Plugin for Hash Animation:Master V10.0 Beta 9 or higher.
GradientZ is a pack of three plugins:

GradientZ:Texture
GradientZ:Shader
GradientZ:Copy&Paste

The first 2 plugins control surface attributes with gradients.
The 3rd allows the user to copy and paste standard a:m Attributes as well as GradientZ:Texture Attributes.

You can order the plugin pack below. Please mail (mbricman@kci-group.com) me a link to your work if you use it!

At the moment only a PC version is available.

This page describes GradientZ:Texture. For GradientZ:Shader the same principles apply, for a description of GradientZ:Copy&Paste go to its page.
Use it for:

• advanced gradient texturing
• reflection falloff
• fresnel like effects
• iridescent coloring
• metal-like textures
• toon-like coloring
• transferring certain properties to other properties
• color remapping
• fake lighting (backlighting, etc)
• fake blooming
• dispersion effect on glass

of course you can use GradientZ for a lot of other things because it has many parameters that can be combined in many useful combinations and you can combine GradientZ with other GradientZ or other texture plugins in one material.

GradientZ is available for $6 through DigitalCandle (see bottom of this page).

You can also TEST this plugin pack before purchase:
In trial mode GradientZ:Texture will only work in the material editor.
In trial mode GradientZ:Shader will only work on the first frame of an animation.
There is no trial mode for GradientZ:Copy&Paste.
To try them just download and install them.

GradientZ:Texture



GradientZ:Shader

GradientZ is organized like this:



The Parameters are drawn in red, mappers are squares, ALUs are trapezoids, the thickness of the connections shows their width.

The detailed description of the Parameters and their values are shown by examples. They are using this basic material, modifyied at the mentioned Parameter.



The Parameters:

Input

Screen Normal - White will keep facing camera during animation.
Surface Normal - White will stay fixed to object during animation.
Displacement Height - example shows no effect because no Displacement Height is set.
Color Vector - example is bad, a different gradient would be better.
Screen Position
Surface Position
Random Gray - a random gray between black and white
Frame Subsampling Time - black at Frame=0 .. gray at Frame=0.5 .. white at Frame=1
Distance To Origin - example is bad because sphere has equidistance
Perlin Noise - a grayscale perlin noise

Screen Normal	Surface Normal	Displacement Height	Color Vector	Screen Position

Surface Position	Random Gray	Frame Subsampling Time	Distance To Origin	Perlin Noise

Input Transformation
You can transform the input Vector with this Parameter.
You can Rotate, Scale and Translate along X Y and Z axises.
Some examples:


Input Component

X / Red - X is taken if input is a Normal, Red is taken if input is a Color.
Y / Green - Y is taken if input is a Normal, Green is taken if input is a Color.
Z / Blue - Z is taken if input is a Normal, Blue is taken if input is a Color.
Luminance.
Z Angle.
Anisotropic use Transform>Scale to distort.
Cross.
Cheeks.

X / Red	Y / Green	Z / Blue	Luminance	Z Angle

Anisotropic	Cross	Cheeks

Gradient
Specify your desired Gradient here.

Tip: do not pull a key up to the maximum or down to the minimum. they wont save/load correctly. Instead use positions that are just slightly offset.

You can specify plain color Gradients or also blend with the previous Attributes color. This example shows the purple key replaced by an object color key at 100%.



Component

All - all components will be output.
Red - only the Red component will be taken and output as gray.
Green - only the Green component will be taken and output as gray.
Blue - only the Blue component will be taken and output as gray.
Luminance - the Luminance will be calculated and output.

All	Red	Green	Blue	Luminance

Output

Diffuse Color.
Diffuse Falloff.
Ambiance.
Specular Color - example shows no effect because no Specular Size is set.
Specular Size.
Specular Intensity - example shows no effect because no Specular Size is set.
Roughness.
Roughness Scale - example shows no effect because no Roughness is set.
Transparency.
Density - example shows no effect because no Transparency is set.
Refraction - example shows no effect because no Transparency is set.
Translucency - example shows no effect because no Transparency is set.
Reflectivity.
Reflectivity Falloff - example shows no effect because no Reflectivity is set.
Radiance - example shows no effect because this doesnt show in material window.
Glow - example shows no effect because this doesnt show in material window.
Displacement Height - example shows no effect because this doesnt show in material window..
Surface Normal

Diffuse Color	Diffuse Falloff	Ambiance	Specular Color	Specular Size

Specular Intensity	Roughness	Roughness Scale	Transparency	Density

Refraction	Translucency	Reflectivity	Reflectivity Falloff	Radiance

Glow	Displacement Height	Surface Normal

Output Component

All - all channels of the output will be modified.
X / Red - only the Red channel will be written to.
Y / Green - only the Green channel will be written to.
Z / Blue - only the Blue channel will be written to.
Luminance - the old data will be darkened.

All	X / Red	Y / Green	Z / Blue	Luminance

Method
Selects the Blending Method to be used.
Blending will be done onto the "old" Data of the selected Output channel
All Adobe PhotoShop Methods are exactly re-implemented here. Exceptions are Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity which are better than in PhotoShop. Dissolve is not implemented since it wouldnt be useful. There are also 4 additional modes.

