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3D Impressions Help - Material Effects

Material Effects are a collection of styles for animating an object's material surface. They are available in 3 stages:

Intro Effect
How the material appears into view.
Main Effect
How the material behaves between any Intro and Outro Effect.
Outro Effect
How the material disappears from view.

Intro Effects & Outro Effects for Materials

Below lists the effect styles for both Intro & Outro as they are identical. The only difference between their visual appearances is the direction in which they are applied. For example, the 'Fade' effect fades the object into appearance during the Intro and fades the object out of appearance during the Outro.

Color Effects
Illuminate	Intro	Colors of the material gradually changes from black to its target color.
	Outro	The material gradually changes from its current color to black.

Illuminate Half	Intro	Colors of the material gradually changes from half intensity to its target, full-intensity color.
	Outro	The material gradually changes from its current color to half intensity.

Transparency Effects
Fade	Intro	The material gradually changes from completely transparent to its target alpha transparency value.
	Outro	The material gradually changes from its current transparency level to completely transparent.

Fade Half	Intro	The material gradually changes from half its target transparency to its target alpha transparency value.
	Outro	The material gradually changes from its current transparency level to half that value.

Invisible	Intro	The material stays invisible for the duration of the Intro.
	Outro	The material becomes invisible for the duration of the Outro.

Intro Effect Properties

The following properties determine how the Intro Effect is applied to the material.

Intro Duration

This property determines the number of seconds it takes for the 'Intro Effect' to complete.

Outro Effect Properties

The following properties determine how the Outro Effect is applied to the material.

Outro Delay

This is the number of seconds delay between the 'Intro Effect' having finished before starting the 'Outro Effect'. During this time, the 'Main Effect' is performed.

Outro Duration

This property determines the number of seconds it takes for the 'Outro Effect' to complete.

Main Effects for Materials

Below lists the effect styles that can be applied to its material during its main presentation. This main effect starts after the Intro Effect has finished until the Outro Effect is started, as determined by the 'Outro Delay' property.

Color Effects
Flicker Full Color	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of brightness causing it to flicker between black and its chosen color.
Flicker Full Color (Global Flicker)	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of brightness causing it to flicker between black and its chosen color. Global Flicker means that all materials using this effect flicker the same, which can be useful for creating a flickering light effect.
Flicker Half Color	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of brightness causing it to flicker between half brightness and full brightness color.
Flicker Half Color (Global Flicker)	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of brightness causing it to flicker between half brightness and full brightness color. Global Flicker means that all materials using this effect flicker the same, which can be useful for creating a flickering light effect.
Flip-Flop On/Off Color	The material flips between its chosen color and black. Speed determines changes per second.
Flip-Flop On/Dim Color	The material flips between its chosen color and one half its brightness. Speed determines changes per second.
Flip-Flop On/Negative Color	The individual red, green and blue color components continuously swap from their chosen values to their opposites causing the material to switch between 2 different but associated colors.
Slide Color	The individual red, green and blue color components have their intensity levels slid back and forth at different speeds. This typically causes its hue to change.
Step Rainbow Color	Here the material's chosen color is ignored and instead is stepped through 7 colors of a rainbow: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Speed determines changes per second.
Step RGB Exchange Color	The individual red, green and blue color components switch position causing the material to cycle between up to 3 different but associated colors.
Throb Full Color	The brightness level of the object's material is uniformly cycled between its chosen color and black. This is done in a curved waveform fashion.
Throb Half Color	The brightness level of the object's material is uniformly cycled between its full intensity brightness chosen color and its corresponding half brightness color. This is done in a curved waveform fashion.

Transparency Effects
Flicker Full Transparency	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of transparency causing it to flicker between invisible and its chosen alpha transparency value.
Flicker Full Transparency (Global Flicker)	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of transparency causing it to flicker between invisible and its chosen alpha transparency value. Global Flicker means that all materials using this effect flicker the same, which can be useful for creating a flickering ghost effect.
Flicker Half Transparency	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of transparency causing it to flicker between its chosen alpha transparency value and half that value.
Flicker Half Transparency (Global Flicker)	Each time the object is drawn, it is given a random level of transparency causing it to flicker between its chosen alpha transparency value and half that value. Global Flicker means that all materials using this effect flicker the same, which can be useful for creating a flickering ghost effect.
Flip-Flop On/Off Transparency	The material flips between its chosen level of transparency and being invisible. Speed determines changes per second.
Flip-Flop On/Dim Transparency	The material flips between its chosen level of transparency and half that value. Speed determines changes per second.
Throb Full Transparency	The transparency level of the object's material is uniformly cycled between its chosen alpha value and invisible. This is done in a curved waveform fashion.
Throb Half Transparency	The transparency level of the object's material is uniformly cycled between its chosen alpha value and half that value. This is done in a curved waveform fashion.

X-axis Effects
Scroll X-axis	This causes the material's picture to move horizontally across the object's surface. This is typically used for a repeating picture which hence has tiling along the X direction.
Scan X-axis	This causes the material's picture to move horizontally, back and forth across the object's surface.

Y-axis Effects
Scroll Y-axis	This causes the material's picture to move vertically across the object's surface. This is typically used for a repeating picture which hence has tiling along the Y direction.
Scan Y-axis	This causes the material's picture to move vertically, back and forth across the object's surface.

Main Effect Properties

The following properties determine how the Main Effect is applied to the material.

Main Speed

This property determines how fast the 'Main Effect' is performed. For example how fast its color changes or how fast a picture is scrolled.

Outro Delay

This is the number of seconds delay between the 'Intro Effect' having finished before starting the 'Outro Effect'. During this time, the 'Main Effect' is performed.

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