Materials for Interior Scenes

One of the most useful 3ds Max features for architectural models is its ability to fashion complex and subtle materials. The 3ds Max Material Editor provides you with ultimate control over the materials you create. This tutorial focuses on material techniques that lend themselves to interior scenes. Outdoor scenes can use similar materials.

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Time to complete: 45 minutes

Features Covered in This Tutorial

After completing this tutorial, you should be able to:
  • Use the Material Editor to create and assign materials.
  • Create a simple “one-color” material.
  • Use a map in a material.
  • Create a multi/sub-object material for assigning multiple materials to a single object.
  • Create a Blend material that includes a procedural map.
  • Create and apply an Architectural material.
  • Use the Asset Browser to find textures.
  • Use the UVW Map modifier.

Files for This Tutorial

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

Lessons in This Tutorial

Materials of One Color: Applying Standard Materials
Adding Complexity: Applying Mapped Materials
Applying Multiple Materials to One Object
Creating 3D Materials: Another Approach to Wood
Using an Architectural Material on the Wall
Material Combinations: Using Blend to Create a Floor Material
Using the UVW Map Modifier to Adjust the Floor Tiles


Materials of One Color: Applying Standard Materials

In this lesson, you create simple, “one-color” materials and apply them to objects in the scene. Specifically, you create the materials for a pair of chairs and an end table.

Material Components: Colors and Other Controls

In general, we think of simple standard materials (with no maps) as being of “one color”. In fact, an 3ds Max material consists of a number of component controls, and among these are a number of color components. The default Blinn shader, for example, uses three color components: ambient, diffuse, and specular. Ambient is the color of the material in shadow, and specular is the color of highlights if the material is shiny. Diffuse, the color of the material under diffuse light, is what we usually think of as “the” color of a material. In the lessons of this tutorial, you work with the diffuse color component exclusively.
Materials have other non-color components, such as highlight and opacity controls. In these lessons, you adjust some highlights and map amounts, but don’t otherwise work with numeric material components.
Set up the scene:
  • On the menu bar, choose File > Open. Locate chairs.max in the \tutorials\designviz folder, and click Open.
    If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
    To reset your system unit, go to the Customize menu and choose Units Setup > System Unit Setup > System Unit Scale > Inches.
    If the geometry is not visible in the viewport, click the Zoom Extents All button twice to correct the display.
    This scene contains only the chairs and the end table. At present, they are simply a dull gray.
You will make the seats and the table top a glossy black leather, and the wood a flat brown.
Create a black leather material:
  1. On the toolbar, click Material Editor.
    The Material Editor is displayed. This is a large dialog for designing and applying materials. At the top of the dialog are sample slots that display material previews.

