Materials are like paint. With materials, you make apples red and oranges orange. You put the shine in chrome and the polish on glass. By applying maps, you can add images, patterns, and even surface texture to objects. Materials are what make your scenes look real.

Mapping is a method of projecting pictorial information (materials) onto surfaces. It is a lot like wrapping a present with wrapping paper, except the pattern is projected mathematically, with modifiers, rather than being taped to the surface.

This tutorial introduces the Material Editor, the master design studio for materials and maps. In the following lessons, you will learn how to assign materials to objects, how to create basic materials, and how to create several kinds of advanced materials.

Skill level: Basic to intermediate

Time to complete: 90 minutes

Features Covered in This Tutorial

In these lessons you will learn:

Accessing materials from material libraries, scene objects, and other MAX files.
Assigning materials to scene objects.
Creating basic materials, including wireframe, 2-sided, and self-illuminated.
Using ambient color and light with materials.
Creating additive and subtractive transparency.
Using texture, opacity and bump mapping.
Creating and adjusting mapping coordinates.
Creating multi/sub-object materials using drag and drop.
Creating a raytrace material.
Using displacement mapping.
Creating stars using noise.
Using Shellac material to create realistic human skin.

Tutorial Files

All the files necessary for this tutorial are provided on the program disc in the \tutorials\intro_to_materials directory. Before starting the tutorials, copy the \tutorials folder from the disc to your local program installation.

In This Tutorial

Accessing Materials
Assigning Materials to Objects
Creating Basic Materials
Understanding Ambient Color and Light
Creating Transparency
Mapping and Mapping Coordinates
Creating Multi/Sub-Object Materials
Using Raytrace Materials and Maps
Texturing the Chessboard
Using Displacement Mapping with Surface Properties
Adding Stars to the Sky
Creating a Skin Material

Accessing Materials

Examples of different materials

When you work with 3ds Max, you access materials from three different places: from the Material Editor, from scenes, or from an external collection of predesigned materials called a material library. The next exercise shows you how to load materials from a material library into the Material Editor.

The files for this lesson can be found in the \tutorials\intro_to_materials folder.

Load a material library:

Start or reset 3ds Max.

If you receive the dialog asking if you really want to reset the program, answer Yes.
Open intro_materials.max.

Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Rescale The File Objects To The System Unit Scale.
Press the M key on your keyboard to open the Material Editor.

The sample slot in the upper-left corner has a white border around it, indicating that it is active.
Right-click the active sample slot. From the right-click menu, choose 5 x 3 Sample Windows. The sample palette redraws to display 15 slots.
On the Material Editor toolbar, click Get Material.

The Material/Map Browser appears.
In the Material/Map Browser > Browse From group, choose Mtl Library (Mtl stand for “Material.”)
In the File group, click Open.

The default Material Library, 3dsmax.mat, is displayed. A number of others might be listed as well.
In the Open Material Library dialog, navigate to the \tutorials\intro_to_materials directory and choose stillife.mat.

The names of the materials appear in a list.
On the Material/Map Browser toolbar, click View List+Icons.

A thumbnail of each material appears next to its name.

Transfer materials to the Material Editor:

On the Material/Map Browser, click the material named orange.

A larger thumbnail of the Orange material appears in the preview window.
Drag the thumbnail from the Browser to the active sample slot in the Material Editor. You can drag it from either the preview window or the list of materials.

The material appears in the sample slot. The name orange appears in the drop-down list just below the palette.
Click the next sample slot to the right. The slot becomes active.
On the Material/Map Browser, double-click shiny apple. The shiny apple material appears in the second sample slot.
Scroll the Material/Map Browser to the bottom of the list, if necessary.
Drag the wood countertop material from the list to the third sample slot.

The third sample slot activates, displaying the wood countertop material.

Get materials from a MAX file:

You can just as easily get materials from MAX scene files as from material libraries. The procedure is nearly the same.

Activate the sample slot to the right of the wood countertop material.
On the Material/Map Browser, check that Browse From is still set to Material Library.
Choose Open from the File group.
Pull down the Files Of Type list and choose 3ds Max (.max,.chr) instead of .mat.
Navigate to the \tutorials\still_life folder, and then open Still_life_animated.max.
Double-click the material named leaf.

The leaf material is transferred from the MAX file to the Material Editor.

Get materials from objects in the scene:

There is a material already at work in this scene, but it is not in the Material Editor. It is applied to all the objects in the scene, so that they look like they are all made of the same substance. You can transfer the material from the scene to the Material Editor using the eyedropper cursor to sample the material.

Activate the fifth sample slot in the top row of materials.
In the Material Editor, click Pick Material From Object. The button is located next to the material name, below the top row of icons (under the sample slots).
Use the eyedropper to click any object in the viewport.

The material, beige putty, appears in the sample slot. Because the material is currently assigned to objects in the scene and in the Material Editor, the corners of the sample slot display triangles. In 3ds Max parlance, this is called a "hot" material.

Note: If the triangular corners are hollow, this indicates the material is assigned to the scene. If the corners are solid, it means an object that has been assigned the material is currently selected.

For practice:

Transfer the rest of the materials from the material library into the Material Editor. Arrange them in a way that makes sense to you.
To copy and move a material, drag the sample to a new slot.
To remove a material from a sample, click Reset Map/Mtl To Default Settings.
To view more sample slots, use the scroll bars at the right and bottom of the sample palette, or change the right-click settings to 6 X 4 Sample Windows.

Note: While the sample palette can show you 24 samples at any one time, there is no limit to the number of materials a scene can contain. Once you assign a material to an object, you can reset that sample in the palette and a new material created without affecting the original material.
Pan the sample palette by dragging in between the slots.
To examine a material up close, double-click the sample slot, or right-click the slot and choose Magnify.
Save your file as mymaterials1.max.

