You can display two different versions of the Material Editor:
The SIMPLIFIED VERSION is, by default, opened first. It is designed for users wishing to quickly create a material using the fewest possible parameters. It can also be used as an initial tool before using the Extended version of the Editor.
The EXTENDED VERSION can be used by expert users to create and fine tune custom and complex materials.
You can switch from one version to another by clicking on the “More Parameters…” button.
The Material Editor is used to CREATE or MODIFY a material. You can create a completely new material or work on an existing material from the Catalog of Materials.
If you want to apply to an object a material ALREADY USED IN THE SCENE, it is VERY STRONGLY ADVISED to use the Material Manager tool of the Scene Manager to do so. See chapter User Manual/Tools/Control Panel/Scene Manager/Classification by material.
If you apply to an object a material from the catalog of materials, Amapi 3D will add it to the scene’s list of materials managed by the SCENE MANAGER. If you assign the same material to N different objects of the scene, one at a time, the Scene Manager will store N different materials with the same name. If you modify the material applied to one object, only this object’s material will be modified. The materials applied to the other objects will not change, as they are considered to be different from one another (although it was originally the same material applied to the different objects).
If you want to apply the same material to different objects of the scene, we suggest you group those objects together before applying the material. This way the grouped elements will reference a single material. Any modification performed on the material will be applied to all the objects automatically (even if you ungroup them).
If you want to modify the material for only one of those objects, you will need to first duplicate the material and then make the needed modifications; otherwise the modifications will be applied to all objects that reference this material. (See chapter User Manual/Rendering/Editor’s Main Window/Duplicating a material).
To CREATE A MATERIAL:
Using the Simplified Version of the Editor:
1. Select an object, then open the Material Editor.
2. You now have three options. You can:
¨ Specify the parameters describing the uniform level zero layer (color, brightness, transparency, reflection).
¨ If you want to map an image, you will need to specify the image file to be mapped.
¨ Apply a Style.
Using the Extended Version of the Editor:
1. Select an object, then open the Material Editor.
2. Switch to the Extended Version of the Editor.
3. Specify the parameters describing the uniform level zero layer (color, brightness,…).
4. You will then be able to create upper level layers of different types (3D texture, 2D texture mapping or image mapping).
¨ For each kind of 3D texture or 2D texture, you will need to select a primary texture (wood, marble, …) from which you will create your own texture.
¨ For each kind of image mapping, you will need to specify the image file to be mapped.
5. You will need to define the influence of each upper level layer on the uniform level zero layer.
6. Finally, you must specify the parameters describing each layers (color ramp, orientation, …).
Creating a material from an existing one:
Using the Simplified version of the Editor:
1. Select an object, then open the Material Editor.
2. Select the material you want to start from, either in the “Primary Material” directory or in another material directory. It can be either a textured material or a mapped one.
3. Assign it to the current object.
4. The material is pre-defined. It can be made up of one or several layers. You will be able to modify the parameters defining:
¨ The uniform level zero layer
¨ The level 1 layer if there are any upper level layers
Using the Extended Version of the Editor:
1. Select an object, then open the Material Editor.
2. Switch to the Extended Version of the Editor.
3. Select the material you want to start from, either in the “Primary Material” directory or in another material directory.
4. Assign it to the current object.
5. The Material is pre-defined. It can be made up of one or several layers (texture or mapping). You will be able to:
¨ Add a new layer
¨ Delete a layer
¨ Modify the parameters defining each one of them
To work on a material already used in the scene:
Using the Simplified Version of the Editor:
1. Select the object that uses the material you want to modify, then open the Material Editor.
2. The material can be made up of one or several layers (texture or mapping). You will be able to modify the parameters defining:
¨ The uniform level zero layer
¨ The level 1 layer if there are any upper level layers
Using the Extended Version of the Editor:
1. Selected the object that uses the material you want to modify, then open the Material Editor.
2. Switch to the Extended Version of the Editor.
3. The material can be made up of one or several layers (texture or mapping). You will be able to:
¨ Add a new layer
¨ Delete a layer
¨ Modify the parameters defining each one of them
To save the current material:
Using the Simplified Version of the Editor:
The materials will be saved along with the scene, as local materials that can be used only in this particular scene.
Using the Extended Version of the Editor:
You can save the materials either
¨ through the Catalog of Materials, as material files that you will be able to use for other scenes.
¨ or along with the scene, as local materials that can be used only in this particular scene.