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Blade Pro Basics 102
Created by: Flyers Graphics


The Sliders

Looking at the sliders in (Fig 1) you can see they run across a texture which gives you a general idea of the effect it will produce on the preset. Below are some comments on the effects of each slider. Some sliders will not produce an effect on certain presets.

Radius - Increases the edge bevel toward the center. (A buttonized effect) Setting are 2 to 150.

Height - Affects the outer edge with settings from a -100 to a +100. On the plus side it will produce a cutout effect. Also work great in conjunction with the Radius slider to produce a buttonized effect.

Smoothness - Added to the later versions of Blade Pro. Settings are 0 to 100 and it alters the smoothness of the image with 100 being the smoothest.

Texture - Settings are a -100 to +100. This alters the amount of texture that is applied from the environments texture you have selected. It will produce a negative to positive amount of texture and produce no texture at all at the mid setting 0.

Gloss - Alters the gloss/shininess to varying degrees. Setting are 0 to 100. Will not work on all presets.

Glare - Settings are 0 to 100. Alters the amount of glare across the preset. Will not work on all presets.

Reflection - Produces a profound change on the preset. Settings are 0 to 100 with 100 being the brightest.

Glassiness - Alters the preset to a high degree in producing a glassiness effect. Settings are 0 to 100.

Caustic - Produces no change at all that I can determine. It has an off/on switch at the end that doesn't seem to work either or at least I haven't been able to determine any change. This one may be listed under Murphy's Technology Law #5: We don't know one-millionth of one percent about anything.

Iridescence - The iridescence slider needs the Iris Color increased slightly to work. It will change and deepen colors and in some cases will even produce a gradient effect. Settings are 0 to 100.

Iris color - The iris slider needs the Iridescence slider increased slightly to work. It will change and deepen colors. Settings are 0 to 100.

Tarnish - Can be used to alter the preset in several ways, by producing a tarnished effect on the preset or by clicking on the color selector at the end of the slider and changing colors, it is possible to even create gradients on the preset. Setting are 0 to 100.


The above explanation for each slider is a brief explanation of the ways they will alter presets and was written to help the new user understand enough of the program to get them started.