This section describes the controls situated on the parameters page that are common to all textures. These include controls common to both colour and where they are affected bump textures. Be aware that not all of the options are available for all of the textures.

For colour textures the frequency parameter controls the number of times a pattern will be repeated in a particular distance within the texture space. In other words, if a pattern is repeated once over 10 Imagine units when the frequency was set to one, then setting it to two will make the pattern repeat twice within the same distance.

Shown below are five figures. Each of these shown how, for the rjradial texture, the pattern's repetition rate increases as the frequency is increased.

For bump textures, frequency will act in exactly the same way except that it will only affect a following colour texture that is being used to colour the bumps.

The five figures below show the affect of varying the frequency of a bump texture. Here, the rjgridB texture is used to provide the bumps. The following texture is rjradial with its "Use Last Layer" check box enabled. This makes the rjradial texture use the bump function to define the colour. In the figures below it is the rjgridB texture's frequency that is being changed

For colour textures the phase parameter controls the start point along the colour map with respect to the function that generates the pattern. At a phase of 0.5 the first colour, colour 1, will start at the start of the texture function. The start of the texture is the point where the texture function returns zero. That would be, for example, the center of the circle in the rjcircle texture or the center of the texture axis for the rjlinear texture. As the phase is decreased the colour start point is effectively moved forward so that is occurs after the start of the texture. Similarly, as the phase is increased the colour start point will occur before the start of the texture.

The actual mechanics of the phase are generally irrelevant. What is important is the way the colours can be shifted, thereby shifting the pattern, using the phase parameter. This is particular useful for the rjlinear and rjradial textures.

Shown below are five figures. These shown the affect on the rjlinear texture when the phase is varied from 0 to 1. Bear in mind that the texture axis (the start of the texture function in the case of rjlinear) is at the center of the plane. Notice, that at a phase of 0.5 the pattern does in fact start at colour 1, Red, in the center of the plane. At higher values the start point is on the negative side of the plane with respect to the texture axis, that is before the texture start point. At lower values the start point is on the positive side of the plane with respect to the texture axis, that is after the texture start point.

For bump textures, the phase will act in exactly the same way except that it will only affect a following colour texture that is being used to colour the bumps.

The five figures below show the effect of varying the phase of a bump texture. The rjgridB texture is used to provide the bumps. The following texture is rjradial with its "Use Last Layer" check box enabled. This makes the rjradial texture use the bump function as the colour function. Here the height of the bump rather the center of the texture axes determines the start point for the pattern. With the phase at 0 the the start point for the pattern will be at a bump height of zero, the start point of the texture. As the phase is increased the start point will will be higher up the bump. In the figures below it is the rjgridB texture's phase that is being changed.

For colour textures the turbulence controls the magnitude of the noise that is used to "stir" up the pattern. As the turbulence value increases the amount by which the pattern is disturbed is increased.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the turbulence value of the rjlinear texture. Notice, that the pattern becomes more noisy as the turbulence is increased. For these samples the octaves parameter was set to 6, the scale parameter was set to 32 and the noise parameter 20. NOTE The turbulence function is only called when the turbulence parameter is a non-zero value. As the turbulence function takes time to execute the rendering will be slower.

For bump textures the turbulence controls act the same way except the turbulence stirs up the bump pattern.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the turbulence value of the rjgridB texture. Notice, that the pattern becomes more noisy as the turbulence is increased. For these samples the octaves parameter was set to 6, the scale parameter was set to 16 and the noise parameter 0. NOTE The turbulence has a increased affect on bump texture which is why lower values have been used for these samples.

For colour textures the octaves parameter controls the number of times noise is summed in order to generate the turbulence. Turbulence is generated by summing noise with each summed noise being half the magnitude of the previous summed noise. The number of times the noise is summed is determined by octaves. So, at low values the turbulence will be smoother and will increase in detail (due to the fact the the summed noise is getting smaller) as the number of octaves is increased. All this basically means is the the turbulence becomes more "crinkled" as the number of octaves is increased.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the octaves value of the rjlinear texture. Notice, that the pattern becomes more crinkled as the number of octaves is increased. For these samples the turbulence parameter was set to 8, the scale parameter was set to 32 and the noise parameter 20.

For bump textures the octaves parameter acts in the same way as it does for the colour textures except that if affects the bumps.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the octaves value of the rjgridB texture. Notice, that the bumps becomes more crinkled as the number of octaves is increased. For these samples the turbulence parameter was set to 2, the scale parameter was set to 16 and the noise parameter 20.

For colour textures the scale parameter controls the frequency of the turbulence, that is the periodic frequency. When the scale is at a low value the turbulence will be tight and crinkled and will become increasingly smoother as the parameter is increased. Unlike the octaves parameter the scale parameter simply changes the turbulence size.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the scale value of the rjlinear texture. As you can see the period of the turbulence increases with the scale value. The allows larger more sweeping turbulence to be generated. For these samples the turbulence parameter was set to 8, the octaves parameter was set to 6 and the noise parameter 0.

