Adding Adjustments and Procedurals

Adjustment layers are filters that can be added to the layer stack to affect certain layers in the stack. Adjustment layers are location-dependent in the layer stack and affect only the layers below them.

In addition to adding adjustment layers to the layer stack, adjustments can also be added to selected layers. These adjustments are exclusive to the layer they were added to. Whenever an adjustment is added to an existing layer, it automatically creates an adjustment stack that can be opened in a separate palette.

An adjustment layer with a mask on the layer can have a secondary adjustment added to it to apply another adjustment to masked out areas. Like layer-specific adjustments, these are applied directly to the selected adjustment layer and can be modified in the lower pane of the palette.

Video:  Watch this video to know more about Creating Adjustment Layers and Adjustment Stacks.
This video shows the workflow using Mari 3. Even though the Mari 4 workspace is different, the workflow remains the same. To have a look at the main UI differences, see Mari 3.3 vs 4.0.

For a full list of adjustment layers and a more detailed description please refer to Layer Types and Examples.

Follow these steps for working with adjustment layers:

1.

To add an adjustment layer to a layer stack, either:

• from the Layers menu, navigate to Add Adjustment Layer and select the filter from the dropdown menu,

• right-click any layer in the Layers palette, navigate to Add Adjustment Layer and select the adjustment filter from the dropdown menu,

• in the Layers palette, click , or

• with the Layers palette open, press Tab and begin typing the adjustment you want to add. The text field is populated with the adjustment.

The adjustment layer appears in the layer stack, with the adjustment icon where the paintable layer icon would normally reside.

2.

To add an adjustment to a layer:

• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, navigate to Adjustment Stack > Add Adjustment Stack and select the filter from the dropdown menu,

• right-click the desired layer, navigate to Adjustment Stack > Add Adjustment Stack and select the filter from the dropdown menu, or

• in the Layers palette, click , and select the filter from the dropdown menu.

The adjustment filter is added to the selected layer, with the adjustment stack icon one space down from where the mask icon would appear.

Note:  Each filter has adjustment controls located in the bottom pane of the Layers palette. Use these to modify how strongly the filter affects your texture.

3.

When an adjustment or adjustment stack has been added to an existing layer, you can flatten the adjustment or stack into the layer. To do this:

• with the layer selected, from the Layers menu, select Adjustment Stack > Bake Adjustment Stack, or

• right-click on the layer and select Adjustment Stack > Bake Adjustment Stack from the dropdown menu.

Note:  The layer blend mode of an adjustment stack is Overlay. Due to the fact that 8-bit channels are in an Automatic (sRGB) colorspace by default, the base value of 0.5 is converted to 0.2 when it gets to the rendering stage. Layers are then blended with the Overlay mode. If an adjustment is then applied to the top layer, it results in other layers than the adjusted layer appearing as if they've been affected. In actuality, they haven't been affected but because of the Overlay mode, the final look changes significantly.

Procedural layers allow you to add texture patterns, grid patterns, environments, and masks to the layer stack using a variety of parameter settings. Procedural layers behave similarly to paint layers, with the exception that their image content cannot be painted on - it can only be modified by changing the parameters of the layer.

Video:  Watch this video to learn how to create Procedural Layers.
This video shows the workflow using Mari 3. Even though the Mari 4 workspace is different, the workflow remains the same. To have a look at the main UI differences, see Mari 3.3 vs 4.0.

Note:  In Procedurals that include color attributes, the color controls contain a toggle that sets the context in which the procedural effect is to be used for Scalar or Color data. By default, Mari detects the channel's color data type and sets the toggle accordingly for layers created through the Layers palette. For Procedural nodes created through the Node graph, this color/scalar toggle defaults to color. Procedural nodes that are to be used within masks and scalar channels have to be set to scalar manually. See Color Data and Scalar Data for more information.

For a full list of procedural layers and a more detailed description please refer to Layer Types and Examples.

To add a procedural layer, either:

• from the Layers menu, navigate to Add Procedural Layer, and select a procedural from the dropdown menu,

• right-click any layer in the Layers palette, navigate to Add Procedural Layer and select a procedural from the dropdown menu,

• in the Layers palette, click , or

• with the Layers palette open, press Tab and begin typing the procedural you want to add. The text field is populated with the procedural.

The procedural layer appears in the layer stack, with the procedural icon where the paintable layer icon would normally reside.

Note:  You can also create Smart Masks to import into the layer stack. Click > Smart Masks to see a list of available Smart Masks in the Shelf. See Smart Mask Node for more information.

Projection Procedurals

Cubic and spherical projection procedural layers allow you to import a texture into the scene and project it onto the geometry. Using multiple Cube Map Projector or Sphere Map Projector procedurals enables you to get the best possible projection from the different camera locations in a scene. Using multiple camera locations allows you to account for occlusion and perspective when projecting textures onto the geometry.

There are three projection procedurals:

• Cube Map Projector,

• Sphere Map Projector, and

• Triplanar Projection.

You can also use masks with the projection procedurals to mask out parts of the projection. This is helpful in eliminating unwanted artifacts, for example, where the projection overlaps with other projections in the scene.

Each projection procedural allows you to control:

• texture offset and rotation,

• edge and distance falloff start and end points, and

• falloff curve shapes, using the curve editors.

Note:  Adjusting options such as falloff and texture offset or rotation affects the whole scene.

Mipmap Behavior

For the Cube Map procedural, .dds files with missing mipmaps or partial mipchains continue to load, but the behavior for these chains is slightly different. Mari disregards all other mipmaps in the chain; instead, it regenerates the chain from the top level mip.

In this way, Mari continues to load partial mipmap chains in a workable manner for .dds files.