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MadMarx Tutorial 7         Basic Material - Part 1

Foreword.

If you prefer tutorials that come with a framework => check the other wiki tutorial series.
If you prefer tutorials that go step by step without a framework => this page should be ok.

I assume you know C++. If not, this tutorial will probably be hard to understand !

This tutorial presents only a few elements of Ogre3D.

You can download the code and media for this tutorial at the bottom of this wiki page.
This little tutorial is an extract of a bigger project which contains more tutorials & helper classes.
This bigger project is avaible there :
https://sourceforge.net/projects/so3dtools/

Also, make sure you read these tutorials in order!

Tutorial Description

In this program, I create a bunch of simple materials.
I create a mesh. And then I create one Entity of this mesh for each material.
I also create a light and make it rotate between each frame.

After Viewport Creation

add a Light in the scene

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¤ Ogre::SceneNode* lLightSceneNode = NULL; { Ogre::Light* lLight = lScene->createLight();

I can set some attributes of the light.
The basic light type can be :
pointlight (like a candle?)
spotlight (kind of 'conic' light)
directional light (like the sun in an outdoor scene).
Directional light is like parallel rays coming from 1 direction.

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¤ lLight->setType(Ogre::Light::LT_DIRECTIONAL);

Here I choose the color of the light.
The diffuse color is the main color of the light.
The specular color is its color when reflected on an imperfect surface.
For example, when my bald head skin reflect the sun, it makes a bright round of specular color.

The final color of an object also depends on its material.

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¤ lLight->setDiffuseColour(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f); lLight->setSpecularColour(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);// color of 'reflected' light lLightSceneNode = lRootSceneNode->createChildSceneNode(); lLightSceneNode->attachObject(lLight); }

Get reference on a materialmanager singleton

I get a reference on the material manager, which is a singleton.

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¤ Ogre::MaterialManager& lMaterialManager = Ogre::MaterialManager::getSingleton();

Load a directory that has some textures

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¤ Ogre::String lNameOfResourceGroup = "Mission 1 : Deliver Tom"; { Ogre::ResourceGroupManager& lRgMgr = Ogre::ResourceGroupManager::getSingleton(); lRgMgr.createResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup);

We say which directories will be loaded by this resourcegroup.
I can add many directories, which will be loaded in same the ORDER.
This ORDER is extremely important : if a material is loaded <i>after</i> a mesh using this material,
this mesh won't be able to find the material during its loading!
I advise you not to use a recursive load (which load the full directory tree).
Seriously, 'recursive loading' often leads to problems.

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¤ Ogre::String lDirectoryToLoadTextures = "../../media/textures"; bool lIsRecursive = false; lRgMgr.addResourceLocation(lDirectoryToLoadTextures, "FileSystem", lNameOfResourceGroup, lIsRecursive);

The function 'initialiseResourceGroup' parses scripts if any in the locations.

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¤ lRgMgr.initialiseResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup);

Files that can be loaded are loaded.

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¤ lRgMgr.loadResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup);

Material presentation & creations

I/ A material allows to configure some parameters used for rendering things.
For example : which color, texture, shader to use.
Once a material has been created, it has got a name (type Ogre::String),
which can be used to retrieve it or apply it to an element.

II/ An Ogre3D material contains 1 or more 'Technique'.
A Material may use more than 1 Technique when it needs to use different levels of visual quality :
Technique : Example 1 : you want your material use 4 texture with a big shader when you are very close to the material,
and you want the same material to use only a grey color without shaders when the material is far away.
Technique : Example 2 : you want your material use 4 texture with a big shader when the program is running on high quality graphic card,
and you want the same material to use only a very simple color when you are on a crappy computer.
As a consequence, in this tutorial, I will use only 1 technique.

III/ A 'Technique' contains 1 or more 'Pass'.
A 'Pass' is 1 rendering operation.
If you got 2 passes in your system, the object that use this material will be drawn 2 times (twice)
at the same place. If the second pass is not transparent / blended at all, it will likely overwrite the first 'Pass'.
You can think of a Pass like 1 'paint layer'. Yes a Layer.
So if you got experience with the Gimp or Photoshop, you see what I mean.
The 'Pass' has got several attributes, which can be very easily tweaked.
The most used are the following :
colors for realtime lighting : ambiant / diffuse / specular / shininess
scene blending mode : this allow to make a transparent 'Pass' (like a glass/window...).
alpha rejection : this allow to make decals (like foliage / trees / grass) easily.
depth write and depth check : manage the ZBuffer. Often necessary to tweak if you use scene blending mode.
color write : to allow color to be drawn or not.
There are several other (including shaders, depth bias, ...).

