Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 User manual

Help: Volume 3

Autodesk®

3ds Max®

2009

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Material Editor,

Materials, and Maps

Materials describe how an object reflects or transmits light. Within a material, maps can

simulate textures, applied designs, reflections, refractions, and other effects. (Maps can also

serve as environments and projections from lights.) The Material Editor is the dialog you use

to create, alter, and apply the materials in your scene.

Image by Michael McCarthy

19

5259

See also:

■Designing Materials on page 5260

■Types of Materials on page 5379

■Material Editor on page 5284

■Types of Maps on page 5767

Designing Materials

Materials make objects look more convincing.

These topics give you an overview of using the Material Editor to design

materials on page 8041. The Material Editor on page 5284 gives you a wide variety

of options for designing material, as well as myriad controls. If you’re new to

the Material Editor, read this topic for a general idea about working with

materials, and what the most important options are.

5260 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

For more details, follow the links in the workflow outline.

Workflow Outline

In general, when you create a new material and apply it to an object, you

follow these steps:

1Make a sample slot on page 5262 active, and enter a name for the material

you are about to design.

2Choose the material type on page 5264.

TIP 3ds Max provides two renderers: the default scanline renderer on page

6141 and the mental ray renderer on page 6230, each with distinctive capabilities.

You choose a renderer for each scene based on its features. It is a good idea

to design materials with a particular renderer in mind. The mental ray

Connection rollout on page 5385 lets you add features unique to the mental

ray renderer to basic 3ds Max materials.

When rendering with mental ray, it’s highly recommended that you use

the Arch & Design material on page 5544 whenever possible. This material

is optimized for use with mental ray and offers a number of distinct

advantages over other materials available with 3ds Max.

3For a Standard or Raytrace material, choose the shading type on page 5265.

4Enter settings for the various material components on page 5267: diffuse

color, glossiness, opacity, and so on.

NOTE Lights and Shading on page 5268 describes how lights affect the

appearance of a material. Choosing Colors for Realism on page 5270 gives

guidelines on getting good results from unmapped materials.

5Assign maps on page 5274 to the components you want to map, and adjust

their parameters.

6Apply on page 5278 the material to the object.

7If necessary, adjust the UV mapping coordinates on page 5279 in order to

orient maps with objects correctly.

8Save on page 5280 the material.

Designing Materials | 5261

Sample Slots and Material Name

The sample slots on page 5304 display previews of materials. They are the most

prominent feature of the Material Editor interface. Below and to the right of

the sample slots are various tool buttons on page 5317 for the Material Editor.

Below the tool buttons is a name field that shows the name of the material.

TIP Always give a material a unique, intelligible name as soon as you begin to

work on it.

By default, six sample slots are visible at once. The Material Editor actually

holds 24 materials at one time. You can use the scroll bars to move among

the sample slots, or you can change the number of sample slots visible at once

to 15 or 24 slots. Seeing more slots at once can be helpful if you are working

with a complex scene.

5262 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

IMPORTANT While the Material Editor can edit no more than 24 materials at a

time, a scene can contain an unlimited number of materials. When you are through

editing one material, and have applied it to objects in the scene, you can use that

sample slot to get on page 5341 a different material from the scene (or create a new

one) and then edit it.

To increase the number of sample slots visible at once, right-click a slot and

then choose 5 X 3 Sample Windows or 6 X 4 Sample Windows from the pop-up

menu.

NOTE The right-click menu also has an Options choice on page 5335. This displays

a dialog with various options for sample display. Exploring these options can help

you learn to preview materials effectively. However, keep in mind that these settings

affect the sample display only. They change nothing in the 3ds Max scene.

When more sample slots are visible, the images are smaller, but you can display

a larger, floating, and resizable material sample by double-clicking the slot

you want to see better.

Click a sample slot to make it active. Now you can design a new material from

scratch, or you can load a previously stored material by clicking Get Material

on page 5341, which displays the Material/Map Browser. The Browser is a dialog

that lets you choose materials and maps from a material library, from the

scene, and so on.

You can also copy a material from one sample slot to another. Drag the slot

with the material to another slot. To avoid confusion, rename the copy in the

new sample slot before you begin to make changes to it.