Assigning Materials to Objects

In this lesson, you will learn two ways to assign materials to objects.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Set up the lesson:

Open intro_materials2.max.

Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Rescale The File Objects To The System Unit Scale.

Assign a material to a selected object:

Making your selection before assigning a material to it ensures that the material goes exactly where you want it to go. Use this approach for mapping complex scenes, or when you want to assign materials to sub-object selections.

On the keyboard, press H to display the Select Objects dialog. Highlight Orange and click Select.
Press M to open the Material Editor.
Click the sample slot that contains the orange material.
Click Assign Material to Selection. The object turns orange in the Camera01 viewport.

Assign a material using drag and drop:

Drag and drop is the most direct way to assign materials to objects. Use this approach when the objects you want to map are clearly visible in the scene.

In the Material Editor, find the sample slot that contains the shiny apple material.
Drag the sample onto the apple; a tooltip lets you know when the cursor is over the right object. The apple turns red.

See the results:

Activate the Camera01 viewport by right-clicking in it.
On the toolbar, click Quick Render. The view from the camera renders line by line in a separate window.

For practice:

Assign materials to the rest of the objects in the scene. Use the tooltips to see the name of each object, or choose objects by name from the Select Object dialog. When you are done, render the scene to see how it looks.

Creating Basic Materials

In this lesson, you create variations on the Standard material type by changing basic parameters such as color, glossiness, transparency, and shader type.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Set the diffuse and specular color:

The Blinn shader has basic settings for color, glossiness, self-illumination and transparency.

Open intro_materials2.max.

Note: If you see the File Units: Mismatch dialog, choose the option Rescale The File Objects To The System Unit Scale.
Press M to open the Material Editor. If necessary, set the display to 5 x 3 Sample Windows; press X repeatedly until the sample spheres are largest.
Scroll down to the third row and click the center sample sphere; the material's name includes the string “Default”.
Rename this material using the editable name field above the rollouts. Call it myorange material.
From the Material Editor, drag myorange material onto the Orange object in the viewport. The orange in the viewport turns gray.
On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the Diffuse color swatch to display the Color Selector. Change the Diffuse color to dark orange. Then close the Color Selector.

Both the Diffuse color and Ambient color change to dark orange, because the colors are locked together. In the viewport, the Orange object's color changes to dark orange.
In the Specular Highlight group, experiment with the Specular Level parameter by dragging the spinner up and down while observing the sample sphere. Then set the Specular Level to 100.

A highlight appears on the orange. The highlight gets stronger as you increase the Specular Level.
Experiment with the Glossiness parameter by dragging its spinner up and down while observing the sample sphere. Then set the Glossiness to 40.

As Glossiness increases, the highlight gets smaller and more focused. This is how you control the shininess of an object.
Click the Specular color swatch and change the Specular color to a bright lemon yellow.

The highlight takes on a yellow tinge.

Use wire and 2-sided:

You can use the Wire material option to make an object render in wireframe.

On the Shader Basic Parameters rollout, turn on Wire.

The surface of the orange displays in wireframe, rather than as shaded faces.
Open the Extended Parameters rollout. In the Wire group, change the Size to 2.5.
Render the scene. The orange renders with a thicker wire.

Tip: To depict an object turning to wireframe, animate the wire thickness.
In the Shader Basic Parameters rollout, turn on 2-Sided. Now you can see the object's back side through the front wires.
Turn off 2-Sided and Wire. The object turns solid again.

Add self-illumination:

Self-illumination makes an object look as though it's lit from within. Use Self-Illumination to save rendering overhead when you want to create lights that do not need to illuminate surfaces, such as running lights along the perimeter of a spaceship.

On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, set Self-Illumination of myorange material material to 100 percent.

The dark areas of the orange brighten, making the orange look incandescent.

Note: If you see a black color swatch instead of the spinner, turn off Color.
Right-click the Self-Illumination spinner to reset the value to 0.
Save your file as myorange.max.

Understanding Ambient Color and Light

Ambient light is used to simulate indirect light, such as the atmospheric light that permeates outdoor scenes. It may also be used to simulate radiosity, which is the color that bounces off brightly colored objects.

Ambient color controls the color of objects in areas of shadow, whenever ambient light is present. Generally, you do not see any effect when you change the ambient color of a material, because ambient lighting is turned off by default.

To see the effect of ambient color in a scene, you must create an ambient light source. You can either create lights that are set to Ambient Only in order to create a localized effect, or use the Environment dialog to affect an entire scene.

Set up the lesson:

Continue from the previous lesson.

Adjust the ambient light and color:

In the Material Editor, choose the beige putty material in the upper-right material sample.
Change the Ambient color of the beige putty material to a bright shade of purple.

The color of the scene does not change.
Choose Rendering > Environment. The Environment dialog appears.
Click the Ambient color swatch. In the Color Selector, change the Ambient color to a medium shade of gray. Then close the Color Selector and the Environment dialog.

The materials brighten in direct proportion to the brightness of the Ambient color. The beige putty objects in the scene turn purple.
Activate the slot containing myorange material.
Click the lock button to the left of the Ambient and Diffuse colors to unlock them. Then change the Ambient color from orange to a bright green.

Watch the viewport and notice the orange turns bright green.

Creating Transparency

The Opacity parameter controls the transparency of a material. The default setting is 100 percent opaque. An Opacity value of 0 creates total transparency.

Set transparency:

Choose File > Reset.

Do not save your changes.
Press M to open the Material Editor.
Click the Background button to the right of the sample spheres. A multicolored checker pattern appears in the active sample slot behind the sample sphere.
Double-click the sample material to open it in a separate window. Resize the window if you like.
In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout change the Diffuse color to green. The Ambient color changes as well.
Set the Opacity value of the material to 50.

The sample sphere becomes semi-transparent.

