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The dynamic environment texture
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In Meta Spark Studio, you can apply the dynamic environment texture to light an object under the same conditions as the real-world scene the virtual object is placed in. The object will be lit differently depending on how the user’s location is lit, making your effect more immersive and realistic.
You’ll combine the dynamic environment texture with a physically-based material applied to an object. The object must also be placed under either a plane or target tracker in the Scene panel.
How the dynamic environment texture works
Below, we've added the dynamic environment texture to the material applied to the flower pot object on the left. The plant looks more realistically integrated in its surroundings. The image on the right uses the default Meta Spark environment texture and looks too brightly lit for the enviroment it's placed in.
Next, we'll show you how to apply the dynamic environment texture to an object.
Add an environment light and tracker
First add an environment light and a tracker to your project:
- Click + at the bottom of the Scene panel.
- Add an environment light and a tracker, for example, a plane tracker.
Extract the dynamic environment texture
Next, extract the dynamic environment texture from the environment light:
- In the Scene panel, select the environment light.
- In the Inspector, click the plus sign to the right of Texture Extraction.
Create a physically-based material and add dynamic environment texture
Next you’ll create a physically-based material to combine with the environment texture.
- Create a physically-based material and edit the settings in the Inspector to achieve the desired appearance for your object.
- With the material still selected, In the Inspector, to the right of Environment, select the box.
- To the right of Texture, select dynamicEnvironmentTexture0 from the dropdown.
The dynamic environment texture is now applied to the physically-based material.
Apply the material to an object
All that’s left to do is apply your material to your object.
- Make sure your object is under a tracker in the Scene panel.
- In the Scene panel, expand the object, to reveal the mesh.
- With the mesh selected, in the Inspector, apply the physically-based material to your object.
The environment texture is applied to your object but you won’t see the result in the Viewport or Simulator. This is because the dynamic environment texture uses information from the user’s device about their surroundings to light the object accordingly. To see how your object looks, you’ll need to preview your effect on your device.