IV/ A 'Pass' also contains 0 or more 'TextureUnit' (or 'TextureUnitState').
A 'TextureUnit' reference 1 'Texture' (sometimes more, when there is an animated texture or a cubic one).
A 'TextureUnit' has some parameters that will be used on the corresponding texture. The most used are :
The name of the texture (often the name of the 2D file, ex : hello.jpg)
The index of the texture coord (it tells which UV to choose cf Blender/3dsmax/maya).
The kind of environment map (none, planar, spherical, etc ...)
The kind of filtering and the number of mipmaps (this can have great impact on performance!).
There are several other attributes (for merging textures, distording them, animating them...)
Some that allow the use of projective texture mapping.

Most details are in the Ogre Manual (see 'material scripts').
So you should definitely read it.
You should read it.
Read it.

After reading the manual, you might also check the wiki, to see examples of materials.

Now let's see the most common beginners materials.

1/ No lighting.
When you don't use lighting, you see the vertex color.
If there is no vertex color, then the object is white.

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¤ {

I create a material, I give it a name.

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¤ Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_NoLighting",lNameOfResourceGroup);// this creation is not perfect (as you will see in a later tutorial about manualresourceloader).

The created material has already 1 technique and 1 pass.

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¤ Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0);

No lighting is allowed on this pass. (defaut is 'lighting enabled')

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¤ lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(false);

The corresponding script :

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¤/* material M_NoLighting { technique { pass { lighting off } } } */ }

2/ No lighting + one texture.

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¤ { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_NoLighting+OneTexture",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(false);

We create the TextureUnit and tell it to use a specific texture (using it's name).
The texture must be available in a resourcegroup at render time.

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¤ Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0);

The corresponding script :

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¤/* material M_NoLighting+OneTexture { technique { pass { lighting off texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } } } } */ }

3/ Lighting color.
To have the feeling of '3D', the lighting is good feeling.
It often requires the object to have correct normals (see my manual object construction),
and some lights in the scene.

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¤ { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_LightingColor",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0);

Lighting is allowed on this pass.

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¤ lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(true);

Emissive / self illumination is the color 'produced' by the object.
Color values vary between 0.0(minimum) to 1.0 (maximum).

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¤ Ogre::ColourValue lSelfIllumnationColour(0.1f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setSelfIllumination(lSelfIllumnationColour);

diffuse color is the traditionnal color of the lit object.

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¤ Ogre::ColourValue lDiffuseColour(1.0f, 0.4f, 0.4f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setDiffuse(lDiffuseColour);

ambient colour is linked to ambient lighting.
If there is no ambient lighting, then this has no influence.
It the ambient lighting is at 1, then this colour is fully added.
This is often use to change the general feeling of a whole scene.

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¤ Ogre::ColourValue lAmbientColour(0.4f, 0.1f, 0.1f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setAmbient(lAmbientColour);

specular colour, is the colour of the 'little light reflection'
that you can see on some object. For example, my bald head skin
reflect the sun. This make a 'round of specular lighting'.
Set this to black if you don't want to see it.

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¤ Ogre::ColourValue lSpecularColour(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setSpecular(lSpecularColour);

Shininess is the 'inverse of specular color splattering' coefficient.
If this is big (e.g : 64) you get a very tiny dot with a quite strong color (on round surface).
If this is 0, you get a simple color layer (the dot has become very wide).

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¤ Ogre::Real lShininess = 64.0f; lFirstPass->setShininess(lShininess);

The corresponding script :

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¤/* material M_LightingColor { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.4 0.1 0.1 1.0 diffuse 1.0 0.4 0.4 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.0 0.0 1.0 } } } */ }

4/ Lighting + one texture.

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¤ { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_Lighting+OneTexture",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); lFirstPass->setDiffuse(0.8f, 0.8f, 0.8f,1.0f); lFirstPass->setAmbient(0.3f, 0.3f, 0.3f); lFirstPass->setSpecular(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setShininess(64.0f); lFirstPass->setSelfIllumination(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0);

The corresponding script :

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¤/* material M_Lighting+OneTexture { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.3 0.3 0.3 diffuse 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } } } } */ }

5/ lighting + diffuse map + lightmap.
Here I put both of them in the first pass.
Default behaviour is that their color are multiplied together.