Opacity controls transparency.
Set the Specular Level to 100 and the Glossiness to 80. Two small highlights appear on opposite sides of the sample sphere.
On the Shader Basic Parameters rollout, turn on 2-Sided. Two more highlights appear on the sample sphere. These represent highlights inside the sphere.
Open the Extended Parameters rollout.
Change the Falloff setting from In to Out.
In the Advanced Transparency group, set the Falloff Amt to 100.

The sphere becomes more transparent towards the edges.
Change the Falloff setting from Out to In.

The opacity falls off towards the center of the sphere, revealing a nearly transparent center.
Change the Filter color to bright yellow.

The sample sphere takes on a ghostly look.
Change the Type to Subtractive, then Additive.

The areas of opacity turn dark like smoke, then light like clouds.

Mapping and Mapping Coordinates

Adding images and textures to a material is one of the most important techniques for creating realistic effects. In this lesson, you learn how to add texture maps and bump maps to a material. You also learn how to position a map on the surface of an object by adjusting the mapping coordinates of the material.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Make a texture map:

Suppose you want to make a realistic orange in your scene. The most direct way is to use a realistic image as the texture map in the diffuse component of a material. In other words, you replace the overall color with an overall texture. Here are the basic steps:

Buy an orange and photograph it.
Crop a portion of the photograph.
Digitize the cropped portion with a scanner or digital camera.
Load this image into your computer.
Apply the image as a diffuse map.

A cropped photograph of a real orange peel

Add a texture map to a material:

The digitized bitmap you are going to use is already being used by the orange material in the first sample slot. You can therefore browse for the bitmap from the Material Editor.

Open intro_materials3.max.

Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Rescale The File Objects To The System Unit Scale.
Press M to open the Material Editor. Set the display to 5 x 3 Sample Windows, if it isn't already.
Click an empty material, such as the one in the center of the third row of sample spheres. Rename it myorangematerial.
On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the map selector button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch to display the Material/Map Browser.
In the Browse From group, choose Material (Mtl) Editor.
Click View Small Icons.

All the images that are currently loaded appear as small thumbnails.
Click View Large Icons.

The thumbnails appear larger.
Click the image labeled Diffuse Color: Orange (orangetex.jpg) and click OK. On the Instance Or Copy dialog, choose Copy and click OK again.

The Material/Map Browser closes and the orange texture map appears in the material sample, but not in the viewport.
To display the texture map in the viewport, click the Show Map In Viewport on the Material Editor toolbar.

The orange texture map appears in the viewport.

Note on Mapping Coordinates and Viewport Visibility

The orange map shows in the viewport because the orange object has mapping coordinates applied to it. Like other parametric objects in 3ds Max, the sphere of the orange generated its own mapping coordinates when created. This is not necessarily the case with editable meshes and many other types of geometry.

If the object in the scene didn't have mapping coordinates, the map wouldn't appear in the viewport, even if Show Map In Viewport is on. In that case, you can add a UVW Map modifier to the object to make the texture display.

If the texture map still doesn't display, you can move the gizmo of the UVW Map modifier, and experiment with the Offset, Tiling, and Angle parameters in the Coordinates rollout. This will be covered later in the tutorial.

Add a bump map:

The texture on the orange looks all right, but a real orange peel has a pitted surface. You can simulate this and add realism by using bump mapping. This won't show up in the viewport, but is visible when you render.

Select the orange in the viewport.
Click the myorangematerial sample sphere you worked with in the previous section.
Click Go To Parent to access the material level.
Scroll down and open the Maps rollout.
Drag the orangetex.jpg map from Diffuse Color to Bump. Choose Copy and click OK.
Set the Bump Amount to −100.

There is no change in the viewport.

To really see the effect, you'll need to render the scene. It would also be a good idea to zoom in and see what's happening to the orange.
Activate the Front viewport. Select the orange, if it isn't already selected.
In the viewport navigation controls, use Arc Rotate Selected to rotate around the orange and get a good view (the viewport will switch to User type). Zoom so the orange fills up most of the viewport.
Render the Front viewport.
Drag the orange material in the first sample slot from the Material Editor to the Orange object in the viewport.

Nothing will change in the viewport, but this will let you use the experimental material for other purposes later in this exercise.
Press F so the viewport returns to Front view.

Use mapping coordinates and tiling:

In this procedure, you use the concrete wall behind the objects to learn about mapping and tiling.

From the Material Editor, drag the concrete material (second row, fourth sphere) onto the wall object (named L-Ext01).

The concrete shows up in the camera viewport because the parametric object has generated its own mapping coordinates. But the concrete doesn't look quite right on the wall.
Select the wall object (L-Ext01), and then from the Modifiers menu > UV Coordinates submenu choose UVW Map.

The concrete changes appearance in the viewport.
Right-click in the Camera01 viewport to activate it.
In the Modify panel, scroll down to the Alignment group.
Change the Alignment from Z to Y to X.

Choose the one that looks correct; probably Y.
In the Modifier Stack, expand the UVW Mapping entry to see the Gizmo. Click the Gizmo entry to highlight it.
On the Main toolbar, turn on Select And Move. In the viewport, and drag the gizmo for the mapping modifier to move the map.

The concrete bitmap shifts behind the objects.

To control placement of texture maps:

Move the UVW Mapping gizmo.
Change the map's Offset values.

To control tiling of texture maps:

Change the map's Tiling values.
Change the UVW Mapping modifier's Tile values.

Create wallpaper with a tile pattern:

On the Modify panel, click Gizmo again to turn off sub-object selection.
In the Material Editor, choose the concrete material.
Change the name of the material to background.
On the Maps rollout, click the concgren.jpg map.

