Environment Map

VisuMath can use an (artificial) environment map to map some environment onto a surface. The surface is therefore assumed to be totally reflective like a mirror surface. Actually, it is possible to change the environment map to have a different scene reflected in the surface. However, constructing a new map from real photographic images is extremely difficult since it requires six images of the environment fitting together seamlessly. Therefore, usually artificially generated environments are used instead. The environment map of VisuMath has been generated by means of the freely available program Terragen (www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/).

As already mentioned, the environment map consists of six images named xpos.jpg, xneg.jpg, ypos.jpg, yneg.jpg, zpos.jpg and zneg.jpg. These images must be located in the install directory of VisuMath. Furthermore, the files should have square dimensions, preferably 128x128 or 256x256 (pixels). Larger files could create problems on older computer graphics cards. The six files make up a cube that envelopes the model. That is why it is also called a cube map. The following image shows the six images and their position:

The environment map

As can be seen, all images fit nicely together. Observe also that the images are upside down. This is necessary to obtain the correct mirroring effect. So, if you want your own cube map in VisuMath, just create one and replace the existing files (preferably after taking a backup first, in case something goes wrong). Then restart VisuMath and your own environment map should be active.