    Sample slots show previews of materials on small sample objects such as spheres.
    Below and to the right of the sample slots are various buttons and other controls. Below these tools are rollouts that are specific to a particular material type.
  2. Make sure the first sample slot is active. If active, it has a heavy white border.
  3. In the Material Editor, go to the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout.
  4. Click the gray color swatch labeled Diffuse.
    A Color Selector appears.
  5. In the Color Selector, change the diffuse color to black. The easiest way to do this is to drag the Whiteness slider all the way to the top. The RGB and HSV fields should both show 0,0,0.
  6. In the Color Selector, click Close.
    By default, the diffuse component is locked to the ambient component, so both the Diffuse and Ambient color swatches now appear black.
    The material is very dark, as you can see in its sample slot. To look like leather, it needs to be shiny, too. To do this, you increase the intensity and size of the highlight.
  7. In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout > Specular Highlights group, set the Specular Level to 79.
    As the highlight graph shows, there is now a large highlight. Increasing the value of Specular Level increases the height of the highlight curve.
    The effect is also apparent in the sample slot.
  8. In the Specular Highlights group, set the Glossiness to 54.
    The highlight graph shows that the highlight curve has become much narrower.
    Increasing the value of Glossiness narrows the highlight curve. In general, small but intense highlights give the effect of shiny materials, as you can see in the sample slot.
    This is the effect intended for the leather upholstery, so give this material a name.
  9. In the material name field, below the sample slots, highlight the default name of 1 − Default (the number can vary), and enter Black Leather.
Apply the black leather material to the upholstered parts of the chairs:
  1. In a viewport, click to select the upholstered parts of the chairs and table.
    In the wireframe viewports, these parts are blue.
    The name Leather Parts should appear in the Name And Color rollout on the Create panel. If you go to the Modify panel, it should also appear in the object name field at the top of the panel.
  2. In the Material Editor, make sure the Black Leather material’s sample slot is still active, and then click Assign Material To Selection.
    In viewports, the upholstered areas now appear dark and the Black Leather sample slot has solid, white triangles at each corner indicating that the material is applied to the selected object(s) in the scene.
Create a simple wood material:
For this model, which is a small part of a much larger scene, the wood can be a simple brown color. Future exercises will show how to create more realistic wood textures.
  1. In the Material Editor, click the second sample slot to make it active.
  2. In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the Diffuse color swatch.
  3. In the Color Selector, assign the hue, saturation, value (HSV) fields these values, respectively: 25, 129, 146.
    The red, green, blue (RGB) spinners update to show 146, 116, 72.
  4. Close the Color Selector.
    The Diffuse and Ambient color swatches now show a medium brown.
  5. In the Specular Highlights group, set the Specular Level to 15. Leave the Glossiness at the default value of 10.
    Broad, shallow highlights give a material a matte appearance, as intended for the wood parts.
  6. In the material name field, enter Wood 1.
Apply the wood material to the wooden parts of the chairs, and the table:
  1. In a viewport, click to select the leg of a chair or table.
    In the wireframe viewports, this is the orange part of the model.
    If you go to the Modify panel, the name Wood Parts should appear in the object name field at the top of the panel.
  2. In the Material Editor, make sure the Wood 1 material’s sample slot is still active, and then click Assign Material To Selection.
    In viewports, the wooden areas now appear brown.
Render the scene to see more of the effect:
  1. Right-click the Perspective viewport to make sure it’s active.
  2. On the main toolbar, click Quick Render.
    The materials appear in the rendering. They are simple, but adequate as details of an architectural scene.
    One problem with this rendering is that certain faces don’t appear; specifically, the front of the end table and one side of the chair on the right. One way to fix this would be to go into the scene and flip the face normals of the nonrendering geometry, but there is a fix available in the Material Editor itself.
  3. For the Wood 1 material, go to the Shader Basic Parameter rollout and turn on 2-Sided. Then click the Black Leather sample slot to activate it, and turn on 2-Sided for the leather material as well.
    Turning on 2-sided is one way to make sure all of an object’s geometry renders in a scene. Be aware that this can increase rendering time, especially in complex scenes.
  4. Click Quick Render again.
    This time, all of the furniture geometry renders.
Save your work:
  • Save the scene as chairs_with_materials.max.

Next

Adding Complexity: Applying Mapped Materials

Adding Complexity: Applying Mapped Materials

You can create more complex materials quite easily, by assigning a map to the diffuse color. A map applied to the diffuse color component is often described as a texture map. For example, the bookshelves used in the library model have two textures: wood grain for the shelves, and books for the shelves’ contents.
In this lesson, you create the mapped materials and apply them to a bookshelf model.
Set up the scene:
  • On the menu bar, choose File > Open. Locate bookshelf.max in the \tutorials\designviz folder, and click Open.
    If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
    To reset your system unit, go to the Customize menu and choose Units Setup > System Unit Setup > System Unit Scale > Inches.
    If the geometry is not visible in the viewport, click the Zoom Extents All button twice to correct the display.
    This scene contains the bookshelf model, but with no textures applied.
Setting Texture Coordinates Preferences:
  1. From the Customize menu, choose Preferences.
  2. In the General tab, under the Texture Coordinates group, make sure the Use Real-World Texture Coordinates option is turned off.
  3. Click OK to exit the Preferences dialog.
Create the wood material:
  1. On the toolbar, click Material Editor.
  2. In the Material Editor, click the first sample slot to make it active (if it isn’t already).
  3. On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the blank map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.
    The Material/Map Browser dialog is displayed.

    The map button is the gray square to the right of the diffuse color swatch.
    If a map has been assigned, it shows the letter ‘M.’
  4. In the Material/Map Browser, locate Bitmap in the list, and double-click it.
    A Select Bitmap Image File dialog appears. Most of the controls in this dialog are standard Windows file controls.
  5. In the same directory as the bookshelf.max file, choose the bitmap file named wood02.jpg, and then click Open.
    In the Material Editor, the sample slot updates to show that the diffuse color of the material is now an image of the map file you chose. Also, the rollouts area of the dialog now shows controls for the map, rather than the parent material.