The rollouts change to the level of this map.
On the Bitmap Parameters rollout, select the Bitmap button, which contains the path to the concgren.jpg map. You'll replace this map with a tile pattern to create some wallpaper.
On the Select Bitmap Image File dialog, change the Files of Type to Targa Image File and choose pat0039.tga.
Turn on Show Map in Viewport.

A diamond pattern appears on the wall.
On the Coordinates rollout, set U Tiling and V Tiling to 4.
Change the U tiling by clicking the spinner until the tiling value is approximately 5.7.

This makes the pattern proportions more even.

On some systems, the diamond pattern might be skewed in the Camera viewport. To correct this, right-click the Camera01 viewport label and choose Texture Correction.
See what happens when you add blurring and then render. Also try working with Blur Offset. Try setting the Coordinate rollout Blur parameter to 1.5 and Blur Offset to 0.1. When you're finished experimenting with Blur, return the Blur setting to 1.0.

Use opacity mapping to make a leaf:

You can use the leaf objects in the scene to experience a unique type of mapping. The leaf is created with a simple box mapped with a texture map and an opacity map.

The texture is a photo of a leaf.

The opacity map is a mask of white and black. The black becomes transparent when rendered.

On the toolbar, open the Named Selection Sets list and choose the set named leavesandbase.
Right-click in the active viewport and choose Hide Unselected.

The leaves and the base are now the only objects visible.
Hold down Ctrl and select the base.

This deselects the plank base.

The objects are really just thin boxes that have Bend and Twist modifiers applied to them. They don't look anything like leaves right now.
Drag the leaf material from the Material Editor onto the leaves in the scene.
When the Assign Material dialog appears, choose Assign to Selection and click OK.

The leaf material is applied to all four leaves.

View the rendered leaves:

In this procedure, you zoom in without affecting your existing camera view.

Render the Camera01 viewport.

The boxes seem to have been replaced by realistic leaves, and the opacity map and the shadow-casting spotlights combine to cast reasonable-looking shadows.

Use mapping coordinates:

Besides letting you see maps in the viewport, mapping coordinates give you control of how a texture is applied to the object. In this procedure, you'll add a UVW Map modifier to the bottle label. In the next procedure, you crop the texture.

Simple mapping is often solved by adding planar mapping coordinates and then working with the gizmo for adjustment. Let's see how this works on the label of the bottle.

Right-click in the active viewport, and choose Unhide All. All the objects in the scene reappear.
Select the orange, right-click, and choose Hide Selection in the Display quadrant.
Press H and select label01.
Right-click in the Front viewport to activate it, without affecting the selection of the label. Then press G to turn off the grid.
Open the Modify panel and add a UVW Map modifier to the label.
Region Zoom into the Front viewport so you have a better view of label01.
Change the Front viewport display to Smooth + Highlights.
In the Parameters rollout > Alignment group, turn on Region Fit and draw a box slightly smaller than the label.

Region Fit lets you draw the gizmo to the size you want.
In the Material Editor, click the label material.
Use Assign Material To Selection to apply the material onto the label.
Save the scene as mymaterials3.max.

Crop the texture:

The Gluggo texture map doesn't really fit the label properly, so you'll fix it by using the cropping features of the Material Editor.

In the Material Editor > Maps rollout, click the Diffuse map button labeled gluggo.jpg.
In the Bitmap Parameters > Cropping/Placement group, be sure Crop is chosen. Click View Image.

A Specify Cropping/Placement window is displayed showing the label bitmap.
Crop the Gluggo label by dragging the handles on the corners and sides of the selection region. Crop so the dark edge at the top is outside the selection region. Close the window.
Turn on Apply, if it isn't on already.

The dark edge no longer appears on the label in the viewport. Adjust the length and width of the modifier so that the map fits the label better.

Add a sticker on the label:

Assume a scenario in which the Gluggo brand has been purchased by Gulpco. It's your job to redo the image with the new Gluggo-Gulpco label. In the following procedures, you'll put a Gulpco sticker onto the label to add the new company name. As you do this, you'll learn about multiple channels and UVW coordinates.

Set up the mapping modifier:

Press H and select label01, if it's not already selected.
Right-click in the active viewport and choose Hide Unselected.

Everything disappears except for the label.
In the Front viewport, zoom in on the label.
Go to the Modify Panel and check the modifier stack.

The label already has a UVW Mapping modifier applied to it.
Right-click the UVW Mapping modifier and choose Rename.
Rename the UVW Mapping modifier to Gluggo label.
Scroll down to the Channel group and change the map channel to 3.

The label changes orientation in the viewport.

Set up the label material:

In the Material Editor, click the label material if it's not already active.
Click the map button next to the Diffuse color swatch to open the Bitmap map rollouts, if necessary.
In the Coordinates rollout, change the Map Channel for the label map to 3.

Now the label map will use the mapping from the Gluggo label modifier, because they both use the same map channel.

Select faces:

Here, you'll select the faces where the Gulpco sticker will go.

In the Front viewport, change the display to Edged Faces (press F4).
In the modifier stack, click Editable Mesh.
Turn on Polygon selection.
Select the three rows of faces in the middle of the label.

The label middle faces selected
Scroll down to the Surface Properties rollout > Material group and change Set ID to 2 for these faces.
Exit the Polygon sub-object level.

This is an important step. If you don't turn off Polygon selection, what follows will not work as expected.
With the Editable Mesh still selected, add a second UVW Map modifier.

The new UVW Mapping modifier is inserted in the stack between the Gluggo label modifier and the Editable Mesh . It will supply the mapping coordinates for the Gulpco sticker.
Right-click the new UVW Mapping modifier and rename it Sticker.
Scroll down to the Channel group and set Map Channel to 2.

Convert to a multi/sub-object material:

You'll use the original label as a base for the new label.

