Reflection map



Ok, my goal here is to help people create their own reflection maps using Adobe Photoshop or equivelant program.

Here we go:

Open up Photoshop(or equivelant program) and create a new image(pure white).




Now, open up your gradient editor and create a new gradient. What we want should look something like this:



We're going to go ahead and use this, so after you've set this up, close the window and apply it vertically to your image. You should have something that looks like this:




That's it for the photoshop portion.

Now launch Layout and load an object.

Open up surface editor and go straight to the environment panel. Set reflection options to Ray Tracing+Spherical map. And for the image, choose the one we just created using Photoshop. Now go back to the basic panel and set diffuse to zero(leave color default gray), specularity to 75%, glossiness to 20%, and reflection to 75%.

Now all that's left is to render your image.

Please note that this is just one of many ways to create reflection maps. This one here is far from perfect, and was meant to give you the basic idea on how to paint them.

Here's what I got while using a simple skull model:


Hope this helps somebody,
I know it did me when I needed a reflection map.