I haven't really managed to understand parts of the Texture panel, it feels like simplified node editor yet I don't really grasp how it handles some values. When asserting the grime texture the lesson goes on by changing the color value to -1, and voila the grime shows to an extent and the "blackness" is gone. But what I don't understand is the reasoning how the black parts are removed by the value but let the grime shows up - how is the color attribute differentiating what is what and know what to show? I also don't really know in context what the "Blend: Multiply" really does, to me it sounds like it's going to exponentionally increase the blackness or the grime yet what I see is mere specks of dust.
I can't go on with the lesson before I learn the whys and hows, it's the OCD part of me. I have already gone through the lesson 2-3 times in this section and I just can't really find the phrase to easily define it.
Please help me, I hate being stuck.
I also had trouble posting in this Q&A, somehow Chrome won't let me type normally in the description field but had to use the "code view" in order to do so.
Also I can't find the reflection texture in "BI_start_packed", so I'm stuck.
Disclaimer: The Blender Render engine is on it's last official leg in Blender, as it's likely to be removed with Blender 2.8 (the next big release of Blender within the next year or so). At that point we will likely follow suit and phase out this course and/or chapter.
That said, I haven't used the Blender Render texture panel in a while, but as I remember, a value of -1 serves to invert the associated texture map's influence.
Weird..I failed to include the reflection texture in the start file. It is available in the finished file. Anyhoo I just updated the source files download with the texture available in the start file.
I got around by extracting the texture and import it into the start file, still hasn't entirely grasped the concept of influence but right now I'm getting a "hum" by the rule of elimination but not enough to explain it myself. Followed up with the quiz a few times but got passed in the end, also managed to do the ToyTruck without a hassle.
Sounds like you're understanding enough to be productive! On that note, there's a lot about computer graphics that I do because it works, not because I understand everything about it lol. Like procedural textures; no idea at all how they work. But I know what I can do with them pretty well.
That's intended to be encouraging. The sweet-spot-formula for me is this: A < B > C where A (knowing which buttons to press) < B (knowing why this button does what I want) > C (what precisely is happening under the hood when that button is pressed)
I hope that makes sense and is encouraging 😅