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Material Presets
Material presets are predefined materials. Presets contain channels values that simulate a wide variety of commonly used surfaces. Presets are stored in the Material Presets Library.
Presets are a great way of understanding how materials are made. You can open one of the presets and see what channel and components were used to create the final material.
The Material Presets Library can also be used as a cookbook. Some of the shaders are organized as lessons that can lead you through the process of creating interesting effects. For example, try opening the Specularity lessons in the Simple & Fast category.
Using the Materials Presets Library
The Materials Presets Library contains all the material presets available in Bryce. You can place them on your objects directly and edit them just as you would any other material.
To add a material from the Materials Presets Library to an object:
2 In the Working window, click the triangle icon next to the Edit text button at the top of the Bryce environment. The Materials Presets Library appears.
In the Materials Lab, click the triangle icon at the top-right of the Material Preview window.
3 Click one of the Category names along the left side of the dialog.
4 Click the thumbnail of the preset you want to add.
5 Click the OK icon to add the selected material to your object.
You can also select presets in one motion by clicking the Materials Presets icon then dragging directly to the desired material preset and releasing the mouse button. You can also drag over the category names to change categories into the category's presets, and then release mouse button.
Adding and Deleting Preset Materials
You can add the material from any object to the Preset Materials Library. This is a good way of saving your favorite materials.
To add a material to the library:
1 Select the object whose material you want to add to the library.
2 Click the triangle icon next to the Edit text button at the top of the Bryce environment. Your selected object will appear in the preview area of the Preset Material Library dialog.
3 Click a category name. The library switches to the category you selected.
The new preset will be added to the category you select.
4 Click the triangle icon at the bottom right corner of the preview and choose a view option from the menu.
Normal is the default view of your selected object.
Up Close displays a close-up of your object.
Render With Neutral Sky displays your object with a flat sky instead of the sky applied to your scene.
Render With Neutral Ground displays your object on a flat ground plane instead of the ground used in your scene.
Current Selection displays your object exactly as it appears in your scene.
Box displays your material applied to a cube.
Sphere displays your material applied to a sphere.
Cone displays your material applied to a cone.
Cylinder displays your material applied to a cylinder.
Terrain displays your material applied to a terrain. You might want to disable Render With Neutral Ground as terrain materials look better when placed on a ground plane with the same material.
Ground displays your material applied to an infinite plane.
Torus displays your material applied to a torus object.
5 Drag the preview area to rotate the view of your object.
6 Hold down the Spacebar and drag up, down, right, or left to pan the object preview.
7 Hold down Command/Ctrl and drag in the preview area to zoom in and out of the preview.
8 Click the Add button at the bottom of the dialog. The Add Material dialog appears.
9 Enter a name for the new preset in the Preset Name field.
10 Enter a description of the preset in the Description field and click the OK icon.
The name and description will appear next to the material preview whenever the preset is accessed.
You can edit the name and description of any preset at any time by clicking the name or description.
11 Click the OK icon. Your preset will be added to the first available space within the current category.
To delete a material preset:
1 Click the triangle icon next to the Edit text button at the top of the Bryce environment. The Preset Materials Library appears.
2 Click the preset you want to delete.
Hold down Shift and select a continuous series of presets.
Hold down Command/Ctrl and select a discontinuous set of presets.
3 Click the Delete button at the bottom of the Preset Materials Library dialog.
Importing and Exporting Preset Materials
Importing and exporting presets is a handy way to exchange custom presets with other users.
To import a preset material file:
1 Click the triangle icon next to the Edit text button at the top of the Bryce environment. The Preset Materials Library appears.
In the Materials Lab, click the triangle icon next to the Material Preview window.
2 Click the Import button at the bottom of the Preset Materials Library dialog. The Open dialog appears.
3 Locate the file you want to import and click Import.
The contents of the file are placed into the first available space in the current category.
To export a preset material file:
1 Click the triangle icon next to the Edit text button at the top of the Bryce environment. The Preset Materials Library appears.
2 Select the preset or presets you want to export.
3 Click the Export button at the bottom of the Preset Materials Library dialog. The Save File dialog appears.
4 Enter a name and location for the file and click Save.
You can create your own folders for presets, letting you organize presets into your own categories. Refer to "Adding and Deleting Preset Folders and Categories" for more information on creating your own preset folders and categories.
Animating Materials
Animating materials can add an exciting new dimension to your materials-time. Using the Animation controls, you can interpolate between textures over time or change the properties of a single texture over the course of an animation.
The animation tools are a great way of adding life to your scene. Instead of creating an animation with simple motion, you can create subtle effects like changing a cube from water to ice or changing the seasons on a mountain.
Refer to "Animating Materials" for complete instructions on animating materials.
Speeding Up Materials
While there is almost an infinite number of materials with the added complexity of creating materials using multiple components and adding volumes, you need not use all the features of the lab all at once.
The more complex your material, the longer it takes to render so you should use complexity only where it's necessary.
Rendering Transparency, Reflection, and Refraction always requires longer rendering time, but when you add the complexity of creating transparent, reflective, or refractive volumes, your rendering time can increase exponentially. If you find that your scene is taking too long to render, you may want to try setting the Transparency, Reflection and Refraction values to zero.
Additionally, use Full Shading Volume textures sparingly. This type of material creates specific types of effects, so you should limit these materials to specific areas of your scene. If you spread Full Shading Volume textures everywhere throughout your scene, be prepared for a long wait while the scene renders.
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