On the Material Editor toolbar, click Go To Parent.
Choose the material label and click the Standard button.
In the Material/Map browser, make sure the Browse From group is set to New.
Double-click the Multi/Sub-Object entry. In the Replace Material dialog, make sure Keep Old Material As Sub-material is chosen, and then click OK.
In the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, click Set Number. Change Number Of Materials to 2 and click OK.
In the Name field next to the label material, type Gluggo.
In the Name field next to the second material, type Gulpco.

Add a map to the second sub-material:

Click the second material.
Click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.
On the Material/Map Browser dialog, make sure Browse From is set to New, and then double-click the Bitmap list entry. The Select Bitmap Image File dialog opens.
Navigate to the tutorials\intro_to_materials directory and choose gulpco.jpg.
On the Coordinates rollout, set the Map Channel to 2.
Click Show Map In Viewport. The second map appears in the viewport, layered on top of the first.
Adjust the Offset and Tiling settings for the Gulpco map until it's centered on the bottle.
Repeat the process for the Gluggo material so that the map is centered behind the Gulpco label.
Save your work again as mymaterials3.max.

Creating Multi/Sub-Object Materials

When you want to apply two or more materials to an object, you use a Multi/Sub-object material. This is a material type can contain up to 1,000 different materials, each identified by a unique number called a material ID. By assigning different material IDs to discrete selections of faces, you control where each material will appear when the parent Multi/Sub-Object material is applied to the object.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

In this exercise, you'll create the material automatically by dragging and dropping onto sub-object selections.

Create Multi/Sub-object materials using drag and drop:

Open intro_materials4.max.

Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Rescale The File Objects To The System Unit Scale.
Right-click the Camera viewport label and change the viewport display mode to Wireframe.

The viewport now displays all the geometry in wireframe.
On the menu bar, choose Views > Shade Selected.
Select the bottle in the viewport.

The bottle alone is shaded. At the top of the Modify panel, the object name bottle with label is displayed in boldface to indicate that this is a group.
On the menu bar, choose Group > Open.

The grouping is temporarily suspended so you can manipulate the members of the group individually.
Press H and select the label01 by name from the selection list.

The label becomes shaded.
Right-click in the viewport and choose Hide Selection.

The label is hidden from view. Now you can work just with the bottle.
Select the bottle again.

The name of the object is bottlewithcork.

Assign material IDs:

In order to assign material ID numbers to different parts of an object you must first make a sub-object selection of faces or polygons. Since the bottle is already an Editable Poly object, sub-object selection tools are available in the Modify panel.

On the Modify panel, access the Polygon sub-object level by clicking the Polygon selection icon.
Right-click the Camera viewport label, and turn on Edged Faces (or press F4).
In the Camera viewport, select the polygons used for the cork by dragging a region around the top of the cork and down to (but not including) the top of the glass.

The selected polygons turn red in the viewport.

If the selected polygons don’t turn red, right-click the Camera viewport label and choose Configure. In the Viewport Configuration dialog > Rendering Method tab > Rendering Options group, turn on Shade Selected Faces.
In the Material Editor, click an unused material and name it cork.
From the Material Editor, drag cork to the cork on the bottle.
On the menu bar, choose Edit > Select Invert.

Everything except the cork is now selected for the glass.
Drag the green bottle material from the Material editor to the selection set of faces.

The bottle turns bright green.
Turn off Polygon selection.

Add the new material to the Material Editor:

3ds Max has automatically created a new Multi/Sub-Object material in the scene. However, if you want to work on the material, you will need to load it into the Material Editor.

In the Material Editor, click an unused sample slot.
Click Pick Material From Object.
Click the cork with the eyedropper cursor.

The multi/sub-object material is transferred to the Material Editor. Both materials are displayed on the same sphere.
Name this material mybottle.
On the Multi/Sub-Object Material Parameter rollout, click the material cork.

The Material Editor moves to the level of that material and displays its parameters. The sample sphere displays only the single material now.
Expand the Maps rollout and click the None label next to the Bump map component.
Change Browse From to New, if it isn't already set.
On the Materials/Map Browser, pick Dent.
Name the bump component of this material bumpy dents.
On the Dent Parameters rollout, set Size to 22 and Strength to 5.
Set Color #1 to a pale brown and Color #2 to a medium brown.
Click the Go To Parent button.
Drag the bumpy dents map from the Bump component to the Diffuse Color component and choose Copy.
Click the new Dent map to go to the Dent Parameters level of the Diffuse Color and name this map cork dents.
Set one of the viewports to Front and zoom in on the cork.
Render to see what the dents look like on the cork.
If you like, change the colors in the cork dents map in the Diffuse component and render again.
Save your file as mybottlematerials.max.

Using Raytrace Materials and Maps

Raytrace materials are perfect for reflective materials like shiny metal and glass.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Set up the lesson:

Continue from the previous exercise or load bottlematerials.max.
Change the Camera viewport back to Smooth + Highlights.
Turn off Views > Shade Selected, if it's currently turned on.

Make green glass using a raytrace material:

Open the Material Editor and access the green bottle material within the multi/sub-object material.
Change the material type from Standard to Raytrace.

The bottle changes to a gray color in the viewport.
In the Material Editor, make the Diffuse color a rich forest green.

The bottle changes to a green color in the viewport.
Click the Transparency color swatch. Change the color to light gray by setting Value to 119.
Set the Reflect color swatch to a darker gray: Value=100. Close the Color Selector dialog.
Drag the wood countertop material to the counter (base) object.
Render the Camera01 viewport.

The bottle shows the reflections of adjacent objects.

Raytrace reflections in the scene:

There are several ways to make objects appear reflective. You choose a method of creating reflection based on the main source of an object’s color and the quality you want to achieve. For objects that derive their color primarily by reflection, such as polished metal or glass, you will probably want to use a raytrace material. If an object has a strong local color or texture as part of its material, you might add a reflection map to the Reflection map component instead.