Normal - PhotoShop method.
Add - new method.
Multiply - PhotoShop method.
Screen - PhotoShop method.
Overlay - PhotoShop method.
Soft Light - PhotoShop method.
Hard Light - PhotoShop method.
Color Dodge - PhotoShop method.
Soft Dodge - new method.
Color Burn - PhotoShop method.
Soft Burn - new method.
Darken - PhotoShop method.
Lighten - PhotoShop method.
Difference - PhotoShop method.
Negation - new method.
Exclusion - PhotoShop method.
Hue - improved PhotoShop method.
Saturation - improved PhotoShop method.
Color - improved PhotoShop method.
Luminosity - improved PhotoShop method.
Rotate - rotates the input Vector by the Gradient Vector (x=red,..).

Normal	Add	Multiply	Screen	Overlay

Soft Light	Hard Light	Color Dodge	Soft Dodge	Color Burn

Soft Burn	Darken	Lighten	Difference	Negation

Exclusion	Hue	Saturation	Color	Luminosity

Rotate

Factor
Determines how much the new values override the old ones.

0%	25%	50%	75%	100%

The GradientZ:Shader:

The GradientZ:Shader additionally has an input called Light. This will make the shader use the light impact angle as basis for the gradient. Other than that it offers the same parameters as the GradientZ:Texture.

Warning for the GradientZ:Shader:

Using the GradientZ Shader has some serious drawbacks, so please test the plugin before purchasing the GradientZ pack.

1. multiple lights may produce undesired effects with the GradientZ Shader if used for other attributes than Diffuse Color (like Reflectivity).
   
2. As all custom A:M shaders the GradientZ Shader renders quite slow.
   
3. A:M has trouble remembering gradient settings for Shader Plugins. every time you restart A:M you will need to "remind" it that the shader is there by modifying any attribute of the GradientZ Shader (This will likely also induce problems with the A:M Netrender).
   
   

These warnings only apply to the GradientZ Shader, NOT the GradientZ Texture. The Texture plugin works consistently, quick and reliable.

GradientZ Texture
Create a Material, convert the Attribute to kci:dnd>GradientZ, make your settings.
You can combine GradientZ with any other texture(s) by adding more attributes.

GradientZ Shader
Create a Material, for the Attributes Parameter "Diffuse Render Shader" select GradientZ.

one GradientZ Texture, input = screen normal (z).



one GradientZ Texture is a rainbow, input = screen normal (z).
the second is a fade from lightblue to object color, input = screen normal (y).



one GradientZ Texture, input = screen normal (z angle).



one GradientZ Texture, input = screen normal (z).
the second is a fade from black to white applied to the transparency.



one GradientZ Texture, input = screen normal (z) applied to specular color.
the second is a fade from black to white applied to the reflectivity with factor = 50.



An example that shows color remapping.
The left image shows the material before adding a GradientZ:Texture (a Projection Map).
The right Image shows the Luminance values remapped to a gradient.
The settings for this example are shown below.



Texturing a Tank with GradientZ Tutorial



Dispersing Glass in A:M with GradientZ



Download Dispersing Glass.mat

1.0
initial release

1.1
added input Screen Position
added input Surface Position

1.2 - 2004-03-11
added input Random Gray
fixed input Displacement Height
fixed output Refraction

1.3 - 2004-03-12
added input Frame Subsampling Time

1.4 - 2004-03-15
added input Distance To Origin
added input Perlin Noise
added method Rotate
added output Surface Normal

Download gradientz.zip Version 1.1 for PC

1. Close A:M.
2. Unzip the downloaded file.
3. Copy gradientz.shd to your A:M Shader plugin folder (like C:\Program Files\Hash Inc\V10\Shaders)
4. Copy gradientz.atx to your A:M Texture plugin folder (like C:\Program Files\Hash Inc\V10\Textures)
5. Copy gradientz.hxt to your A:M hxt plugin folder (like C:\Program Files\Hash Inc\V10\hxt)
6. Start A:M.

Use these plugins at your own risk, i did not have any kind of problem while using them, but its always a good idea to save often. especially before using a plugin.

To make the plugin work, you will need a registration key. You can obtain this key as described below.

Order the GradientZ pack for $6 to support our plugin development!
Please follow the simple steps below to buy GradientZ.

Step 1
Download the plugin and follow the install instructions above.

Step 2
Open A:M, right-click on a Material Attribute, select Plug-ins > Wizards > Copy, then just hit OK.
Write down the name GradientZ:Copy&Paste gives you. GradientZ will have to be registered to exactly this name to be fully used with this installation of A:M.

Step 3
Order the GradientZ Pack online

The above link points to the online ordering system of DigitalCandle. Ordering via DigitalCandle is secure, quick, keeps your costs low and supports American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Discover, JCB (very popular in Japan), Diner's Club credit cards, Paypal, Purchase Orders, Mail/Fax Orders, Phone Orders, Money Orders, Personal Checks and Cash in any currency.

Step 4
Wait for the registration key we will send you per e-mail. Usually this only takes few hours after your order is completed, but please allow a few days for sending of the key.
If you do not get the reg-key within some days, please mail to mbricman@kci-group.com.

Step 5
Open A:M, right-click on a Material Attribute, select Plug-ins > Wizards > Copy, enter the reg-key and hit OK.
Open A:M, in modeling mode select some cps, right-click, select Plug-ins > Wizards > Conform, enter the reg-key and hit OK. The GradientZ pack is now registered and ready for use.