For bump textures the scale parameter acts in the same way as it does for the colour textures except that if affects the bumps.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the scale value of the rjgridB texture. As you can see the period of the turbulence increases with the scale value. For these samples the turbulence parameter was set to 2, the Octaves parameter was set to 6 and the noise parameter 0.

For colour textures the noise parameter controls the granularity of the turbulence. As was detailed in the octaves section the turbulence is generated by summing successive scales of noise with each scale being half the magnitude of the previous one. The noise parameter actually controls the scaling of successive noise scales. With a noise of 20 each scale will be half that of the previous one, with a noise of 30 each scale will be a third of the previous one and with a noise of 10 each scale will be the same as the previous one. This effectively means that the turbulence will have a finer grain with higher values of noise.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the noise value of the rjlinear texture. As you can see the granularity of the turbulence increases with the noise value. For these samples the turbulence parameter was set to 6, the Octaves parameter was set to 8 and the scale parameter 16.

For bump textures the noise parameter acts in the same way as it does for the colour textures except that if affects the bumps.

The figures below show the effect of increasing the scale value of the rjgridB texture. As you can see the granularity of the turbulence increases with the noise value. For these samples the turbulence parameter was set to 1, the Octaves parameter was set to 8 and the scale parameter 16.

For colour and bump textures the three around check boxes, when used, control the texture axis around which, or along, the texture is generated. For example, with the rjcircle texture the three around check boxes determine which texture axis the circle is draw around. Remember, that the textures are all relative to the texture axes which are independent from the object's axes. Also note that the length of the around texture axis is also used to determine the size of certain textures, like the radius of the circle in the rjcircle texture.

In addition, more than one check box can be checked at any one time, This allow the texture to be applied around or along any combination of texture axis. This is useful for texture like gradient where a diagonal gradient can be defined by checking two of the along check boxes. But remember, if none of the check boxes are enabled then no pattern will be seen. Also the do outer option will work correctly when only one around/along check box is selected.

The figures below shows the affect of the three around check boxes when using the rjstar texture. Here it can be seen that that the texture can be applied around any combination of the X, Y and Z texture axes.

For colour the front and back check boxes control the application of the texture in the positive and negative portions of the axis to which they are applied. Imagine the rjcircle texture that is applied around the Z axis. With the front check box checked the circle will appear on parts of the object that are in the positive portion of the Z axis. Similarly, with the back check box checked the pattern appears in the negative portion. Any combination of front and back can be used. But remember, if neither check box is enabled then no pattern will be seen.

The figures below show the affect of the front and back check boxes on the rjcircle pattern. Here the circle is around the Z axis which is horizontal with the positive portion on the right.

For colour textures the blend out check box enables the blending of colour4 to colour1. This allows the sharp transition edges that occurs on some textures like rjlinear to be smoothed. The actual blending will take place between blend4 and 1.0 so blend4 MUST be less then 1.0 for the outer blending to work!

The figures below show the affect of the blend out check box on the rjlinear and rjradial textures. Notice how, for rjlinear there is a transition from green to red on the right of the pattern. When the blend out check box is checked this becomes a smooth transition. The same happens with rjradial. Here, it is the last colour that is now blended to the first colour.

For colour textures the blend4 max check box controls the application of the pattern after the blend4 blend point has been reached. With this check box unchecked the texture will be colour4 for areas of the pattern that are above blend4. With the check box checked the pattern application is stopped once the blend4 point is reached. The reason for the check box is for use when creating colour maps over more than one texture, i.e. when five or more entries, and using filtering or reflectivity. Assuming the use use of rjlinear to create an eight entry colour map that is filtered. Say, the first rjlinear texture applies colour from 0 to 0.5 of the pattern. Without this check box enabled colour4 for that texture will be applied from 0.5 to 1.0. Because of the filtering and colour mixing this will show through even with the second texture colouring the pattern between 0.5 and 1.0.

The figures below show the affect of the blend4 max check box on the rjlinear and rjradial textures. For all the figures the textures have been applied to a black plane. Notice for the rjlinear texture that with out blend4 checked the green stripe is fairly wide. This is because the colour from blend4 to the end of the pattern has been defined as green. With the blend4 check box checked the application of the pattern stops at this point and the base object colour, black, shows through. The same applies for the radial texture. If you notice the original plane colour shows through for the same amount of pattern as the blend outer occurs, as above. In the above figures the blend occurs from blend4 to 1.0; here, the pattern is stopped from being applied between blend4 and 1.0.

The do outer option controls whether for textures like rjcircle and rjstar their last colour is applied to the rest of the object, even outside their basic pattern. The rjcircle texture by default will only blend colours from the center of the circle to the edge of the circle based on the radius defined by the texture axis. The application of colour stops there and the under lying pattern/colour will show through. With this option selected the last colour in the colour map is applied over the remaining object.

The two examples below show the rjcircle and rjstar textures applied to a default plane that is coloured black. It can be seen that with the do outer check box unchecked the application of colour stops at the boundary of the pattern. With this option enabled the last colour of the pattern is applied over the entire object.