Press H and choose [knife]. The knife and its handle are grouped together.
Choose Group > Open.
Select the knife blade in the viewport.
From the Material Editor, drag the knife blade material to the knife blade (Line02).

This is another Raytrace material. It’s a lot like the Raytrace green glass material except that it's not transparent.
Drag the knife handle material to the knife handle.
Click the wood countertop material. On the Maps rollout, click the None button of the Reflection map component.
In the Material\Map Browser, double-click the Raytrace map type. In this case you're adding a raytrace only to the Reflection component.
Name the Reflection component counter reflection.
Click Go to Parent. On the Maps rollout, set the Reflection amount to 44 and the Diffuse Color amount to 90. This will keep the reflection from overpowering the wood texture.
Render the Camera01 viewport, and examine the reflections in the knife blade and countertop.
Save your file as mymaterials4.max.

Texturing the Chessboard

In Modeling a Chess Set, you learned how to create the pieces for a chess set. Chess pieces want to live on a chessboard. In this tutorial, you'll construct a chessboard that has a wood-grained, checkerboard pattern. You'll also add shininess and reflection to the chessboard.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Set up the lesson:

Load the file tut_knight.max.

Create the chessboard:

On the Create panel, click the Geometry button. Make sure Standard Primitives is chosen in the drop-down list.
Click the Box button.
If 2D Snap is on, turn it off.
In the Top viewport, drag to set the initial length and width of the box, then release the mouse and drag downward to set an initial height. Click to finish.

Don't worry about the initial dimensions: you will change them soon.
Rename the box chessboard.
In the box's Parameters rollout, set the Length and Width to both equal 32cm, and set Height equal to –1cm.

Tip: Because the board is bigger than the chess pieces, you might need to zoom viewports and move either object before you can comfortably see both of them together.
Use the Move tool to position the box at the world origin: 0,0,0.

Create the squares:

Activate the Perspective viewport and click the Zoom Extents button.
Click the Field Of View button and zoom in so the chessboard fills the viewport.
On the toolbar, open the Material Editor by clicking the Material Editor button or use the M keyboard shortcut.
Click the first sample sphere and click the map button just to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.

The Material/Map Browser appears.
In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Checker.

3ds Max has a built-in checker pattern, which makes your work easier. The active sample slot now shows a sphere with the checker pattern.
In the Material Editor, click Assign Material To Selection, and then click Show Map In Viewport.

This lets you see the map in shaded viewports. (The viewport display of maps is only an approximate.)

The default checker pattern is two by two, but a chessboard needs eight squares in each direction.

Note: If the checker pattern looks slightly skewed, right-click the Perspective viewport label and turn on Texture Correction.
On the Coordinates rollout, set both the U and V Tiling values to 4.0.

Now the board has the right number of squares.

If you render the Perspective viewport, you see that the checker pattern is more refined than the shaded viewport shows.

Note: Because the chessboard is made out of a box, the checker pattern is also applied to the sides. Since the chessboard is so thin, the pattern on the sides isn't obvious.

Give the checker pattern a wood texture:

Open the Utilities panel and click Asset Browser.

The Asset Browser appears. Click OK to the copyright advisory it displays.
The Asset Browser is a large dialog. Move and resize it so you can see both it and the Material Editor.
Use the navigation tree at the left of the Asset Browser window to locate the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.
In the Material Editor, make sure the Checker map's Checker Parameters rollout is visible.
In the Asset Browser, locate the file Oak1.tga. Drag the Oak1.tga thumbnail to the Color #1 map button on the Checker Parameters rollout. Then drag the Walnut3.tga thumbnail to the Color #2 map button.
Close the Asset Browser.

Now if you render the chessboard, it has a contrasting wood pattern.
Save the scene as mychessboard.max.

Add polish to the chessboard:

In the Material Editor, click the Go To Parent button.
Open the Maps rollout.
Click the map button for the Reflection map component.

The Material/Map Browser opens.
Double-click the Flat Mirror map.
Render the scene.

The pieces are reflected in the chessboard, but the wood grain is washed out.
Click the Go To Parent button and, on the Maps rollout, change the Reflection Amount to 30.

The wood grain is not as washed out as before but still looks faded.
On the Maps rollout, click the Checker map in the Diffuse Color component.
In the Checker Parameters rollout, click the Color #1 map and open the Output rollout.
Set the Output Amount to 1.5.
Click the Go Forward To Sibling button and make the same change to the Output Amount of the Color #2 map.
Render the scene.

The wood grain looks much warmer and more realistic.
Save the scene as mychessboard01.max.

Using Displacement Mapping with Surface Properties

In this lesson, you make a moon with a detailed surface using displacement mapping combined with Surface properties.

Bitmaps for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Create a moon:

Reset 3ds Max.
In the Perspective viewport, create a sphere that fills the viewport.
On the Create panel, set the Radius to 100. Name the sphere Earth’s Moon.
Click Zoom Extents All to zoom out in all four viewports.

Set up lights and cameras:

Activate the Perspective viewport, if necessary, and then press Ctrl+C. This creates a Target camera, matches the camera to the Perspective viewport, and switches the viewport to the camera view.
Click Zoom Extents All. In the Top viewport, you see the camera is facing the moon at about a 45 degree angle.

Note: Your sphere might be a different color than the one shown here.
On the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel and click Omni.
In the Top viewport, create an omni light by clicking at the bottom of the viewport. Name this light main light.
On the Modify panel, turn on Shadows and set Multiplier to 1.2.
In the Top viewport, create another omni light by clicking near the top left of the viewport. Name this light fill light.
On the Modify panel, turn on Shadows and set Multiplier to 1.5. Then change the color of the fill light to orange. This adds some warmth to the image.
Right-click in the Camera viewport to activate it. Then press F9 to render the scene.

