I'm busy reading Matt's Surfacing and Complex Shape modeling book (which is excellent by the way!) and came to the discussion about zebra stripes. And I've always wondered something, that isn't covered in much detail.

What's the mapping all really about?

So I know about mapping the black & white texture spherically or planar on 6 sides (cube); but which of those gives you accurate results, with what geometry should you apply one of the other? I notice cube mapping isn't even available without a realview supporting card, is this correct?

I've also picked up somewhere that a spherically mapped zebra, nomatter how poor the continuities, will look perfect at some point in space, is there any truth to that?

Cheers,

Kevin