Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 User Guide 3 - Page 197

Interface Specular Level Affects the intensity of the specular highlight. As you increase the value, the highlight grows brighter. Default=5. Click the map button to assign a map to the specular level component. See Specular Level Mapping on page 5467. This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps rollout on page 5414. Glossiness Affects the size of the specular highlight. As you increase the value, the highlight gets smaller and the material appears shinier. Default=25. Click the map button to assign a map to the glossiness component. See Glossiness Mapping on page 5467. This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps rollout on page 5414. Soften Softens the effect of specular highlights, especially those formed by glancing light. When Specular Level is high and Glossiness is low, you can get harsh backlights on surfaces. Increase the value of Soften to mitigate this effect. At 0, there is no softening. At 1.0, the maximum amount of softening is applied. Default=0.1. NOTE The Soften control was a check box in releases prior to 3ds Max 2. When you load a material created in an earlier version of 3ds Max, if Soften was originally off, the new Soften value is 0.0. If Soften was originally on, the new Soften value is 0.6. Highlight graph This curve shows the effect of adjusting the values of Specular Level and Glossiness. As you decrease Glossiness, the curve grows wider; as you increase Specular Level, the curve grows taller. Metal Highlights Material Editor > Standard material > Metal Basic Parameters rollout > Specular Highlight group 5452 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps