift> and hover the cursor over any of the direction arrows
until its color changes to yellow, as shown in Figure 226.
Click and drag the required arrow to move the selected object
on the specific axis. You can also move the object in 2 axes
by clicking and dragging one of the square planes.
Figure 226
Rotation Manipulator: This manipulator is displayed as

three circles (red, blue, and green), which represents rotation
in three axes, as shown in Figure 227. This enables you to
rotate the selected object in the required axis in the Render
Window. Hold <Shift> and hover the cursor over any of the
rotation circles until its color changes to yellow. Click and
drag to rotate the selected object on the specific axis.
Figure 227
223
Scale Manipulator: This manipulator is displayed as three

cubes (red, blue, and green) which represents scaling in
three axes, as well as an additional yellow cube at the
intersection of the three axis lines, as shown in Figure 228.
Hold <Shift> and hover the cursor on any of the scaling lines
or cubes until its color changes to yellow. Click and drag to
scale the selected object on the specific axis. Click and drag
the central yellow cube to scale the selected object
constantly on all three axes.
Figure 228
Universal Manipulator: This manipulator (shown in

Figure 229) displays the Translation manipulator, Rotation
manipulator, and Scale manipulator together. You can
perform all three manipulations using the specific manipulator
without having to switch between the different transform
modes.
Figure 229
Pivot Transform Manipulator: This manipulator (shown in

Figure 230) is used to move the pivot point of the selected
object.
Figure 230
224
Data Preparation
Keyboard Shortcuts
Use the following shortcut keys to display the Manipulator
handles:
Using the
Transform
Module
<Shift>+<W>: Displays the Translator Manipulator.
<Shift>+<E>: Displays the Rotation Manipulator.
<Shift>+<R>: Displays the Scale Manipulator.
<Shift>+<Q>: Displays the Pivot Transform Manipulator.
You can transform objects and the pivot point in all of the axes at
the same time by entering the exact values in the Transform
Module, shown in Figure 231. In the Quick Access Bar, click
(Transform), or select Interaction>Transform in the Menu
Bar, to open the Transform Module. As with all other modules,
you can open this module through the shortcut menu of the Icons
Bar and the Quick Access Bar. The Basic tab of the module
provides options for moving, rotating, scaling and transforming
the pivot point.
Figure 231
225
Practice 2a
Selecting and Organizing the

Scene
Learning Objectives
Select objects using the various selection methods that
are available in the software.
Organize the parts and group them separately using the
Organizer.
Optimize the model using various settings in the Optimize
module.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will select objects using the various selection
methods. You will also reorganize parts by grouping them
together, and then optimize the scene in the Scenegraph.
Task 1 - Selecting objects.
The tools that display in the Icons Bar depends on the layout that
you have set in the software. If you have the Autodesk VRED
Professional software open and have been working in it, it is
recommended that you close and relaunch the software, and
then select Window>Layout>Default to ensure that the tools
are in the default position. If you have an open scene with
unsaved data, a dialog box prompts you to save or discard the
scene, as required.
(Open), or in the Menu Bar, select
File>Open to open the Open File dialog box.
The background has

been changed to white
for printing clarity.

folder, select Mainville_Organize.vpb, and click
.
The mainville car opens in the Render Window in the Initial
Camera View (ICV) position, as shown in Figure 232.
Figure 232
226
Data Preparation

(Wireframe) to activate it. Ensure
that the icon turns orange.
that the icon turns gray.
(Boundings) to clear it. Ensure
5. Zoom into the car using the mouse wheel.

6. Hold <Shift>. Note that a square is attached to the cursor,
which indicates that you are is in the selection mode. Click on
the outer rubber portion of the front wheel of the car and
release <Shift>. Notice that the selected portion is displayed
as an orange wireframe in the Render Window, as shown in
Figure 233.
Figure 233

(Boundings) to make it active. In
the Render Window, note that a bounding box now encloses
the selected wireframe wheel portion.

(Wireframe) to make it inactive.
In the Render Window, note that the selected wheel portion
now displays just the bounding box, and that the wireframe
selection has been removed from the Render Window.
9. Click
(Wireframe) to activate it so that both the
Wireframe and Boundings options are displayed.

(Zoom To). The selected wheel is
zoomed in to the center of the Render Window.
227
11. In the Navigation Cube, click Right. The side view of the
selected wheel fills the Render Window, as shown in
Figure 234.
Figure 234
12. Hold <Shift> and right-click anywhere to clear the selection.

13. Hold <Shift> and click and hold in the empty space inside the
front wheel near the upper left side of the logo, as shown on
the left in Figure 235. Drag the cursor down towards the
opposite corner to create a red dashed window around the
logo of the wheel, as shown on the left in Figure 235.
Release the cursor. Notice that only the logo object is
selected (as shown on the right in Figure 235) as it was
completely enclosed by the selection frame.
First click
Release click
Figure 235
228
Data Preparation
15. Hold <Shift> and click and hold near the bottom right portion
of the front wheel close to the logo. Drag the cursor up
towards the opposite corner to create a red dashed crossing
window halfway over the logo, as shown in Figure 236.
Release the cursor. Note that most of the parts around the
logo is selected, including the floor and the rubber area of the
wheel. This is because the objects that are just touching the
crossing window have been selected as well.
Release click
First click
Figure 236

ICV view.
(Home) to go back to the
Task 2 - Investigate the nodes in the Scenegraph.

In this task you will review the Scenegraph to determine whether
you can optimize the nodes to reduce the number of levels of
hierarchy, and have a fewer number of overall nodes.

(Graph) to open the
Scenegraph module. By default, the Scenegraph is docked to
the left edge of the Render Window.
2. In the Scenegraph, drag the slider at the bottom of the
module to the left most position, as shown on the left in
Figure 237. Note that the Root node is listed, as shown on
the right in Figure 237.
Figure 237
229
3. Click
next to the Root node to expand its subordinate
node list, as shown in Figure 238. Notice that under the
Root node, there are the default four camera views, along
with the AliasWorld-MainvilleHyperRod node, and the
EnvironmentTransform node. The AliasWorldMainvilleHyperRod node is a regular group node (
).
Figure 238
4. Select the AliasWorld-MainvilleHyperRod node. Note that

the complete car is selected. The selection is displayed in the
Render Window as both Wireframe and Boundings
selection options are active.
5. Click
next to the AliasWorld-MainvilleHyperRod node to
open the geometry tree structure. Notice that it has two
nodes: exterior and interior. Both of these nodes are regular
group nodes.
Depending on the group
node that is selected,
moving the slider will
expand or collapse only
that subtree.
6. Ensure that the AliasWorld-MainvilleHyperRod node is still

selected. Near the bottom of the Scenegraph, click and drag
the slider all of the way to the right. This expands the tree
structure to the last level of hierarchy. This enables you to
investigate the nodes and the hierarchy.
7. Hover you cursor on the dotted line in the right edge of the
Scenegraph so that the cursor changes to
. Click and
drag the edge to the right to stretch the Scenegraph display
to make the full part names display, as shown in Figure 239.
230
Data Preparation
Figure 239
8. Using the cursor, drag
to scroll down in the Scenegraph.
9. Investigate all of the nodes types that are listed. Notice that
there are
(Regular group node),
group node), and

a few instances of
(Transformation
(Geometry mesh node). There are also
(Nurbs Geometry node) and
(Material nodes) that are not required and unnecessarily

add complexity to the scene. These should be removed and
the tree structure optimized.
10. Hold <Shift> and right-click anywhere in the Render Window
to clear the selection.
11. Near the bottom of the Scenegraph, drag the slider to the left
to collapse the hierarchy. Leave the hierarchy expanded to
the third level of hierarchy, so that the subordinate nodes
under exterior and interior are visible, as shown in
Figure 240.
Figure 240
231
Alternatively, click
(Isolate) in the
Icons Bar after selecting
the object(s).
12. Drag and drop the wheels node onto the Render Window so
that only the wheels are displayed. Note that
displays near the upper-left corner of the
Render Window.
13. Click
next to the wheels node to open its subordinate
nodes.

Cube, select Right.
(Zoom To). In the Navigation
15. In the Scenegraph, click

next to the back node. Note that
rotate and fix are the two subordinate nodes, as shown in
Figure 241. The rotate node contains the rotating parts of
the back wheel, and the fix node contains the fixed parts of
the back wheel.
Figure 241
16. Expand the rotate node and notice that there are three group
nodes and one transform group node.
17. Under rotate, expand the revolve#3523 subordinate node to
display the polygonal mesh geometry that is located under it,
as shown in Figure 242. This is correct, and does not need
to be changed. Collapse the node.
Figure 242
232
Data Preparation
18. Expand the subordinate nodes revolve#3522, skin#7806,

and node#5524. The revolve#3522 and skin#7806 nodes
are correctly grouped and do not require any modifications.
Collapse them.
19. Expand the two subordinate nodes under node#5524, as
shown in Figure 243. This node requires optimization and
cleaning. It is a transform node that has two subordinate
nodes and three meshes which can be merged.
Figure 243
20. Hold <Shift> and right-click anywhere in the Render Window

to clear the selection.
Task 3 - Optimize the model.
1. Hold <Ctrl>. In the Scenegraph, select the revolve#3475,
revolve#3495, and revolve#3343. In the Render Window,
note that the nodes are parts of the rear wheels inner rim.
2. In the Scenegraph, drag and drop the three selected nodes
into the main node#5524, as shown on the left in
Figure 244. The two subordinate group nodes are now
empty, and the three geometry meshes are at the same
hierarchy level, as shown on the right in Figure 244.
Figure 244
3. Optimize the node by right-clicking on the main node#5524

and selecting Edit>Show Optimize Module.
233
4. In the Optimize module, click

to apply the
default settings. In the Optimizations area, select Cleanup
Group Nodes. In the Flush/Unflush area, select Flush
Transformation Nodes, as shown on the left in Figure 245.
Click
, and then close the Optimize module.
Notice that node#5524 has been converted into a regular

group node, and that the two empty subordinate nodes
have been removed, as shown on the right in
Figure 245.
Figure 245
5. In the Scenegraph, expand the nodes under the fix group

nodes. All of those nodes are sorted correctly. Select the
wheels node and collapse the tree structure using the slider.
This collapses all of the nodes under the wheels node
hierarchy.
6. Expand wheels and select skin#7661. Hold <Shift> and
select node#5672 to select the complete list of subordinate
nodes (except the back subordinate node) in the wheels
node, as shown in Figure 246.
234
Data Preparation
Figure 246
7. Drag and drop the selected list into the Render Window. In
the Icons Bar, click
(Zoom To) and in the Navigation
Cube click Right. The front wheel is zoomed into the Render
Window, indicating that the selected list are parts of the front
wheel.
If you click anywhere,
the name Group is
accepted. Click on the
name again to convert it
into an edit box.
8. Right-click on wheels group node and select Create>Group.

A new group node with the name Group is created at the
bottom of the front wheel parts list. Rename the group node
as front_wheel, as shown in Figure 247. Press <Enter>.
Figure 247
9. You will divide this group into two subordinate groups:

front_rotate and front_fix. Right-click on front_wheel and
then select Create>Group. A new group node with the name
Group is created. Rename the new group node to
front_rotate. Create another subordinate group node under
front_wheel and name it front_fix, as shown in Figure 248.
Figure 248
235
10. Select skin#7661. In the Render Window, note that the red
band in the rubber portion of the wheel is selected. Hold
<Ctrl> and select fillet#10855, fillet#10856, and node#5457.
In the Render Window, note that these nodes are the rotating
parts of the front wheel, as shown in Figure 249.
Figure 249
11. Drag and drop the selected nodes on the front_rotate node,
as shown on the left in Figure 250. These nodes are now
listed under front_rotate, as shown on the right in
Figure 250.
Figure 250
236
Data Preparation
12. Select fillet_srf#1432. Hold <Shift> and select node#5672 to

select the list of nodes. Drag and drop the selected nodes on
the front_fix subordinate node.
13. Expand both the front_rotate and front_fix subordinate
group nodes.
14. In the front_rotate node, expand skin#7661, fillet#10855,
and fillet#10856. Although all of these nodes have a correct
hierarchy structure, they are Transformation nodes and
should be changed. Collapse the nodes.
15. In the front_fix node, expand fillet_srf#1432, node#5306
(which has four meshes grouped under it), fillet_group#213,
node#5651, revolve#2623, and trimsurface#38. All of these
nodes have a correct hierarchy structure as well. Collapse all
of them.
16. In the front_rotate node, expand node#5457. Note that
there are a number of subordinate group and transform
nodes under it. Expand subordinate node#5430 and note
that it which has further subordinate group nodes under it.
Expand revolve#2947. Notice that it has a nurbs geometry
node under it, as shown in Figure 251.
Figure 251
237
17. Expand the rest of the subordinate nodes under node#5457.

Select node#5457 and the drag the slider to the right most
location. It expands the complete tree structure under
node#5457. Note that all of them have further group nodes
and nurbs geometry nodes, as shown in Figure 252. All of
these nodes need to be optimized so that they have a simple
hierarchy and mesh geometry, instead of nurb surface
geometry. Collapse the nodes to the node#5457 level by
clicking
Figure 252
18. In the front_fix node, expand node#5672 and notice that it

has a MaterialGroup node (as shown in Figure 253), which
is not required. Expand it further and notice that It has
another group node node#5672 which has the mesh
geometry under it. This also needs cleaning and merging of
geometry nodes to make it simpler. Leave it expanded.
Figure 253
238
Data Preparation
19. To optimize, right-click on front_wheel node and select

Edit>Show Optimize Module. In the Optimize module, click
to get the default settings. Notice that Flush
Material Group Nodes is already set by default, which
removes the material node. Click
The MaterialGroup node is converted to a regular group

node, as shown in Figure 254.
Figure 254
20. In the Optimize module, in the Flush/Unflush area, select

Flush Transformation Nodes and click
The Transformation nodes are converted to regular group

nodes.
21. In the Scenegraph, expand node#5672, MaterialGroup, and

the subordinate node#5672. Select SHELL_Blend_
piece#812 and SHELL_revolve#3165. Drag and drop the
nodes into MaterialGroup, leaving the subordinate
node#5672 empty, as shown in Figure 255.
Figure 255
239
22. Select the main node#5672 node. In the Optimize module,

click
. In the Optimizations area, select Merge
Geometry Nodes and Cleanup Group Nodes. Click
.
MaterialGroup is removed, and the node is cleaned up

and optimized. The empty group node is also removed
and the mesh nodes are merged, as shown in
Figure 256.
Figure 256
23. In the front_rotate node, expand node#5457 and note that

there are a number of subordinate group nodes under it. Also
note that node#5430 has further subordinate group nodes
containing nurb geometry nodes, as shown on the left in
Figure 257. Scroll down to display the 12 nurb geometry
nodes under node#5457.
24. Right-click on node#5457 and select Edit>Surfaces>
Convert to Mesh. In the Warning dialog box, click
. This
converts all of the nurb surfaces to

polygonal mesh geometry, as shown on the right in
Figure 257.
Figure 257
240
Data Preparation
25. Hold <Ctrl> and select all of the newly converted polygonal
geometry (12 parts). Scroll down in the Scenegraph to select
all of the geometry and drag and drop them into node#5457,
Figure 258
26. Select node#5457. In the Optimize module, click

, and then select Merge Geometry Nodes
and Cleanup Group Nodes. Click
close the Optimize module.
and then
The empty group nodes are removed, and the mesh

nodes are merged together to form three geometry nodes,
Figure 259
27. Collapse the tree structure and close the Scenegraph.

click
(Isolate). In the Navigation Cube,
(Home) to return to the ICV view.
29. Save the file as My_Mainville_Organize.vpb.
241
Practice 2b
Adjusting and Transforming

Objects in the Scene
Learning Objectives
Check and fix the surface normals of the imported
geometry.
Create clones of the wheels using the Scenegraph.
Use the Transform options to change the scene
geometry.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will check the surface normals and fix any
issues you discover. You will then duplicate a part, position it at
the required location using the Clone options in the Scenegraph,
and use the Transform tools to modify the geometry.
Task 1 - Checking and correcting normals.
The steps in the practice

are based on the default
interface options. To
return to the default
interface, close and
reopen the software and
select Window>
Layout>Default.

folder, select Mainville_Normals.vpb, and click
2. In the Menu Bar, select Visualization>Vertex/Face Normal
Rendering to display the model in the Vertex/Face Normal
rendering mode. Alternatively, you can press <F5> to enter
the mode. The scene is displayed in the Normal rendering
mode, as shown in Figure 260.
Figure 260
242
Data Preparation
The environment dome

should display as blue
to render correctly. You
might also see some
blue color bleeding
through the ground
surface. This is due to
the graphics card of the
computer and can be
ignored.
All of the object surfaces should display in green for them

to render correctly. Notice that the front wheel displays
other colors, such as violet, gold, and blue, as shown in
Figure 261. Those must be corrected.
3. Zoom into the front wheel, as shown in Figure 261.

Violet
Blue
Yellow
Figure 261

Geometry Editor module
by selecting Geometry
Editor in the shortcut
menu of the Icons Bar
and the Quick Access
Bar.
4. In the Menu Bar, select Scene>Geometry Editor to open the

Geometry Editor module. Ensure that the Normals tab is
selected, as shown in Figure 262.
Figure 262
243
To display the selection

as an orange mesh in
the Render Window (as
shown on the left in
Figure 263) verify that
(Wireframe) is
selected in the Icons
Bar.
5. In the Render Window, hold <Shift> and click on the blue rim
portion of the wheel to select it, as shown on the left in
Figure 263. In the Flip Normals area of the Geometry Editor,
click
. Hold <Shift> and right-click to clear
the selection. The blue rim portion has turned green, as
Blue rim selected
Figure 263
6. Select the two violet portions of the tire by using

<Shift>+<Ctrl> and click to select multiple objects. In the
Geometry Editor, click
, and then clear the
selection. Note that the violet portions have turned green.
7. Select the gold band in the sidewall of the tire. In the
Geometry Editor, click
, and then clear the
selection. Note that the gold band has turned green.
8. Zoom further into the wheel and notice that there is some
blue geometry at the top and the bottom of the logo, as
Blue
Figure 264
244
Data Preparation
9. Select the top blue portion of the logo. Notice that the
complete logo is selected because it is a single object, as
shown on the left in Figure 265.
10. In the Geometry Editor, click
, and then
clear the selection. Notice that the blue portion of the logo
has turned green but the green portion has turned blue, as
Blue
Figure 265
11. To correct a part of an object, press and hold <Alt> and then
right-click on the M (blue) portion of the logo. Notice how only
the M portion changes color, as shown in Figure 266.
Blue
Green
Figure 266
12. Similarly, hold <Alt> and right-click on the remaining blue

portions of the logo to make them green.
Geometry Editor.
(Home) and close the
14. In the Menu Bar, select Visualization>Realistic Rendering,

or press <F3>, to display the scene in the realistic rendering
mode.
Task 2 - Cloning the geometry.
1. In the Render Window, orbit to the other side of the vehicle.
Note that both the front and rear wheels are missing.
(Home).
245

Scenegraph module.
(Graph) to open the
4. Ensure that nothing is selected. In the Scenegraph, collapse

the Scenegraph tree if it is open by moving the slider all of the
way to the left.
5. Expand Root>AliasWorld_MainvilleHyperRod>exterior
>wheels, as shown in Figure 267.
Figure 267
6. Right-click on back and select Edit>Clone>Clone Mirror Y.

In the Scenegraph, back_mirrored1 is created, as shown in
Figure 268. Note that the back node is underlined, which
indicates that it is now a reference node.
Figure 268
7. In the Render Window, clear the selection and notice that the
back wheel has been created, as shown in Figure 269.
Figure 269
8. In the Scenegraph, right-click on front_wheel and select

Edit>Clone>Clone Mirror Y. In the Scenegraph,
front_wheel_mirrored is created, and front_wheel is
underlined. In the Render Window, note that the missing front
wheel is created.
246
Data Preparation
9. In the Render Window, clear the selection. In the Navigation

Cube, click
(Home).
Task 3 - Applying transforms.

1. In the Scenegraph, select AliasWorld_MainvilleHyperRod.
In the Navigation Cube, click Right to display the car in the
right view, as shown in Figure 270. Clear the selection.
Figure 270
2. In the Scenegraph, expand front_wheel and select

front_rotate. Notice that the rotating parts of the original front
wheel are selected in the Render Window.
3. In the Icons Bar, click and hold
(Transform) to open
the drop-down list. Select Rotation Manipulator. The
rotation manipulator is displayed in the Render Window.
To open the Transform

module, you can also
select Interaction>
Transform in the Menu
Bar or select Transform
in the shortcut menu of
the Icons or Quick
Access Bar.