    Mapped wood material in sample slot
  6. Click the Go To Parent button to get back to the top level of your new material.
  7. In the material name field, enter Wood 2.
    By default, the material name is a generic name, 01 – Default. Giving your materials more descriptive names will help you manage them more efficiently in the future.
Apply the wood to the bookshelves:
  1. On the toolbar, click Select By Name. In the Select By Name dialog that appears, choose Shelves in the list, and then click Select.
  2. In the Material Editor, make sure the Wood 2 sample slot is still active, and then click Assign Material To Selection.
    The material is now applied to the shelves, and would appear in a rendering. However, it doesn’t yet appear in shaded viewports.
    Incidentally, when you apply the material, the sample slot shows solid, angled tabs at the corners. This is an indication in the Material Editor that the material in the slot is a material used in the scene.

    Solid corner tabs of a sample slot indicate that the material is used in the scene.
  3. In the Material Editor, click to turn on Show Map In Viewport.
    Now the shaded Perspective viewport shows that the shelves have a wood grain.
    Tip: If you turn on Show Map In Viewport, but nothing changes in shaded viewports, this is probably because objects with the material do not have mapping coordinates. In this case, you need to apply a UVW Map modifier. This modifier is used in later lessons of this tutorial.
Create the book material:
  1. In the Material Editor, click the second sample slot to make it active.
  2. On the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the blank map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.

    The map button is the gray square to the right of the diffuse color swatch.
  3. In the Material/Map Browser, locate Bitmap in the list, and double-click it. The Select Bitmap Image File is displayed. In the same directory as the bookshelf.max file, choose the bitmap file named books1.jpg, and then click Open.
    Although it is somewhat hard to see on the sphere in the sample slot, the texture for this material is a scanned image of books on a bookshelf.
  4. Click the Go To Parent button to get back to the top level of the material.
  5. In the material name field, enter Books.
Apply the book material to the shelves:
  1. On the toolbar, click Select By Name. In the Select By Name dialog that appears, choose Books in the list, and then click Select.
  2. In the Material Editor, make sure the Books sample slot is still active, and then click Assign Material To Selection.
  3. In the Material Editor, click to turn on Show Map In Viewport.
    Now the shaded Perspective viewport shows the shelves with books on them.
With just two image files, you have given the model a convincing amount of detail, especially if the model is meant, like the bookshelf, to be a detail in a larger scene. Texture-mapped materials are a convenient way to add textures and images to your scene. (You can also use a map as a scene background image.)
Save your work:
  • Save the scene as bookshelf_with_maps.max.
Next

Applying Multiple Materials to One Object

Applying Multiple Materials to One Object

The result of this lesson may appear to be similar to that in Materials of One Color: Applying Standard Materials. This lesson, however, shows how to combine the leather and wood parts of the chairs into a single mesh, while retaining the material assignments.

Multi/Sub-Object Material

The trick to having multiple materials assigned to a single object is to use a multi/sub-object material. A multi/sub-object material is simply a container for other materials. As its name implies, it works at the sub-object level, assigning different sub-materials to different sub-objects of the model. (A variety of object types have sub-object levels, especially the surface models: editable mesh, editable poly, editable patch, and NURBS.)
Assigning sub-materials is a two-part process:
  • Assign Face sub-objects a material ID value.
  • Match materials contained in the multi/sub-object material to the ID values on the faces.
You can do these steps in either order.

Figure mapped using a multi/sub-object material
Lower right: Different sub-objects have different material IDs.
Upper right: Multi/sub-object rollout maps the IDs to different sub-materials.
Set up the scene:
You can use a prepared file, or the file you worked on before. Do one of the following:
    • Choose File > Open. Locate chairs_assigned.max in the \tutorials\designviz folder, and click Open.
      If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
      To reset your system unit, go to the Customize menu and choose Units Setup > System Unit Setup > System Unit Scale > Inches.
      If the geometry is not visible in the viewport, click the Zoom Extents All button twice to correct the display.
    • Choose File > Open. Locate the file you created (chairs_with_materials.max), and click Open.
      The chairs have materials assigned, but Leather Parts and Wood Parts are still two separate mesh objects.

    Wireframe views show that the leather and wooden parts of the chairs are two separate meshes.
Plan and assign material ID's:
When you work with sub-object materials, the first thing to do is to plan how to map the material ID numbers. The values on the geometry must match the values in the material, and vice versa. This is not a task for the 3D software, but for a design document, even if it’s only a scrap of paper.
For this model, the wood parts will retain the default material ID of 1, and the leather parts will have a new material ID of 2.
  1. Select the Leather Parts mesh.
  2. Go to the Modify panel. The modifier stack display is the window below the object name and the drop-down Modifier List. This is where you choose a sub-object level. Click the plus icon next to the name Editable Mesh to see the mesh’s sub-object levels.