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¤ { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_Lighting+DiffuseMap+LightMap",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); lFirstPass->setDiffuse(0.8f, 0.8f, 0.8f,1.0f); lFirstPass->setAmbient(0.3f, 0.3f, 0.3f); lFirstPass->setSpecular(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,1.0f); lFirstPass->setShininess(64.0f); lFirstPass->setSelfIllumination(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D);

This texture use the first texture coordinates.

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¤ lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit_LM = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit_LM->setTextureName("SimpleTexture2.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D);

The lightmap often don't use the same texture coordinates than the diffuse map.
Here the diffuse is tiled, while the lightmap is not.

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¤ lTextureUnit_LM->setTextureCoordSet(1);

The corresponding script :

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¤/* material M_Lighting+DiffuseMap+LightMap { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.3 0.3 0.3 diffuse 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture2.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 1 } } } } */ }

No lighting + 1 texture with percentage influence + 1 texture.

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¤ { float lPercentageSecondTexture = 0.2f; Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_NoLighting+PercentageOnlyOnOneTexture",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Material::TechniqueIterator lIterTechnique = lMaterial->getTechniqueIterator(); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lIterTechnique.getNext(); Ogre::Technique::PassIterator lIterPass = lFirstTechnique->getPassIterator(); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lIterPass.getNext(); lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(false); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit2 = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit2->setTextureName("SimpleTexture2.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit2->setTextureCoordSet(1);

I say that I want to blend manually between the selected texture, and everything that has already been drawn.

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¤ lTextureUnit2->setColourOperationEx(Ogre::LBX_BLEND_MANUAL, Ogre::LBS_TEXTURE, Ogre::LBS_CURRENT, Ogre::ColourValue::White, Ogre::ColourValue::White, lPercentageSecondTexture); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0);

The corresponding script :

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¤/* material M_NoLighting+PercentageOnlyOnOneTexture { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.3 0.3 0.3 diffuse 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture2.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 1 colour_op_ex blend_manual src_texture src_current 0.2 } texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } } } } */ }

Create a quad mesh, and then an entity for each material

Now I will create a ManualObject quad (as seen in previous tutorial).
There are some differences, because this time I give information about
texture coord and normal in the vertices.
I will create 2 set of texture coordinates, the first will be tiled (like building)
and the second won't (like a lightmap).

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¤ Ogre::ManualObject * lManualObject = NULL; { Ogre::String lManualObjectName = "SomeQuad"; lManualObject = lScene->createManualObject(lManualObjectName);

Always tell if you want to update the 3D (vertex/index) later or not.

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¤ bool lDoIWantToUpdateItLater = false; lManualObject->setDynamic(lDoIWantToUpdateItLater);

BaseWhiteNoLighting is the name of a material that already exist inside Ogre.
Ogre::RenderOperation::OT_TRIANGLE_LIST is a kind of primitive.

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¤ float lSize = 0.7f; lManualObject->begin("BaseWhiteNoLighting", Ogre::RenderOperation::OT_TRIANGLE_LIST); { float cp = 1.0f * lSize ; float cm = -1.0f * lSize; float lDiffuseScale = 3.0f; float lLightmapScale = 1.0f; lManualObject->position(cm, cp, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(0.0f,1.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0f, 0.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0f, 0.0f); lManualObject->position(cp, cp, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(1.0f,1.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(lDiffuseScale, 0.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(lLightmapScale, 0.0f); lManualObject->position(cp, cm, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(1.0f,0.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(lDiffuseScale, lDiffuseScale); lManualObject->textureCoord(lLightmapScale, lLightmapScale); lManualObject->position(cm, cm, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0, lDiffuseScale); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0, lLightmapScale); lManualObject->triangle(2,1,0); lManualObject->triangle(0,3,2); } lManualObject->end(); } Ogre::String lNameOfTheMesh = "MyQuad"; lManualObject->convertToMesh(lNameOfTheMesh);

I create an entity for each material, from left to right.

