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VIII. Spraypaint and Picture Frames

                    VIII. Spraypaint and Picture Frames

The low-level commands to create and manipulate objects are sufficient to create any model you can think of. An additional level of control you have is the ability to define the surface color and attributes of your object. A flat plane might be made of two triangles, but depending on how you set the attributes of the plane, it might render as a pane of glass, a reflective mirror, a wood tabletop, a piece of graph paper, or a picture of your grandmother. Defining the surface characteristics of objects gives them their character. Luckily, Imagine gives you excellent control of these attributes.

Every object has a set of attributes that can be modified. In a group, every object can have different attributes from the parent; when you select a group, you only modify the parent's attributes. To change any attributes, just pick an object and select "Attributes" from the Object menu. A requester will appear, and you can select different properties to change. In addition, you can place brush maps and textures on the object, as well as add or change the object's name.

Choosing and setting attributes is immensely important to make your objects look good. Setting textures and especially brushmaps give you near-infinite control on what your object's surface looks like. I have written full tutorials on both the use of texture and brushmaps, and plan to write one on setting attributes. The choices in the attributes requester are so important that they deserve a tutorial unto themselves. I haven't written the attribute tutorial as of today (6/11/91), but look for it by the end of July.

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