Transform module, and then dock the module to the right side
of the screen. In the Rotation Pivot panel, the Position X, Y,
and Z fields display as 0.00, as shown in Figure 271.
Figure 271
5. In the Render Window, zoom out until the complete car is

displayed.
247
You might have to select

another node in the
Scenegraph and then
select the front_rotate
again to display the new
values in the Position X,
Y, Z fields in the
Transform module.
6. With front_rotate selected, in the Transform module, in the

Rotation Pivot panel, click
. In the Render
Window, the Rotation Manipulator is now moved to the center
of the selected wheel parts, as shown on the left in
Figure 272. Also notice that the Position X, Y, and Z fields
have changed to display the new location of the pivot point,
as shown on the right in Figure 272.
Figure 272
7. Hold <Shift> and click on the green rotation manipulator. The

green circle will turn orange, as shown on the left in
Figure 273. Drag the cursor down so that the wheel rotates
right until the Position Y displays as approximately -40 in the
Rotation panel of the Transform module, as shown on the
Figure 273
248
Data Preparation
8. In the Scenegraph, expand front_wheel_mirrored>

front_wheel and select front_rotate, as shown on the left in
Figure 274. In the Render Window, orbit around and notice
that the rotate portion of the cloned front wheel is selected, as
shown on the right in Figure 274. In the Rotation panel of
the Transform module, the value in Position Y is exactly the
same as the original front_rotate node. This is because any
changes made to the original reference node are reflected in
the clone node (and vice versa).
Figure 274
9. In the Transform module, in the Rotation panel, in the

Position Y edit box, enter 0.0, and press <Enter>. In the
Render Window, the front_rotate parts in both front wheels
rotate back to their original positions.
10. Clear the selection. Close the Transform module and the
Scenegraph.
(Home).
12. Save the file as My_Mainville_Normals.vpb.
249

1. Match the following names to the node icons below.
a. Material node
e. Nurbs geometry node
b. Geometry node
f. Clone group node
c. Animation group node
g. Transformation node
d. Group node
Icon
Name
2. How can you display an individual object(s) separately from

the rest of the model in the Render Window? (Select all that
apply.)
a. Double-clicking on the object in the Scenegraph.
b. Selecting the object(s) in the Scenegraph and dragging
and dropping them onto the Render Window.
250
c. Selecting the object(s) and clicking

Icons Bar.
(Isolate) in the
d. Selecting the object(s) and clicking

Icons Bar.
(Zoom To) in the
Data Preparation
3. Selection of objects in the Render Window is accomplished

using the mouse and which key on the keyboard?
a. <Alt>
b. <Shift>
c. <Ctrl>
d. <Tab>
4. In the Vertex/Face Normal Rendering mode, why might an
object display in the color violet?
a. The faces and vertices are consistent, and its normals are
facing towards the camera.
b. The faces and vertices are inconsistent: the vertex
normals are turned away from the camera, and the face
normals are pointing towards the camera.
c. The faces and vertices are inconsistent: the face
normals are turned away from the camera, and the vertex
normals are pointing towards the camera.
d. The faces and vertices are consistent, but its normals are
pointing away from the camera.
5. In the Geometry Editor module, in the Normals tab, which of
the Flip Normals options (shown in Figure 275) can be used
to correct the surface normals if the surface displays as gold?
Figure 275
a.
b.
c.
251
6. How can you correct the surface normals of a geometry that

is a part of a single object?
a. <Alt> and right-clicking on the part.
b. <Shift> and right-clicking on the part.
c. <Ctrl> and right-clicking on the part.
d. <Tab> and right-clicking on the part.
7. Which keyboard shortcut enables the Scale Manipulator?
a. <Shift>+<E>
b. <Shift>+<P>
c. <Shift>+<Q>
d. <Shift>+<R>
252
Data Preparation
Command Summary
Button
N/A
Action /
Command
Location
Boundings
Icons Bar
Wireframe
Icons Bar
Geometry Editor
Menu Bar: Scene>Geometry Editor

Shortcut Menu (on the Icons Bar or
Quick Access Bar): Geometry Editor
N/A
N/A
Isolate Selection
Icons Bar
Normal Render
Display in
Render Window
Menu Bar: Visualization>Vertex/Face

Normal Rendering
Realistic Render
Display in
Render Window
Menu Bar: Visualization>Realistic

Rendering
Scenegraph
Quick Access Bar
Shortcut: <F5>
Shortcut: <F3> for OpenGL, <F4> for

Raytracing
Menu Bar: Scene>Scenegraph
Quick Access Bar): Scenegraoh
Transform
Manipulator
Icons Bar
Transform
Module
Quick Access Bar

Menu Bar: Interaction>Transform
Quick Access Bar): Transform
Zoom To
Icons Bar
253
254
Chapter 3
Materials
In this chapter you learn how to create, edit, and manage materials using the
Material Editor module. You learn how to convert the materials into Autodesk
VRED Truelight materials, and edit their attributes to customize them. You also
learn how to calculate shadows using Ambient Occlusion.
Introduction to Materials
Managing Materials
Assigning Materials
Autodesk VRED Truelight Materials
Ambient Occlusion
31
32
Materials
3.1 Introduction to Materials

Learning Objectives
Understand the components of materials.
Understand the textures that can be used to add realism
to materials.
Creating believable visualizations almost always involves adding

materials to geometry so that they resemble real-world objects.
Materials control the color, texture, transparency, and other
physical properties of the geometry. Materials also control how
light interacts with surfaces in 3D models. The surfaces of the
models in the Render Window interact with the light sources
based on the material assignments. For example, if an object is
shiny, it reflects light; while if transparency is applied, light
passes through the object.
Materials play an important role in the 3D visualization process.
The image in the Render Window is created by the renderer
used by the software. In the Autodesk VRED Professional
software, the image displayed in the Render Window is created
using the default OpenGL renderer. Materials are interconnected
with the renderer to create a real-time, interactive display of the
objects in the scene.
Materials have different attributes associated with them that
change the way they display the geometry in the Render
Window. Based on the material type, shaders, and map
channels, the color, transparency, shininess, texture, reflection,
bumpiness, and other values are defined for the selected
material. Different material types use different material shaders
to generate their work. Shaders are algorithms that create the
display of the image in the Render Window. Each shader has its
own unique set of attributes.
The Diffuse Color represents the contributing color to all

faces in the scene.
The Glossy Color is the color for reflection. It is based on the

law of reflection, where the angle of the incoming light
(incident ray) is equal to the angle of the outgoing light
(reflected ray).
33
In addition to the physical attributes, most materials contain

maps (textures) as a key component.
Maps are based on either a 2D image file (bitmaps), or are

based on formulas which create computer-generated images.
Materials can include multiple maps on different attributes,

such as Diffuse Texture, Glossy Texture, Roughness Texture,
Bump Texture, etc. The image files for the various attributes
serve different purposes, and combine to give a realistic
affect to an object.
Beyond the materials, a map can be used for other purposes,

such as the environment background.
There are two material attributes where textures are most

commonly used:
34
Diffuse color textures are often the most important

consideration in creating realistic materials. It defines the
color of an object under normal lighting.
The Textures on Bump attribute defines an objects

indentations, relief, and roughness. This makes the objects
seem to have a texture without actually modifying the surface
geometry. In bump maps the lighter colored areas display
projected above the surface, creating a raised effect, while
the darker areas display recessed, creating a valley.
Materials
3.2 Managing Materials

Learning Objectives
Manage and work with materials that are used in a scene.
Assign and replace materials to enhance the visual
display of objects.
Adjust the individual properties of materials.
Materials in the Autodesk VRED Professional software are

managed by the Material Editor module. To open the Material
Editor, select Scene>Material Editor, or in the Quick Access
Bar, click
(Materials). Alternatively, you can also access the
module from the shortcut menu of the Icons or Quick Access
Bars.
The Material Editor (shown in Figure 31) is an interface for
listing, creating, converting, modifying, and assigning different
kinds of materials. It enables you to create a new material from a
list of base materials by modifying its attributes. It also enables
you to convert existing materials to different types of Autodesk
VRED Truelight materials, and modify those materials as
required.
Figure 31
35
As with other modules, the Material Editor is modeless and

remains open regardless of the task that you are currently
performing. By default, the Material Editor is undocked, but you
can dock it using
. The Material Editor contains a Menu Bar at
the top, a toolbar at the bottom, and a central area that contains
the sections. When you open the Material Editor for the first time,
the main area only contains the Groups, Tags section. You can
customize the main area to divide it into the following three
sections:
Groups, Tags
Preview
Attributes
To customize the main area, in the Material Editor, in the

Window menu, select or clear the required section in the list, as
shown on the left in Figure 32. Selecting a section in the list
displays it in the main area. You can display any combination of
the sections. You can also increase or decrease the space
allocated to each section by hovering the cursor over the dividing
dotted line between the sections until it displays as
. Hold
and drag the divider to increase or decrease the size of the
section window, as shown on the right in Figure 32. Each
section window can be decreased to a preset minimum size. The
maximum size of each section window is defined by the total size
of the Material Editor, which can be increased or decreased as
required.
Figure 32
36
Materials
Groups, Tags
Section
The Groups, Tags section is located along the left side of the
Material Editor. This section is further divided into two areas, as
The Materials area contains a list of all of the materials that

are present in the current scene, while the Tags area
contains the list of tags that are available in the scene
materials. You can completely remove the Tags area by
dragging the dotted divider to the bottom of the window. You
can make the lower area visible again by dragging the divider
back up. You can also increase or decrease the size of the
both the areas by pulling the divider up or down.
You can display Materials or Tags in either the upper or lower

area, or in both areas by clicking
next to the area name
and selecting the required option, as shown on the right in
Figure 33. This enables you to reorganize materials by
moving them from one list to another, or from one node to
another.
Materials
area
Tags area
Figure 33
The materials can also be organized into group nodes. You

can create a group node and then drag and drop materials
into the nodes to restructure the materials list as required.
37
Any material or group node can be renamed by clicking on

the name once to highlight it and then clicking again to
change it into an edit box. Enter the new name in the edit box
and press <Enter> to accept the new name.
You can search and filter for a material in either section, by

typing in the in Search box.The list of materials will
automatically be filtered as you type in the Search box, as
You can also filter the list based on the material type. In the
Search box, click
(Filter), which displays a list that
contains the material types. Click on a type of material to limit
the list to only those materials which belong to the selected
type in the Materials area. For example, selecting Plastic
and Triplanar filters the list to display only three materials
used in the current scene, as shown on the right in
Figure 34.
Figure 34
Materials
By default, all of the materials that are used in the scene are
displayed in this area. You can create a new material from a list
of base materials provided, or convert existing materials into
various Truelight materials. Right-click anywhere in the Materials
area, or right-click on a specific material, to display the Materials
shortcut menu, as shown in Figure 35. When you right-click in
an empty space in the Materials area, some shortcut menu
options are unavailable, such as the Convert>To Truelight
material, Edit>Copy/Duplicate, Save Material(s), etc.
38
Materials
Figure 35
All of the options in the

Materials shortcut menu
are also available in the
Material Editor menu
bar. Some of the options
are also available in the
Material Editor toolbar.
The options available in the Materials shortcut menu are as

follows:
Create
Material
Contains a list of Truelight materials that have attributes

best for each type of material. These can be used as a
base for creating your own materials, or you can edit the
attributes to customize them for your own specific
requirements. In addition to creating the Truelight
materials, you can create measured materials, multipass
materials, and material switches.
Some of the important Truelight materials provided In
the Autodesk VRED Professional software include:
Chrome, Brushed Metal, Carpaint, Glass, Tire, and
Triplanar.
Create
Environment
Enables you to create a new environment, skylight, or an

environment switch.
Create
OpenGL
Material
Enables you to create materials that can work well with

OpenGL. The Simple and Phong OpenGL materials do
not support any HDRI lighting and are visible when the
scene is illuminated by a standard light source. It also
has options for creating Chunk material, which is an
empty node that enables you to create materials with
additional chunk attributes. The CGFX scripts can be
loaded into the CGFX material node.
Edit
Enables you to Copy, Paste, Duplicate, Delete, Lock,

and Unlock a selected material.
Convert
Contains a list of all of the Truelight materials, enabling

you to convert the selected material into a Truelight
material, or a Truelight Phong material. Also enables
you to convert a skylight to Sphere Environment, or vice
versa.
Load
Material(s)...
Opens a dialog box that enables you to load previously

saved materials.
Save
Material(s)...
Opens a dialog box that enables you to save your edited

or new materials for use in other models.
39

Create Group
Creates an empty group node.
Create Group
from Selection
Creates a new group node which contains the selected

item(s) (e.g., materials, environments, skylights, etc.).
Create Switch
from Selection
Creates a switch node with the selected item (material

environment, skylight).
Select Nodes
Selects the geometry nodes to which the currently

selected material is assigned to.
Add Nodes to
Selection
Adds all of the geometry nodes which has the selected

material to the currently selected objects.
Apply to
Selected
Nodes
Assigns selected material to all of the selected geometry

nodes.
Tags
By default, all of the tags that are found in the scene are
displayed in this area. In this area, you can create a new tag or
assign materials to a tag. By selecting a tag, the preview lists
only the materials that are associated with that tag. You can
assign tags to materials by dragging and dropping the materials
onto a tag. Right-click anywhere in the Tags area, or right-click
on a specific tag to display the Tags shortcut menu, as shown in
Figure 36. By default, all of the materials in a scene are
assigned the Scene tag.
Figure 36
The options available in the Tags shortcut menu are as follows:
310
New Tag
Creates a new tag with the name Tag. Click on the new
Tag to rename the tag.
Add to
Selected
Materials
The selected tag is applied to the selected materials.
Remove Tag
from Material
Only available when you select a material. The tag is

removed from the selected material.
Remove Tag
Removes the tag from all materials.
Remove all
Tags
Removes all tags from all materials in the scene, except

for the default Scene tag.
Materials
Hint: Converting Materials

While importing a file, the materials assigned in the originating
software are automatically converted into Truelight Plastic
materials by default. This is controlled by the default settings in
the FileIO tab of the Preferences dialog box. By default, the
Convert Materials to Truelight materials option is selected,
Figure 37
You should convert each plastic material into a specific

Truelight material once it has been imported. For example, the
car exterior is converted into a Truelight Plastic material when
imported. Once in the Autodesk VRED Professional software,
you should convert it into a Unicolor, Metallic, or a Flipflop
Carpaint material by selecting the car exteriors Plastic material
in the materials list and selecting the required material from the
Convert>To Truelight Material menu, as shown in Figure 38.
Figure 38
311
Preview
Section
Hiding the Preview
section can help in
allocating more space to
the Attributes section
which also contains a
preview ball.
The Preview section offers you a visual preview of the available

materials. By default, this section is not displayed in the Material
Editor. To display the Preview section, in the Material Editor, in
the Window menu, select Preview.
The Preview section is located between the Group, Tags

section and the Attributes section (when all of the three
sections are displayed), as shown on the left in Figure 310.
It contains the list of all of the materials in the scene along
with a 3D preview of the material in the form of a preview ball,
as shown in Figure 39. The name of the material is listed
below its preview ball.
Figure 39
The slider at the bottom of the Preview section controls the

size of the preview balls that are displayed. Move the slider
all of the way to the left to change the preview ball to a list, as
shown on the right in Figure 310. Move the slider right to
gradually increase the preview ball size. As you increase the
preview ball icon size, the number of columns is decreased,
until the preview ball is maximized and displayed in a single
column.
Figure 310
312
Materials
Attributes
Section
Each material can be modified by adjusting its attributes. All of

the attributes of any material are displayed in the Attributes
section, as shown in Figure 311.
Figure 311
If no material or multiple
materials are selected,
the Attributes section
remains blank.
Select a material in the Group, Tags section or in the Preview

section. The material is highlighted, and its various attributes
are displayed in the Attributes section.
The name of the material and its preview ball is displayed

near the top of the Attributes section. You can rename the
material by entering a new name in the Name field. Any tags
that are assigned to the material are listed below its name.
A materials attributes are grouped in rollouts. Clicking on a

rollout bar expands it to display the parameters. The first
rollout displays the base material from which the material was
created. In Figure 311, the Aluminium material was created
using the Brushed Metal as its base material.
313
There are 3 tabs on the right of the Attributes section:

Realistic, Analytic, and NPR. By default, the attributes of the
material are displayed in the Realistic rendering mode.
Selecting Analytic or NPR opens the attributes to set the
shading settings for the Analytic or NPR rendering mode, as
shown for the NPR rendering mode in Figure 312.
Figure 312
Material Editor
Toolbar
The Material Editor toolbar (shown in Figure 313) displays at

the bottom left corner of the module window. It contains tools
related to materials, and enables you to manage the materials.
All of the actions available on this toolbar can also be performed
using the Material shortcut menu and the Material Editor menu
bar. The toolbar provides you with easy access to the most
commonly used tools.
Figure 313
314
Materials
The tools available in the Material Editor toolbar are as follows:

Icon
(Create)
Description
Enables you to create a new Truelight material. It
provides you with the Truelight material list for creating
a new material. You can also create environments or
skylights.
Duplicates the selected material(s).
(Duplicate)
Creates a new group node from the selected
material(s).
(Group from
Selection)
Selects all geometry nodes to which the selected
material is assigned.
(Select Nodes)
Assigns selected material to all of the selected nodes.
(Apply to
Selected Nodes)
Any unused materials are deleted from the scene.
Remove Unused)
Deletes the selected material.
(Delete)
315
3.3 Assigning Materials

Learning Objective
Understand the different methods of assigning materials.
After materials have been created, you need to assign them to

the geometry so that they are visible in the Render Window.
There are various methods of assigning materials to the
geometry:
Drag and drop in the Render Window
Drag and drop in the Scenegraph
Copy and paste material
Using the Material Editor
How To: Drag and Drop Materials into the Render

Window
1. In the Material Editor, in the Group, Tags section, select the
material that you want to assign to an object in the scene.
2. Drag the material into the Render Window. Notice that the
selected materials preview ball is attached to the cursor, as
3. Hover the cursor over the geometry you want to assign the
selected material to. Note that the geometry is previewed
with the selected material is applied, as shown on the right in
Figure 314.
Figure 314
4. Release the cursor to assign the material to the geometry.
316
Materials
Hint: Deactivating the Material Preview

In the Menu Bar, clear the Visualization>Interactive Material
Preview option. This deactivates the material preview in the
Render Window when you drag a material over an object.
How To: Drag and Drop Materials into the

Scenegraph
1. Open the Scenegraph and expand the nodes to access the
node to which you want to assign the material.
2. In the Material Editor, in the Group, Tags section, select the
material that you want to assign.
3. Click and drag the material and drop it onto the geometry
node in the Scenegraph, as shown in Figure 315.
Figure 315
In the Render Window, note that the material has been

assigned to the geometry.
If you drop the material onto a group node in the Scenegraph,
the material is assigned to all of its dependent geometry
nodes.
How To: Copy and Paste Materials

1. Hold <M>. Note that the cursor has changed to a selection
cursor. In the Render Window, click on the geometry whose
material you want to copy.
317
2. Hold <M> and move the cursor to notice that the material
preview ball is attached to the cursor, as shown on the left in
Figure 316.
3. While still holding <M>, right-click on the geometry where you
want to paste the material, as shown on the right in
Figure 316.
Holding <M> continues to keep the copied material saved
to the cursor. As long as you are holding <M>, you can
right-click on multiple geometry objects to continue to
apply the copied the material.
<M> and
click
<M> and
right-click
Figure 316
How To: Assign Materials Using the Material Editor

1. Select an object(s) in the Render Window.
2. In the Material Editor, right-click on the material you want to
assign.
3. Select Apply to Selected Nodes to assign the material to
the selected nodes, as shown in Figure 317. Alternatively,
use the shortcut <Ctrl>+<M>, or click
Nodes) in the Material Editor toolbar.
Figure 317
318
(Apply to Selected
Materials
3.4 Autodesk VRED Truelight

Materials
Learning Objectives
Understand the types of Truelight materials provided with
the Autodesk VRED Professional software.
Understand the attributes of different types of Truelight
materials.
The Autodesk VRED Truelight materials are provided with the

software and contain attributes that are best suited for each type
of material. You can achieve high-quality renderings using the
Truelight materials as they have the capability of generating
accurate lighting effects. By using your own texture maps with
these base materials and by tweaking the various parameters,
you can achieve an unlimited variety of materials.
The Truelight material list (shown in Figure 318) can be
accessed in the Material Editor, as follows:
In the Create/Convert menu, select Create Material or

Convert>To Truelight material.
In the shortcut menu, select Create Material or Convert>To

Truelight material.
Click
(Create) in the Material Editor toolbar.
Figure 318
319
There are 17 Truelight materials available in the Autodesk VRED

Professional software. Each material contains attributes that are
specific to the selected material for detail enhancement, as well
as other attributes that are common to all of the Truelight
materials. The Truelight materials are designed specifically for
automobile visualization, and include the following:
Brushed Metal
Line Chrome
Tire
Carbon
Metallic Carpaint
Triplanar
Carbon 2D
Phong
Unicolor Carpaint
Chrome
Plastic
Velvet
Flipflop Carpaint
Reflective Plastic
Woven Cloth
Glass
Reflective Triplanar
Each Truelight material has specific attributes that enable you to

enhance and customize them as required. The first rollout
provides attributes that are specific to the Truelight material that
was used as a base material, while others are common to all of
the Truelight materials, as shown for the Chrome Truelight
material in Figure 319.
Figure 319
320
Materials
Common
Truelight
Material
Attributes
Texture
Channels
The common Truelight material attributes are grouped into the

following rollouts:
Incandescence
Enables you to set a material to have self-illuminating

properties. In this rollout you can set the color and
intensity of self illumination, and select a texture file to
be used for illumination intensity and area. If you are
using a texture, a series of options can be used to set
how the texture UV should be repeated, mirrored,
rotated, or offset. The Use as Light Source option
enables you to set the geometry to be used as a light
source, and is only available with Raytracing.
Transparency
Enables you to set the transparency of the material.

For complete transparency, use the See Through
option. You can also use a texture file for providing
transparency or opacity. If you are using a texture, a
series of options can be used to set how the texture UV
should be repeated, mirrored, rotated, or offset.
Displacement
Displacement works with a 2D image which does not

have any height information. The details (based on the
resolution of the image) in the image are mapped onto
a geometry and interpreted as height information. You
can create detailed structures by displacing the
selected geometry along the vertex normals using the
height information, which produces accurate reflection
and shadows. The rollout provides you with the option
for defining the displacement height. You can also use
a texture file for defining a pattern on the surface. If you
are using a texture, a series of options can be used to
set how the texture UV should be repeated, mirrored,
rotated, or offset.
Raytracing
Provides you with options to be used with Raytracing.

