Table of Contents
Chapter Objectives. After reading this chapter, you'll be able to do the following:
Create 2D, 3D, or cube map textures
Apply textures to objects using one of the following:
Default texture mapping
Explicit texture coordinates
Texture coordinate functions
Use texture-coordinate functions such as SoTextureCoordinatePlane( C++ | Java | .NET ) and SoTextureCoordinateEnvironment( C++ | Java | .NET ) to map textures onto objects
Create a texture map that can be stored in memory and applied to an object
Wrap a texture around an object so that the image is repeated
Specify how a texture affects the underlying shaded color of an object
Specify the appropriate texture environment method to assign the surface color of an object
Apply several textures to a single object (multitexturing)
This chapter explains how to use 2D, 3D, and cube map textures, which allow you to add realism and detail to scenes. In Inventor, you create a 2D texture image and then apply this texture to the surface of a 3D shape object. The rectangular patch of texture you define is stretched and compressed to “fit” the 3D shape according to your specifications. Key concepts introduced in this chapter include texture map, wrapping textures, texture model, texture components, and environment mapping.