In the rendered image, the highlights on the moon appear very bright, and the edges of the moon need more detail. You will fix both problems using mapping.

Map the moon:

Press M to open the Material Editor.
Click a material sample slot. Name the material Earth's Moon.
Choose the Oren-Nayar-Blinn shader from the drop-down list on the Shader Basic Parameters rollout. The highlights of the material darken, giving the sample sphere a softer look.

Comparing the Blinn (l) and Oren-Nayar-Blinn (r) shaders
Click the Diffuse map button; it's the blank gray button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch. In the Material/Map Browser, choose Bitmap and click OK.
Use the Select Bitmap Image File dialog to open moon.jpg. The moon map appears on the sample sphere.
Click Show Map In Viewport, and then drag the material onto the sphere.
Press F9 to do a test render.
In the Material Editor, click Go To Parent.
Drag from the Diffuse map button to the Diffuse Level map button, in the Advanced Diffuse group. Choose Instance and click OK.
Press F9 to see the result.

The dark areas of the map look even darker.

Displace the surface with a map:

Displacement mapping uses an image or algorithm to alter the geometry of an object. Unlike bump mapping, it actually changes the mesh, so you can see the texture on the edges of an object. Ordinarily this isn't visible until you render, although you can see it in the viewports with the Disp Approx modifier. This modifier is not covered in this tutorial.

Open the Maps rollout. Pull down the bottom edge of the Material Editor so that you can see the entire rollout, if necessary.
Drag the moon.jpg map from the Diffuse Level map component to the Displacement map component. Choose Copy and click OK.

The button next to Displacement is now labeled "Map#2 (Moon.jpg)."
Set Displacement amount to -20.
Select the sphere. Right-click the sphere and choose Convert To Editable Poly.
On the Modify panel, scroll down to the Subdivision Displacement rollout and open it.
In the Subdivision Displacement rollout, turn on Subdivision Displacement and click Low. This prevents the surface mesh from becoming too complex.
Press F9 to render. The surface of the moon appears bumpy.
On Material Editor > Maps rollout, increase the Displacement amount to –50.
Press F9 to render. The surface of the moon appears even bumpier.

Displacing the surface of the moon

Control the areas of displacement:

This procedure shows you how to control the surface displacement so that it accentuates the areas of moderate displacement.

On the Maps rollout of the Material Editor, click the Displacement map button labeled "Map#2 (moon.jpg)."
On the Bitmap Parameters rollout, click View Image. The close grayscale values that you see in the map limit the amount of surface variation.
Close the viewer window and scroll down to the Output rollout.
Open the Output rollout and turn on Enable Color Map. Scroll to the bottom so you can see both the graph and the gradient bar.
Drag the point on the right downward so the line is horizontal.

The gradient bar and the sample slot turn black.
Click Add Point. Then click to add two points to the curve at about one-third intervals along its length.
Click Move. Select the two points that you just created and move them upward to form a trapezoidal graph.
Press F9. The bumpiness increases across the middle values of the map.

The moon with mountains
Click Go to Parent. Change the Displacement to 20 and press F9. You now have a moon with craters.

Craters on the moon
Save your file as mymoon.max.

Adding Stars to the Sky

Vincent van Gogh is not the only one who gets to have fun painting the night sky. In this lesson you'll create your own starry night using a Noise map in the environment background.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Apply a Noise material:

Open moon.max.
Press 8 on the keyboard to open the Environment dialog.
Click the Environment Map button.
In the Material/Map Browser, choose Noise and then OK. The Noise map appears in the Environment map component.
Open the Material Editor.
Drag the Noise map from the Environment dialog to an unused sample sphere. Choose Instance and click OK.

The sample sphere disappears and is replaced with the Noise map. The map is displayed as a square, since this is a map, not a material.
Scroll down to the Noise Parameters rollout and set the Noise Size to 0.2.
In the Noise Threshold settings, set the low threshold to 0.6 and the high threshold to 0.7. This narrows the range between white and black so the noise will display as dots or pinpoints.
Activate the Camera viewport and press F9 render the scene. Hundreds of stars appear in the sky.

Stars created with Noise material
Reduce the number of stars by increasing the low threshold to 0.65. Then tone down the brightness of the stars by changing the white Noise color to pale gray.
Render the scene again. The stars fade into the background.

After adjusting the Noise material

Create a nebula field:

To add drama, create a nebula field by mapping the black areas of the Noise material with a Gradient Ramp.

On the Noise Parameters rollout, click the Color #1 map button.
Choose Gradient Ramp from the Material Map Browser and then OK.
The Material Editor moves down a level in the material tree. The sample sphere is replaced by a grayscale gradient. Scroll to the Gradient Ramp Parameters rollout. The Gradient ramp has three flags: one on the right, one in the middle, and one on the left.
Double-click the flag on the right to display the color selector. Change the color to black.
Without closing the color selector, click the middle flag and change it to blue. Then close the color selector.
In the Noise group, set Amount to 1.0. Choose the Fractal option and set Size to 9.0.
Render the scene. A diffuse blue nebula appears in the sky.

Add a streak to the nebula field:

Click twice near the center of the gradient, on either side of the middle flag. Two more flags appear. (If you make too many flags, right-click a flag and choose Delete.)
Double-click the middle flag and change its color to a lighter blue.
Set the Noise Levels parameter to 6 to add more details to the streak.
Render the scene.

Nebula background with a streak
Experiment with the gradient color, type and noise parameters until you master the effect.
Save your work as mymoonandstars.max.

Create a starry sky with a large sphere:

Another way to make stars is to create a large sphere, invert its normals, and then apply a starfield bitmap to it.