You can set the material id number and tube radius
when applied to a line geometry. Also enables you to
override the illumination mode, sampling quality for IBL
and Reflection/Refraction, and override the maximum
Raytrace depth.
Common
Provides you with options that control the Occlusion

color, intensity, and lighting mode.
Many of the Truelight materials have different channels on which

you can apply the Texture Maps. The options for the different
texture channels are grouped under the Diffuse Texture, Glossy
Texture, Roughness Texture, and Bump Texture rollouts.
321
Diffuse Texture
The Diffuse Texture rollout enables you to load an image texture
map for the Diffuse channel, which sets the map on the surface
of the selected geometry. To enable the options that control how
the texture is applied on the surface, select Use Texture, as
Figure 320
These options are the

same in each of the
Texture channels.
322
Use
to open the Load Texture dialog box, which enables
you to load a texture from the required folder.
Use
to open the Save Texture dialog box, which enables
you to save the selected texture to a new location.
Use
to reload a selected texture. After loading a texture,
you might make changes to a texture. Reloading the texture
adds the changes to the texture.
Use
Mapping Type: Set the Mapping Type as UV or Planar.
Repeat Mode UV: Select Repeat to repeat the texture in all

directions, Mirrored to repeat and mirror the texture, Decal
to prevent repeating the texture, and Clamp to repeat the last
pixel of the texture.
Repeat UV: Enter a number of times that you want the UV to

repeat.
Offset UV: Enables you to set a offset for the UV.
Rotate: Rotates the UV. Drag the slider to change the values
ranging from negative to positive. You can also enter a
number in the value edit box.
to delete the texture.
Materials
Anisotropy: To define the filter quality, set a number

between 1 (lowest quality) and 16 (highest quality). Drag the
slider bar to change the values, or enter a number in the
value edit box.
Input Gamma: Set the Gamma correction for the image.
Use ICC Profile: The colors of the texture are based on the
profile information provided with the texture. If no profile
information is provided, the colors are based on the RGB
values that are stored.
Glossy Texture
You can use this rollout to load an image texture map for the
Glossy channel. The options included are same as the options
provided in the Diffuse Texture rollout.
Roughness Texture
You can use this rollout to load an image texture map for the
Roughness channel. This rollout has the same options that are
provided in the Diffuse Texture rollout, as well as the following
additional options:
Minimum Roughness: Sets the minimum roughness for the

texture.
Maximum Roughness: Sets the maximum roughness for

the texture.
Bump Texture
Bump maps are used to describe indentations and relief. In
bump maps, the lighter-colored areas display as raised above
the surface, while the darker areas display as recessed. You can
use this rollout to load an image texture map for the Bump
channel. This rollout has the same options that are provided in
the Diffuse Texture rollout, as well as the following additional
options:
Use Structure: Enabling this option uses a procedural

structure, as opposed to a texture map. The procedural
structure is generated by the software to simulate a bumpy
surface.
Parallel Intensity: Sets the parallel shift of the image.
323
Truelight
Materials
Bump Intensity: Sets the intensity of the bumpiness in the

image.
Structure Size: Sets the size of the bumps when the Use
Structure option is enabled.
Bump Type: Enables you to use either a regular map or a

pixel displacement map.
Designers and engineers generally create and assign materials

while creating geometry in an engineering software application,
such as Alias or Inventor. Once you import objects into the
Autodesk VRED Professional software, the materials are
automatically converted into Plastic Truelight material. To
prevent this conversion, select Edit>Preferences to open the
Preferences dialog box, and then on the FileIO tab, clear the
Convert Materials to Truelight materials option. Based on the
geometry, you should convert each plastic material to a specific
Truelight material. By creating, modifying, and applying these
materials, you can produce a realistic rendering.
Some of the commonly used Truelight materials are as follows:
Preview Ball
324
Name
Preview Ball
Name
Chrome
Unicolor
Carpaint
Brushed Metal
Flipflop Carpaint
Glass
Triplanar
Metallic Carpaint
Tire
Materials
Chrome
The Chrome material is used on geometry where you want to
display a reflective metallic surface. A list of specific metal types
are available in this material. In addition to the various texture
and common attributes, the specific parameters for this material
are provided in the Chrome Material rollout, as shown in
Figure 321.
Figure 321
Reflection Color: Sets the color of the bright reflective area

in the object, as shown in Figure 322. Click the color swatch
next to the slider to open the Choose a Color dialog box,
which enables you to select a color for the reflective area.
White reflection
Gray reflection
Figure 322
Smear: Increasing the smear value adds a blurred area

around the reflection. A smear value of 0.00 has a crisp,
defined reflective area.
Contrast: Controls the contrast levels between the reflective

area and the base chrome area.
Saturation: Controls the saturation level of the reflection.
325
Type: Select from available metal types, such as Aluminium,

Silver, Gold, etc., as shown in Figure 323.
Figure 323
Use Roughness and Roughness: Enables and sets the

roughness value.
Bump Texture rollout: Selecting Use Structure (instead of

using a texture file) creates a textured effect in the material.
You can set the Bump Intensity and Structure Size to get
various metal effects, as shown in Figure 324.
Bump Intensity 5.00

Structure Size 0.50
Bump Intensity 3.00

Structure Size 1.00
Bump Intensity 1.50

Structure Size 0.50
Figure 324
Brushed Metal
The Brushed Metal material is used on geometry where you
want to display a metallic surface which is less reflective than
Chrome, such as on wheel rims. In addition to the various texture
and common attributes, the specific parameters for this material
are provided in the Brushed Metal Material, Clearcoat, and
Brush Orientation rollouts, as shown in Figure 325.
Figure 325
326
Materials
Brushed Metal Material rollout: Enables you to set the

diffuse reflection color, glossy reflection color, roughness,
and metal type.
Brush Orientation rollout: To enable the options in the

Brush Orientation rollout, in the Bump Texture rollout, select
Use Structure. The options provided in this rollout enables
you to set the direction of the grain of the metal, and the
brush size in U and V directions, as shown in Figure 326.
Planar XY
Higher Size U
Radial XY
Lower Size U
Radial YZ
Higher Size U
Figure 326
Glass
The Glass material is used to simulate a transparent or frosted
glass material. In addition to the various texture and common
attributes, the specific parameters for this material are provided
in the Glass Material rollout, as shown in Figure 327.
Figure 327
327
Glass Material rollout: Enables you to set the transparency

and reflection colors. If you want to add a tint to a glass
surface, select a color in the Exterior Transparency option.
Adding a darker color makes the glass more opaque. A list of
glass materials with different refraction indices is provided in
the Select Medium drop-down list. A recommended Index of
Refraction should be between 1.5 to 1.6 to ensure that the
glass has a high-quality visualization.
Metallic Carpaint
A layered material that contains a base paint layer, embedded
metal flakes layer, and clear-coat layer, each of which has their
own parameters and rollouts. This enables you to create
complex, highly reflective surfaces that are best suited for
metallic painted surfaces, such as the car bodies. In addition to
the various texture and common attributes, the specific
parameters for this material are provided in the Metallic Carpaint
Material, Flakes, and Clearcoat rollouts, as shown in
Figure 328.
Figure 328
328
Base Color: Enables you to set the diffuse reflection color.
Flakes: Contains options for setting the color of the flakes,

roughness, flake size, and intensity. By tweaking these
settings you can have varied metallic shaders available, as
Materials
Large flake
size
Small flake size,

no roughness
Maximum
roughness
Figure 329
Clearcoat: Enables you to set the clearcoat color and

reflective intensity. The Use orange peel option can be used
to set the bump structure with a noise in the shader.
Unicolor Carpaint
A metallic carpaint option that has only a base paint layer and a
clear-coat layer.
Flipflop Carpaint
A metallic carpaint option where the color varies depending on
the viewing angle. This material contains a base, embedded
flakes, and clearcoat layers. The Flakes rollout has options for
setting two different flake colors, as shown in Figure 330. Using
the Blending option, you can define the mixture ratio of the flake
colors.
Figure 330
Triplanar
A material that is used when you want to use texture images for
objects that do not have a correct UV mapping. You can use
Triplanar for surfaces that require a leather or other textures
look, such as car seats.
Triplanar Material: If you do not have a texture image on the

Diffuse and Glossy channels, then you can set the Diffuse
color and the Glossy affects in this rollout.
329
Triplanar: Enables you to set the placement of the texture.

You can set the repetition values of the U and V axes.
Bump Texture: If you have a texture map on the Bump

Texture rollout, you can use the bump intensity to display the
embossing or the depressions of the texture, as shown in
Figure 331.
Negative bump intensity
Positive bump intensity
Figure 331
Tire
The Tire material is provided with the software and enables you
to easily texture the tires for its treads and the sidings for the
rubber shadings. In addition to the various texture and common
attributes, the specific parameters for this material are provided
in the Tire Material, Diffuse, Glossy, and Bump Texture rollouts,
which enables you to assign textures for the marking and the
profile, as shown in Figure 332.
Figure 332
330
Materials
Use Markings: You can use this option in the Diffuse,

Glossy, and the Bump Texture rollouts to load a texture image
for the sides of the tire.
Use Profile: You can use this option in the Diffuse, Glossy,
and the Bump Texture rollouts to load a texture image for the
tread markings along the width of the tire.
Hint: Advanced Tire Texture Modifications

If you have cloned and mirrored a wheel to create the wheel
geometry on the opposite side of an automobile, the Tire
texture applied to the original wheel is automatically applied to
the cloned wheel. However, the texture on the cloned geometry
is inverted, and logos or words are displayed incorrectly, as
Original texture
Inverted texture
Figure 333
To correct this, you have to create two separate textures by

copying the original texture and mirroring it in a texture or
graphics editing software application. You also have to remove
the reference between the two geometries (original and
cloned). In the Autodesk VRED software, use the shortcut
menu in the Scenegraph, select Edit>Unshare, and then
assign the individual textures separately to the two objects.
331
3.5 Ambient Occlusion

Learning Objectives
Understand the effects of Ambient Occlusion to bring out
detail enhancements.
Calculate the Ambient Occlusion of geometry in the
current scene.
Ambient Occlusion (AO) is a type of shadow calculation that

adds a detail enhancement effect. It adds gradient shading that
brings out subtle differences. In other words, it is the shadowing
and self shadowing of the objects in a scene.
The Autodesk VRED Professional software uses AO to simulate
shadows. AO uses shaders to calculate the extent to which an
area is inhibited by incoming light, thus enhancing the detail in
dark crevices, cracks, and along edges, as well as areas that are
exposed to too much light. AO is NOT physically accurate and is
not based on any physically accurate light. It imitates the affects
of light and approximates shadows to add realism to the
geometry while rendering. Once calculated, the AO results are
then applied to the vertices of the geometry. The result with AO
should be smooth, with high level of detail enhancements.
The smoothness of AO is dependent on the level of detail of the
selected geometry. The higher the density of the wire mesh of
the geometry, the better the quality of shadow using AO. The
Autodesk VRED Professional software provides you with options
to increase the level of detail of the geometries to ensure that the
final rendering has a smooth AO.
In the software, AO is created separately. The AO calculations
are then used to define the shadows with the OpenGL rendering
mode, as well as some options in the Raytracing rendering
mode. Once the AO has been calculated, you can examine the
results in the Ambient Occlusion visualization mode, shown in
Figure 334. Select Visualization>Ambient Occlusion
Rendering or press <F7> to display a scene in the Ambient
Occlusion visualization mode.
332
Materials
Figure 334

Ambient Occlusion
module by selecting
Ambient Occlusion
from the shortcut menu
of the Icons Bar or
Quick Access Bar.
AO is calculated using the Ambient Occlusion module (shown in

Figure 335), which is accessed by selecting Scene>Ambient
Occlusion.
Figure 335
333
The rollouts that are available in the Ambient Occlusion module

are as follows:
Direct
Illumination
Enables you to select a Shadow Quality from a list of preset

qualities. The higher the quality, the more samples that are
calculated. The Minimum Distance and Maximum
Distance options define the area in which the AO is
calculated. For automobiles, the default, recommended
range is1.00 mm minimum, and 3000.00 mm maximum.
Indirect
Illumination
You can enable Indirect Illumination by selecting Enable.

Set the Quality from a list of preset qualities.
Subdivision
AO is based on vertices, and therefore the quality of the

shadow depends on the density of the mesh in the
geometry. You can enable the Subdivision by selecting
Enable, and then set the Quality from a list of preset
qualities. This option subdivides the geometry to create a
clean mesh that produces high quality shadows.
How To: Calculate the Ambient Occlusion

1. Select the geometry for which you need to calculate Ambient
Occlusion.
2. In the Menu Bar, select Scene>Ambient Occlusion to open
the Ambient Occlusion module.
3. In the Direct Illumination rollout, select the Shadow Quality
based on the required quality.
4. In Indirect Illumination, select Enable, and then select the
Quality required.
5. Click
.
6. To examine the AO in the Render Window, change to the
Ambient Occlusion rendering mode by selecting
Visualization>Ambient Occlusion Rendering, or by
pressing <F7>.
The results in the Ambient Occlusion rendering mode
display without the materials and should be smooth
without any blotchiness.
7. Return to the OpenGL rendering mode by selecting
Visualization>Realistic Rendering, or by pressing <F3>.
334
Materials
Practice 3a
Converting Materials
Learning Objectives
Convert materials from Truelight Plastic material to the
required Truelight material type.
Modify the attributes of the Truelight Plastic, Chrome,
Glass, Triplanar, and Metallic Carpaint materials.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will convert materials into Truelight materials,

and then modify the attributes as per the scenes requirements.
Task 1 - Converting materials.

select Window>
Layout>Default.

(Open), or select File>Open to
open the Open File dialog box.
folder, select Mainville_Materials.vpb. Click
.
The mainville car opens in the Render Window in the Initial
Camera View (ICV) position, as shown in Figure 336.
Figure 336
3. In the Icons Bar, activate

active.
(Boundings), if not already
335

Material Editor by
selecting Scene>
Material Editor, or by
selecting Material
Editor in the shortcut
menu of the Icons Bar
or Quick Access Bar.

(Materials) to open the
Material Editor, shown in Figure 337.
5. In the Material Editor, select Window>Attributes and clear
Preview. Verify that Group, Tags and the Attributes sections
are displayed, as shown in Figure 337.
Figure 337
6. In the Group, Tags section, between the Materials

sub-section and the Tags sub-section, hover the cursor over
the dotted divider line to display
. Click and drag the cursor
to the bottom to display the material list in a single section, as
Figure 338
336
Materials
7. Dock the Material Editor to the right side of the Render

Window so that the Material Editor does not overlap the
model, and both the model and the Material Editor are
displayed on the screen.
8. In the Groups, Tags section, select Teak, located at the
bottom of the list, to display its attributes. Notice that the
name Teak is displayed in the Attributes section and the top
rollout displays as Plastic Material, as shown in Figure 339,
indicating that it is a plastic material and has not been
converted to its corresponding Truelight material. By default,
all of the materials have been converted into Truelight Plastic
Materials when the file was imported.
Figure 339
You can also press

<Ctrl>+<N>, or click
(Select Nodes) in
the Material Editor
toolbar.
9. To convert the material into a proper material, you need to

determine the type of material that should be assigned to the
parts which are currently assigned as Teak. In the
Groups, Tags section, right-click on Teak and click Select
Nodes. This selects all of the objects in the Render Window
that have the Teak material.
(Isolate) to display only the
selected parts, as shown in Figure 340. This enables you to
visually see the parts in isolation, and enables you to
determine the material that is best suited for them.
Figure 340
337
Note that Front label is

displayed in the
Navigation Cube.

(Zoom To) to zoom in on the
selected parts. Orbit to the Front view, as shown in
Figure 341.
Figure 341
The selected objects contain the two inside door trims,

part of the two dashboards, console trim in the dashboard
and between the two seats, as shown in Figure 341.
12. In the Material Editor, in the Attributes tab, click in the Name
field, rename the material to INT_leather_yellow, and press
<Enter>, as shown in Figure 342.
Figure 342
13. You will use a leather texture for the Bump and Glossy
Texture parameters to display the leather affects, but use the
color yellow to match the seams of the leather seats. To apply
a leather texture you need to use a Triplanar material as a
base material. In the Groups,Tags section, right-click on
INT_leather yellow and select Convert>To Truelight
material>Triplanar, as shown in Figure 343.
338
Materials
Figure 343
This converts the material to a Truelight Triplanar material,

which has all of the basic triplanar attributes. Notice in the
Attributes section, the top rollout changes from Plastic to
Triplanar Material, as shown in Figure 344.
Figure 344
Task 2 - Modifying the Triplanar Material Attributes.

1. Verify that the INT_leather yellow material is still selected,
and that its attributes are displayed.
2. In the Triplanar Material rollout, click the color swatch next to
the Diffuse Color slider to open the Choose a Color dialog
box.
339
3. Select a yellow color, similar to the one shown in

Figure 345, and click
Figure 345
4. Open the Glossy Texture rollout and click Use Texture. Click
next to the Use Texture box (as shown in Figure 346)
to open the Load Texture dialog box.
Figure 346
5. In the dialog box, open C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals Class

Files\Chapter 3\ and select Leather_glossy.png. Click
. Notice that the texture is linked with the Glossy
channel of the material.
6. In the Bump Texture rollout, click Use Texture. Similarly, link
the texture Leather_height.tif to the Bump channel.
7. In the Render Window, zoom in to one of the door trims to
see the texture closely, as shown in Figure 347.
340
Materials
Figure 347
You can also enter an

exact value in the edit
box instead of using the
slider.
8. In the Material Editor, in the Bump Texture rollout, move the

Bump Intensity slider left and right to see its effect in the
Render Window. Enter a value of 2.00 for the Bump Intensity
Figure 348
(Isolate) to turn it off, and click
(Home) in the Navigation Cube to display the complete

model in the ICV position.
Task 3 - Modifying the Chrome Material Attributes.
The Truelight Plastic
Material has already
been converted to
Chrome material.
1. In the Material Editor, in the Groups,Tags section, select

EXT_alu. Notice in its Attributes section that the Chrome
Material rollout is the top rollout, indicating that it is a chrome
material.
341
2. Right-click on EXT_alu and click Select Nodes to select the

associated geometry. In the Icons Bar, click
(Isolate) to
display only the selected parts and zoom in to see the parts.
These parts require an aluminum material.
3. In the Chrome Material rollout, in the Type drop-down list,
select Aluminium, as shown in Figure 349.
Figure 349
4. In the Render Window, zoom in on one of the wheel rims, as

shown in Figure 350, to see the affect of the attributes while
you make modifications.
Figure 350
342
Materials
5. In the Chrome Material rollout, move the Contrast slider

slightly to see its affect. Set the Contrast value to 0.98. Select
Use Roughness and set the Roughness value to 1.60, as
Figure 351
You might have to zoom

in significantly to see the
affects.
6. Zoom in close to a portion of the wheel rim. In the Bump

Texture rollout, select Use Structure. Using the sliders, move
the Structure Size and Bump Intensity to see the affect in the
Render Window. Set the Structure Size to 0.08, and set the
Bump Intensity to 1.50, as shown in Figure 352.
Figure 352
(Isolate), and then click
(Home) in the Navigation Cube.
343
Task 4 - Modifying the Glass material attributes.

EXT_glass_frontlights. Notice that the Glass Material
rollout is the top rollout, indicating that it has already been
converted into a Glass Material.
2. Right-click on EXT_glass_frontlights and click Select
Nodes to select the associated geometry. In the Icons Bar,
click
(Isolate) to display only the selected parts, which
are the outer glass ring portions of the headlights. Zoom in on
one of the headlights to see the affect of the changes while
modifying the attributes.
If you want a glass to
have a tint, you can add
the darkness using the
Exterior Transparency
slider.
3. In the Glass Material rollout, in the Select Medium drop-down

list, select Crown Glass (Borosilic). It is recommended that
the Index of Refraction is set to be between 1.5 and 1.6 to
ensure that the glass material has a good visualization
quality. Notice that the Crown Glass (Borosilic) material has
a Index of Refraction of 1.5168. Move the Exterior
Transparency slider as far to the right as possible, as shown
on the left in Figure 353. This changes the material into a
clear glass, and is displayed in the preview ball, as shown on
the right in Figure 353.
Figure 353
(Isolate), and then click
(Home) in the Navigation Cube.
344
Materials
Task 5 - Modifying the Metallic Carpaint material attributes.

The Truelight Plastic
Material has already
been converted to
Metallic Carpaint
material.
1. In the Material Editor, in the Groups, Tags section, select

EXT_paint. Notice in its Attributes section that it is a Metallic
Carpaint Material, indicating that it has already been
converted from Plastic. Rename the material to
EXT_paint_yellow.
2. Right-click on EXT_paint_yellow and click Select Nodes to
select the associated geometry. In the Icons Bar, click
(Isolate). This is the exterior portion of the car, which
has a yellow base color. Orbit around and zoom in very close
to one of the side doors.
3. In the Metallic Carpaint Material rollout, notice that the Base
Color is yellow. The Base Color is automatically assigned
when importing the file from the originating software and is
maintained in the Plastic Truelight material and the Metallic
Carpaint material upon conversion.
4. In the Flakes rollout, move the Flake Color slider left and
right. Notice how the lighter flake color (slider right) dissolves
the color of the paint whereas the darker flake color (slider
left) makes the color more solid.
5. In the Metallic Carpaint Material rollout, next to the Base
Color slider, click on the Base Color swatch to open the
Choose a Color dialog box. The dialog box opens with the
original yellow color values. Click on
near the
bottom left corner of the dialog box, saving the original yellow
color in the first slot. Click
6. In the Flakes rollout, next to the Flake Color slider, click on

the Flake Color swatch. In the Choose a Color dialog box,
near the bottom left corner, click on (first yellow slot) to use
the stored yellow color values. Click
Flake Size to 0.06, as shown in Figure 354.
. Set the
Figure 354
345
7. Clear
position.
(Isolate) and display the model in the ICV
Task 6 - Modifying the Plastic material attributes.

