Article Number: 105 | VC5 | VC4 | Post Date: November 1, 2021 | Updated: November 1, 2021
Is there a way to create retroreflective tape or logos in Virtual CRASH?
Although currently there is no emissive material type in either Virtual CRASH 4 or 5, one can still accomplish the illusion of reflective material by using an inward facing light. This is shown below.
Method 1 | Inward facing light with projection map
The projection feature was first introduced in the 2019 Spring Software Update. To learn more about using the projection feature, see: https://www.vcrashusa.com/blog/2019/4/5/spring-2019-software-update. Before proceeding, we also recommend you review: https://www.vcrashusa.com/kb-vc-article65.
In Adobe Photoshop, we start by creating our logo and tape images. Both images have a retroreflective texture.
In this case, we made put three reflective tape strips in one image to help reduce the number of inward facing lights.
For the logo and tape, we use inward spotlights. Load the image file by opening the “projection” menu, left-click on “file”, and find the appropriate projection map for your reflective material. By using the “intervals” option from the dropdown menu to the right of “intensity”, you can control the brightness of the light as a function of time. This helps control the illusion of reflected light intensity as a light source gets closer to the reflective material.
Here we see a rendering of the reflective tape and logo:
Using the “glow” feature and Adobe After Effects can help enhance the illusion of reflected light.
The full visual can be seen here:
Method 2 | Inward facing light to illuminate texture map
Using a texture map or logo with your decal pattern included, simply illuminate the area with an inward facing light: https://www.vcrashusa.com/kb-vc-article65.
Tags: reflector, reflective, tape, reflecting, retro, retroreflective
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