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Frontface is used to flip normals in a Normal map. Occasionally, geometry will render out with normals that are flipped from what they should be (pointed away from the camera on a surface that faces the camera). This operator can fix these problem areas for operations that differentiate backfacing normals from frontfacing ones (like Lighting or Environment).
All this node does is negate the normal or leave it alone, based on whether it matches the facing criteria. Normally, it flips backfacing normals only. However, you can also make all the normals backfacing by flipping front facing, or you can specify an arbitrary vector for the frontface test.
Overloading VEX Parameters
This operator is implemented in VEX, which supports parameter overloading. If the first input has a plane which matches an operation parameter’s channel name, the input plane will be used as the parameter’s value, effectively overriding it. The overloaded parameter is then evaluated from the plane on a per-pixel basis.
eg. If the input COP has the following planes:
C{r,g,b} A fogdens
and it is fed into a VEX Fog COP, the fog density will be determined at each pixel by the fogdens plane, since the Fog Density parameter’s channel name matches the 'fogdens' channel name.
Scoping
This operation may be restricted to certain planes, or components of planes. In addition, the operation may be applied to a subset of frames within the sequence. An image must have both its frame and plane scoped to be modified.
Images that are not modified are passed through, which does not take any memory or processing time.
Masking
This operation may be masked, which restricts the operation to an area of the image. The mask may be inverted, brightened or dimmed.
The mask input is on the side of the node. The label on the connector indicates the plane being used as a mask.
The mask input can also be scaled to fit the output image’s resolution, if they differ. If this node is changing constantly, and the mask is not, it is somewhat faster to put a Scale COP down to do the resize for the mask image. Otherwise, the scale will occur every time this node cooks.
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Change the viewer to view the Normal plane (N).
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Select the alignment (Toward, Away from Camera, or Toward Direction). Normally, you’ll want to make all normals frontfacing, so select 'Towards Camera'.
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Adjust the 'Max Angle Difference' parameter until most of the edges are in the direction you want and you don’t see any individual pixels with badly flipped normals. You may not be able to get the normal plane perfectly frontfacing, depending on the normals in the map..
Parameters
Front Face
Align
The direction the normals should be facing.
Toward Camera
Towards the camera or viewer, the most common orientation.
Away From Camera
Away from the camera or viewer.
Toward Direction
Towards an arbitrary direction, defined by a direction vector.
Direction
Specifies the direction vector for 'Toward Direction' alignment.
Max Angle Difference
The normal flipping threshold. If the angle that the normal makes with the camera or direction vector is less than this amount, the normal will not be flipped. Otherwise, the normal is flipped.
Override Normal Name
If on, you can specify a different plane for the normals. By default the normal plane is "N".
Normal Name
The name of the plane containing normals.
Mask
A mask can be chosen to limit the effect of the operator to areas defined by the mask. The mask can be taken from the mask input (side input) or from the first input itself.
Effect Amount
If no mask is present, this blends the output with the input by a constant amount (0 = all input, 1 = all output).
If a mask is present, this amount multiplies the mask.
Operation Mask
Selects the mask plane to use as a mask from the mask input. The mask can be selected from:
A mask can be a component of a plane or an entire plane. If a vector plane is supplied as a mask, its components are multiplied by the images' components.
Scalar Mask ('A', 'C.r')
C.r = I.r * M C.g = I.g * M C.b = I.b * M
Vector Mask ('C')
C.r = I.r * M.r C.g = I.g * M.g C.b = I.b * M.b
First Input
Useful for masking the operation to the image’s own alpha plane.
Mask Input
Selects the mask from the side mask input.
Off
Turns off masking, without requiring disconnection of the mask input (useful for temporarily disabling the mask).
Resize Mask to Fit Image
If the mask image is a different resolution than the output image, turning on this parameter will scale the mask to the output image’s resolution.
If this node is changing constantly, and the mask is not, it is somewhat faster to put a Scale COP down to do the resize for the mask image. Otherwise, the scale will occur every time this node cooks.
Invert Mask
Inverts the mask so that all fully 'masked' portions become unmasked. This saves you from inserting an Invert COP after the node with the mask.
Scope
Plane Scope
Specifies the scope for both the RGB components of Color, Alpha, and other planes. The (C)RGBA mask only affects Color components and Alpha. 'C' will toggle all the RGB components.
For planes other than Color and Alpha, the plane name (plus component, if applicable) should be specified in the string field. The pulldown menu can be used to select planes or components present in this node.
A plane is specified by its name. A component is specified by both its plane and component name. The '*' wildcard may be used to scope all extra planes. Any number of planes or components can be specified, separated by spaces.
Examples:
P N.x N.y P N Pz
Frame Scope
Frame Scope
Allows scoping of specific frames in the frame range. This is in addition to the plane scope (so a plane at a certain frame must be both plane scoped and frame scoped to be modified).
All Frames
All frames are scoped.
Inside Range
All frames inside a subrange are scoped.
Outside Range
All frames outside a subrange are scoped.
Even Frames
Even numbered frames are scoped.
Odd Frames
Odd numbered frames are scoped.
Specific Frames
A user-defined list of frames are scoped.
Frame Range
For Inside/Outside range, this parameter specifies the subrange of the sequence to scope (or unscope). This can be edited in Timeline viewer mode (⌃ Ctrl + 2 in viewer).
Frame Dropoff
For Inside/Outside Range, this parameter specifies certain number of frames before and after to slowly ramp up to scoped. The operation will be blended with its input to 'ease in' or 'ease out' the scoping effect over a number of frames. This can be edited in Timeline viewer mode (⌃ Ctrl + 2 in viewer).
Non-scoped Effect
For unscoped frames, this sets the blend factor between the input and modified images. Normally this is zero (use the input image). By setting this to a non-zero value, you can make unscoped frames be 'slightly' unscoped. The value can vary between 0 (unscoped) and 1 (scoped).
Frame List
The frame list for 'Specific Frames'. Frame numbers should be separated by spaces.
Automatically Adjust for Length Changes
If the sequence range changes, enabling this parameter will adjust the subrange and frame dropoff lengths to fit the new range.
Locals
L
Sequence length
S
Start of sequence
E
End of sequence
IL
Input sequence length
SR
Sequence frame rate
NP
Number of planes in sequence
W,H
Width and height of image
I
Image index (0 at start frame)
IT
Image time (0 at start frame)
AI
Current plane array index
PI
Current plane index
PC
Num of channels in current plane
CXRES
Composite Project X resolution
CYRES
Composite Project Y resolution
CPIXA
Composite Project pixel aspect ratio
CDEPTH
Composite Project raster depth
CBP
Composite Project black point
CWP
Composite Project white point
See also |