INT_plastic_backshell_seats. Notice in its Attributes
section that it is a Plastic Material.
2. Right-click on INT_plastic_backshell_seats and click
Select Nodes to select the associated geometry. In the Icons
Bar, click
(Isolate). Zoom and orbit around to zoom into
the back side of one of the seats, as shown in Figure 355.
Figure 355
346
Materials
3. In the Plastic Material rollout, move the Diffuse Color slider

left and select a darker shade of gray, as shown in
Figure 356.
Figure 356
4. In the Bump Texture rollout, select Use Structure. Set the

Bump Intensity to 1.20 and the Structure Size to 0.10.
5. Clear
position.
(Isolate) and display the model in the ICV
6. Hold <Shift> and right-click in the Render Window to clear

any selection.
7. Save the file as My_Mainville_Materials.vpb.
347
Practice 3b
Creating New Materials

Learning Objectives
Create a new Truelight material and assign it to the
required parts in the scene.
Modify the attributes of the Truelight Brushed Metal and
Tire materials.
Duplicate the material and assign it to a different part.
Create a material switch to save two variations of the
same material.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will create Truelight materials and assign

them to the required parts. You will also modify their attributes to
enhance the look of those parts.
Task 1 - Create and modify Brushed Metal material
attributes.
You will create a new Brushed Metal material and assign it to the
rim portion of the wheel.

select Window>
Layout>Default.

folder, open Mainville_Create_Materials.vpb.
2. Open the Material Editor and dock it to the right side of the
screen.
3. In the Material Editor, in the Groups,Tags section, right-click
anywhere and select Create Material>Brushed Metal.
Notice a new Brushed Metal material is created near the top
of the list, as shown in Figure 357.
Figure 357
4. Rename the new material as

EXT_brushed_metal_backwheel.
348
Materials
5. In the Render Window, orbit and zoom to the rear wheel on

the left side and select the inner rim portion, as shown on the
left in Figure 358. Isolate the part by clicking
(Isolate).
Notice that it should display as SHELL_revolve#3495 in the
Render Window. Zoom in close to the selected portion of the
wheel, as shown on the right in Figure 358.
Figure 358
6. In the Material Editor, right-click on EXT_brushed_metal

_backwheel and select Apply to Selected Nodes.
Alternatively, you can use <Ctrl>+<M> or click
(Apply to
Selected Nodes) in the Material Editor toolbar to apply the
brushed metal material to the selected objects. In the Render
Window, note that the black plastic is changed to a shiny gray
metal.
7. In the Attributes section, in the Brushed Metal Material
rollout, verify that Metal Type is set to Aluminium.
8. In the Bump Texture rollout, select Use Structure.
349
You might have to zoom

in significantly to see the
direction of the grain.
9. In the Brush Orientation rollout, set Brush Mapping to

Radial XZ so that the metal grain follows the correct
direction. Zoom in close to one of the inner rim areas and
notice that although the direction of the grain is longitudinal, it
does not follow the correct curvature, as shown on the left in
Figure 359.
10. In the Brush Orientation rollout, in the Radial Mapping area,
click
to center the pivot point of the wheel.
Note that the direction of the grain on the wheel now follows
the correct curvature, as shown on the right in Figure 359.
Also move the Size U slider to see the distance between
each grain line. Set it to 1.0.
Figure 359
11. In the Bump Texture rollout, drag the Bump Intensity slider
and notice its affect in the Render Window. Set it to 0.50.
12. Clear
(Isolate) and clear the selection.

(Home). Orbit around to
the back wheel on the right side of the vehicle. Notice that it
also has the new brushed metal material with the correct
grain assigned to it. This is because it is a clone of the other
back wheel and any changes made to one wheel affects the
other wheel as well.
14. Display the model in the ICV position.
350
Materials
Task 2 - Duplicate a material.

In this task, you will duplicate the EXT_brushed_metal
_backwheel material and assign it to the rim portion of the front
wheel.
on EXT_brushed_metal_backwheel and select Edit>
Duplicate, as shown on the left in Figure 360. Notice that a
material with the name EXT_brushed_metal_backwheel1 is
created, as shown on the right in Figure 360.
Figure 360
2. Rename EXT_brushed_metal_backwheel1 to
EXT_brushed_metal_frontwheel.
3. Select the inner rim part of the left side front wheel. Click
(Isolate), and notice that the Isolate View should display
SHELLrevolve#2947. Zoom in close to the selected portion
of the wheel.
on EXT_brushed_metal_frontwheel and click Apply to
Selected Nodes. Notice that the brushed metal material is
assigned to the selected part. Zoom in close and notice that
the direction of metal grain does not follow the correct radial
curvature.
5. In the Attributes section, in the Brush Orientation rollout, click
to center the pivot point of the wheel.
Notice that the direction now follows the correct direction.
6. Clear
(Isolate) and clear the selection.

351

(Home). Orbit around to
the front wheel on the right side of the vehicle. Notice that it
has the new brushed metal material with the correct grain
because it is a clone of the other front wheel.
Task 3 - Create and modify a new material (Tire).
anywhere and select Create Material>Tire. Notice a new
Tire material is created and is listed near the bottom of the
material list and is selected by default.
2. Rename the new material as EXT_tire_back.

(Graph). In the
Scenegraph, expand the main AliasWorldMainvilleHyperRod node and then expand exterior>
wheels>back. Drag and drop rotate into the Render Window
to isolate it. Click
(Zoom To) to zoom in on the back
wheel, as shown in Figure 361.
Figure 361
352
Materials
4. In the Scenegraph, expand rotate and select revolve#3523

and revolve#3522. In the Render Window, orbit around and
notice that the outer shell and the profile (rubber portion) of
the wheel is selected as shown in Figure 362. Close the
Scenegraph.
Figure 362

on EXT_tire_back and click Apply to Selected Nodes.
Notice a light gray color is assigned to the selected parts.
6. In the Attributes section, in the Diffuse Texture rollout, select
Use Markings. Click
. In the Load Texture dialog box,
browse to the C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals Class
Files\Chapter 3\ folder and select Tire_Sidewall.jpg. Click
.
7. In the Diffuse Texture rollout, select Use Profile. Click
.
In the Load Texture dialog box, browse to the C:\VRED Pro
Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 3\ folder and select
Tire_Tread.jpg, as shown in Figure 363.
Figure 363
353
8. Similarly, in both the Glossy Texture and Bump Texture

rollouts, for Use Markings select and load Tire_Sidewall.jpg,
and for Use Profile select and load Tire_Tread.jpg.
9. In the Render Window, orbit around and notice that the
textures have been assigned, but are not mapped correctly,
Figure 364
10. With both the objects still selected, in the Texture Settings
rollout, click
. Verify that the Rotation Axis
displays as Y Axis. Note how the textures are aligned
correctly. Set Repeat Profile U to 6.0 and Repeat Profile V to
4.0. Set Blend Position to 1.00, as shown in Figure 365.
Figure 365
354
Materials
11. In the Bump Texture rollout, set the Bump Intensity to 3.7 and
the Parallax Intensity to 0.80.
12. Clear
(Isolate) and clear the selection. Display the
model in the ICV position by clicking
13. Orbit around and zoom in to the back wheel on the right side
of the vehicle. Note that the material is correctly assigned to it
because it is a clone of the other back wheel.
Task 4 - Create and modify a new material (Tire).
Repeat the steps performed in Task 3 to texture the front tires of
the Mainville vehicle.
1. In the Material Editor, create a new Tire material (Create
Material>Tire). Rename it as EXT_tire_front.
2. Using the Scenegraph, select and isolate the AliasWorld MainvilleHyperRod>exterior>wheels>front_wheel>front_
rotate node.
3. Select the outer shell and rubber of the front wheel
(fillet#10855 and fillet#10856).
4. In the Material Editor, right-click on EXT_tire_front and
select Apply to Selected Nodes to apply the EXT_tire_front
material to the selected portion of the front wheel.
5. For the Diffuse Texture, Glossy Texture, and the Bump
Texture attributes, for Use Markings select and load
Tire_Sidewall.jpg, and for Use Profile select and
Tire_Tread.jpg.
6. Center the pivot point of the wheel and in the Texture Settings
rollout, click
. Set the following attributes:
Repeat Profile U to 6.0

Repeat Profile V to 6.0
Blend Position to 1.00
355
Task 5 - Create a material switch.

In this task you will create a material switch that contains the
metallic carpaint EXT_paint_yellow and a variation in blue.
anywhere and select Create Material>Switch. Notice that a
new material with the name Switch is created that has a
indicating that it is a material switch.
2. Rename the new material switch to EXT_paint_switch.

3. Right-click on EXT_paint_yellow and select Edit>Duplicate.
A new material with the name Ext_paint_yellow1 is created.
4. Rename Ext_paint_yellow1 to Ext_paint_blue. Notice that
it is a Metallic Carpaint material.
5. In the Metallic Carpaint Material rollout, next to the Base
Color slider, click on the Base Color swatch to open the
Choose a Color dialog box. Select a dark blue color of your
choice. Click on
near the bottom left corner of the
dialog box to save the color in the first slot. Click
.
6. In the Flakes rollout, click on the Flake Color swatch to open
the Choose a Color dialog box. Click on
color) and click
(saved blue
7. In the Groups,Tags section, right-click on EXT_paint_yellow

and select Edit>Copy.
8. Right-click on EXT_paint_switch and select Edit>Paste.
is placed in front of the EXT_paint_switch,
Notice that a
indicating that a material is placed inside it.
9. Right-click on EXT_paint_blue and select Edit>Copy.
Right-click on EXT_paint_switch and select Edit>Paste to
paste blue metallic carpaint.
10. Select EXT_paint_switch and notice that both the blue and
yellow metallic paints are saved inside the switch, as shown
in Figure 366. Also notice that the EXT_paint_yellow is
active.
356
Materials
Figure 366
11. In the Attributes section, click
beside EXT_paint_blue to
make it active ( ). Notice that there is no change to the

mainville cars color in the Review Window. This is because
no geometry has been assigned to the switch.
12. In the Groups,Tags section, right-click on EXT_paint_yellow
and click Select Nodes, as shown on the left in Figure 367.
This selects the geometry that has this material assigned to
them. Notice the geometry with the yellow metallic paint is
selected in the Render Window.
13. With the geometry still selected, right-click on
EXT_paint_switch and click Apply to Selected Nodes, as
Figure 367
14. In the Render Window, note that the mainville car now
displays in the color blue. Notice in the EXT_paint_switch
node that EXT_paint_blue is active.
15. In the Attributes section of EXT_paint_switch next to
EXT_paint_yellow, click
changes to
, and
to make it active. The icon
the color of the car is now yellow.
16. Save the file as My_Mainville_Create_Materials.vpb.
357
Practice 3c
Calculating Ambient Occlusion

Learning Objectives
Calculate Ambient Occlusion to save shadows.
Modify the object to correct the Ambient Occlusion
issues.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will calculate the Ambient Occlusion on the

model. You will then investigate the shadows calculated and
modify the parts to correct any issues.
Task 1 - Calculate Ambient Occlusion.
You will calculate Ambient Occlusion (AO) for the exterior of the
car. Depending on your computer, the AO calculation can take
around 15-30 minutes to calculate the shadows. To save time, a
file (Mainville_AO_created.vpb) with the AO already calculated
has been provided. You can open this file before you click
in Step 8. You can calculate the Ambient
Occlusion for your file at a later time.

select Window>
Layout>Default.

folder, open Mainville_Ambient_Occlusion.vpb.
2. Open the Material Editor and dock it to the right side of the
screen.
3. In the Material Editor, in the Groups, Tags section, notice that
a material Shadowplane is created by default. The shadows
of the geometry fall on this shadow plane. Select
Shadowplane to open its attributes. Review them and leave
them at default values.
4. Close the Material Editor.
5. In the Scenegraph and expand the AliasWorldMainvilleHyperrod main node. Select exterior to select the
exterior geometry of the car, as shown in Figure 368. Close
the Scenegraph.
358
Materials
Figure 368

Ambient Occlusion
module by selecting
Ambient Occlusion in
the shortcut menu of the
Icons Bar or Quick
Access Bar.

7. In the Ambient Occlusion module, in the Direct Illumination
rollout, set the Shadow Quality to High Quality. Similarly, in
the Indirect Illumination rollout, set the Quality to High
Quality, as shown in Figure 369.
Figure 369
359
Perform Step 8 at a later time. Move to Step 9 at this

point.
Depending on your
computer, it can take
around 15-30 minutes to
calculate the ambient
occlusion for the
exterior of the car.
8. Click
and notice that the percentage bar
displays the percentage of shadows being calculated, as
shown in Figure 370. When the calculation bar turns blank,
it indicates that the AO has been calculated. Close the
Ambient Occlusion module.
Figure 370

folder, open Mainville_AO_created.vpb. Save your original
Mainville_Ambient_Occlusion.vpb as Mainville_
Ambient_Occlusion-later.vpb. Close the Ambient
Occlusion module if it is open.
10. Select Visualization>Ambient Occlusion Rendering or
press <F7> to display the calculated shadows.
11. Orbit around the car and investigate the model for flaws in the
shadows. Zoom into the left side back wheel and notice the
problem areas, as shown in Figure 371.
Figure 371
360
Materials
Task 2 - Correct the geometry.

You will subdivide the problematic geometry and then recalculate
the AO for the specific part.
1. Activate
(Wireframe). Select the part that has the
problem geometry, as shown in Figure 372.
Figure 372
2. Open the Ambient Occlusion module by selecting

Scene>Ambient Occlusion.
3. In the Direct Illumination and Indirect Illumination rollouts,
verify that the Shadow Quality and Quality are set to High
Quality.
4. In the Subdivision rollout, select Enable to activate it. Set the
Quality to High Quality, as shown in Figure 373.
Figure 373
361
5. Click
. It will take a few minutes to calculate
the AO. Notice how the parts wireframe has been
subdivided, as shown on the left in Figure 374. Clear the
selection and notice how the problem with the shadows have
been resolved, as shown on the right in Figure 374.
Figure 374
6. Similarly subdivide the other area which needs fixing and

calculate its AO.
7. Select the Realistic Rendering mode by selecting
Visualization>Realistic Rendering, or press <F3>, and
display the model in the ICV position.
8. Save the file as My_Mainville_AO_created.vpb.
362
Materials

1. In the Material Editor module, what is the default tag that is
associated with all of the materials in a scene?
a. Tag
b. Material
c. Scene
d. Window
2. If multiple materials are selected in the Materials area of the
Material Editor, the attributes for which material are displayed
in the Attributes section?
a. The first material in the selected list.
b. The last material in the selected list.
c. A random material in the selected list.
d. None, the Attributes section is blank.
3. In the Render Window, how can you copy a material from one
geometry and paste the copied material onto another
geometry?
a. Double-click on the geometry to copy the material, and
then <Shift> and right-click on the geometry to paste the
material.
b. Hold <M> and click on the geometry to copy the material,
and then hold <M> and right-click on the geometry to
paste the material.
c. Hold <M>+<Alt> and click on the geometry to copy the
material, and then hold <M>+<Alt> and right-click on the
geometry to paste the material.
d. Hold <M>+<Ctrl> and click on the geometry to copy the
material, and then hold <M>+<Ctrl> and right-click on the
geometry to paste the material.
4. Which Truelight material is used when you want to use
texture images for objects that do not have a correct UV
mapping?
a. Phong
b. Plastic
c. Triplanar
d. Carbon
363
5. In the Attributes section of the Tire material, you can use the
Use Profile option in the Diffuse, Glossy, and Bump Texture
rollouts to load a texture image for the sides of a tire.
a. True
b. False
6. When calculating Ambient Occlusion, what does the quality
of the shadow depend on?
a. The density of the mesh in the geometry.
b. The lights present in the scene.
c. The type of material that is assigned to the geometry.
d. All of the above.
364
Materials
Command Summary
Button
N/A
Action /
Command
Location
Ambient
Occlusion
Menu Bar: Scene>Ambient

Occlusion
Quick Access Bar): Ambient
Occlusion
N/A
Ambient
Occlusion Display
in Render Window
Menu Bar: Visualization>Ambient

Occlusion Rendering
Material Editor
Quick Access Bar
Shortcut: <F7>
Menu Bar: Scene>Material Editor
Quick Access Bar): Material Editor
365
366
Chapter 4
Camera and Lighting
In this chapter you learn how to create camera views and save the attributes as
viewpoints. You learn how to add and modify the environment to visually enhance
a scene. You also learn how to incorporate various types of light sources for
adding illumination to a scene.
Cameras
Environments
Lights
41
42
Camera and Lighting
4.1 Cameras
Learning Objectives
Create new camera views.
Set the attributes of a camera view.
Create new camera viewpoints in a scene.
The camera is used to create a view at a defined angle and

zoom so that you can focus on a specific area or object in a
scene. You can also create animated views by adding cinematic
movement to the camera. In the Autodesk VRED
Professional software, different camera positions and viewing
angles can be created using the Camera Editor. To open the
Camera Editor, in the Quick Access Bar, click
(Cameras)
or in the Menu Bar, select Scene>Camera Editor. Alternatively,
you can also access the Camera Editor from the shortcut menu
of the Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar.
The Camera Editor (shown in Figure 41) is an interface for
listing, creating, and modifying camera views and viewpoints.
Figure 41
43
As with other modules, the Camera Editor is modeless and

remains open regardless of the task that you are performing.
The Camera Editor can be docked and undocked using
The Camera Editor contains a basic Menu Bar which has

options for loading and saving the different cameras and
viewpoints, as shown on the left in Figure 42. The cameras
and viewpoints are saved from the current scene in the form
of an .XML file using the File>Save options. These files can
be imported into another scene using the File>Load options.
The Camera Editor also contains a toolbar (shown on the

right in Figure 42) along the bottom left corner, which
contains tools for creating, duplicating, and deleting cameras.
It also contains toggle buttons for
(Motion Blur), and
(Depth of Field),
(Glow).
Figure 42
Every scene has four basic camera views: Perspective,

Front, Side, and Top. These default views are listed in the
Camera List, located on the left side of the Camera Editor, as
shown in Figure 43. Initially, the scene is displayed in a
Perspective camera view, which is active by default and
indicated by a green icon.
Figure 43
44
Along the right side of the Camera Editor is the Attributes

section, which contains various tabs and rollouts. The
Attributes section contains options for setting the attributes of
the cameras and viewpoints.
Camera and Lighting
The four default views cannot be deleted. Their projection

mode is set by default, and cannot be changed. This is
indicated by the inactive Projection Mode drop-down list, as
shown in Figure 44. The Front, Side, and Top views are
fixed orthographic views, while the Perspective camera is a
perspective view.
In the Camera Editor, double-clicking on any of the listed

views activates it the view and displays the scene using that
view in the Render Window. The active view is indicated with
a green icon, as shown in Figure 44.
Selecting the view name highlights the view with a gray band
and displays its attributes, as shown in Figure 44. It is
possible to have a camera view active in the Render Window,
but the attributes of another camera view displayed in the
Camera Editor.
Selected view, with

attributes displayed
in Attributes section
View that is active in

the Render Window
Figure 44
Right-click anywhere in the Camera list section or right-click

on a specific camera to display the shortcut menu, as shown
in Figure 45. When you right-click in an empty space in the
Camera list section, some shortcut menu options are
unavailable. You can use the shortcut menu to create new
camera views or viewpoints, set the Initial Camera View
(ICV), and delete, duplicate, or rename views.
Figure 45
45
How To: Create a New Camera View
You can also use

in
the Camera toolbar to
create a camera view.
1. In the Camera Editor, in the Camera list section, right-click

anywhere to display the shortcut menu.
2. Select Create>Perspective Camera or Create>
Orthographic Camera, depending on the type of camera
you want to create, as shown in Figure 46.
Figure 46
3. Rename the camera.

4. Set the cameras attributes.
Camera
Attributes
The settings in the
Image Processing and
Advanced tabs are
intended for the
advanced user, and are
not covered in this
Training Guide.
The camera attributes are organized into three tabs: Camera

Settings, Image Processing, and Advanced. The attributes
available in the Camera Settings tab are as follows:
General rollout
Projection Mode
Set based on the camera type that is created. You

can change the projection mode using the
drop-down list to the following:
Perspective: Renders the current scene in the
perspective projection mode.
Orthographic: Renders the current scene as an
orthographic or axonometric rotated user view.
Spherical Map, Peters Map, Vertical Cross, or
Horizontal Cross: Sets the rendering of the
current scene in a 360 degree, environmental
projection mode.
Wireframe
The selected camera view is rendered as a

wireframe mode.
Depth of Field
A camera-specific rendering effect that causes

distance blurring. The blurring is based on a
specific focal point, which you select in the scene.
You can also set the depth of field using
(Depth of Field) in the Camera Editor toolbar.
Motion Blur
A camera-specific rendering effect that causes

blurring while a scene is animated. You can also set
motion blur using
Editor toolbar.
46
(Motion Blur) in the Camera
Camera and Lighting

Position
Sets the current camera position in the form of 3D

coordinates.
Roll
Sets the current roll angle of the camera.
Field of View
Sets the current cameras Field of View (FOV)

angle. FOV is an angular measurement of how
much of the horizon is contained in the camera
view. You can also set the FOV in the Status Bar.
Viewing rollout
Use Parent
Transformation
The transformation settings of the parent node in

the Scenegraph are always used.
At
Sets the Center of Interest (COI) coordinates.
Up
Sets the Up vector coordinates.

The render view is updated based on set values.
Distance
Enables you to set the distance between the

camera and the COI.
Height
Enables you to set the cameras height based on

distance and the COI.
Turntable Angle
Sets the vertical angle.
Distance to Center
Calculates the distance from the camera to the

currently selected object using the midpoint of the
objects bounding box.
Lens Attributes rollout

Field of View Mode
Sets the Field of View that is specified in the

General rollout either vertically or horizontally.
Focal Length
The Focal Length is directly related to the Field of

View settings in the General rollout. Changing the
Focal Length changes the FOV settings and vice
versa. The Focal Length settings corresponds to
the focal length of real-world cameras. This option
can be used by photographers using the Autodesk
VRED Professional software who are comfortable
using camera-like settings.
Sensor Presets
Preset values of sensor width and height in

millimeters are used.
Sensor Size
Set your custom sensor width and height in

millimeters.
47

FStop Presets/
FStop/Focus
Distance
Provides preset FStop values, or enables you to set

your own custom FStop value (e.g., f/2.8, f/5.6,
etc.). Also sets the focus distance in mm.
These options are only available when the Depth of
Field option is active.
Shutter Presets/
Shutter Speed
Provides preset Shutter values, or enables you to

set your own custom Shutter value.
These options are only available when the Motion
Blur option is active
Clipping rollout
Near Plane/Far
Plane/
Sets the cutoff distances for the geometry that gets

displayed in the scene. Only the geometry that is
located between the Near Plane and Far Plane
distance is displayed.
Animation rollout
Turntable
Animation
Plays a turntable animation in the clockwise

direction.
starts the animation, while
turntable animation.
stops the
Sets the time required to complete a single rotation

of the turntable animation.
Loop
Repeat the turntable animation on an endless loop.
Reverse
The direction of the turntable animation is changed

to a counter-clockwise direction.
Hint: Focal Lengths

The focal length of real-world cameras is the distance between
the point of focus and the optical center of the camera lens.
50mm is a standard focal length that is used in cameras. A
focal length that is below 50mm is considered to be a short or
wide-angle lens, while a focal length above 50mm is referred to
as a telephoto lens.
48
Camera and Lighting
Viewpoint
Viewpoint enables you to save the current camera position and

its attributes. You can display the saved camera settings by
activating the viewpoint.
How To: Create a New Viewpoint

1. Create a new Camera view.
2. Activate the new camera and open its attributes.
3. Modify the viewing angle, attributes, and position for the new
camera, as required.
4. In the Camera Editor, right-click on the new camera to display
the shortcut menu.
5. Select Create>Viewpoint. The Viewpoint is listed under the
new CameraTrack1 node, as shown in Figure 47.
Figure 47
6. Rename the viewpoint and right-click. The view is created

along with the viewpoint.
If you are changing the settings of the viewpoint then
select Set>View to overwrite the old settings and save the
new setting in the viewpoint.
7. Activate any other camera view to display the scene in that
view in the Render Window.
8. Double-click on the new viewpoint to activate it. In the Render
Window the saved position is loaded.
49
Practice 4a
Working with the Camera

Learning Objectives
Create a new camera and viewpoints.
Modify the cameras attributes and display the scene
using the various saved viewpoints.
Focus on a part of the scene using the Depth of Field
option.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will create cameras and viewpoints. You will
also modify the attributes of the camera and focus on an area in
the scene using the Depth of Field option.
Task 1 - Creating the camera and viewpoints.

select Window>
Layout>Default.

folder, open Mainville_Camera.vpb.

