spec color in maya vs. spec color and spec level max

[KMT80]

spec color in maya vs. spec color and spec level max.

I know there are a lot of max users floating around in these forums so maybe someone can explain to me what the differences are.

I understand max's break down in the shader you have a map for the spec color and then a map for the intensity using two different spec maps. But in maya which is what I use there is only spec color.

From what I gather you can use a diffuse map to generate a spec color map and a desaturated diffuse map as a spec level map (some tweaking involed) but in maya you only get one map to use which from what I recently learned is just a modified diffuse map only. So is there another specular setting that can use a spec level map in maya???

I know this is a long way to explain but I want to make sure I understand correctly.

[Piflik]

Personally I never used the Spec Level Map in Max, at least not when I have a real Spec Map...AFAIK, the Specular Color Map does exactly the same in Max and Maya, with the Value of the Texture determining the Specular Level.

[wolfsage]

I think the Specular level you are refering to could be "Eccentricity" in Maya.
You can map file textures into this channel to control how sharp or how much fall off you want on the spec.

I'd check the Maya Help files for more info:

Specular Roll Off
Gives the surface the ability to reflect its surroundings (the environment, other surfaces) or the Reflected Color, when viewed at oblique angles. The slider range is 0 to 1. The default value is 0.7.

To help visualize the effect of Specular Roll Off in a Blinn material swatch, assign a texture to the Reflected Color.