ShapeShifter is basically a bevelling system. It produces pseudo-3d objects from selection sets that are passed in to the filter. We wanted to write something that would give the kind of bevels you can produce by hand using channel ops, so took that as a basis for the algorithms.
ShapeShifter uses a supersampled micropolygon renderer, generating around five surface normals per pixel of the image to produce smooth, well lit results. In addition, we do some playing around with the edge falloff curves to make the images as smooth as possible. The result gives far nicer curves than many bevel systems.
The lighting model used in ShapeShifter became standard in the other KPT plugins that used lights. It allows as many lights as you like, of any colour, with settings for sharp 'wet' highlights, soft diffuse highlights, and negative lights. The material model allows plastic or metallic phong highlights and environment mapping on the fly. It even supports refraction of varying density, giving some interesting glassy object effects.
Add to the mix a set of procedural noises that could be embossed in to the surface, and a second 'emboss layer' that allows you to add a new mask to bump out or in on the top, and you've got a pretty comprehensive bevel model. |