Sample Slots and Material Name | 5263

Material Type

Every material has a type. The default is Standard on page 5395, which is the

material type you will probably use most often. In general, other material

types are for special purposes. The other material types are:

■Advanced Lighting Override on page 5734

Used to fine-tune the effects of a material on Advanced Lighting on page

6153, including light tracing on page 6154 and radiosity solutions on page 6168.

Radiosity Override is not required for calculating advanced lighting, but

it can enhance the result.

■Blend on page 5708

Mixes two other materials together. Can use a mask or a simple amount

control.

■Composite on page 5711

Mixes up to 10 materials.

■Double-Sided on page 5713

Contains two materials, one for the front and one for the back faces of an

object.

■Ink 'n Paint on page 5742

Creates cartoon effects with flat shading and “inked” borders.

■Lightscape on page 5741

Supports import on page 7253 and export on page 7251 of data from the

Lightscape product.

■Matte/Shadow on page 5699

Displays the environment but receives shadows. This is a special-purpose

material. The effect is similar to using a matte in filmmaking.

■Morpher on page 5716

Lets you morph between materials using the Morpher modifier on page

1545.

■Multi/Sub-Object on page 5720

Lets you apply multiple sub-materials to a single object's sub-objects.

■Raytrace on page 5490

Supports the same kind of diffuse mapping as Standard material, but also

provides fully raytraced reflections and refractions, along with other effects

such as fluorescence.

5264 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

■Shell on page 5732

Contains a material that has been rendered to a texture on page 6371, as well

as the original material upon which the texture is based.

■Shellac on page 5727

Mixes two materials by applying a "shellac" material to another.

■Standard on page 5395

Uses surface shaders to simulate materials. In general, the standard material

is probably the best choice for a simple material if you choose to use

standard light objects. If you use photometric lights, use the default

Architectural material.

■Top/Bottom on page 5729

Contains two materials, one for faces that point upward, the other for faces

that point downward.

Standard materials let you set values for components such as color,

glossiness, and opacity. They also let you apply maps to the components,

which can produce an enormous variety of effects. Some other material

types have these features as well. Some materials, such as Multi/Sub-Object

or Double Sided, have controls only for combining other materials.

mental ray Materials

A group of materials is provided for use with the mental ray renderer on page

6230. See mental ray Materials on page 5543.

Shading Type

The Standard and Raytrace materials let you specify a shading type. Shading

types are handled by a "shader," which describes how the surface responds to

light.

WARNING When you change the shading type of a material, you lose the settings

(including map assignments) for any parameters that the new shader does not

support. If you want to experiment with different shaders for a material with the

same general parameters, copy the material to a different sample slot on page 5304

before you change its shading type. That way, you can still use the original material

if the new shader doesn't give you the effect you want.

Shading Type | 5265

Samples of different shading for a standard material

1. Anisotropic

2. Blinn

3. Metal

4. Multi-layer

5. Oren-Nayar-Blinn

6. Phong

7. Strauss

8. Translucent

Several different shaders are available. Some of these are not available for the

Raytrace material, as indicated below. Blinn is the most general-purpose of

5266 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

these shaders. The others have special purposes, especially regarding how the

material creates highlights.

■Anisotropic on page 5424

Creates surfaces with noncircular, "anisotropic" highlights; good for

modeling hair, glass, or metal.

■Blinn on page 5426

Creates smooth surfaces with some shininess; a general-purpose shader.

■Metal on page 5427

Creates a lustrous metallic effect.

■Multi-Layer on page 5428

Creates more complex highlights than Anisotropic by layering two

anisotropic highlights.

Not available for Raytrace material.

■Oren-Nayar-Blinn on page 5429

Creates good matte surfaces such as fabric or terra-cotta; similar to Blinn.

■Phong on page 5426

Creates smooth surfaces with some shininess; similar to Blinn, but doesn't

handle highlights (especially glancing highlights) as well.

■Strauss on page 5431

Creates both nonmetallic and metallic surfaces; has a simple set of controls.

Not available for Raytrace material.