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¤ std::vector< Ogre::String > lMaterialNames; lMaterialNames.push_back("M_NoLighting"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_NoLighting+OneTexture"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_LightingColor"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_Lighting+OneTexture"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_Lighting+DiffuseMap+LightMap"); unsigned int lNumberOfEntities = lMaterialNames.size(); for(unsigned int iter = 0; iter < lNumberOfEntities; ++iter) { Ogre::Entity* lEntity = lScene->createEntity(lNameOfTheMesh);

Now I attach it to a scenenode, so that it becomes present in the scene.

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¤ Ogre::SceneNode* lNode = lRootSceneNode->createChildSceneNode(); lNode->attachObject(lEntity);

I move the SceneNode so that it is visible to the camera.

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¤ float lPositionOffset = float(1+ iter * 2) - (float(lNumberOfEntities)); lNode->translate(lPositionOffset, 0.0, -10.0f); const Ogre::String& lMaterialName = lMaterialNames[iter]; lEntity->setMaterialName(lMaterialName); }

In the while()

I make the light rotate.

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¤ Ogre::Degree lAngle(2.5); lLightSceneNode->yaw(lAngle);

main.cpp

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// In this program, I create a bunch of simple materials. // I create a mesh. And then I create one Entity of this mesh for each material. // I also create a light and make it rotate between each frame. // I will use std::auto_ptr so I need to include 'memory'. // If you don't know std::auto_ptr, you should check some C++ tutorials/lesson on this matter. #include <memory> // I will check for std::exception. If you don't know what exception/try/catch means, you should learn C++ first. #include <exception> // These are some files that we need to include to use Ogre3D. Note that you can at the beginnings use directly "Ogre.h", to include lots of commonly used classes. #include "OGRE/OgreRoot.h" #include "OGRE/OgreRenderSystem.h" #include "OGRE/OgreRenderWindow.h" #include "OGRE/OgreWindowEventUtilities.h" #include "OGRE/OgreManualObject.h" #include "OGRE/OgreEntity.h" #include "OGRE/OgreMaterialManager.h" //Here I include my other files, like the one for SimpleOgreInit... #include "SimpleOgreInit.h" #include "EasyDefines.h" // I declare a function in which I will make my whole application. // This is easy then to add more things later in that function. // The main will call this function and take care of the global try/catch. void AnOgreApplication() { // I construct my object that will allow me to initialise Ogre easily. OgreEasy::SimpleOgreInit lOgreInit; if(!lOgreInit.initOgre()) { std::cout<<"Impossible to init Ogre correctly."<<std::endl; return; } //I prefer to be able to access my variables directly. Ogre::Root* lRoot = lOgreInit.mRoot.get(); Ogre::RenderWindow* lWindow = lOgreInit.mWindow; // I create a scenemanager. This is like a 'Scene', in which I can put lights, 3d objects, etc... // The scenemanager contains an arborescent graph of 'SceneNodes'. To manage elements of the scene, // I will create SceneNodes in the SceneManager, and attach the elements to the scenenodes. // First parameter : I select a kind of SceneManager. This may have a huge impact on performance. // Depending on your scene, some are better than other. The default one does no optimization at all. // Second parameter : I give a name to the scenemanager. // Note : It is easy to have more than one scenemanager (If you got 2 different scenes for example). Ogre::SceneManager* lScene = lRoot->createSceneManager(Ogre::ST_GENERIC, "MyFirstSceneManager"); // The 'root SceneNode' is the only scenenode at the beginning in the SceneManager. // The SceneNodes can be seen as 'transformation' containers <=> it contains scale/position/rotation // of the objects. There is only 1 root scenenode, and all other scenenode are // its direct or indirect children. Ogre::SceneNode* lRootSceneNode = lScene->getRootSceneNode(); // I create a camera. It represent a 'point of view' in the scene. Ogre::Camera* lCamera = lScene->createCamera("MyFirstCamera"); // I attach the camera to a new SceneNode. It will be easier then to move it in the scene. Ogre::SceneNode* lCameraNode = lRootSceneNode->createChildSceneNode("MyFirstCameraNode"); lCameraNode->attachObject(lCamera); // We create a viewport on a part of the window. // A viewport is the link between 1 camera and 1 drawing surface (here the window). // I can then call 'update();' on it to make it draw the Scene from the camera. // You can have several viewports on 1 window. // Check API for details on parameters. float lViewportWidth = 0.88f; float lViewportHeight = 0.88f; float lViewportLeft = (1.0f - lViewportWidth) * 0.5f; float lViewportTop = (1.0f - lViewportHeight) * 0.5f; unsigned short lMainViewportZOrder = 100; Ogre::Viewport * vp = lWindow->addViewport(lCamera, lMainViewportZOrder, lViewportLeft, lViewportTop, lViewportWidth, lViewportHeight); // I want the viewport to draw the scene automatically // when I will call lWindow->update(); vp->setAutoUpdated(true); // I choose a color for this viewport. // I prefer to have a bright color, to detect holes in geometry etc... vp->setBackgroundColour(Ogre::ColourValue(1,0,1)); // I choose the visual ratio of the camera. To make it looks real, I want it the same as the viewport. float ratio = float(vp->getActualWidth()) / float(vp->getActualHeight()); lCamera->setAspectRatio(ratio); // I choose the clipping far& near planes. if far/near>2000, you can get z buffer problem. // eg : far/near = 10000/5 = 2000 . it's ok. // If (far/near)>2000 then you will likely get 'z fighting' issues. lCamera->setNearClipDistance(1.5f); lCamera->setFarClipDistance(3000.0f); // I want my window to be active lWindow->setActive(true); // I want to update myself the content of the window, not automatically. lWindow->setAutoUpdated(false); // I create a light. The scenemanager will contain it. // I will attach this light to a scenenode, so that I can move it easily. // (This will add 1 transformation matrix, but I prefer to control motion homogeneously for all elements). Ogre::SceneNode* lLightSceneNode = NULL; { Ogre::Light* lLight = lScene->createLight(); // I can set some attributes of the light. // The basic light type can be : // pointlight (like a candle?) // spotlight (kind of 'conic' light) // directional light (like the sun in an outdoor scene). // Directional light is like parallel rays coming from 1 direction. lLight->setType(Ogre::Light::LT_DIRECTIONAL); // Here I choose the color of the light. // The diffuse color is the main color of the light. // The specular color is its color when reflected on an imperfect surface. // For example, when my bald head skin reflect the sun, it makes a bright round of specular color. // // The final color of an object also depends on its material. lLight->setDiffuseColour(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f); lLight->setSpecularColour(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);// color of 'reflected' light lLightSceneNode = lRootSceneNode->createChildSceneNode(); lLightSceneNode->attachObject(lLight); } // I get a reference on the material manager, which is a singleton. Ogre::MaterialManager& lMaterialManager = Ogre::MaterialManager::getSingleton(); // Here I choose a name for a resource group. Then I create it. // Often, a resourcegroup is a good way to store the data corresponding // to a level in a game. Ogre::String lNameOfResourceGroup = "Mission 1 : Deliver Tom"; { Ogre::ResourceGroupManager& lRgMgr = Ogre::ResourceGroupManager::getSingleton(); lRgMgr.createResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup); // We say which directories will be loaded by this resourcegroup. // I can add many directories, which will be loaded in same the ORDER. // This ORDER is extremely important : if a material is loaded <i>after</i> a mesh using this material, // this mesh won't be able to find the material during its loading! // I advise you not to use a recursive load (which load the full directory tree). // Seriously, 'recursive loading' often leads to problems. Ogre::String lDirectoryToLoadTextures = "../../media/textures"; bool lIsRecursive = false; lRgMgr.addResourceLocation(lDirectoryToLoadTextures, "FileSystem", lNameOfResourceGroup, lIsRecursive); // The function 'initialiseResourceGroup' parses scripts if any in the locations. lRgMgr.initialiseResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup); // Files that can be loaded are loaded. lRgMgr.loadResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup); // I/ A material allows to configure some parameters used for rendering things. // For example : which color, texture, shader to use. // Once a material has been created, it has got a name (type Ogre::String), // which can be used to retrieve it or apply it to an element. // // II/ An Ogre3D material contains 1 or more 'Technique'. // A Material may use more than 1 Technique when it needs to use different levels of visual quality : // Technique : Example 1 : you want your material use 4 texture with a big shader when you are very close to the material, // and you want the same material to use only a grey color without shaders when the material is far away. // Technique : Example 2 : you want your material use 4 texture with a big shader when the program is running on high quality graphic card, // and you want the same material to use only a very simple color when you are on a crappy computer. // As a consequence, in this tutorial, I will use only 1 technique. // // III/ A 'Technique' contains 1 or more 'Pass'. // A 'Pass' is 1 rendering operation. // If you got 