
                          METALS.INC

This file contains the texture definitions for most of the predefined
metallic textures.  Please read GOLD.DOC for special information on
using or modifying the gold textures!  Textures available through
metals.inc are:

    BRASSES : Actually contains both brasses (yellowish) and bronzes
              (brownish) metals.
    COPPERS : Several different varieties of copper.
    CHROMES : Dull iron to shiny chrome.
    SILVERS : Not much different from chromes, but there are some
              slight color differences.
    GOLDS   : The best for general use are found near the "middle"
              (T_Gold_3C would be the exact "middle") of the
              pigment/finish range.

BRASSES.INC, CHROMES.INC, SILVERS.INC, and COPPERS.INC
=========================================================
All brasses, coppers, silvers, and chromes, but not golds, share a
common set of finishes.  These finishes are also accessable by
themselves for use in your own textures.  The finishes are:

    F_MetalA  :  Very soft and dull.
    F_MetalB  :  Fairly soft and dull.
    F_MetalC  :  Medium reflectivity. Holds color well.
    F_MetalD  :  Highly hard and polished. High reflectivity.
    F_MetalE  :  Very highly polished & reflective.

A set of five pigments for each type of metal are defined, numbered from
1 to 5, as in "P_Copper1".

These five pigments are combined with all five finishes, giving five
different version of each pigment, yeilding twenty-five different
varieties of each metal type.  These textures use a "T_" prefix, and the
name combines the pigment number and the finish letter:

    T_Copper_1A
    T_Copper_1B
    T_Copper_2A
    T_Silver_3C
    T_Brass_5F
    (etc.)

GOLDS.INC
=========
The gold metallics had to use a slightly different method. To achieve the
desired level of realism, special ambient and reflective colors were
used, based on the pigment.  If you wish to create your own gold textures,
copy gold.inc to gold2.inc, and modify the GoldBase pigment.


The Test Scenes
===============
There are five test scenes here: brasses.pov, coppers.pov, chromes.pov,
golds.pov, and silvers.pov, that demonstrate the five predefined
metallics groupings.

At the bottom of each is a pair of #include statements, one
of which will be commented out.  The first,  STAGE_XY.INC, displays the
test objects in row/column order in the Z plane, whereas STAGE_XZ.INC
displays the same objects in row/column order on the Y plane.  Since
metallic textures vary considerably depending on the environment, it is
suggested that you try both.

The STAGE_XY.INC finishes vary from left to right (columns), while
the pigments go from top to bottom (rows). In other words, the T_Brass_1A
example would be at the upper left corner, while the T_Brass_5D example
would be in the lower right corner.)

The STAGE_XZ.INC finishes also vary from left to right, and the pigments go
from back to front (ie: T_Brass_1A would be at the left rear corner,
T_Brass_5D would be in the right front corner.)

A Hint:
=======
Both STAGE_.INC files use POV-Ray's new sky sphere using a gradient that
fades from light to dark gray, which gives an added (but perhaps unfair)
degree of realism because of the nice sky gradient that gets reflected
in the metal surfaces.  You may also wish to try with a simple flat
background if you want to accurately compare with POV-Ray 2.x metal textures.

Synopsis:
=========
METALS.INC is the result of studying the current metal textures and a
few other good ones that we've collected in the past year and doing our
best at determining what they have in common.  We originally came up with
nine finishes, but eventually distilled that into the five that you see
here.  The differences between any two adjacent finishes should be
negligable, yet the differences between any three should be quite
noticeable.  At least, that was our goal.

We also did our best at arriving at a set of five color variations for
each of the metal groups.  This isn't perfect, but we think we came pretty
close.

The finishes range from soft, rough, & dull (the "A" finishes) to hard &
highly polished (the "E" finishes)
