Textures

You can apply textures to different objects, such as venues, surfaces, 3D primitives, and library objects. Surfaces are created using the Surface tool, or by extruding a line. The textures provided with WYSIWYG emulate various types of surfaces, such as brick or cloth. You can also use your own bitmap or jpeg files as textures, to emulate projection screens, or to cover a surface with a texture specific to your show.

When customizing an object, you can apply either a color or a texture; you cannot apply both.

To apply a texture to a surface

The following procedure details how to apply a texture to a surface, but it can also be used to apply a texture to venues, risers, walls, library objects, spheres, cylinders, or cones by right-clicking, and then selecting Properties.

In order for textures to be displayed properly on surfaces, the surface must be drawn in a counter-clockwise direction. For details, see To draw a surface.

1. Right-click the surface to which you want to apply a texture, and then choose Properties.
2. Click the Appearance tab.
3. Select the texture option that you want. The options are:

• Texture from Library: Indicates that the selected surface is a texture from the WYSIWYG library. The texture name appears in the box provided. Click the ellipsis button (...) to modify the selected surface.
• Image Source: The selected surface uses a texture from an external bitmap or jpeg file on your hard drive rather than one from the WYSIWYG library. From the drop-down list, select from the images stored and available in Image Manager or click New to create a new image source in Image Manager.
• Video Source: The selected surface uses a texture from a live or pre-recorded video source. From the drop-down list, select from the video files stored and available in Video Manager, or click New to create a new video source in the Video Manager.
• Use Normal Map: The selected surface uses an Image Source that’s a Normal Map, to create the perception of fragmented surface texture detail and depth, making objects look more realistic.

From the drop-down list, select to apply an existing Normal Map image or click New to create a new Normal Map image via the Image Manager.

Note: This drop-down lists all Image Sources that appear in the Image Manager; as such, Image Sources which are Normal Maps should be named appropriately, for easy identification.

From the Scale drop-down list, select the height or depth of visual effect created by the Normal Map. From the drop-down list, select the percentage scale value from not visible (0%) to the maximum value stored in the imported Normal texture/image (100%).

4. Select Tile to have the texture repeated over the selected element in a continuous series of squares or rectangles, and then type the size of the frame in which you want the texture to appear in the Width and Height boxes. Based on the size that you enter, WYSIWYG calculates how many times the texture is repeated (or tiled) to completely cover the selected element.

or

Select Stretch to make the selected texture grow to cover the entire surface. Based on the aspect ratio and the rotation angle, WYSIWYG evaluates the surface with all of its edges and stretches the texture so the best fit is used. This option is not active unless you choose a texture. You cannot choose this option for spheres, cylinders, or cones. If you choose this option, you can also choose the following:

• Aspect Ratio: Click this option to preserve the aspect ratio of the original texture image when it is stretched over the surface of the object you have selected. This option helps avoid distortion of complex textures. If the texture image cannot wrap completely over the entire surface of the object while maintaining its original aspect ratio, then the color that you choose in the Border Color box will be applied evenly around any excess surface area not covered by the texture (much like a picture frame around a picture).
• Border Color: If you have chosen to preserve the texture’s aspect ratio, click this box to choose the color that will be applied evenly around any excess surface area not covered by the texture (much like a picture frame around a picture).
• Normal Map Size Multiplier: If you applied a Normal Map texture, specify the number of times the Normal Map is multiplied across the object (element) to which it is applied. Type a value in the Normal Map Size Multiplier box. (Enter a valid number between 0.01 and 100.)

The default value of 1 results in no changes to the Normal Map’s size; values lower than 1 will increase the size of the Normal visual effect, and values higher than 1 will decrease it.

The Normal Map Size Multiplier operates within the Tile or Stretch Texture Options.

Note: Textures from a single image source can be applied to fit curved surfaces that were extruded from arcs and splines. For more information, see Extrude.

5. If the texture has text or another recognizable image in it, you might need to rotate the image to get it right-side up. Select the rotation angle from the Texture Rotation drop-down list.
6. Click OK.