2 passes in your system, the object that use this material will be drawn 2 times (twice) // at the same place. If the second pass is not transparent / blended at all, it will likely overwrite the first 'Pass'. // You can think of a Pass like 1 'paint layer'. Yes a Layer. // So if you got experience with the Gimp or Photoshop, you see what I mean. // The 'Pass' has got several attributes, which can be very easily tweaked. // The most used are the following : // colors for realtime lighting : ambiant / diffuse / specular / shininess // scene blending mode : this allow to make a transparent 'Pass' (like a glass/window...). // alpha rejection : this allow to make decals (like foliage / trees / grass) easily. // depth write and depth check : manage the ZBuffer. Often necessary to tweak if you use scene blending mode. // color write : to allow color to be drawn or not. // There are several other (including shaders, depth bias, ...). // // IV/ A 'Pass' also contains 0 or more 'TextureUnit' (or 'TextureUnitState'). // A 'TextureUnit' reference 1 'Texture' (sometimes more, when there is an animated texture or a cubic one). // A 'TextureUnit' has some parameters that will be used on the corresponding texture. The most used are : // The name of the texture (often the name of the 2D file, ex : hello.jpg) // The index of the texture coord (it tells which UV to choose cf Blender/3dsmax/maya). // The kind of environment map (none, planar, spherical, etc ...) // The kind of filtering and the number of mipmaps (this can have great impact on performance!). // There are several other attributes (for merging textures, distording them, animating them...) // Some that allow the use of projective texture mapping. // // Most details are in the Ogre Manual (see 'material scripts'). // So you should definitely read it. // You should read it. // Read it. // // After reading the manual, you might also check the wiki, to see examples of materials. // Now let's see the most common beginners materials. // 1/ No lighting. // When you don't use lighting, you see the vertex color. // If there is no vertex color, then the object is white. { // I create a material, I give it a name. Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_NoLighting",lNameOfResourceGroup);// this creation is not perfect (as you will see in a later tutorial about manualresourceloader). // The created material has already 1 technique and 1 pass. Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); // No lighting is allowed on this pass. (defaut is 'lighting enabled') lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(false); // The corresponding script : /* material M_NoLighting { technique { pass { lighting off } } } */ } // 2/ No lighting + one texture. { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_NoLighting+OneTexture",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(false); // We create the TextureUnit and tell it to use a specific texture (using it's name). // The texture must be available in a resourcegroup at render time. Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0); // The corresponding script : /* material M_NoLighting+OneTexture { technique { pass { lighting off texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } } } } */ } // 3/ Lighting color. // To have the feeling of '3D', the lighting is good feeling. // It often requires the object to have correct normals (see my manual object construction), // and some lights in the scene. { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_LightingColor",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); // Lighting is allowed on this pass. lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(true); // Emissive / self illumination is the color 'produced' by the object. // Color values vary between 0.0(minimum) to 1.0 (maximum). Ogre::ColourValue lSelfIllumnationColour(0.1f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setSelfIllumination(lSelfIllumnationColour); // diffuse color is the traditionnal color of the lit object. Ogre::ColourValue lDiffuseColour(1.0f, 0.4f, 0.4f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setDiffuse(lDiffuseColour); // ambient colour is linked to ambient lighting. // If there is no ambient lighting, then this has no influence. // It the ambient lighting is at 1, then this colour is fully added. // This is often use to change the general feeling of a whole scene. Ogre::ColourValue lAmbientColour(0.4f, 0.1f, 0.1f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setAmbient(lAmbientColour); // specular colour, is the colour of the 'little light reflection' // that you can see on some object. For example, my bald head skin // reflect the sun. This make a 'round of specular lighting'. // Set this to black if you don't want to see it. Ogre::ColourValue lSpecularColour(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setSpecular(lSpecularColour); // Shininess