Diffractor

Platforms: 3ds Max 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

Diffractor is a cool plug-in for creating different kinds of light effects on transparent and glossy type surfaces. For example, when you look at diamonds or other stones, you might see different colors reflected within the surface of the gem. Diffractor can help you to create that same effect in a fraction of the time that a raytracer (if it is even capable of it) can.

Diffractor is implemented as a procedural map that is normally applied to the self-illumination or environment map channels of a standard or raytrace material. As such, it does not rely upon any mapping coordinates (UV or XYZ), which makes setup and usage very quick and easy.

Diffractor also fully supports masking and it’s own internal bump mapping, which enables you to easily restrict where the diffraction effect appears on the object as well as apply certain types of special effects to the diffraction effect via the bump map channel.

Overall, Diffractor is a great plugin for working with any kind of transparent or glossy surface that you want to reflect a multitude of colors with!

Features:

• Create Dispersion effects without raytracing
• Can be used in any material slot
• Works with the built in 3ds max raytrace material
• Supports Internal mapping including Masks
• Special controls for lit, unlit, and 2 sided surfaces

The Diffractor Map

Diffractor comes as a procedural map for 3ds max 4.x and later. Because it is a procedural material map, it can be used in any part of a material that supports maps.

So, even though Diffractor is designed for creating various transparent lighting effects, you can use it in any way your imagination can take you.

The Diffractor Controls

Diffractor is generally applied to the Self-Illumination or Environment map slots of a standard or raytrace material. Once applied, you have a discreet set of controls that enable you to define where Diffractor is applied (Direct Light Side, Reverse side, or Backsided) and a set of controls to define the overall look, including size and dropoff controls.

The light colors that are displayed by Diffractor are defined in the color gradient in the middle of the rollout. Colors are defined by keys represented by the small spheres across the top of the gradient. You may add as many key colors as you like or change any existing colors by double clicking on them. You can also position and re-arrange them as you desire to create many different looks.

Like most material maps, Diffractor also comes with it's own subset of maps to enable you to further control where the Diffractor effect appears on an object. The most useful of these is the Mask map, which masks the overall effect. Other map types include bump, offest, and rotate.

Overall, Diffractor has a fairly simple set of controls that enable you to produce some advanced looks with great ease.