■Translucent on page 5434

Translucent shading is similar to Blinn shading, but it also lets you specify

translucency, where light is scattered as it passes through the material.

You can use translucency to simulate frosted and etched glass.

Not available for the Raytrace material.

Material Components

A material's components describe its visual and optical properties. The

components in the Architectural material on page 5526 are based on physical

qualities; for example, diffuse color, shininess, transparency, and so on. The

components in a Standard material on page 5395 include color components,

highlight controls, self-illumination, and opacity. Like the Standard material,

the Raytrace material on page 5490 uses a nonphysical model to describe surfaces.

Material Components | 5267

Standard and Raytrace material components vary depending on which shader

on page 5265 you use.

You can assign maps to most components, including color components such

as Diffuse, and value components such as Transparency or Opacity. Maps can

increase the complexity and realism of the material's appearance.

Lights and Shading

Materials work in combination with lights on page 4970. The intensity of light

that falls on a surface determines the intensity of color to display. Three factors

contribute to the intensity of light where it falls on an object:

■Light intensity: A light's original intensity at its point of origin.

■Angle of incidence: The more a surface inclines away from the light source,

the less light it receives and the darker it appears. The angle between a ray

of light and the face normal on page 8059 of a surface is the angle of incidence

for that face.

When the angle of incidence is 0 degrees (that is, the light strikes the face

perpendicularly), the face is illuminated at full intensity unless the light

is attenuated. Full intensity is the light's Multiplier value times the value

of the face's surface color. The Multiplier value is 1.0 by default; the surface

value is the Value component of the surface color's HSV description on

page 8105. As the angle of incidence increases, the intensity of the face

illumination decreases.

5268 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

Angle of incidence affects intensity.

■Distance: Light diminishes over distance. This effect is known as

attenuation on page 7915. By default, attenuation is turned off, but you can

turn it on and specify the distance over which it operates.

Lights and the Component Colors of a Standard Material

As the names of a standard material's color components on page 5267 imply,

the kind of light that strikes a surface with a material determines how the

surface appears when it is shaded.

■Ambient color appears where the surface is lit by ambient light alone

(where the surface is in shadow).

■Diffuse color appears where light falls directly on the surface. It is called

"diffuse" because light striking it is reflected in various directions.

Highlights, on the other hand, are reflections of light sources.

■Specular highlights appear where the viewing angle is equal to the angle

of incidence. Glancing highlights appear where the angle of incidence is

high, relative to the observer or camera (that is, the light ray is nearly

parallel to the surface). Shiny surfaces usually have specular highlights.

Glancing highlights are characteristic of metallic surfaces.

Some surfaces are completely reflective, or nearly so. These reflect their

environment as well as the light sources that illuminate them. To model

Lights and Shading | 5269

such surfaces, you need to use reflection mapping on page 5964 or ray tracing

(see Raytrace Material on page 5490).

The three color components blend at the edges of their regions. Between

ambient and diffuse, the blending is calculated by the shader. Between diffuse

and specular, you set the amount of blending by using the standard material's

highlight controls.

Choosing Colors for Realism

Materials add greater realism to a scene only if you choose their colors and

other properties to appear like real-world objects. This topic presents some

general guidelines for choosing standard material colors. When possible, you

should also observe colors in the objects you are modeling, especially under

different lighting conditions.

For objects on which you want the viewer to focus attention, an unmapped

standard material doesn't often provide the level of realistic detail you probably

want. However, for distant and peripherally visible objects, as well as some

kinds of real-world materials, such as molded plastic, an unmapped standard

material can work well. Keeping the number of maps to a minimum can help

keep down the file size.

Indoor and Outdoor Lighting

Whether a scene is indoors or outdoors affects your choice of material colors,

just as it affects the way you set up lights on page 4970. Full sunlight is bright

and unidirectional. Most indoor lighting is less intense and more even (that

is, multidirectional) than daylight. However, some special indoor lighting

(and nighttime outdoor lighting), as for the stage, also features intense,

directional light.

Direct sunlight has a yellow tint. Materials for objects to appear in daylight

should have a specular color of a pale, unsaturated yellow (for example, RGB

values of 240, 240, 188). The ambient color should be the complement of the

specular: a deep, dark purple with a hint of the diffuse color.