is the 'inverse of specular color splattering' coefficient. // If this is big (e.g : 64) you get a very tiny dot with a quite strong color (on round surface). // If this is 0, you get a simple color layer (the dot has become very wide). Ogre::Real lShininess = 64.0f; lFirstPass->setShininess(lShininess); // The corresponding script : /* material M_LightingColor { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.4 0.1 0.1 1.0 diffuse 1.0 0.4 0.4 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.0 0.0 1.0 } } } */ } // 4/ Lighting + one texture. { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_Lighting+OneTexture",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); lFirstPass->setDiffuse(0.8f, 0.8f, 0.8f,1.0f); lFirstPass->setAmbient(0.3f, 0.3f, 0.3f); lFirstPass->setSpecular(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f); lFirstPass->setShininess(64.0f); lFirstPass->setSelfIllumination(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0); // The corresponding script : /* material M_Lighting+OneTexture { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.3 0.3 0.3 diffuse 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } } } } */ } // 5/ lighting + diffuse map + lightmap. // Here I put both of them in the first pass. // Default behaviour is that their color are multiplied together. { Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_Lighting+DiffuseMap+LightMap",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lMaterial->getTechnique(0); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lFirstTechnique->getPass(0); lFirstPass->setDiffuse(0.8f, 0.8f, 0.8f,1.0f); lFirstPass->setAmbient(0.3f, 0.3f, 0.3f); lFirstPass->setSpecular(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,1.0f); lFirstPass->setShininess(64.0f); lFirstPass->setSelfIllumination(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); // This texture use the first texture coordinates. lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit_LM = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit_LM->setTextureName("SimpleTexture2.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); // The lightmap often don't use the same texture coordinates than the diffuse map. // Here the diffuse is tiled, while the lightmap is not. lTextureUnit_LM->setTextureCoordSet(1); // The corresponding script : /* material M_Lighting+DiffuseMap+LightMap { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.3 0.3 0.3 diffuse 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture2.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 1 } } } } */ } // No lighting + 1 texture with percentage influence + 1 texture. { float lPercentageSecondTexture = 0.2f; Ogre::MaterialPtr lMaterial = lMaterialManager.create("M_NoLighting+PercentageOnlyOnOneTexture",lNameOfResourceGroup); Ogre::Material::TechniqueIterator lIterTechnique = lMaterial->getTechniqueIterator(); Ogre::Technique* lFirstTechnique = lIterTechnique.getNext(); Ogre::Technique::PassIterator lIterPass = lFirstTechnique->getPassIterator(); Ogre::Pass* lFirstPass = lIterPass.getNext(); lFirstPass->setLightingEnabled(false); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit2 = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit2->setTextureName("SimpleTexture2.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit2->setTextureCoordSet(1); // I say that I want to blend manually between the selected texture, and everything that has already been drawn. lTextureUnit2->setColourOperationEx(Ogre::LBX_BLEND_MANUAL, Ogre::LBS_TEXTURE, Ogre::LBS_CURRENT, Ogre::ColourValue::White, Ogre::ColourValue::White, lPercentageSecondTexture); Ogre::TextureUnitState* lTextureUnit = lFirstPass->createTextureUnitState(); lTextureUnit->setTextureName("SimpleTexture.bmp", Ogre::TEX_TYPE_2D); lTextureUnit->setTextureCoordSet(0); // The corresponding script : /* material M_NoLighting+PercentageOnlyOnOneTexture { technique { pass { lighting on ambient 0.3 0.3 0.3 diffuse 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 specular 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 64.0 emissive 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture2.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 1 colour_op_ex blend_manual src_texture src_current 0.2 } texture_unit { texture SimpleTexture.bmp 2d tex_coord_set 0 } } } } */ } // Now I will create a ManualObject quad (as seen in previous tutorial). // There are some differences, because this time I give information about // texture coord and normal in the vertices. // I will create 2 set of texture coordinates, the first will be tiled (like building) // and the second won't (like a lightmap). Ogre::ManualObject * lManualObject = NULL; { Ogre::String lManualObjectName = "SomeQuad"; lManualObject = lScene->createManualObject(lManualObjectName); // Always tell if you want to update the 3D (vertex/index) later or not. bool lDoIWantToUpdateItLater = false; lManualObject->setDynamic(lDoIWantToUpdateItLater); // BaseWhiteNoLighting is the name of a material that already exist inside Ogre. // Ogre::RenderOperation::OT_TRIANGLE_LIST is a kind of primitive. float lSize = 0.7f; lManualObject->begin("BaseWhiteNoLighting", Ogre::RenderOperation::OT_TRIANGLE_LIST); { float cp = 1.0f * lSize ; float cm = -1.0f * lSize; float lDiffuseScale = 3.0f; float lLightmapScale = 1.0f; lManualObject->position(cm, cp, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(0.0f,1.