Carrara Channels

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Overview of Carrara Chennels
You have access to 11 different channels (properties) to work with in Carrara. Taken together, these 11 channels give you complete flexibility in defining the  surfaces for your objects. The wiki page links for these channels provide some further details, along with some hints and tips about how to use these channels for various types of effects.
 * Color defines the object's surface color.
 * Alpha defines the opacity of the object's surface.
 * Highlight controls the intensity of the light directly reflected off of the object's surface.
 * Shininess controls the spread of light directly reflected off of the object's surface (the highlight).
 * Bump defines the roughness of the object's surface.
 * Reflection defines how well the surface reflects indirect light (light coming from other objects in the scene).
 * Transparency defines how much light striking the object's surface travels through the object, as opposed to reflecting off of it.
 * Refraction defines how much light gets deflected as it travels through the object's surface.
 * Glow defines the object's luminance; that is, luminesce objects give off more light than they receive.
 * Subsurface Scattering defines how light scatters through translucent materials.
 * Translucency

M​ixing the Shader Channels
Combining these channels to create a master shader is often called   mixing. This process is handled in the Texture Room, where you have complete access to all of the channel settings and can preview any changes you make to the shaders.

Becoming Transparent
Several of these channels are related, or work very similar but for different reasons. The following wiki pages provide some insight into these channels' similarities and differences.
 * Color and Glow -
 * Alpha and Transparency - These two channels perform similar functions (defining where the surface is transparent), but approach this from different perspectives. It is important to understand these differences if you are working with transparent materials.
 * Bump and Displacement -
 * Highlight, Shininess, and Reflection - Together, these channels define how light reflects off of the surface of the object. Highlight and Shininess control the color, intensity, and size of the highlight (direct lighting), while reflection controls
 * Subsurface Scattering and Translucency -

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Carrara 7 User's Guide - pp. xx - xx.

Carrara 8 User's Guide - pp. xx - xx.

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