Textures & environments

The Texture / Environment column on the Texture tab loads an image into a light, or shows the environment shader a Portal light is linked to.

Light type	The cell holds
RS Infinite, Point, Spot, Area	A texture image
RS Dome	An HDRI or other image
RS IES	The IES profile
RS Portal	The linked environment shader
RS Physical Sun	Nothing — the cell is empty

The texture field

The cell looks like Cinema 4D’s own file field: the path on the left — shortened from the start when it doesn’t fit, so the file name stays visible — then an Asset Browser button and a folder button.

To…	Do this
Choose a file	Click the folder button. The file browser opens in the current texture’s folder
Pick from the Asset Browser	Click the Asset Browser button, then select an image asset in the Asset Browser
Get more options	Click the field itself (see below)
Load by dragging	Drag an image file from Explorer or Finder onto the light’s row

The field menu

Clicking the field opens a menu:

Item	What it does
Browse Files…	Choose a file
Pick from Asset Browser…	Open the Asset Browser and use the asset you select
Show in Explorer / Show in Finder	Open the folder that holds the file. Only shown when the file exists
Clear texture	Remove the texture from the light. Only shown when there is one

Dragging files

You can drop these image types onto a row: .hdr, .exr, .tif, .tiff, .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tx, .tga, .bmp, .psd, .dds, .b3d and .iff. Drops on Portal and Physical Sun rows are ignored.

Several lights at once

If the row is selected, choosing, dropping or clearing a texture does the same to every selected light that takes one, as one undo step.

A texture or a light material — not both

A texture and an RS Light Material shouldn’t drive the same light, so the panel asks before mixing them:

• Loading a texture onto a light that has a light material: Yes, remove material tag or No.
• Adding a light material (Add Graph) to a light that has a texture: Yes, remove texture or No.

When you clear a texture, any Greyscale Gorilla HDRI Link Plus tag on the light is removed too, so it doesn’t load the texture again.

Portal lights: the environment shader

On a Portal row the cell shows the name of the linked environment shader. Click it for:

Item	What it does
Create environment shader…	Creates a new Redshift environment material in the scene. Shown when nothing is linked
Validate environment shader…	Checks the linked shader. Shown when one is linked
Clear environment shader	Removes the link. Undoable

Link the new shader to the portal in the portal’s Attribute Manager; the cell then shows its name.

If the linked shader isn’t a Redshift environment shader, the cell adds (not an environment shader) after its name. Validating it opens Warning, Invalid Environment Shader, where Create environment shader makes a correct Redshift environment material for you to link instead.