(Cameras) to open the
Camera Editor. Alternatively, select Scene>Camera Editor
or select Camera Editor in the Icons Bar or Quick Access
Bar shortcut menu to open the Camera Editor.
3. Dock the Camera Editor to the right side of the Render
In the Render Window, the scene opens in the default

Perspective view. This is indicated by the green camera
) beside Perspective in the Camera Editor, as

icon (
shown in Figure 48.
Figure 48
410
Camera and Lighting
4. In the Camera Editor, right-click anywhere in the Camera list.

Select Create>Perspective Camera.
PerspectiveCamera is created and its Attributes are

displayed, as shown in Figure 49. In the Render
Window, the scene is still displayed in the original
Perspective view, as indicated by the green camera icon,
shown in Figure 49.
Figure 49
5. Click on PerspectiveCamera and rename it to Camera with

viewpoints, as shown in Figure 410. Press <Enter> to
apply the new name.
Figure 410
6. Verify that Camera with viewpoints is highlighted in gray

and its attributes are displayed. In the General rollout, select
Wireframe, and set the Field of View to 40.00. When you
press <Enter>, the value automatically changes to
39.999996, as shown in Figure 411.
Figure 411
411
7. Double-click on Camera with viewpoints to activate it in the

Render Window. Alternatively, right-click on Camera with
viewpoints and select Activate. The active camera view is
indicated by the green camera icon. In the Render Window,
the view is zoomed in because of changed FOV, and the
geometry is displayed with a wireframe displayed over the
realistic rendering, as shown in Figure 412.
Figure 412
8. Double-click on Perspective to activate it. In the Render

Window, the model is zoomed out, the scene is displayed in
the realistic rendering, and the wireframe is disabled.
9. Activate Camera with viewpoints again by double-clicking,
or selecting Activate in the shortcut menu. In the Camera
Editor, in the Attributes section, clear Wireframe but leave
the Field of View at 40.00 (or 39.999996) for a good exterior
shot.
10. Right-click on Camera with viewpoints and click
Create>Viewpoint. CameraTrack1 and the subordinate
node Viewpoint is created, as shown on the left in
Figure 413. Rename Viewpoint to Original view, as shown
on the right in Figure 413.
412
Camera and Lighting
Figure 413
11. Right-click on Camera with viewpoints and select

Create>Viewpoint again. Notice that another Viewpoint is
created, below Original view. Rename the new viewpoint to
Interior view.
12. Open the Scenegraph. Notice that the new camera, Camera
with viewpoints is listed in the Scenegraph, as shown in
Figure 414.
Figure 414
13. In the Scenegraph, expand AliasWorld-MainvilleHyperRod

>interior. Select dashboard and center console. Drag and
drop the nodes into the Render Window to display them in
isolation. Close the Scenegraph.
You can close the
Camera Editor to get
more working space in
the Render Window.
14. In the Render Window, orbit the model until the Front label is
visible in the Navigation Cube. Click Front.
413
15. Orbit down such that the larger speedometer is completely

displayed through the steering wheel. The model should
display similar to the position shown in Figure 415.
Figure 415
the view might be

blocked by the seats.
Zoom closer to get the
required view.

(Isolate) to remove the isolation
and display the entire car. Orbit, zoom, and pan to display the
interior view similar to that shown in Figure 416.
Figure 416
414
Camera and Lighting
17. In the Camera Editor, click on Interior view to display its

attributes.
18. Right-click on Interior view and select Set>View, as shown
in Figure 417, to save the current view.
Figure 417
19. In the Attributes section, in the General rollout, set Field of

View as 50.00. When you press <Enter>, it automatically
changes to 49.999996.
20. Double-click on Original view and notice in the Render
Window how the view jumps to the exterior front view.
21. Similarly, double-click on Interior view and notice how the
view jumps back to the interior view.
22. In the Interior view attributes, in the Animation rollout, select
Animate Camera Change. Set Duration to 5.00 sec, as
Figure 418
415
23. Double-click on Original view to activate it and return to the

exterior view.
24. Double-click on Interior view. Notice how the view animates
and gradually moves to the interior view in the specified time.
Task 2 - Working with Depth of Field.
1. Double-click on Original view to activate it.
2. Right-click on Camera with viewpoints and select
Create>Viewpoint. Notice that another Viewpoint is
created. Rename the new viewpoint to Close Up.
3. Orbit and pan in the Render Window until you display the
model in the front right position. Zoom until that the vehicle
fills up most of the Render Window. Your display should be
similar to that shown in Figure 419.
Figure 419
4. Right-click on Close Up and select Set>View to the view.

Select Close Up, and in the General rollout, verify that the
Field of View is set to 39.999996.
416
Camera and Lighting
For Depth of Field to

work in any viewpoint, it
should be selected for
the cameras attributes,
and not for the individual
viewpoint.
5. Select Camera with viewpoints to display its attributes.

Expand the Lens Attributes rollout and notice that the FStop
options are not available. In the General rollout, select Depth
The FStop options in

the Lens Attributes
rollout are available only
when the Depth of
Field option is active.
6. In the Lens Attributes rollout, the FStop options are now

available. In the FStop Presets drop-down list, select f/1.
of Field. Alternatively, you can click

(Depth of Field) in
the Camera Editor toolbar to activate it.
In the Render Window, notice that the edges, around the

top edge of the car is rough, as shown in Figure 420.
Also notice the look of the front grill bars, as shown in
Figure 420.
Figure 420
The COI must be set

before antialiasing.
7. Double-click on the M logo located on the front of the grill to

set the Center of Interest (COI) for the Depth of Field.
The Depth of Field

affect is only visible

(Antialias) to activate it. The
renderer starts smoothing the edges of the model, and the
progress is indicated by a calculation wheel attached to the
cursor, as shown on the left in Figure 421. The Antialiasing
percentage and the time left for the calculations to be
complete is displayed in the Status Bar, as shown on the right
in Figure 421. Do not click anywhere in the Render Window
during this process, as the antialiasing process aborts and
has to restart. Wait for the antialiasing calculations to
complete and the calculation wheel on the cursor to
disappear.
when
active.
(Antialias) is
Figure 421
417
Notice that the grill area around the M logo is sharper

while the rest of the car behind it is blurred, and that the
edges in the front grill bars have smoothed out, as shown
in Figure 422.
Figure 422
(Antialias) again to deactivate it.
10. Save the file as My_Mainville_Camera.vpb.
418
Camera and Lighting
4.2 Environments
Learning Objectives
Understand the purpose and use of an environment.
Adjust the settings of an environment.
The Autodesk VRED Professional software opens a new scene

in a default environment, named Studio. The environment
consists of a background image, along with its associated
lighting, shadows, highlights, and reflections. The environment
acts to enhance the visual display of a model and improve
realism.
The background of an environment is a High Dynamic Range
(HDR) image. By default, the image is placed on a shape of a
dome, although other shapes are also available (i.e., sphere,
cube, etc.). The shape completely surrounds the model, as
shown in Figure 423. You can load various image file types to
be used as the environment image and lighting, such as .HDR or
.MTD. The software enables you to add, remove, or modify the
environment to visually enhance a scene.
Figure 423
419
To access the environments through the Material Editor, on the

Quick Access Bar, click
(Materials), or select
Scene>Material Editor. Environments are listed in the Group,
Tags section. In the list, select an environment to display its
attributes, as shown in Figure 424.
Figure 424
The options that are available for an environment are as follows:

Environment Material rollout
Environment
420
Enables you to load, save, and reload the image that

is to be used for the environment.
Loads the image from the required folder.
Saves the file.
Reloads the image if changes have been

made to the original image.
Opens information about the image, such as

its dimension and color channel.
Camera and Lighting
A separate HDR Light

Studio plugin is required
to display additional
options for the HDR
Light Studio.
Environment
Geometry
You can select the shape on which the image is to be

placed. In addition to the default Dome shape, you
can select a Sphere, Cube, or Custom shape to use
for the image. The environment geometry node in the
Scenegraph is associated with these settings, and
any changes made here automatically updates in the
Scenegraph settings.
Is Visible
Toggles the visibility of the environment image. If you

clear this option, then the background color that you
have set for the scene is displayed as the
background. The lighting from the HDR image is
used, but the image is not displayed.
Flip Inside Out
Enables you to flip the normals of the environment

geometry.
Shadow Plane
Visible
Toggles the visibility of the Shadow plane.
HDR Light Studio rollout

Enables you to load a HDR Light Studio project for
the material.
Saves the current HDR Light Studio Project.
Color Correction rollout
The options in this

rollout are only available
with the Raytrace
rendering mode.
Exposure
Enables you to set the exposure level of the current

HDR image.
Whitebalance
Cool
Enables you set a value for displaying white and light

emissive data.
Hue-Shift
Changes all of the colors used in the HDR image to

the set hue color range.
Contrast,
Brightness
Sets the contrast and brightness of the image.
Saturation
Sets the saturation of the image.
Reflected
Saturation
Sets the saturation of the surfaces that reflect the

HDR image.
Transformation
rollout options
Enables you to set the projection position of the HDR

image.
Raytracing Settings rollout

Use as
Lightsource
Sets the HDR image as a light-emitting object.
Emit Caustics
Sets the HDR image to emit caustics.
421

Material ID
Sets the ID of the material.
Illumination
Emits light to illuminate the scene.
Override IBL
Sampling Quality
The Sampling Quality of the lighting from the HDR

image is overridden both during an interactive render
or still frame render.
Hint: Using a Background Color

Instead of using a HDR image for the environment in a scene,
you can select a color. In the Material Editor, open the attributes
for the currently active environment and in the Environment
Material rollout, clear the Is visible option, as shown in
Figure 425. This hides the display of the loaded HDR image,
but the lighting from the image is still being used.
Figure 425
To control the background color, in the Preferences dialog box,

open the Render Options attributes. In the Visualization
Advanced tab, in the Background rollout, add a new color or
change the background color to be used, as shown in
Figure 426. The background color displays as a gradient
between the two colors listed.
Figure 426
422
Camera and Lighting
Practice 4b
Creating the Environment

Learning Objectives
Set a color to display as the Render Window background.
Load an environment into a scene using a HDR image.
Modify the environment settings to position the HDR
image correctly.
Calculate the Ambient Occlusion for the shadow plane of
the new environment.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will load an environment using an HDR

image.You will reposition the environment image and calculate
the Ambient Occlusion (AO) for the shadow plane of the new
environment.
Task 1 - Setting the background color.

select Window>
Layout>Default.

folder, open Mainville_Environment.vpb. The Mainville
vehicle opens in the default environment.

(Materials) to open the
Material Editor. Alternatively, use Scene>Material Editor, or
select Material Editor in the Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar
shortcut menu. Dock the Material Editor to the right side of
the Render Window.
3. In the Groups, Tags section of the Material Editor,
Environments is listed in the materials list with
next to
the name, indicating that it is an environment switch. Select
Environments to display its attributes. By default, the Studio
environment is listed and applied to the scene, which is
indicated by
, as shown in Figure 427.
Figure 427
423
Notice that the attributes of the Studio environment are

displayed. In the Environment Material rollout, notice that
defaultEnvironment.hdr is loaded by default.
4. In the Environment Material rollout, clear the Is Visible

option, as shown in Figure 428. In the Render Window, the
background HDR image is removed, and a color gradient is
displayed.
Figure 428
The background color is

defined as a gradient
between two specified
colors. The change in
color is dependent on its
position value where 1
is the top position and 0
is the bottom.
5. Open the Preferences dialog box and click

. In
the Module list, select Render Options to display its
attributes. Select the Visualisation Advanced tab. In the
Background rollout, notice that two shades of gray are listed,
defining the top and bottom of the gradient. Select the top
color, as shown in Figure 429.
Figure 429
6. Click
to open the Choose a Color dialog
box. Select a red color and click
. In the
Preferences dialog box, click

to apply the
background color changes. (Do not close the dialog box).
424
In the Render Window, the top portion of the background

displays the selected red color and gradually changes into
a light gray near the bottom portion.
Camera and Lighting
7. In the Preferences dialog box, with the top color selected,

click
. In the Choose a Color dialog box,
select the white color (RGB: 1,1,1) and click

Set the bottom color as white as well, as shown in
Figure 430.
Figure 430
8. In the Preferences dialog box, click

the new background color. Click
the changes and close the dialog box.
to apply
to confirm
Task 2 - Loading an Image for the Environment.

It does not matter if
right-clicking highlights
a material randomly in
the list.
1. In the Material Editor, right-click anywhere in the Groups,

Tags section to open the shortcut menu. Select Create
Environment>Sphere Environment.
2. In the Load Environment Image dialog box, open
newyork.mtd from Chapter 4 folder of your Class Files
folder. It might take a few seconds to load the image.
3. In the Groups, Tags section, the newyork material node is
created. The new node displays a
, which indicates that it
is an environment. Select newyork to display its attributes,
Figure 431
425
In the Render Window, notice that the background

displays the newyork environment, as shown in
Figure 432.
Figure 432
Scroll up in the list to

display Environments.
4. In the Groups, Tags section, select Environments and notice

that the newyork environment has been automatically added
to the environment switch, as shown in Figure 433.
Figure 433
Notice that newyork has an orange

next to it,
indicating that it is the current environment displayed in
the model, but the attributes displayed are of the Studio
environment as it is highlighted with a gray band.
5. In the Render Window, note that the bridge is displayed in the

background. To reposition the image so that the downtown
buildings display in the background, in the Material Editor, in
the Environments switch, select newyork to display its
attributes.
426
Camera and Lighting
6. Expand the Transformation rollout. Set Rotate Z to -55.00, as

Figure 434
In the Render Window, the background is now the New

York skyline, with the bridge displayed on the right. Note
that behind the vehicle, on the right side, there is a bend
in the deck planks, as shown in Figure 435.
Figure 435
427
7. In the Transformation rollout, set Center Z to 700.00, as

shown in Figure 436. The bend in the deck planks is
removed.
Figure 436
8. Close the Material Editor.

Task 3 - Calculating the Ambient Occlusion.
Every new environment
uses a unique shadow
plane. Shadows must
be calculated for each
environment used.
1. In the Menu Bar, select Visualization>Ambient Occlusion

Rendering, or press <F7>. Notice that no shadows are
created on the ground plane, as shown in Figure 437.
Figure 437
2. Open the Scenegraph. Expand Environment Transform>

Environments. Notice that newyork is added below Studio.
Expand newyork to display the Dome1 and ShadowPlane1
nodes, as shown in Figure 438.
428
Camera and Lighting
Figure 438
3. To load the settings of the Studio shadow plane and use them
for the newyork image shadow plane, in the Scenegraph,
expand Environments>Studio.
Ambient Occlusion
module by selecting
Ambient Occlusion in
the Icons Bar or Quick
Access Bar shortcut
menu.

5. In the Scenegraph, select Studio>ShadowPlane, as shown
on the left in Figure 439. In the Ambient Occlusion module,
select Settings>Load from Node, as shown on the right in
Figure 439. This automatically loads the settings of the
Studio>ShadowPlane.
Figure 439
6. In the Scenegraph, select newyork>ShadowPlane1. In the

Ambient Occlusion module, click
, and wait
while the AO is calculated. Close the Ambient Occlusion
module.
429
7. In the Render Window, notice that shadows have been added

below the vehicle, as shown in Figure 440. Close the
Ambient Occlusion module. Return to the Realistic Rendering
mode by selecting Visualization>Realistic Rendering.
Figure 440
8. Increase the intensity of the shadow on the newyork shadow

plane by opening the Material Editor and right-clicking in the
Groups, Tags section. Select Create Material>Shadow.
Anew shadow material with the name Shadow1 is created.
Rename it to ny_Shadow.
9. In the Scenegraph verify that newyork>ShadowPlane1 is
selected, as shown on the left in Figure 441. In the Material
Editor, verify that ny_Shadow is selected, as shown on the
right in Figure 441. In the Material Editor toolbar, click
(Apply to Selected Nodes).
Figure 441
10. In the Material Editor, with ny_Shadow still selected, in the

Shadow Material rollout, move the Occlusion Intensity slider
left and right. In the Render Window, note how the shadow
under the car becomes lighter and darker. Set Occlusion
Intensity to 1.50, as shown in Figure 442.
430
Camera and Lighting
Figure 442
Note the shadow under the vehicle, and that the vehicle
seems to be floating, as shown in Figure 443.
Figure 443
11. In the Scenegraph verify that ShadowPlane1 is still selected.

In the Quick Access Bar, click
(Transform). In the
Transform module, in the Translation rollout, set Translate Z
to 37.00 to move the Shadow plane geometry up. Notice that
the mainville car now sits directly on the wooden deck.
12. Save the file as My_Mainville_Environment.vpb.
431
4.3 Lights
Learning Objectives
Add brightness to a scene by creating light objects.
Understand the different types of available light sources.
Modify the attributes of light sources using the Light
Editor.
By default, the Autodesk VRED Professional software

illuminates the scene with lighting information that is provided in
an environment image. To add additional illumination, the
software enables you to create additional light sources. The light
sources are objects that are based on computer calculations,
and attempt to imitate lights that are used in everyday life. The
light objects are used to add illumination to the model and the
space around it to make the scene brighter, add highlights, or
create drama. In the Autodesk VRED Professional software,
different light objects are created using the Light Editor. To open
the Light Editor, in the Menu Bar, select Scene>Light Editor, or
by selecting
(Lights) in the Icons Bar or Status Bar
shortcut menu. By default, the Lights icon is not included in the
Quick Access Bar.
Light objects are highly configurable and require adjustments to
achieve the required effect. The Light Editor (shown in
Figure 444) is an interface which enables you to create light
objects and modify their attributes to illuminate a scene as per
your requirements.
As with other modules, the Light Editor is modeless and remains
open regardless of the task that you are performing. You can
dock or undock the Light Editor by clicking
. Along the left side
of the Light Editor, all of the light objects that are present in the
scene are displayed. Along the right side, the attributes of the
selected light object are displayed, as shown in Figure 444. The
Light Editor also contains a toolbar located at the bottom of the
module.
432
Camera and Lighting
Figure 444
By default, a Headlight is always present in the scene and is on.

You can toggle the headlight on and off by clicking
(Headlight) in the Icons Bar. Alternatively, you can toggle
Enabled in the Properties rollout of the Headlight attributes in
the Light Editor.
Light Sources
and the
Scenegraph
When a light source is created, two separate nodes are listed in

the Scenegraph, as shown in Figure 445. One is the light
source node and the other one is the light transformation node.
Light transformation
node
Light source node
Figure 445
433
The location of the light source node in the tree structure

defines the geometry that it lights up when the Local
Lighting option is selected in the Light Editor. For example,
in Figure 445, the PointLight lights the geometries that are
a part of the interior node.
The transform node stores all of the transform information of

that light source. By default, this light transformation node is a
child of the LightTransforms light transform group node, as
shown in Figure 445. The visibility of the light transform
nodes in the Scenegraph is controlled by the Show Internal
Nodes in Scenegraph option in the MainWindow tab of the
Preferences dialog box, as shown in Figure 446.
Figure 446
Types of Lights
There are several different types of lights available in the

Autodesk VRED Professional software. To create a light object,
you must select the required light type. Right-click in the Light list
area and select Create to open the different types of lights
available, as shown in Figure 447. You can also click
in the
Light Editor toolbar to display the light types. Select the light type
that you want to create. After creating a light, you can change its
type in the light attributes.
Figure 447
434
Camera and Lighting
Once a light is created, its corresponding light object is placed in

the Render Window. Light objects are similar to any other object
in that they can be named, moved, rotated, and edited. The light
objects for each light type are as follows:
Light Object
Light Type
Light Object
Light Type
Directional Light
Rectangular
Light
Spot Light
Spherical Light
Point Light
Ray Light
Disk Light
Directional Light
Directional lights are used to represent light sources that cast
parallel rays. A 2D view of a directional light casting its rays is
shown on the left in Figure 448 and its 3D view is shown on the
right in Figure 448. The origin of a directional light is far away
from the objects in the scene. The best example of a parallel light
source would be the sun.
Figure 448
435
Spot Light
Spot lights represent light sources that cast focused beams of
light in the form of a cone. The majority of real world lighting
fixtures are most appropriately represented by spot lights. A 2D
view of a spot light casting its rays is shown on the left in
Figure 449, and its 3D view is shown on the right in
Figure 449.
Figure 449
The cone of a spot light is created by defining two options:

the Cone Angle and the Penumbra Angle.
The Cone Angle is the angle in which the full lighting

intensity (or hard light) is projected. It is represented as the
inner cone in Figure 449.
The Penumbra Angle is the outer angle that defines the area
that provides soft illumination, represented as the outer cone
in Figure 449.
Point Light
A Point Light casts light equally in all directions, such as an
idealized light bulb.
Disk Light and Rectangular Light

The Disk Light and the Rectangular Light types are similar to
the Spot Light. In addition to being created with a circular or a
rectangular base respectively, they have attributes for controlling
the attenuation mode, interactive quality, and a still frame quality.
436
Camera and Lighting
Spherical Light
The Spherical Light is similar to the Point Light, but also
enables you to control the settings for attenuation mode,
interactive quality, and a still frame quality.
How To: Create a New Light

1. In the Light Editor, in the Light List area, right-click anywhere
to display the shortcut menu.
2. Select Create, and select the type of light from the list. In the
Render Window, the light object is created and is placed at
the origin of the scene objects.
3. Rename the light so that it has a name relevant to the scene.
4. Apply transforms to the light object.
With the light selected, click

