One of the most powerful features in ShaderMaker is the ability to animate any shader property in the timeline using FCurves. This tutorial will demonstrate how to animate the transition from a 'dry' shader to a 'wet' one.

This tutorial requires:

Pixels3D | studio | v3.x

Create a default Sphere.

Create a new shader for the sphere.

Use a default fBm to the bump node, with a value of 16.000. Set the Specular & Roughness Sliders to 0.5.

Do a quick render. The object appears dry. Good.

Now we'll set up the FCurves.

The Function Curve Dialog opens. Here you can specify the name of the function curve that will appear in the timeline. Since we're animating the Specular Value, accept the default name, and click OK.

Do the same for the Roughness Value.

Then, drag the Specular & Roughness Sliders to 1.000.

Why? Because the values we specify in the timeline will be multiplied by the slider value. Setting the sliders to 1.000, ensuresthe value you keyframe, will be the same value that is applied.

At frame 0, set the values for the Shader parameters as shown. Replace the existing keyframe by Option-Clicking on the name of the FCurve.

This is a 'dry' frame.

Increase the Specular Value, and lower the Roughness Value.

Set keyframes for the shader parameters.

This is a 'wet' frame.

If you were to render the animation, the sphere would appear to moisten.

Use FCurves anytime you require exact control over a shader parameter. The movie on this tutorial. The torus is initially dry, but once dipped in the water, it appears wet. This was accomplished using only a few keyframes for Specularity & Roughness.