Possible feature request - dynamic change material

[alexos]

So I have a road sweeping machine that's doing its job, and I would like it if the road surface changed where it passes; a simple from dry (diffuse) to wet (glossy) would suffice...
Except I can't figure out how to do that. So, Juanjo, buddy, is there any way to have a node that uses a reference object to change a surface? Like the "mix material" but driven by a null or whatever instead of a texture?

Thanks!

ADP.

[3dreamstudios]

That could be useful for other things too. Would be nice to have something like that controlled by gradient and null as you say.

If there isn't something quick that could be done (already available to us) you could consider rendering out two pieces of animation and then doing some nice composite work!

Good luck with the sweeping!

[baltort]

You could try something like this:

I normally create a simple gradient texture image and then link a projection node to the position properties of a null object. The only small hack is that Octane's z dimension appears to be flipped compared to Lightwave's, so use a multiply node to flip the coordinates you're using.

Moving the null doesn't generally cause the IPR to refresh. Nudging the timeline forward and backward one frame does the trick.

Good luck,

J.