Self-Illumination and Ambient textures

qartar

Can anyone explain the difference between Self-Illumination and Ambient for me? In 3dsMax's default material settings there are slots for Self-Illumination and Ambient textures (and a global Ambient value). Is there a conceptual difference between the two or is it just what 3dsMax chose to call them?

qartar

Thank you for the explanation. It seems a bit counter-intuitive to have separate coloring for ambient and direct illumination, are there some examples anywhere I can see this put to good use?