Using the keyboard entry method, create a very large sphere with a radius of about 1200. (If you're not familiar with this method, open the Create panel and click Sphere. Open the Keyboard Entry rollout and set Radius to 1200. Then click Create.)
Name the sphere skydome.
Open the Modifier panel. From the Modifier drop-down list, choose Object Space Modifiers > Normal.
In the Parameters rollout, turn on Flip Normals, if it is not already on.
Open the Material Editor and click an unused sample slot. Name the material starry sky.
Click the Diffuse map button. In the Material/Map Browser, choose Bitmap and click OK.
In the Select Bitmap Image File dialog, choose stars10.jpg and click OK. This is a large and detailed map, so it may take a moment to load.

Note: You'll find this bitmap in the tutorials/space folder.
Turn on Show Map In Viewport.
Click Go to Parent. On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, set Self-Illumination to 100.
Drag the material onto the skydome object and press F9 to render the scene. The stars from the map appear in the sky, replacing the environment background map.

Brighten the stars:

Open the Maps rollout and click the Diffuse Color map.
Open the Output rollout and set RGB Level to 2.0. To filter out the dimmer stars, set the Output Amount to 1.2.
Press F9 to render the scene.

Save your work:

Save your work as mymoonandstars2.max.

Creating a Skin Material

Human skin is difficult to simulate in computer graphics because it reflects light from a short distance beneath the surface, rather than directly at the surface. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the Shellac material to create a material that closely resembles skin.

The files for this lesson can be found in the tutorials/intro_to_materials folder.

Set up the lesson:

Open the scene file skin_material_start.max.

Create the skin material:

Open the Material Editor, and then click the third sample slot on the top row.

This material is already applied to the head.
Click the Standard button, just above the rollouts, and then in the Material/Map Browser, double-click Shellac.

Shellac is a special material that superimposes one material over another so that you can see through the upper material to the lower one. This capability is well suited to simulating human skin.
On the Replace Material dialog that displays, click OK to keep the old material as a sub-material.
Name the material Skin.

Choose a map for the base skin material:

On the Shellac Basic Parameters rollout, click the Base Material button.
Click the Show Map In Viewport button to turn it on.
On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.
In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Bitmap.
In the file selector dialog, choose the file skin_tile.jpg.
Click Open.

Adjust the shading for the base skin material:

Click Go To Parent, and change the Material’s shading type to Oren-Nayar-Blinn.
In the Oren-Nayar-Blinn Basic Parameters rollout > Specular Highlights group, set Specular Level to 27 and the Glossiness to 11.

Apply bump mapping for the skin texture:

Expand the Maps rollout, and then drag the Diffuse Color map button (labeled with the map number and the file name skin_tile.jpg) to the Bump map button.

On the Copy (Instance) Map dialog, choose Copy (if necessary), and then click OK.
Click the Bump map button to open the parameters for the copied bitmap.

Set the tiling for bump mapping:

At the default tiling setting, the bump map is a bit coarse; increasing the Tiling values gives the bumpiness a finer grain.

In the Coordinates rollout, enter 4.0 for both U and V Tiling values.

Adjust the amount of bump mapping:

Expand the Output rollout, and set the Bump Amount to 1.86.
Click Go to Parent.
In the Maps rollout, change the Bump Amount setting to 70.

Set up the Shellac material:

Click Go To Parent again, and in the Shellac Basic Parameters rollout, click the Shellac Material button.
Change the shading type to Anisotropic.
Click the map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.
In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Bitmap.
Use the Select Bitmap Image File dialog to open the file skin_tile.jpg.

Set the tiling for the Shellac material map:

On the Coordinates rollout, enter 4.0 for both U and V Tiling values.

Adjust the specular highlights for the Shellac material:

Click Go To Parent, and then click the Specular color swatch.
In the Color Selector, change the color to a light skin tone: Red: 250, Green: 224, Blue: 195, and click Close.
In the Specular Highlight group, set Specular Level to 131, Glossiness to 34, and Anisotropy to 40.
Click Go To Parent, and set Shellac Color Blend to 24.

This gives the Shellac Material component a small but significant role in the look of the composite material.
Save the scene as skin_material.max
Render the Camera01 viewport to see the result.

You've created a realistic-looking skin material. Try changing the parameters and components and re-rendering to see how they affect the material. In particular, try changing the Shellac Color Blend setting to blend different amounts of the Shellac Material component into the overall material.

Summary

3ds Max offers a wealth of options for applying textures to objects. You use the Material Editor for creating and modifying materials, applying maps, and even adjusting mapping. Once a material is ready, you can apply it to an object by dragging and dropping it from the Material Editor to the object in the viewport. The Material Editor provides a number of different shaders for achieving such effects as metal and translucency. The UVW Map modifier lets you determine how materials and maps wrap around an object. One of the most useful material types is Multi/Sub-Object, which lets you easily combine different materials on a single object. Another way is to use a map such as Checker, which gives you the option to apply two different maps in place of the black and white checks. You can add modeling detail to your objects with displacement mapping. The Shellac material is useful for simulating human skin, as well as other materials.

This tutorial provided a starting point for learning about materials, but the ultimate possibilities with 3ds Max materials are limited only by your imagination. The time you spend practicing and experimenting with the procedures you learned here will be rewarded by a greater proficiency with the available tools, and the ability to get the effects you seek with ease and speed.

Pages

Introduction to Materials and Mapping

Features Covered in This Tutorial

Tutorial Files

In This Tutorial

Accessing Materials

Next

Assigning Materials to Objects

Next

Creating Basic Materials

Next

Understanding Ambient Color and Light

Next

Creating Transparency

Next

Mapping and Mapping Coordinates

Next

Creating Multi/Sub-Object Materials

Next

Using Raytrace Materials and Maps

Next

Texturing the Chessboard

Next

Using Displacement Mapping with Surface Properties

Next

Adding Stars to the Sky

Next

Creating a Skin Material

Summary

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