Cube

3DLightingMembers-OnlyRasterShape

Renders a faux-3D cube using the layer as a surface texture.

Properties
Orientation

The orientation of the 3D object. This is similar to Rotation, but is interpreted differently when animated using Keyframes. /Orientation animates along the nearest path between different poses, and is useful for posing an object or animating an object between poses. Orientation values can't go out of range, so you can't use Orientation to "spin" an object (for that, use Orientation without animation to pose the object, and animate Rotation to create the spin)

Default: 0.000000,-0.000000,0.000000
Rotation

The rotation of the 3D object. This is similar to Orientation, but the X, Y and Z components are interpreted independently when animated and can go out of range. This makes Rotation very handy for animating spinning motion, but not as convenient for creating arbitrary poses or animation between specific positions (for that, use Orientation).

Default: 0, 0, 0
Width

The width of the cube as a proportion of the layer height.

Range: 0.01 to 10; Default: 1
Height

The height of the cube as a proportion of the layer height.

Range: 0.01 to 10; Default: 1
Depth

The depth of the cube (the size along the Z axis, away from the viewer, into the screen) as a proportion of the layer height.

Range: 0.01 to 10; Default: 1
Crop

Controls cropping of the layer before it is used as a texture.

Values less than zero result in cropping of the layer, and values greater than zero add extra transparent space around the edges of the layer. Set this to zero for no cropping.

This is typically used to remove the transparent fringe or gap around layers that don't perfectly fill their bounding box, so that the layer tiles properly when used as a texture.

Range: 0.01 to 2; Default: 1
Position

The position of the shape in 3D space in proportional layer coordinates.

Default: 0, 100, 600
Scale

A scaling factor to apply to the 3D shape after it has been projected onto the 2D layer. This makes the shape larger or smaller without affecting the perspective in 3D space.

Range: 0 to 10; Default: 1
Light Source
Shading

Controls how the surface of the 3D shape is shaded.

  • Flat - Shades the shape without applying any lighting. The original colors in the layer are used as they are.
  • Point Light - Shades the shape as though it were lit with a point light. Point lights have a particular position in 3D space and emit light in all directions from that position. A light bulb is a point light.
  • Directional Light - Shades the shape as though it were lit with a directional light. Directional lights have a particular direction in 3D space, but the distance is not used. Direction lights are assumed to be infinitely distant. Directional lights are typically used for light sources that are very far away, like the sun. The difference between directional and point light sources is easiest to see in specular reflections on shiny surfaces.
  • Depth Map - Shades the shape in grays, where the color of each pixel is based on the distance from the viewer. Lighter pixels are closer to the viewer, while darker pixels are further into the screen. No lighting is applied to the shape.
  • Normal Map - Shades the shape using a normal map where the RGB values of each pixel encode the XYZ direction of a surface normal at that location on the surface of the layer. In other words, for each pixel, the values of red, green, and blue represent the X, Y, and Z values of a vector pointing outwards, perpendicular to the surface of the shape. The length of the encoded vector is always 1.
  • Normal & Depth Map - Shades the shape with a normal map multiplied by a depth map. In other words, the RGB values are encoded XYZ values of surface normal vectors for the shape, but the length of each vector is based on the distance from the viewer, rather than being normalized to a length of 1.
Default: Point Light
Intensity

The brightness of the light source, used when Shading is set to Point Light or Directonal Light.

Range: 0% to 200%; Default: 100%
Shine

Controls how shiny the surface is. Higher values make the surface appear more metallic.

Range: 0 to 1; Default: 0.8
Specularity

The amount of specular reflectivity in the shape's surface material. Use lower values for a matte finish, and higher values for smooth, glossy surfaces.

Range: 1 to 150; Default: 30
Ambient

The amount of ambient light in the environment. Ambient light is light that comes from all around, without a particular direction, and is useful for shapes in scenes with lots of soft, scattered light. Lower values result in less ambient light, for a harsher lighting effect and more pronounced shadows. Higher values result in less pronounced, weaker shadows.

Range: 0 to 1; Default: 0.1
Color

The color of the light source.

Default:  
Direction

The direction of the light source, used when Shading is set to Point Light or Directional Light.

Default: 75, -75
Elevation

The distance of the light source from the shape (not from the screen). Positive values place the light source in front of the shape; negative values place the light source behind the shape. This is only used when Shading is set to Point Light or Directonal Light.

Range: -100 to 800; Default: 100

Usage

Adding Cube to a layer causes the layer to replaced with a faux-3D cube using the original layer as the surface texture of the cube. This is a simplified version of the Box effect, which offers a wider range of customization.

Flat Projection

Note that although this effect produces a result that appears three-dimensional visually, the actual output is still a normal 2D layer, which interacts with other layers and effects as a normal flat layer.

Applying an effect such as Flip Layer or placing a layer containing a further object in front of a layer containing a nearer object will not behave as you might expect if the results of this effect were actually three-dimensional.

Transparency Limitations

Due to limitations of the rendering algorithm used by this effect, the interior and back-facing parts of the 3D object are not rendered. This is not normally a problem because the back-facing and interior faces are not normally visible. However, if you use a texture with transparent parts, the results may not be as you expect, as only forward-facing external surfaces are rendered.

Tip: Distorted Textures

When the layer is used as a surface texture, it may be stretched to fit the 3D object being rendered, which can cause the texture to appear distorted.

To avoid this, either make the original layer square before applying this effect, or use the Width, Height, and Depth controls to alter the size of the box to match the aspect ratio of the layer.

Use Cases