(Transform) in the
Icons Bar. Similar to any other object, you can apply
move, rotate, and scale transforms. Use the Transform
manipulator (shown in Figure 450) to translate, rotate, or
scale the light source as required.
Transform Light
Figure 450
5. Select the light and set its attributes as required.
Light Attributes
The attributes for the light objects are provided in rollouts. Most
of the attributes are common to all of the different light types.
There are certain attributes and rollouts that are unique to a
specific light type.
437
Common Light Attributes

Properties rollout
Name
Sets the name for the selected light type.
Type
Enables you to change the light type.
Local Lighting
Controls the illumination of the geometry associated

with the selected light source. The associated
geometry is defined by having the particular geometry
inside of the light source node in the Scenegraph.
Enabled
Toggles the light source on and off. This can be

controlled using the
in the Light Editor toolbar,
or using Switch on/Switch Off in the selected lights
shortcut menu. You can also use
name to toggle it.
next to the light
Intensity
Sets the intensity of the selected light. A higher value

corresponds to brighter light.
Diffuse
Sets the color for the diffuse reflection from the dull
surfaces of the objects in the scene.
Specular
Sets the color for the specular reflection from the

shiny surfaces of the objects in the scene.
Use Temperature
Toggles the Temperature option. When enabled, the

Diffuse and Specular options are disabled.
Temperature
Sets the color temperature.
Shadow Intensity
Enables you to set the intensity of the shadows.
Illuminate
Shadow Material
Enables the shadow material to be illuminated by the

light source.
Cast Shadow on
Shadow Material
Enables you to set the shadows on the shadow

material.
Visualisation rollout
Makes all light source geometries visible, and the
effects of the transforms being applied are displayed
in the Render Window.
Makes the selected light source geometry visible and
the effects of the transforms being applied are
displayed in the Render Window.
Hides the geometries of all light sources in the
Render Window.
Hides the geometry of only the selected light
source(s) in the Render Window.
Scale
438
Scales the size of the light source geometry.
Camera and Lighting
Transform rollout
Sets the position and direction of the light source to
that of the current camera.
Sets the position and direction of the current camera
to that of the light source.
Sets the transform information of the light source to
that of the selected geometry.
Resets all light settings.
Additional Attributes
In addition to the common attributes, the Light Attenuation
option and the Light Profile rollout is available for all of the
different types of lights, except for the Directional Light.
Properties rollout
Light Attenuation
Sets the light intensity with respect to the distance of

light.
None: Light intensity is constant with respect to the
light distance.
Linear: Light intensity is decreased linearly with
respect to the light distance.
Quadratic: Light intensity is decreased
quadratically with respect to the light distance.
Light Profile rollout

Light Profile
Uses an IES data file to simulate the correct light

falloff and intensity. The IES data file contains
standard data with correct physical light attributes.
These files are generally provided by lighting
manufactures, and might be available through the net.
This rollout has options to enable the use of a light
profile. Once enabled you can specify the path to an
IES file in the IES Profile field, shown in Figure 451.
enables you to set the light source
shape to the shape that is defined in the IES file.
Figure 451
439
Additional Attributes for Spot Light, Disk Light, and

Rectangular Light
The Spot Light, the Disk Light and Rectangular Light have
additional options available in the Properties rollout, as follows:
Properties rollout
Cone Angle
The angle over which the full lighting intensity is

projected. It is measured from one edge to the other
in degrees.
Penumbra Angle
Enables you to set the falloff in degrees, and can

have a positive or a negative value. When the Cone
Angle and the Penumbra Angle are similar values,
the light creates a sharply defined pool of light. When
the angles are widely separated, the angles create a
soft, gradual fade.
Additional Attributes for Spherical Light, Disk

Light, and Rectangular Light
The Spherical, Disk Light, and Rectangular Light have
additional options in the Area Light rollout, as follows:
Area Light rollout
440
Attenuation
Mode
Select either the Realistic Attenuation or Custom

Attenuation, which enables you to set the falloff of
the light intensity.
Primary Visibility
Controls the visibility of the area light sources. Only

used for area lights while in Raytrace rendering
mode. The options in the Visualization rollout work
when the Primary Visibility is enabled.
Visible in
Reflections
Controls the visibility of the light source in reflections.
Interactive
Quality
Controls the rendering quality. The higher the value,

the better the rendering quality at the cost of a slower
rendering speed.
Still Frame
Quality
Controls the still frame quality in Raytracing rendering

mode.
Camera and Lighting
Practice 4c
Working with Lights

Learning Objectives
Create a spot light and a point light.
Modify the light attributes to create a realistic rendered
image.
Estimated time for

In this practice you will create a spot light and a point light, and
then modify their attributes.
Task 1 - Creating a Spot Light.

select Window>
Layout>Default.

folder, open Mainville_Lights.vpb.
2. To open the Light Editor, in the Menu Bar, select Scene>
Light Editor, or select Light Editor in the Icons Bar or Quick
Access Bar shortcut menu. Dock the Light Editor to the right
side of the Render Window. In the Lights List, notice that the
Headlight is active, as shown in Figure 452.
Figure 452
3. In the Light Editor, right-click anywhere in the Lights List

section and select Create>Spot Light. Notice that the new
SpotLight is created and highlighted with a gray band,
indicating that its attributes are displayed.
4. In the Properties rollout, change the new lights name to
Ext Spot.
441
5. Open the Scenegraph and notice that the Ext Spot light
source and LightTransforms nodes have been added, as
shown in Figure 453. Expand the LightTransforms node
and notice that the Ext SpotTransformGroup subordinate
node is present.
Figure 453
6. In the Render Window, the light source is not displayed

because it is located underneath the vehicle. In the
Scenegraph, select ExtSpotTransformGroup and drop it in
the Render Window to isolate it in the scene. Notice that the
bounding box and the top portion of the light source is visible,
Figure 454
Use <Shift>+<W> to
display the Translate
handles if they are not
already displayed.

(Transform). The Transform
manipulator and Translation handles are displayed for the
selected light source. Using the blue translation handle, move
the light source up and place it near the top of the Render
Figure 455
442
Camera and Lighting
8. Clear
(Isolate) and close the Scenegraph and the Light
Editor. Notice the shadows of the vehicle on the shadow
plane, as shown in Figure 456.
Figure 456
9. In the Navigation Cube, click and drag the right edge to the
left to display the Right label. Click Right. The light source is
zoomed into the right view of the scene.
10. Zoom out until both the light and the car are visible in the
Render Window.
11. Using the blue Z-axis translation handle of the transform
manipulator, move the light source further up until it displays
approximately 3000.00 in the Translation interactive display
box, as shown in Figure 457.
Figure 457
443
The Transform module

can be used to enter
exact values.
Click
(Transform) in the Quick Access Bar to open
the Transform module. In the Translation rollout, set
Translate Z to 3100.00, as shown in Figure 458.
Figure 458
12. In the Navigation Cube, click and drag the left edge towards
right so that the Back label displays. Click Back to display
the zoomed in light source in the back view.
13. Zoom out until the vehicle and the light source are visible in
the Render Window and pan to center the scene, as shown in
Figure 459. Notice that the front of the car is displayed in the
Back view. This depends on how the model was created in
the originating software.
Figure 459
444
Camera and Lighting
Note that shadows that have been created under the car
and around the tires. They extend equally below on both
sides of the tires because the spot light is directly above
the car.
14. In the Transform module, in the Translation rollout, set

Translate Y to 2000.00, as shown in Figure 460. You can
also use the green Y-axis manipulator handle to move the
light source.
Figure 460
Notice how the shadows have elongated towards the left

side of the vehicle. Also the left tire shadow is cut and
does not display completely, as shown in Figure 461.
This is dependent on the position and angle of the spot
light.
Figure 461
445
You can select Rotation

Manipulator from the
Transform drop-down
list in the Icons Bar.
15. Press <Shift>+<E> to change to the rotation manipulator

handles. Using the red rotation handle (as shown on the left
in Figure 462), rotate the light source towards the left. Note
how the shadows are elongated further towards the left.
16. In the Transform module, in the Rotation rollout, set Rotate X
as -14.00, as shown on the right in Figure 462. As with other
transforms, you can also use the red X-axis rotation handle to
rotate the light source. Note that the elongated tire shadow
displays completely.
Figure 462
17. Clear the light source selection by holding <Shift> and then
right-clicking anywhere in the Render Window. Close the
Transform module.
18. Open the Light Editor and select Ext Spot.
19. Click and drag the top edge of the Navigation Cube
downwards until Top becomes visible. Click Top.
20. Zoom in and pan to display the vehicle and shadows in the
top view, as shown in Figure 463.
A white background has
been applied in this
image for printing clarity.
Figure 463
446
Camera and Lighting
21. Clear the

(Headlight) toggle to deactivate it. Note how
the shadows become darker.
22. In the Ext Spot attributes, in the Properties rollout, set the
Cone Angle to 35.00. Note how the shadow for the back of
the car is cut, as shown on the left in Figure 464. Set the
Cone Angle to 45.00. Although the back shadow is extended,
it is still not completely visible. Set the Cone Angle to 47.00
and notice how the shadow for the back of the car is now
completely visible, as shown on the right in Figure 464.
Figure 464
23. In the Properties rollout, set the Shadow Intensity to 0.60.

Note how the shadow becomes slightly lighter.
Task 2 - Creating a Point Light.
1. In the Light Editor, right-click anywhere in the Lights List area.
Select Create>Point Light. Notice that a new PointLight is
created and highlighted with a gray band. In the Render
Window, notice that the new point light source is created
somewhere below the vehicle.
2. In the Properties rollout, change the new lights name to
Int Point.
3. Open the Scenegraph and notice that the Int Point light
source has been added. Expand the LightTransforms node
and notice that the Int PointTransform Group subordinate
node has been added, as shown in Figure 465.
Figure 465
447
4. In the Scenegraph, expand AliasWorld-MainvilleHyperRod.

Drag the Int Point and drop it into the interior node. Expand
interior and notice that Int Point is placed inside it in the tree
structure, as shown on the left in Figure 466.
5. In the interior node, select all of the group nodes, starting
from seats to engine mount (use <Shift> for multiple
selection). Drag and drop this selection on Int Point so that
these become subordinate nodes of Int Point, as shown on
the right in Figure 466. This associates the point light with
the interior geometry.
Figure 466
Now that the light has been created, you will move the point light
to the inside of the vehicle.
scene in the ICV view.
(Home) to display the
7. In the Scenegraph, in the LightTransforms node, drag and

drop the IntPointTransformGroup node to isolate it in the
scene. Notice in the Render Window, only the top portion of
the light source is visible, as shown in Figure 467, because
some portion is beneath the ground plane.
Figure 467
448
Camera and Lighting
8. Clear
(Isolate) and notice that a small portion of the
bounding box is visible under the vehicle.
9. Open the Camera Editor. Expand Camera with Viewpoints
and CameraTrack1. Double-click on Interior view, as shown
in Figure 468. Notice in the Render Window that the vehicle
is displayed in the interior camera view. Close the Camera
Editor.
Figure 468
10. Verify that the IntPointTransformGroup node is still

selected in the Scenegraph. In the Light Editor, with the
Int Point selected and its attributes open, open the
Transform rollout. Click
. In the Render
Window, the interior of the car is brightened because the light
is moved to the location of the selected camera.
11. In the Properties rollout, notice that the Intensity is currently
set to 1.00, and that the interior is dull with no highlights on
the steering wheel and the dash board, as shown on the left
in Figure 469. Set the Intensity to 10.00. Note how the
interior brightens, and the highlights become brighter on parts
of the steering wheel and the dashboard, as they are a shiny
plastic material, as shown on the right in Figure 469.
Figure 469
449
12. Modify both the Diffuse and the Specular sliders (as shown in
Figure 470) and notice how the glossy highlights and the
overall brightness are toned down.
Figure 470

(Home) to display the
scene in the ICV view. Note that a bright light is visible inside
the windshield near the steering wheel. This is due to the new
light at the interior camera position.
14. In the Light Editor, click
next to Int Point to switch it off.
Note how the bright light inside the interior of the vehicle is no
longer displayed. Also notice the exterior shadows on the
ground becoming darker.
15. In the Light Editor, in the Properties rollout, for Int Point,
select LocalLighting and Enabled to switch the light back
on again, as shown in Figure 471.
Figure 471
Notice that only the interior of the vehicle is brightened

with no affect on the exterior shadows. This is because
the Point Light was associated with the interior of the car.
16. In the Visualization rollout, click

to hide the
display of the light objects in the Render Window.
17. Save the file as My_Mainville_Lights.vpb.
450
Camera and Lighting

1. In the Autodesk VRED Professional software, which of the
following statements is correct?
a. The four default camera views cannot be deleted and
their projection modes cannot be changed.
b. The four default camera views can be deleted, but their
projection modes cannot be changed.
c. The four default camera views cannot be deleted, but
their projection mode can be changed.
d. The four default camera views can be deleted and their
projection mode can be changed.
2. Which option is a camera-specific effect that causes distance
blurring?
a. .Field of View
b. .Depth of Field
c. .Motion Blur
d. .Roll
3. Which module do you use to set the environment for a
scene?
a. Material Editor
b. Camera Editor
c. Lights Editor
d. Geometry Editor
4. The Environment geometric shape on which the HDR image
is projected is ONLY in the form of a dome.
a. True
b. False
5. Which light source casts a focused beam of light in the form
of a cone?
a. Directional Light
b. Point Light
c. Spot Light
d. Spherical Light
451
6. The cone angle and the penumbra angle defines the hard
light and soft illumination for which type of light source(s)?
(Select all that apply.)
a. Point Light
b. Spot Light
c. Spherical Light
d. Disk Light
452
Camera and Lighting
Command Summary
Button
Action /
Command
Location
Antoalias
Icons Bar
Shortcut: <Spacebar>
Camera Editor
Quick Access Bar

Menu Bar: Scene>Camera Editor
Quick Access Bar): Camera Editor
Depth of Field
Camera Editor Toolcar

Camera Attributes (General rollout):
Depth of Field
N/A
Field of View

Field of View
Status Bar: FOV
Headlight
Icons Bar
Headlight Attributes in Light Editor
(Properties rollout): Enabled
N/A
Light Editor
Menu Bar: Scene>Light Editor

Quick Access Bar): Light Editor
Motion Blur
Camera Editor Toolcar

Motion Blur
453
454
Chapter 5
Rendering
In this chapter you learn about the OpenGL and Raytracing rendering methods,
that are used in the Autodesk VRED Professional software. You learn about
the additional visual modes that are available. You also learn how to modify the
rendering settings and illumination modes to enhance the render quality.
Rendering
Rendering Modes
Render Settings
51
52
Rendering
5.1 Rendering
Learning Objective
Understand the two main rendering methods, OpenGL
and Raytracing.
In the Autodesk VRED Professional software, the scene that is

displayed in the Render Window is rendered in real time. Two
rendering methods are used in the software: OpenGL rendering
and Raytracing. OpenGL is a GPU-based render mode while
Raytracing is CPU based. By default, the view that is displayed
in the Render Window is being interactively rendered using the
OpenGL render mode. To render a scene in the Raytracing
mode, you are required to activate it manually. When Raytracing
is toggled off, OpenGL is automatically activated. The renderer
that is currently being used is displayed in the Status Bar, as
shown in Figure 51. When RR-GL is displayed in the Status
bar, it indicates that the OpenGL mode in Realistic Rendering is
currently used. When RR-RT is displayed in the Status bar, it
indicates that Raytracing mode with Realistic Rendering is being
used to render the scene.
Figure 51
OpenGL
Rendering
OpenGL rendering is the default rendering used to display a

scene. It uses the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) to render
calculations, resulting in a fast response time. As the scene is
being rendered interactively in real-time, it is easier to navigate,
transform geometry, modify materials or cameras, and output
images. The renderings created in this render mode are near
photorealistic and are calculated quickly, thus making it easier to
work with. You can control the rendering quality in the Render
Settings module.
53
A rendered image using the OpenGL render mode is shown in

Figure 52.
Figure 52
The OpenGL render mode is on by default. If the Raytracing

mode is toggled on, you can reactivate OpenGL using any of the
following methods:
Raytracing
54
Toggle Raytracing off by clearing

(Raytracing) in the
Icons Bar. This automatically activates OpenGL.
In the Menu Bar, clear Visualization>Toggle Raytracing.
Press <F3> to activate OpenGL.
Raytracing is a rendering method that is used to calculate

physically correct lighting, reflections, refractions, and shadows.
Depending on the illumination mode you are using, you can add
realistic shadows and reflections to the scene to produce very
high-quality visualizations. This method uses the CPU (Central
Processing Unit) for calculations, which can affect the speed and
performance of the Autodesk VRED Professional software, and
your computer. In addition to the general settings, an additional
Raytracing Quality tab is available in the Render Settings
module to control the raytracing quality.
Rendering
A rendered image using the Raytracing render mode is shown in

Figure 53.
Figure 53
You can activate Raytracing mode using any of the following

methods:
Toggle Raytracing on by clicking

Icons Bar.
(Raytracing) in the
In the Menu Bar, select Visualization>Toggle Raytracing to

toggle it on.
Press <F4> to activate Raytracing.
Once you toggle Raytracing on, it might take a few seconds

to make the Raytracing calculations. While your computer is
making the computations, along the left side of the Status
Bar, notice Toggle Raytracing is displayed, as shown on the
left in Figure 54. Once the calculations are complete, notice
in the Status Bar RR-RT is displayed (as shown on the right
in Figure 54), indicating that the scene is displayed in
Realistic Rendering and Raytracing modes.
Figure 54
55
5.2 Rendering Modes

Learning Objective
Understand the additional rendering modes that can be
used in addition to the OpenGL and Raytracing rendering
modes.
In the Autodesk VRED Professional software, there are

additional rendering modes that are available that can be used
with either OpenGL or Raytracing rendering. These render
modes are available in the Visualization menu, as shown in
Figure 55.
Figure 55
Realistic Rendering
This is the default rendering mode which displays the objects in
the scene with highest realism that can be achieved with the
selected renderer (either OpenGL or Raytracing), as shown in
Figure 56. To display objects in this mode, in the Menu Bar,
select Visualization>Realistic Rendering, or press <F3>
(OpenGL) or <F4> (Raytracing).
56
Rendering
Figure 56
Renderpasses Rendering
This mode is meant for
advanced users and is
not discussed in this
Training Guide.
This mode is available only when Raytracing is the active

rendering mode. This enables you to visualize the scene in
different raytrace renderpasses. The various Renderpasses that
are available with the software can be accessed from the
Visualization menu, as shown in Figure 57.
Figure 57
57
Vertex/Face Normal Rendering

This mode enables you to verify the orientation of faces and
vertices by displaying the geometry in different colors based on
the direction of the face and vertex normals. The surfaces
display in four different colors, indicating different issues with the
geometry, as shown in Figure 58. The correct geometry should
be displayed completely in green. To display the scene in this
mode, in the Menu Bar, select Visualization>Vertex/Face
Normal Rendering, or press <F5>.
Violet
Gold
Green
Blue
Figure 58
Ambient Occlusion Rendering Mode

Ambient Occlusion (AO) refers to precomputed shadows and
self shading of objects that is used with the OpenGL render
mode and the Precomputed Illumination option of the
Raytracing render mode. The Ambient Occlusion Rendering
mode enables you to examine the AO in the Render Window, as
shown in Figure 59. To display the scene in this mode, in the
Menu Bar, select Visualization>Ambient Occlusion
Rendering, or press <F7>.
Figure 59
58
Rendering

Training Guide.
Indirect Illumination Rendering Mode

This mode is used with both OpenGL and Raytracing render
modes. In OpenGL mode, the Indirect Illumination displays the
precalculated indirect illumination, as shown in Figure 510. In
Raytracing mode, during Photon Mapping, this mode enables
you to visualize the final gather map. To display the scene in this
mode, in the Menu Bar, select Visualization>Indirect
Illumination Rendering.
Figure 510

Training Guide.
Surface Analysis Rendering Mode

This mode is used to analyze the surface of your model, as
shown in Figure 511. This is a diagnostic type of rendering
which enables you to troubleshoot the surfaces. To display the
scene in this mode, in the Menu Bar, select Visualization>
Surface Analysis Rendering, or press <F6>. You can set the
options for this mode in the Surface Analysis module.
Figure 511
59
Analytical Rendering Mode

This mode enables you to create renderings which have an
average quality (as shown in Figure 512), but the software
performance is very high. In this mode, the model displays only
basic shading without any reflections. It uses the lighting from
the standard light sources, and Image Based Lighting (IBL) is not
used. If no light sources have been added to the scene, then you
are required to switch on the Headlight, otherwise the rendering
is dark and nothing is visible.
Figure 512
Non Photorealistic Rendering Mode

This mode enables you to display the geometry in the form of a
schematic rendering, as shown in Figure 513. Using this mode,
you can present your scene while you are still in the design
phase. Using this graphic display of the scene, you can create
line drawing images that are useful for basic descriptions of the
geometries and parts.
Figure 513
510
Rendering
5.3 Render Settings

Learning Objective
Understand the options available in the Render Settings
module, and how to used them to enhance your
visualizations.
Before you save a final rendered image, review and adjust the
sender settings for the scene using the Render Settings module,
as shown in Figure 514. In the Quick Access Bar, click
(Render), or select Rendering>Render Settings in the
Menu Bar. Alternatively, you can also select Render Settings in
the Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar shortcut menu.
Figure 514
511
The Render Settings module has four tabs: File Output, General
Settings, Raytracing Quality, and Display Output.
File Output Tab
This tab provides you with options that enable you to set the size
of the rendered image, rendering mode to use, and quality of the
final image. These options are provided in the Image rollout, as
shown in Figure 514. The other rollouts are the Meta Data,
Renderpasses, Animation, and Cluster. The options provided in
these rollouts are meant for advanced users and are not
discussed in this training guide. The options provided in the
Image rollout are as follows:
Option
Description
View
Displays all of the camera views that have been

created with the scene. You can select the camera
view that you want to render. The default setting is the
Current camera view.
Filename
Sets the location to which you want to save the

rendering. Click
to open the Save Rendering(s)
dialog box and set the path, filename, and type of file
where the rendering is to be saved.
Use Time Stamp
A time stamp is appended to the filename.
Image Size
Presets
Enables you to select the required rendering image

size from a list of presets.
Image Size
Displays the preset selected image width and height in

pixels. You can also set a custom size by entering the
values in the width and height edit boxes.
Printing Size
Sets the size for printing the image.
Resolution
Sets the image resolution in pixels per inch.
Region Render:
Available only when using the Raytracing rendering

mode, Region Render enables you to select a portion
of the image to render, rather then rendering the entire
image. Toggling this option on enables you to either
use the cursor to select the region you want to render,
or to enter the coordinates for the upper left and lower
right corners of a required area.
Upper Left
Corner, Lower
Right Corner
To specify a region using the cursor, click

(Region) in the Icons Bar, press <R>, and then
click two diagonally opposite points to create a region
window. Click
to activate the
area, and automatically update the Upper Left Corner
and the Lower Right Corner coordinates.
512
Rendering
Render Mode
Sets the illumination modes for a still frame rendering.

You can select from a list of available illumination
modes, such as CPU Raterization, Precomputed
Illumination, Precomputed + Shadow,
Precomputed + IBL, and Full Global Illumination.
Selecting an option automatically activates the Still
Frame illumination mode in the Raytracing Quality tab.
Render Quality
Sets the render quality (i.e., the number of image

samples created for the rendering). Selecting an option
automatically sets the Image Samples value in the
General Settings tab, as follows:
Draft: 32 image samples
Preview: 128 image samples
Production: 512 image samples
Production Interieur: 2048 image samples
Setting any other value for the Image Samples field
changes the Render Quality to Custom.
Supersampling
Sets the supersampling for the rendering. Toggles the

antialiasing with the set image samples. By default it is
set as On.
Background
Color
Enables you to set the background color during

raytracing.
Tonemap HDR
Tonemapping is applied to the HDR image. The tone

mapper can be set in the Camera Editor module, which
must be saved as an .EXR file.
Export Alpha
Channel
Sets the alpha channel for the rendered image, which

means that a transparent background is provided with
the scene geometry.
Premultiply
Alpha
Available with the Export Alpha Channel option,

where the alpha channel is rendered as premultiplied.
ICC Profile
Sets the ICC Profile for the rendering.
513
General
Settings Tab
This tab provides you with options that enable you to adjust the
quality of the image by smoothing the edges (antialiasing), as
shown in Figure 515. These options are provided in the
Antialiasing and the Pixel Filter rollouts. The settings in the
Options rollout are meant for advanced users, and are not
discussed in this training guide.
Figure 515
Antialiasing
Antialiasing is the process of smoothing edges and removing
jagged diagonal lines that display in the Render Window, as
shown in Figure 516. This process improves the display quality
of a scene substantially. The improvement and quality is
dependent on the settings in Antialiasing and the Pixel Filter
rollouts of the Render Settings module, as shown in Figure 516.
Without Antialiasing
With Antialiasing
Figure 516
You can toggle start Still frame Antialiasing by using

(Antialias) in the Icons Bar, or by pressing <Spacebar>.
514
If Antialiasing is activated, the smoothing of edges starts as

soon as you stop navigating (release the mouse button) in
the Render Window. The start of antialiasing is indicated by
the percentage calculation wheel attached to the cursor. If
you click in the model, the antialiasing is aborted and restarts
as soon as you release the mouse button.
Rendering
The percentage of antialiasing that is completed, along with

the render time remaining, is displayed in the Status Bar, as
shown on the left in Figure 517. The percentage of the
completed antialiasing is also attached to the cursor, as
Figure 517
There are two types of Antialiasing that can be used while

using Raytracing. Click and hold
(Antialias) in the Icons
Bar to display the drop-down list, as shown in Figure 518.
You can select either Enable Downscale Antialiasing or
Enable Raytraced Antialiasing, as required.
Figure 518
Hint: Stillframe Antialiasing Start Time

By default, when you activate Antialiasing, the smoothing of
edges calculations starts immediately after you stop navigating
in the Render Window. The period of time between releasing
the mouse button and the start of the smoothing calculations
can be controlled in the Preferences dialog box. Select Edit>
Preferences, and in the Render Options tab, in the
Visualisation tab, in the Render Window rollout, enter a time in
seconds in the Stillframe AA After, as shown in Figure 519.
Figure 519
515
The options in the General Settings tab of the Render

Settings module can be used to adjust the quality of the
image while antialiasing. The available options are as follows:
Antialiasing rollout
Image Samples
Enables you to set the number of samples that are used

while antialiasing a still frame. This determines how
much edge smoothing should take place. The higher the
value used, the better the image quality and edge
smoothing. Changes to the value in Image Samples.
changes the Render Quality options in the File Output
tab.
Adaptive
Sampling
Adaptive Sampling can be set in such a way that the

raytrace renderer does not work on areas that are
already smooth, but targets the areas which are noisy
and need to be smoothed. You can select Preview
Quality if you want a fast rendering with very low quality,
while the Low Quality, Medium Quality, and High
Quality options gradually increase the render quality
and the render times. The Ultra High Quality and the
Highest Quality should be used when you need to
create a production-quality render. These take
significantly longer to create the renderings.
Use Clamping
If bright pixels are created and cannot be removed with

antialiasing, then increase the clamping to remove them.
A side effect to a high clamping value is that the render
might get very dull. for this reason, clamping requires
testing as you increase the values, to ensure that you
set it at a value which looks best for your requirements.
Pixel Filter rollout

Filter
Affects the calculations of the neighboring pixels per

sample. Select an option from the drop down list (as
shown in Figure 520) to define the degree of
sharpness. BSpline and Mitchell Natravelli are the
sharpest filters, while as Triangle is the fastest.
Figure 520
516
Rendering
Size
Sets the size that the filter covers. The size of the filter
selected should be set as a common value to avoid
unwanted artifacts. Hovering over the value, opens the
Common Values list, as shown in Figure 521.
Figure 521
Raytracing
Quality Tab
This tab provides you with options to set the raytracing settings,
as shown in Figure 522. These options are provided in the
Illumination Mode rollout. The other rollouts are the Photon
Tracing, IBL Sampling Quality, Reflection/Refraction Sampling
Quality, Trace Depth, and Material Overrides. For this training
guide, only the Illumination Mode rollout is discussed.
Figure 522
The Illumination Mode rollout provides you with different types of

illumination that can be used while rendering with Raytracing.
These illumination modes can be set for both Interactive or Still
Frame rendering. The options (shown in Figure 523) are the
same in both modes, and are as follows:
Figure 523
517

CPU
Rasterization
Works similar to the OpenGL mode, but the computation

processes are handled by the CPU. This illumination
mode can be used for huge datasets, or when your
graphic card performance is not sufficient for the kind of
scene you want to render. It does not compute direct
reflection or refraction, and therefore is not used for
photorealistic visualizations.
Precomputed
Illumination
Uses the Ambient Occlusion (AO) shadows that are baked

on the geometry, along with precomputed indirect
illumination. It only calculates the reflections, refractions,
and correct shadows from the light sources that are
present in the scene.
Precomputed
Illumination
+ Shadows
Uses the precomputed Image Based Lighting (IBL) and

indirect illumination. This mode does not use the
precalculated AO, but calculates the shadows from the
currently active scene environment.
Precomputed
Illumination
+ IBL
Uses the precomputed illumination, but calculates the IBL.

In addition, this mode calculates and generates glossy
reflections.
Full Global
Illumination
Global Illumination (GI) algorithms describes how the

interaction of the light is physically correct with multiple
surfaces. As the name specifies, Full Global Illumination
computes complete illumination in the scene, and thus
produces stunningly realistic images.
Downscale
When Raytracing is active, the rendering calculations are
performed by the CPU. While rendering complex and heavy
scenes in realtime raytracing, it becomes important to reduce the
display quality to ensure efficient navigation in the Render
Window.
In the Autodesk VRED Professional software, Downscale is

available to reduce the display quality in the Render Window.
You can start the Downscale command by clicking

(Downscale) in the Icons Bar.
518
Click and hold

(Downscale) to display the drop-down
list that enables you to select Low, Medium, or High for the
level of downscale, as shown in Figure 524.
Rendering
Figure 524
Low: Every second pixel in the Render Window is

processed for rendering, as shown on the left in
Figure 525. This results in the clearest rendering, but the
slowest navigation performance.
Medium: Every fourth pixel in the Render Window is
processed.
High: Every eighth pixel in the Render Window is
processed, as shown on the right in Figure 525. This
results in the most reduced visual quality, but the fastest
navigation.
Low Downscale
High Downscale
Figure 525
Downscale is available while using the Raytracing render

mode because the performance is significantly dependent on
the number of pixels to be rendered. In OpenGl, reducing the
number of pixels has virtually no affect on performance.
519
Practice 5a
Creating Renderings with

OpenGL
Learning Objectives
Modify various Render Settings options for creating
rendered images in OpenGL.
Create a rendered image of the scene with a white
background.
Create a rendered image of the scene with a HDR image
background and additional lighting.
Estimated time for

(without rendering)
In this practice you will modify the settings for rendering and then
create various rendered images with different environment
backgrounds, lighting options, and camera viewpoints.
Task 1 - Creating a rendered image in OpenGL.

select Window>
Layout>Default.
In this task you will render the scene using a saved camera
viewpoint and basic lighting, without using a background HDR
image.
folder, open Mainville_Render.vpb.
2. Open the Camera Editor and expand Camera with
Viewpoints>Camera Track1. Double-click on Original View
to activate it so that the view is displayed in the Render
Window. Close the Camera Editor.
3. It is recommended to initially display the scene with a white
background, where it is easier to check for any flaws. Select
Edit>Preferences to open the Preferences dialog box and
click
to revert all of the settings to their
defaults. Select Render Options, and in its attributes, in the
Visualisation Advanced tab, in the Background rollout, set the
background gradient colors to white, as shown in
Figure 526. Click
and then click
Figure 526
520
Rendering
4. In the Material Editor, in the Materials list section, select

Environments to open its attributes. Notice that Studio has
an orange
next to it, indicating that it is the current
environment and is displayed in the Render Window. It is also
selected with a gray band, indicating that its attributes are
displayed. In the Environment Material rollout, clear the Is
Visible option. The environment image is replaced with the
white background in the Render Window, as shown in
Figure 527. Close the Material Editor.
Figure 527
5. Review the scene carefully. Notice that the lighting is too

bright. In the Light Editor, select Ext Spot, and in its attributes
clear the Enabled option to toggle it off. The long shadows
are removed, and only the baked Ambient Occlusion (AO)
shadows are present, as shown in Figure 528. Also the
hotspots caused by the light source are removed.
Figure 528
521
6. Switch off both the Headlight and the INT Point light source
by clearing the Enabled option in their respective attributes.
Close the Lights Editor.
The calculation cursor
might not be visible on
the white background of
the Render Window.
Move the cursor to a
darker background,
such as the Status Bar
or Icons Bar, if required
7. In the Render Window, notice the jagged lines near the hood
of the vehicle, as shown on the left in Figure 530. To
improve the visual display, in the Icons Bar, click
(Antialias) (or press <Spacebar>) to activate
antialiasing. This starts smoothing the edges, and the
progress is indicated by a percentage calculation wheel
attached to the cursor. In the Status Bar, the antialiasing
completion percentage and the render time that is still
required to complete the rendering is displayed, as shown in
Figure 529. It typically takes around 2 minutes to complete
the antialiasing, depending on your computer.
Figure 529
As soon as you click the

mouse, the antialiasing
calculations will restart.
8. Once the antialiasing calculations are complete, without

clicking anywhere, review the scene and notice that the
edges have been smoothed, as shown on the right in
Figure 530. Deactivate
Without Antialiasing
(Antialias).
With Antialiasing
Figure 530
9. Open the Render Settings module by clicking

(Render)
in the Quick Access Bar, or select Rendering>Render
Settings in the Menu Bar.
10. In the File Output tab, in the Image rollout, set the Image Size
Presets to HD 1080 (1920 X 1080).
The Render Quality
option in the File Output
tab and the Image
Samples option in the
General Settings tab are
interdependent.
522
11. Set the Render Quality as Draft, as shown on the left in

Figure 531. In the General Settings tab, in the Antialiasing
rollout, notice that the Image Samples are set to 32, as
Rendering
Figure 531
12. Set Image Samples to 512, as shown in Figure 532. In the

File Output tab, notice that Render Quality has automatically
changed to Production.
13. In the General Settings tab, set Adaptive Sampling to High
Quality, as shown in Figure 532. Leave the rest of the
settings as default.
Figure 532
14. As the render looks clean, you can now render the image and
save it as a file. Click
Settings module.
You can select *.png
from the Save as type
drop-down list.
in the Render
15. In the Save Rendering(s) dialog box, browse to the C:\VRED

Pro Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 5\ folder, and enter
MyMainville_front_yellow_white.png in the File name edit
box.
Depending on your computer it can take a few

minutes to create the rendered image. Perform Step
16 at a later time and move to Step 17 at this point.
16. Click
. The Image Render status bar opens
displaying the percentage of the image creation, as shown in
Figure 533.
Depending on the configuration of your computer, it can

take around 7-15 minutes to complete.
Figure 533
523
17. Cancel the Save command by closing the Save Rendering(s)

dialog box.
18. A rendered image has been provided for you. Using Windows
Explorer, in the C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals Class Files\
Chapter 5\ folder, open Mainville_front_yellow_white.png.
This rendered image was created with the settings performed
in this task. Once you create MyMainville_front_yellow
_white.png in Step 16, it should display similar to the image
Figure 534
Task 2 - Creating renderings with an HDR background.

In this task, you will render the scene with the same settings as
in Task 1, but using a HDR image for the background. You will
also use a material switch and create a rendered image with a
different exterior paint color.
1. In the Material Editor, in the Materials list section, verify that
Environments is selected. This is a material switch. In the
attributes, click
(empty gray box) next to New_York which
turns into an orange , as shown in Figure 535. Notice in

the Render Window that the New York environment is set as
the background. Close the Material Editor.
Figure 535
524
Rendering
2. In the Light Editor, select EXT Spot and activate it by

selecting Enabled in the Properties rollout. Notice that the
long shadows are displayed. Close the Light Editor.
You can perform Step 3
at a later time, if
required.
3. OPTIONAL: Render the scene by clicking

in the Render Settings module. Save the file as
MyMainville_front_yellow_HDR.png.
4. Open Mainville_front_yellow_HDR.png from the C:\VRED
Pro Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 5\ folder. The
rendered image is displayed as shown in Figure 536.
Figure 536
5. In the Material Editor, in the Materials list section, select

Switch_EXT_paint, as shown in Figure 537. In the
attributes, click
to activate EXT_paint _blue. Close the
Material Editor. In the Render Window, the vehicle now has
blue car paint.
Figure 537
525

at a later time, if
required.
6. OPTIONAL: Render the scene and save it as

MyMainville_front_blue_HDR.png.
7. Open Mainville_front_blue_HDR.png from the C:\VRED
rendered image is shown in Figure 538.
Figure 538
Task 3 - Creating renderings using a Depth of Field.

In this task, you will render the scene with a different camera
viewpoint and add a depth of field to it.
1. In the Camera Editor, in Camera with Viewpoints>Camera
Track1, double-click on Close Up to activate it. The scene is
displayed using this camera viewpoint in the Render Window.
In the General rollout, Depth of Field has been set for this
viewpoint, as shown in Figure 539.
Figure 539
526
Rendering

at a later time, if
required.
2. OPTIONAL: In the Render Settings module, render the

scene by clicking
and save it as
MyMainville_front_blue_DOF.png.
3. Open Mainville_front_blue_DOF.png from the C:\VRED
rendered image is shown in Figure 540.
Figure 540
4. Save the file as My_Mainville_Render.vpb.
527
Practice 5b
Creating Renderings with

Raytracing
Learning Objectives
Navigate the Render Window while using the Raytrace
rendering mode.
Create a rendered image of part of scene using the
Region option.
Create rendered images using the various Illumination
modes with Raytrace rendering.
Estimated time for

(without rendering)
In this practice you will use the Raytrace rendering method and
navigate around the scene. You will set the various illumination
modes with raytracing and create rendered images.
Task 1 - Navigating with Raytracing.

select Window>
Layout>Default.
In this task you will render the scene using a saved camera
viewpoint and basic lighting, without using a background HDR
image.
folder, open Mainville_Raytracing.vpb.
2. In the Material Editor, in the Materials list section, select the
Environments material switch. Select New_York to display
the New_York background.
3. Open the Render Settings module and open the Raytracing
Quality tab. Notice in the Illumination Mode rollout, both
Interactive and Still Frame are set as Precomputed
Illumination.
You can also toggle

Raytracing by selecting
Visualization>Toggle
Raytracing, or by
pressing <F4>.
528

(Raytracing) to toggle it on. It
might take a few seconds to complete the Raytracing
calculations. While your computer is making the
computations, along the left side of the Status Bar, notice that
Toggle Raytracing is displayed, as shown on the left in
Figure 541. Once the calculations are complete, notice in
the Status Bar that RR-RT is displayed (as shown on the right
in Figure 541), indicating that the scene is displayed in
Realistic Rendering and Raytracing modes.
Rendering
Figure 541
5. Orbit around in the Render Window. Notice that the

movement in the Render Window is choppy and you cannot
navigate the scene smoothly.

(Statistics) to open the Statistics
panel, as shown in Figure 542. Notice in the panel the
Current FPS value. It has a low value (depending on your
computer), indicating that it is not the optimum range for
navigation. Navigating in the scene will be extremely slow.
Figure 542
7. In the Render Settings module, in the Raytracing Quality tab,

in the Illumination Mode rollout, set Interactive to Full Global
Illumination, as shown in Figure 543.
Figure 543
8. Orbit around in the Render Window and notice how hard it is

to navigate. It seems that you cannot orbit at all. Also notice
in the Statistics panel, the Current FPS value is reduced
further.
529
9. Reducing the visual quality will improve the navigation speed

in the Render Window. In the Icons Bar, click and hold
(Downscale) to display the drop-down list. Select Low,
as shown on the left in Figure 544. Downscale is
automatically toggled on. Notice that the visual display in the
Render Window is reduced, as shown on the right in
Figure 544. Orbit around and notice that you can now
navigate slightly better, although it is not totally smooth.
Figure 544
10. In the Icons Bar, click and hold

select High in the drop-down list.
(Downscale) and
11. The visual display in the Render Window is pixelated and the
visual quality is extremely reduced, as shown in Figure 545.
In the Statistics panel, the Current FPS value has increased
and is in the range of above 10.00, which is optimum for
navigation. Orbit the model and notice that you can now
navigate fluidly and smoothly in the Render Window.
Figure 545
530
Rendering
12. Click
(Statistics) to toggle it off.
Task 2 - Creating a Raytraced region rendered image.

You will create a render image of the front portion near the grill,
the headlight, and the M logo using the Raytracing render mode.
A rendered image of the same view was saved using OpenGL
rendering mode. You will compare the two images.
1. In the Camera Editor, select Camera with Viewpoints>
Camera Track1, and double-click on Close Up to activate
the Close Up viewpoint. Close the Camera Editor.

(Raytracing) to toggle it off. You
are returned to the OpenGL rendering mode. Notice that
RR-GL displays in the Status Bar. Although Downscale is
still active, it does not work with the OpenGL rendering mode.
3. In the Material Editor, expand Switch_EXT_paint and
activate EXT_paint _blue to change the exterior paint color
from yellow to blue.
4. In the Render Settings module, in the Raytracing Quality tab,
in the Illumination Mode rollout, set Still Frame to Full Global
Illumination.
5. In the File Output tab, set Render Quality to Production. Set
the Image Size Presets to HD 1080 (1920 X 1080). Enable
Region Render and notice that the coordinates in the Upper
Left Corner are 0 and 0, while Lower Right Corner displays
799 and 600, as shown in Figure 546.
Figure 546
531
6. Toggle on
(Downscale).
(Raytracing) and toggle off

(Region) to toggle it on. Press
<R>, and then using the cursor, click the upper left and lower
right corners to create a window around the front grill, M logo,
and portion of the left headlight, as shown in Figure 547.
While creating a region window, it is displayed as a red
dashed window, which turns into a yellow rectangle once you
click to accept it.
Upper left
corner
Lower right
corner
Figure 547
The coordinates might

vary based on the
window that you
created.
8. In the Render Settings module, in the File Output tab, click

to activate it. Notice the coordinates in
the in the Upper Left Corner and the Lower Right Corner
fields have changed, as shown in Figure 548.
Figure 548
532
Rendering
9. You can now render the image for the region and save it as a
file. Click
in the Render Settings module.
10. In the Save Rendering(s) dialog box, browse to the C:\VRED

Pro Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 5\ folder and enter
MyMainville_region_RT.png in the File name edit box.
Depending on your computer it can take some time

to create the Render image. Perform Step 11 at a
later time and move to Step 12 at this point.
11. Click
. The Image Render status bar opens
displaying the percentage of the image creation. Depending
on your computer, it can take 20-30 minutes to complete.
12. Cancel the Save command by closing the Save Rendering(s)
dialog box.
13. A rendered image for the region has been provided for you.
In Chapter 5 folder of your Class Files folder, open Mainville
_region_RT.png as shown on the left in Figure 549. In the
C:\VRED Pro Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 5\ folder,
open Mainville_front_blue_DOF.png and compare the two
images side by side. A cropped portion of Mainville_front_
blue_DOF.png is shown on the right in Figure 549.
In the Raytraced image, notice the physically accurate

reflections created near the front and along the bottom of
the grill, as shown on the left in Figure 549.
Figure 549
14. Toggle off
(Region) and
(Raytracing).
533
Task 3 - Create interior renderings with Raytracing.

