ambientColor Does nothing?

[Pryme8]

https://pryme8.github.io/NeatFlax/Tutorial_2/

I am working on a tutorial when I noticed that changing the values of my ambientColor sliders does nothing?
Is this a lighting issue or with how I'm doing it?

https://github.com/Pryme8/NeatFlax/blob/gh-pages/Tutorial_2/index.html#L387

[Wingnut]

Hi p8.  I answered this in PM to you, but for others, I'll answer here, too.  Simple answer, you need to have a scene.ambientColor set, too.  As best I understand it, scene.ambientColor must have SOME red, green, and blue components... if you want to have the corresponding components active in your material.ambientColor.

In other words, if you want to set some blue ambientColor on a material, you must have SOME value set in the blue component of scene.ambientColor.  Hope this helps.

[Pryme8]

Your a boss https://pryme8.github.io/NeatFlax/Tutorial_2/
ambient Color is fixed.

now if I can figure out the Canvas2d stuff >_<.

[Wingnut]

  I'm no boss of anything... I can't even control me. 

Next, textures?  Does an emissiveColor change the color of an ambientTexture?

Does emissiveColor, ambientColor, opacityColor, etc... change the look of dynamicTextures, videoTextures, mirrorTextures, wood, bricks, fire, clouds, marble, macadam (road)?

How DO textures AND colors... set on the same material... interact with each other?  What is summed with what?  What is divided/multiplied by what?  How is alpha-testing and alpha-blending involved?  What is a "channel" as it pertains to materials/textures?  Who put the "bop"... in the "bop-shoo-bop-shoo-bop"? 

What's the story on the non-mesh, defined-by-three-points... ghostly Babylon.Planes... being transformed in this playground with angled mirrors?  Have these un-render-able planes ever been talked-about?  Can your tutorial explain those... to a 7 yr. old game programmer wannabe?

Have you introduced the importance of context2d (not canvas2d) to the person who is interested in dynamicTextures (DT)?  When used in the .diffuseTexture "channel" of a material, and set 50% transparent, will the emissiveColor affect the final DT look? 

SO many combinations, huh?  Materials are a mad scientist's playpen, eh?

You DID want to make THE WORLD'S BEST Babylon.js materials tutorial, right P8?    Minimize talking about impertinent stuff in the tutorial, right?  Lots of white space, to the point, no personal opinions?  *nod*    You bet.

Did you gather all the forum questions about materials, read each very carefully, do a trend analysis on them, and create a "big picture" game plan?  Huh?  What's the hold-up? 

Oh yeah.... HERE is a great thread about... wrapping (and so much more).  (We even got a mini-woot from Deltakosher_dill_pickle!  Cooool.)

Yep, a good materials tutorial needs to talk about "the big 4" texture knobs for the kids to turn - wrap, offset, ang, scale.  And what about all the other modes, sampling modes, and address modes.. seen there on the BJS Texture class?  I'm sure you'll want to concisely teach those, too. 

And don't forget to allocate enough time to do TWO complete rewrites of the entire tutorial... cuz... something won't "feel" right about the first two versions.  They didn't "flow" correctly, and they bored the reader to death or took them on unnecessary tangents. 

Yuh yuh yuh, better bring the Winnebago... as you will be camping this project for some serious time. 

 

[Pryme8]

I am on it for sure, I just got back into town from a disc golf tournament this weekend so I have been out of the loop for days and feel sun retarded right now... so Ill re read this in the morning after a good nights sleep and try to process what just got dropped on me ^_^, but yeah a lot of those topics were gonna be covered in the tutorial not so much as a end all be all guide to materials but more as something people who are looking to do a little more high end things with noises and GLSL shaders how they really work and yes what is context2d (great point).

I know you have mentioned to me to make sure I tailor the tutorials for beginners, but a lot of the topics that I am looking to cover would be more mid-level stuff and I fear that my comprehension of the topics may not be as complete as to teach someone without a good basis on whats going on already.  I do try to cover some of the blank spots so that getting into it is not as hard, but yeah id be impressed if a 7 year old could keep up with a lot of these topics as the math is going to be well over their head unless they are some kind of super savant. 

I may look at making some more basic ones once I get a chance to wrap up this last one I started, but maybe would like to go over a rough outline of topics like you just did here so that way I'm doing something of more use to a wider audience.

anyways im trying to reread what I just typed and realized I'm way way to tired for this... night hope this is not incoherent