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0f, 0.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0f, 0.0f); lManualObject->position(cp, cp, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(1.0f,1.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(lDiffuseScale, 0.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(lLightmapScale, 0.0f); lManualObject->position(cp, cm, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(1.0f,0.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(lDiffuseScale, lDiffuseScale); lManualObject->textureCoord(lLightmapScale, lLightmapScale); lManualObject->position(cm, cm, 0.0f);// a vertex lManualObject->colour(Ogre::ColourValue(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f,1.0f)); lManualObject->normal(0.0, 0.0, 1.0f); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0, lDiffuseScale); lManualObject->textureCoord(0.0, lLightmapScale); lManualObject->triangle(2,1,0); lManualObject->triangle(0,3,2); } lManualObject->end(); } Ogre::String lNameOfTheMesh = "MyQuad"; lManualObject->convertToMesh(lNameOfTheMesh); // I create an entity for each material, from left to right. std::vector< Ogre::String > lMaterialNames; lMaterialNames.push_back("M_NoLighting"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_NoLighting+OneTexture"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_LightingColor"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_Lighting+OneTexture"); lMaterialNames.push_back("M_Lighting+DiffuseMap+LightMap"); unsigned int lNumberOfEntities = lMaterialNames.size(); for(unsigned int iter = 0; iter < lNumberOfEntities; ++iter) { Ogre::Entity* lEntity = lScene->createEntity(lNameOfTheMesh); // Now I attach it to a scenenode, so that it becomes present in the scene. Ogre::SceneNode* lNode = lRootSceneNode->createChildSceneNode(); lNode->attachObject(lEntity); // I move the SceneNode so that it is visible to the camera. float lPositionOffset = float(1+ iter * 2) - (float(lNumberOfEntities)); lNode->translate(lPositionOffset, 0.0, -10.0f); const Ogre::String& lMaterialName = lMaterialNames[iter]; lEntity->setMaterialName(lMaterialName); } } // cleaning of windows events managed by Ogre::WindowEventUtilities::... // I call it after a 'pause in window updating', in order to maintain smoothness. // Explanation : if you clicked 2000 times when the windows was being created, there are // at least 2000 messages created by the OS to listen to. This is made to clean them. lRoot->clearEventTimes(); // I wait until the window is closed. // The "message pump" thing is something you will see in most GUI application. // It allow the binding of messages between the application and the OS. // These messages are most of the time : keystroke, mouse moved, ... or window closed. // If I don't do this, the message are never caught, and the window won't close. while(!lOgreInit.mWindow->isClosed()) { // Here I update the scene between 2 frames. { // I make the light rotate. Ogre::Degree lAngle(2.5); lLightSceneNode->yaw(lAngle); } // Drawings // the window update its content. // each viewport that is 'autoupdated' will be redrawn now, // in order given by its z-order. lWindow->update(false); // The drawn surface is then shown on the screen // (google "double buffering" if you want more details). // I always use vertical synchro. bool lVerticalSynchro = true; lWindow->swapBuffers(lVerticalSynchro); // This update some internal counters and listeners. // Each render surface (window/rtt/mrt) that is 'auto-updated' has got its 'update' function called. lRoot->renderOneFrame(); Ogre::WindowEventUtilities::messagePump(); } // Let's cleanup! { lWindow->removeAllViewports(); } { lScene->destroyAllCameras(); lScene->destroyAllManualObjects(); lScene->destroyAllEntities(); lScene->destroyAllLights(); lRootSceneNode->removeAndDestroyAllChildren(); } { Ogre::ResourceGroupManager& lRgMgr = Ogre::ResourceGroupManager::getSingleton(); lRgMgr.destroyResourceGroup(lNameOfResourceGroup); } return; } int main() { try { AnOgreApplication(); std::cout<<"end of the program"<<std::endl; }catch(Ogre::Exception &e) { MWARNING("!!!!Ogre::Exception!!!!\n"<<e.what()); }catch(std::exception &e) { MWARNING("!!!!std::exception!!!!\n"<<e.what()); } return 0; }

Full program sources:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/so3dtools/files/Ogre3DWiki/07_BasicMaterials.7z/download