You will create rendered images of the vehicles interior using
various types of illumination modes.
1. In the Camera Editor, select Camera with Viewpoints>
Camera Track1, double-click on Interior, and activate
Interior viewpoint to open the interior view of the vehicle in
the OpenGL render mode, as shown in Figure 550. Close
the Camera Editor.
Figure 550
2. In the Render Settings module, in the File Output tab, select

Region Render to clear it.
3. In the Raytracing Quality tab, in the Illumination Mode rollout,
set both Interactive and Still Frame to Precomputed
Illumination.
4. In the File Output tab, verify that the settings are as shown in
Figure 551.
534
Rendering
Figure 551
5. Toggle on
(Raytracing). Once the Raytracing
calculations have completed, notice the reflections in the
window glass and the windshield of the vehicle, as shown in
Figure 552.
Figure 552
535

at a later time, if
required.

scene by clicking
. Save the file as
MyMainville_INT_Precomp.png.
7. Open Mainville_INT_Precomp.png from the C:\VRED Pro
Fundamentals Class Files\Chapter 5\ folder. The rendered
image is shown in Figure 553.
Figure 553

set both Interactive and Still Frame to Precomputed +
Shadows. Notice in the Render Window how the colors have
become deeper. This illumination mode calculates the
shadows based on the active environment. Also notice
around the console area how the deeper shadows enhance
the depth.
at a later time, if
required. It might take
around 60-70 minutes to
create the image.
536

scene by clicking
. Save the file as
MyMainville_INT_Pre_Shad.png.
10. Open Mainville_INT_Pre_Shad.png from the C:\VRED Pro
image is shown in Figure 554.
Rendering
Figure 554

set both Interactive and Still Frame to Precomputed + IBL.
You can perform Step
12 at a later time, if
required.

scene by clicking
MyMainville_INT_Pre_IBL.png.
and save it as
13. Open Mainville_INT_Pre_IBL.png from the C:\VRED Pro

image is shown in Figure 555. Notice near the right side of
the steering wheel how more reflections are added. In this
mode, the light reflection stops after the first bounce.
Figure 555
537

set Still Frame to Full Global Illumination.
You can perform Step
15 at a later time, if
required.

scene by clicking
MyMainville_INT_FGI.png.
Save the file as
16. Open Mainville_INT_FGI.png from the C:\VRED Pro

image is shown in Figure 556. Notice the rendering is more
effective with physically accurate reflection and refractions.
Figure 556
17. Toggle off
(Raytracing).
18. Save the file as My_Mainville_Raytracing.vpb.
538
Rendering

1. In the Autodesk VRED Professional software, which of the
following statements is completely correct?
a. OpenGL uses the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) to
render calculations and calculates physically correct
lighting.
b. OpenGL uses the CPU (Central Processing Unit) to
render calculations and calculates physically correct
lighting.
c. Raytracing uses the CPU to render calculations and
calculates physically correct lighting.
d. Raytracing uses the GPU to render calculations and
calculates physically correct lighting.
2. Which Render mode does not use Image Based Lighting,
and thus requires the Headlight to be on or light sources to
be added for the objects to be visible in the scene?
a. Indirect Illumination rendering mode
b. Analytical rendering mode
c. Surface Analysis rendering mode
d. Non Photorealistic rendering mode
3. In the Render Settings module, in the Antialiasing tab, set
Image Samples to 512 (as shown on the left in Figure 557),
changes the Render Quality in the File Output tab to which of
the options shown on the right in Figure 557?
Figure 557
a. Draft
b. Preview
c. Production
d. Production Interieur
e. Custom
539
4. Which keyboard shortcut toggles
(Antialias) on and off?
a. <F3>
b. <F4>
c. <Tab>
d. <Spacebar>
5. Which Illumination mode (shown in Figure 558) works
similar to the OpenGL rendering mode, and can be used for
huge datasets or when the graphic card performance is
insufficient?
Figure 558
a. .CPU Rasterization
b. .Precomputed Illumination
c. .Precomputed Illumination + Shadows
d. .Precomputed Illumination + IBL
e. .Full Global Illumination
6. Which Illumination mode (shown in Figure 558) uses
Ambient Occlusion and precomputed indirect illumination, but
calculates reflections, refractions and shadows from the light
sources (if present) in the scene?
a. .CPU Rasterization
b. .Precomputed Illumination
c. .Precomputed Illumination + Shadows
d. .Precomputed Illumination + IBL
e. .Full Global Illumination
540
Rendering
7. In the Render Window, how many pixels are processed for

rendering when you use the Medium Downscale quality?
a. Every second pixel
b. Every fourth pixel
c. Every sixth pixel
d. Every eighth pixel
541
Command Summary
Button
N/A
Action /
Command
Location
Analytical Display
in Render Window
Menu Bar: Visualization>

Analytic Rendering
Antialias
Icons Bar
Shortcut: <Spacebar>
Downscale
Icons Bar
N/A
Indirect
Illumination
Display in Render
Window

Non Photorealistic Rendering
N/A
Non Photorealistic
Display in Render
Window

Indirect Illumination Rendering
N/A
OpenGL
Icons Bar: Toggle off Raytracing

Menu Bar: Toggle off
Visualization>
Raytracing
Shortcut: <F3>
Raytracing
Icons Bar
Menu Bar: Toggle on
Visualization>
Raytracing
Shortcut: <F4>
N/A
Realistic Render
Display in Render
Window

Realistic Rendering
Render Settings
Quick Access Bar
Shortcut: <F3> for OpenGL, <F4>

for Raytracing
Menu Bar: Rendering>Render
Settings
Shortcut Menu (on the Icons Bar
or Quick Access Bar): Render
Settings
N/A
542
Statistics
Icons Bar
Surface Analysis
Display in Render
Window

Surface Analysis Rendering
Shortcut: <F6>
Appendix A
Simple User Interface
In this chapter you learn about the components and modules that are used in the
Simple UI.

Scene Module
A1
A2
A.1 Simple User Interface

Learning Objective
Understand the simplified version of the Autodesk VRED
Professional user interface.
A simplified version of the user interface (UI) is available in the

Autodesk VRED Professional software. The Simple UI
enables you to perform all of the functions that are required to
create a rendering quickly and efficiently. This interface provides
you with most of the tools and modules present in the Standard
UI, but in a more compact form. It has bundled the commonly
used modules into a single panel so that you can access them
from a single location. You can display the software in a Simple
(Simple UI) in the Icons Bar.
User Interface by clicking
Alternatively, you can display the Simple User Interface by
selecting Window>Simple UI. Once you display the Simple UI,
the only way to revert back to Standard UI is by clicking
the Icons Bar to toggle it off.
in
The Simple UI has the same interface components as the

Standard UI (as shown in Figure A1), but the commands and
icons have been reduced to make them compact.
Figure A1
A3
Menu Bar
A simplified Menu Bar is provided in the Simple UI which

contains the File, Edit, Scene, and Help menus. It also displays
the Animation and Render menus, which contain commands for
creating a basic animation and rendering a scene quickly. Only
the most basic commands are provided in each menu. For
example, the Edit menu contains only the commands for Undo,
Redo, and Preferences, as shown in Figure A2.
Figure A2
Icons Bar
The Icons Bar provided with the Simple UI is the only interface
component that is very similar to the Standard UI. The only
exception is that the tools for Synchronisation are not displayed
by default, as shown in Figure A3. If required, you can still
display the Synchronisation tools by selecting Synchronisation
in the Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar shortcut menu.
Figure A3
Quick Access
Bar
The Quick Access Bar contains tools for opening only five
modules, as shown on the left in Figure A4. The commonly
used modules, such as Material Editor, Camera Editor, Lights
Editor, etc have been combined and can be accessed in a single
(Scene).
main module which is opened by clicking
Although you can still customize the Quick Access Bar, only two
additional module icons (Terminal and Render Queue) can be
added from the Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar shortcut menu, as
shown on the right in Figure A4.
Figure A4
A4
Status Bar
Along the left side, the Status Bar provides you with information
about the memory usage and Render mode that is currently
being used to render the scene, as shown on the left in
Figure A5. Along the right side of the screen, the Status Bar
enables you to open the Terminal module, as well as set the Up
axis, Field of View, and the Initial Camera View, as shown on the
right in Figure A5.
Figure A5
Render Window
In the Simple UI, the Render Window dynamically fills the

available area of the screen. You cannot save different interface
layouts when using the Simple UI, but you can modify the size of
the Render Window. To specify a custom window resolution in
the Preferences dialog box, select Render Options, and on the
Visualisation tab, enable Use Fixed Resolution, and provide a
size in the Pixel Resolution fields, as shown in Figure A6. The
Resolution presets are also available in the Scene module on the
Settings tab.
Figure A6
Scene Module
All of the commonly used modules that are required as part of

the common workflow have been bundled together into the
Scene Module.
A5
A.2 Scene Module

Learning Objective
Understand the options available in the Scene module.
The Scene module contains the most commonly used modules,

which have been organized into tabs, as shown in Figure A7.
Many other commonly used commands have also been
combined inside those tabs. Using the Simple UI, in the Quick
Access Bar, click
(Scene), or select Scene in the shortcut
menu of the Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar to open the Scene
module.
Figure A7
Scenegraph
Tab
A6
By default, the Scene module opens in the Scenegraph tab. This

tab is divided into two sections: the upper area is the
Scenegraph (as is found in the Standard UI), while the lower
area is the Properties section.
The Scenegraph
The upper section of the Scenegraph tab (shown in Figure A8)
contains the standard Scenegraph, listing all of the parts and
geometry that are present in the scene in the form of a tree
structure.
As with the standard scenegraph, the same tools have been

provided and the same actions can be performed to sort and
group the objects, complete the model, and optimize the
geometry, enabling you to clean up and organize the
geometry in the scene.
The Scenegraph toolbar is provided at the bottom of this

section, to perform the actions in the Scenegraph. The
shortcut menu is also available, and contains many of the
same options as the Standard UI.
The slider bar enables you to expand or collapse the

hierarchy of the tree, as required.
Using the dotted line located above the scenegraph toolbar,

you can split the scenegraph into two standard scenegraphs.
Figure A8
A7
Properties section
The lower section of the Scenegraph tab (shown in Figure A9)
contains the properties of the selected object. It further contains
three tabs, and each tab contains commonly used commands to
transform or correct the geometry, and calculate the Ambient
Occlusion (AO) shadows. In the Standard UI, these commands
are located in their own separate modules, along with additional
advanced commands.
The tabs available in the Properties section are as follows:
Transformation: The Properties section opens with the

Transformation tab displayed, as shown in Figure A9. The
options in this tab enable you to move, rotate, and scale
objects by entering exact values in the edit boxes. If you use
the Transform manipulator handles, the transformation
changes are automatically updated here. It has additional
options for moving the objects to the origin or camera, on top
of the ground, etc.
Figure A9
A8
Occlusion: Provides you with basic options for calculating

the AO, as shown on the left in Figure A10. To check the
AO, in the Settings tab, change your display to Ambient
Occlusion Rendering.
Geometry: Provides you with options that enable you to work

with the geometry, as shown on the right in Figure A10.
Here you can fix the surface normals of the geometry if they
are facing in the opposite direction. To check the surface
normals, in the Settings tab, change your display to
Vertex/Face Normal Rendering.
Figure A10
Materials Tab
Selecting the Materials tab in the Scene module (shown in

Figure A11) displays the compact form of the standard Material
Editor. In this tab, you can work with the materials by creating,
editing, and managing them. You can convert the materials to
Autodesk VRED Truelight materials and edit their attributes to
customize them as required.
Figure A11
A9
Materials Section
The upper section of the Materials tab (shown in Figure A11)
contains all of the materials used in a scene. They are displayed
as a preview ball with the material name displayed below,
offering you a visual preview of the materials used.
Right-click anywhere in the section, or right-click on a specific

material, to display the Materials shortcut menu, as shown in
Figure A12. When you right-click in an empty space, some
shortcut menu options are unavailable. You can use the
shortcut menu to create new Truelight materials, edit existing
materials, or convert imported materials into Truelight
materials. Various options for assigning materials and
selecting geometry are also provided.
Figure A12
The Material Editor toolbar (shown in Figure A13), is

provided below the Materials section. It contains tools that
enable you to manage the materials. All of the actions
performed by the tools are also available on the Material
shortcut menu. The toolbar provides you with easy access to
commonly used tools.
Figure A13
A10
A slider is also provided to control the size of the preview ball

icons. Move the slider to the left to minimize the preview ball
icon to a preview list. Move the slider to the right to gradually
increase the preview ball size.
Properties Section
The lower section of the Materials tab (shown in Figure A14)
contains the attributes for a selected material.
Figure A14
The name of the material and its type is displayed near the
top of the Properties section. You can rename the material by
entering a new name in the Name field.
Based on the Type of the material, all its basic properties are
provided. You can modify the parameters as required. If the
selected material type can have textures, the slots for loading
the textures for the various channels are provided. In
Figure A14, the material type is Triplanar, and therefore has
slots for loading textures for the Diffuse and Glossy channels.
Once a texture is loaded,
and
are provided to
reload and delete the texture file as required.
A11
Environments
Tab
Selecting the Environments tab in the Scene module (shown in

Figure A15) displays all of the environments that are provided
in the scene. In this tab, you can work with the environments by
creating, editing, and managing them.
Figure A15
Environment Section
The upper section of the Environments tab (shown in
Figure A15) contains all of the environments used in the scene.
A12
Every scene is opened in the default environment with the

name Studio. If you have loaded additional images for
environment, they are listed here. They are displayed as a
preview swatch with the environment name displayed,
providing a visual preview.
Double-click on an environment swatch to display it as the

background in the Render Window.
Right-click anywhere in the section to open the Environment

shortcut menu, shown on the left in Figure A16. You can use
the shortcut menu to create a new environment or skylight,
and duplicate and delete the environment. Some of the
options are also available through the environment toolbar
(shown on the right in Figure A16), which is located along
the bottom of this section.
Figure A16
Right-clicking on an environment has a Convert to Skylight

option, while right-clicking on a skylight has a Convert to
Environment option. If either the skylight or environment are
converted to the other, the action cannot be undone and a
dialog box prompts you for confirmation, as shown in
Figure A17.
Figure A17
A slider controls the size of the environment preview swatch.
Properties Section
The lower section of the Environments tab (shown in
Figure A18) contains the properties of the selected
environment or skylight.
Figure A18
The name of the environment or skylight is displayed and can

be changed here.
You can load a different HDR image using

. You can also
change the shape of the environment geometry, which is set
to Dome by default.
A13
Camera Tab
If you want to use a color for the background instead of an

HDR image, clear the Visible option. This hides the display
of HDR image, but the lighting from the image is still used.
The color that is used as the background is set in the
Preferences dialog box in the Render Options, in the
Visualization Advanced tab.
You cannot hide or display a skylight using the Simple UI

because the Visible option is not provided in the Skylight
Properties. However, you can hide the skylight using the
Material Editor in the Standard UI.
Selecting the Camera tab in the Scene module (as shown in

Figure A19), displays the cameras and enables you to work
with them.
Figure A19
Camera Drop-down List

At the top of the Camera tab is a drop-down list, which contains
the default Perspective view, and any cameras that have been
created, as shown in Figure A20. Selecting a Camera from the
list displays the saved viewpoints in the Camera section.
Figure A20
A14
Camera Section
The upper section of the Camera tab (shown in Figure A19)
contains all of the saved viewpoints for that camera.
The saved camera viewpoints are displayed as a preview

swatch, offering you a visual preview. Click on a viewpoint
swatch to open the scene in that viewpoint.
You can change an existing camera viewpoint to a new

camera viewpoint by clicking
viewpoint.
, or click
to delete a
If you want to add a new viewpoint to the Camera, in the

Render Window, navigate to the required view, and then click
on the empty Capture swatch, as shown on the left in
Figure A21. The new viewpoint is saved in the empty
swatch, as shown on the right in Figure A21.
Figure A21
Right-clicking on a captured viewpoint opens the shortcut

menu (shown in Figure A22), which enables you to
recapture, delete, or animate viewpoints.
Figure A22
A15
Clicking
opens a dialog box (shown in Figure A23)
which enables you to set the timings for an animated camera
sequence. Use
sequence.
or
to play and stop the camera
Figure A23
At the bottom of this section, a slider is provided that controls

the size of the camera preview swatch.
Properties Section
The lower section of the Camera tab (shown in Figure A24)
contains the properties for the selected camera.
Figure A24
A16
Lights Tab
enables you to modify the camera settings such as the Focal

length, Field of View, Exposure, White balance, motion blur,
distance blurring effects, etc.
Selecting the Lights tab in the Scene module (shown in

Figure A25) displays all of the lights that are available in the
scene. In this tab, you can work with the lights by creating,
editing, and managing them.
Figure A25
Lights Section
The upper section of the Lights tab (shown in Figure A25)
contains all of the lights used in the scene. They are displayed as
a list with an icon in the front, which indicates the light type.
By default, a Headlight is always present and turned on in

the scene.
You can toggle the light sources on and off by clicking
or
, located adjacent to the light symbol. You can also click

in the Lights toolbar.
A17
Right-click anywhere in the Lights section to display the

shortcut menu, as shown in Figure A26. You can use the
shortcut menu to create new lights, edit existing lights, or
convert one type of light to another. Various options for
toggling the lights on and off or selecting lights are also
provided.
Figure A26
Properties Section
The lower section of the Lights tab (shown in Figure A27)
contains the attributes of a selected light.
Figure A27
A18
The name of the light and its type is displayed near the top of
the Properties section. You can rename the light by entering
a new name in the Name field.
Based on the light type, all of its basic properties are

provided. You can modify the parameters as required. The
common parameters that you can set are the light intensity,
along with the Diffuse and Specular levels.
If the selected light type is a Spot Light, then you have the
options of setting the Cone Angle and the Penumbra Angle.
For Spherical, Disk, and Rectangle lights, there are options

for Primary Visibility and Visible in Reflections, which
work while in the Raytracing rendering. these options are
unavailable in OpenGL.
For positioning the light source, you can either use the
transforms, or position the light at the same location as the
camera by using
Hint: Hiding Light Objects
To hide light sources in the scene so they are not rendered,

hide the LightTransform node in the Scenegraph. For the
Standard Light Editor, the Hide and Show buttons are available
in the Visualization rollout. These are not available in the
Simple UI, and therefore the Scenegraph must be used.
Settings Tab
Selecting the Settings tab in the Scene module (shown in

Figure A28) provides you with various options for setting the
various rendering modes.
Figure A28
A19
By default, the Resolution is set to Dynamic Resolution,

which means that the Render Window dynamically fills the
empty area of the screen after the various interface
components are opened. You can select a preset resolution
size from the available list (as shown in Figure A29), which
restricts the Render Window size to the selected option.
Selecting Custom Resolution enables you to set the Render
Window to a resolution of your choice. You can also specify a
custom size in the Preferences dialog box in the Render
Options, in the Visualization tab.
Figure A29
You can select Antialiasing to smooth the edges of

geometry in the Render Window for visual clarity when using
the OpenGL rendering mode. Clicking the option here toggles
(Antialias) in the Icons Bar.
In this tab, you can control how you want the selected
geometry to be displayed in the Render Window. By selecting
the Wireframe and Bounding Box options, you can display
the objects as a wireframe, enclosed in a bounding box, or
both. Selecting the options here toggles their respective icons
in the Icons Bar, as shown in Figure A30.
Figure A30
A20
The Grid and Ruler options can also be toggled in this tab,
which also activates or deactivates them in the Icons Bar.
By default, the objects in the scene are displayed in Realistic

Rendering mode, resulting in the highest realism in the
Render Window. You can display the scene in other
rendering modes, as shown in Figure A31.
Figure A31
Vertex/Face Normal Rendering: Enables you to check

the orientation of the faces and vertices by displaying the
geometry in different colors. You can fix the surface
normals of the geometry in the Scenegraph tab, in the
Properties section, in the Geometry tab.
Ambient Occlusion Rendering: Enables you to examine
the precomputed AO shadows. You can calculate the AO
in the Scenegraph tab, in the Properties section, in the
Occlusion tab.
Surface Analysis Rendering: Enables you to analyze
the surface of your model.
Select Raytracing to change your render method from the
default OpenGL to the Raytracing mode. Raytracing is used
to calculate physically correct reflections, refractions,
shadows, and lighting, depending on the Illumination mode.
Selecting the option here toggles
(Raytracing) in the
Icons Bar. You are able to set the Interactive Render Mode,
Image Render Mode, and Downscale options, as shown in
Figure A32.
Figure A32
For both Interactive Render Mode and Image Render

Mode you can set the type of illumination mode, as shown
in Figure A33.
Figure A33
A21
Command Summary
Button
Action /
Command
Location
Simple UI
Icons Bar
Menu Bar: Window>Simple UI
Scene
Quick Access Bar of Simple UI

Shortcut Menu of Simple UI (on the
Icons Bar or Quick Access Bar): Scene
A22

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Autodesk VRED Professional 2015

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Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

2.4 Transforming Geometry......................................................2-22

5.3 Render Settings ...................................................................5-11

Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

Understanding the Autodesk VRED Professional interface

Open 3D CAD data to display it as a real-time rendering.

Organizing the parts and optimizing the geometry in the

Adjusting the model and transforming the parts.

Working with Truelight materials and assigning them to

Adding cameras and viewpoints to a scene.

Setting environments and using HDR images as a scene

Adding light sources for additional illumination.

Creating rendered images using the OpenGL render mode.

Working with the Raytracing render mode to produce

Creating rendered images using the Raytracing render mode.

Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

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Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

This chapter contains the following topics:

Overview of Autodesk VRED Professional

Introduction to Autodesk VRED Professional

1.1 Overview of Autodesk VRED

The Autodesk VRED Professional software is a visualization,

Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

There are three versions of the Autodesk VRED software:

Autodesk VRED: The standard version of the software,

Autodesk VRED Design: In addition to creating high

Autodesk VRED Professional: The Autodesk VRED

Input into Autodesk VRED Professional

AutoCAD drawing files (.DWG and .DXF), including objects

Autodesk Inventor files (.IPT and .IAM).

Autodesk Alias files (.WIRE).

Scene files from the Autodesk Maya (.MA, .MB),

Introduction to Autodesk VRED Professional

Files from other Autodesk applications, such as Autodesk

Other major CAD data applications and visualization

The exchange files format, such as .OBJ and .FBX, is the

Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

1.2 Overview of the Interface

To launch the Autodesk VRED Professional software,

(VRED Pro) on your desktop.

Once you open the Autodesk VRED Professional software, the

Introduction to Autodesk VRED Professional

The components of the interface are:

3. Quick Access Bar

The menus that are available in the Menu Bar are:

Contains the New, Import, Export, Publish and various

Contains Undo and Redo commands. You can also open

Autodesk VRED Professional 2015 Fundamentals

Contains toggles for controlling the display of various utility

Contains tools to set the different rendering modes, such

Contains options that enable you to create objects, such as

Contains options for opening the modules, enabling you to

Contains options that enables you to set the type of

Contains options that enables you to open the module for

Contains options that enables you to set and customize the

Enables you to access the general information of the

Introduction to Autodesk VRED Professional

Render Options toolbar