Materials for objects to appear under normal interior lighting should have a

specular color that is close to white. (Our perception compensates for the

yellow or green tint that is often present in artificial light.) The ambient color

can often have the same hue as the diffuse color, but with a darker value.

5270 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

Materials for objects to appear under spotlights should follow the general

guidelines for daylight materials. The specular color should match the

spotlight's color, and the ambient color should be a very dark value of the

spotlight color's complementary hue, mixed with a bit of the material's diffuse

color.

If you want to render an object under changing lighting conditions, you can

choose colors that are a compromise between the optimal colors for each kind

of lighting, or you can animate on page 5361 the material so that its colors

change to suit the changing light.

Representing Natural Materials

Outdoor scene with natural materials

Most natural materials have a matte surface with little or no specular color.

For natural materials such as these, use the following guidelines:

■Ambient color: The ambient color depends on whether the scene is indoors

or outdoors, as previously described.

■Diffuse color: Choose a color found in nature. It is best to use the observed

color of the object itself, or a similar object.

Choosing Colors for Realism | 5271

■Specular color: Make the specular color the same hue as the diffuse, but

with a higher value and a lower saturation.

■Glossiness: Set the Glossiness to a low value.

Some foliage, bird feathers, fish scales, and so on, are shiny. For materials

such as these, set the Glossiness to higher values. You might also want to

change the specular color so it's closer to the lighting color than the

surface's diffuse color.

Water is reflective, and is best modeled by a color component in combination

with a reflection map on page 5964 or a water map on page 5907.

While metal is a natural material, its special visual characteristics are most

apparent when it has been polished. Standard material represents this by using

a special shading type, described later in this topic.

Representing Manufactured Materials

Indoor scene with manufactured materials

5272 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

Manufactured materials often have a synthetic color rather than an "earth

tone." Also, many manufactured materials, such as plastics and porcelain

glazes, are very shiny. For manufactured materials, use the following guidelines:

■Ambient color: The ambient color depends on whether the scene is indoors

or outdoors, as previously described.

■Diffuse color: Although the diffuse color doesn't have to be an "earth tone,"

as with natural materials you should used the observed color of the object

or a similar object.

■Specular color: Make the specular color close to white, or to the color of

the light source. White is especially characteristic of plastic materials.

■Glossiness: Set the glossiness to a high value.

Representing Metallic Objects

Metallic cup and ice cream scoop

Polished metal has a characteristic "glancing" highlight that appears where

the light is at a high angle of incidence. To generate this effect, Metal shading

uses the Cook/Torrance illumination model.

Choosing Colors for Realism | 5273

For metallic materials, you can use the Metal shading type. This disables the

specular color and highlight controls. The Metal shader calculates its own

specular color, which can vary between the diffuse color and the color of the

light.

In the diffuse region of a metal material, the ambient component is greater

than it is for other kinds of materials.

The Anisotropic, Multi-Layer, and Strauss shaders give you further options for

modeling polished metal.

If the metallic object is the focus of the scene, you can improve realism by

using a Blend material on page 5708 to combine metallic shading with a

reflection map on page 5964.

TIP When you preview metallic surfaces, it is useful to turn on a backlight.

This displays the metal's glancing highlight. The Backlight button is to the right

of the sample slots.

Using Maps to Enhance a Material

Maps provide images, patterns, color adjustments, and other effects you can

apply to the visual/optical components of a material. Without maps, material

design in 3ds Max is limited. Maps give the Material Editor its full flexibility,

and can give you dramatic results.

Spheres with various maps applied to them (as well as a reflection map applied to the

surface beneath them)

The simplest use of a map is to assign a pattern to a material's Diffuse color.

Diffuse mapping on page 5460 is also known as "texture mapping." It applies an

image or pattern to geometry the material is applied to.

5274 | Chapter 19 Material Editor, Materials, and Maps

Example of designing a mapped material:

1. Choose a sample slot.

2. Increase the highlight.

3. Apply a checker map to the material's diffuse component.

4. Apply a bump map to give the material ridges.

Using Maps to Enhance a Material | 5275

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