    Top: After clicking the plus icon, the stack shows sub-object levels.
    Bottom: The sub-object levels in the stack display.
  3. Faces are the smallest renderable portions of a mesh. Click Face in the hierarchy.

    The stack with the Face sub-object level selected.
  4. Choose Edit > Select All.
    This selects all the faces in the Leather Parts object. By default, sub-object selections display in red.
  5. On the Modify panel, go to the Surface Properties rollout. (This is the last rollout on the Modify panel.) In the Material group, increase the Set ID value from 1 to 2.
  6. In the modifier stack display, click Editable Mesh again to return to the top, object level.
Combine the two meshes:
  1. In a viewport, select the Wood Parts mesh.
    The wood parts have material ID 1, so it makes sense to make them the basis of the combined mesh.
  2. Go to the Modify panel. On the Edit Geometry rollout, click to turn on Attach. Then, in a viewport, click the Leather Parts mesh to attach it.
    An Attach Options dialog is displayed.
  3. In the Attach Options dialog, choose Do Not Modify Mat IDs Or Material, and then click OK.
    This option leaves the material IDs on faces unchanged.
    Tip: After attaching the parts of your model, be sure to turn off the Attach button. If you don't do this and want to make other object selections, you will inadvertently attach objects you don't want attached.
  4. In the object name field at the top of the Modify panel, type Chair Group.
Create the multi/sub-object material:
  1. On the toolbar, click Material Editor.
  2. In the Material Editor, click the third, unused sample slot to make it active.
  3. To the right of the material name field is the Material Type button. At present, its label says “Standard.” Click this button.
    The Material/Map Browser is displayed.
  4. In the Material/Map Browser list, double-click Multi/Sub-Object.
    A Replace Material dialog is displayed.
  5. Choose Discard Old Material, and then click OK.
    The Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout is displayed in the Material Editor.
  6. By default, the multi/sub-object material contains 10 sub-materials. The chair group model needs only two. On the rollout, click Set Number. In the Set Number Of Materials dialog that is displayed, reduce the Number Of Materials value to 2, and then click OK.
  7. Drag the sample slot that contains the Black Leather material to the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, and release the mouse when you are over the button for the second sub-material. This button is in the column labeled Sub-Material.
  8. In the Instance (Copy) Material dialog that is displayed, leave Instance chosen, and click OK.
    The new sub-material corresponds to Material ID 2.

    Controls in the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout after dragging the Black Leather material to the second sub-material’s button.
  9. Drag the sample slot that contains the Wood 1 material to the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, and release the mouse when you are over the button for the first sub-material. As before, accept Instance and click OK.
    This sub-material corresponds to Material ID 1.
    Tip: You can change material ID assignments in the Material Editor, by editing the values in the ID column of the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout. You can also change them on the geometry side by using the Material group of the Surface Properties rollout.

    Sample sphere for the multi/sub-object material
Assign the material to the mesh:
The multi/sub-object material is now complete. The last step is to assign it to the model.
  1. In a viewport, click to select the Chair Group model.
  2. In the Material Editor, click Assign Material To Selection.
    The appearance of the model is unchanged, but it now consists of a single editable mesh, so you can use it with the Substitute modifier.
Save your work:
  • Save the scene as chair_group_single_mesh.max.

Next

Creating 3D Materials: Another Approach to Wood

Creating 3D Materials: Another Approach to Wood

In an earlier lesson, you created a wood material using a bitmap. In this lesson, you create a wood effect using the built-in Wood material. This is an example of a 3D material. 3D materials, also known as procedural materials, are generated by the software. This lets you adjust their settings interactively.
Another advantage of 3D materials is the way they exist in three dimensions. If you slice an object with 3D Wood applied, you see the interior grain, as you would if you sawed into a real piece of wood.

3D materials pervade an object. “Cutting” an object with a 3D wood material (for example, by using a Boolean operation) reveals interior grain.
Set up the scene:
  • On the menu bar, choose File > Open. Locate kitchen.max in the \tutorials\designviz folder, and click Open.
    If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
    If you do not adopt the file's unit scale, the material you create will be out of proportion and some of the settings you make will show poor results.
This scene is a model of a kitchen. At present, it has a clean, industrial look.
You will add textures to make some surfaces wood, giving the kitchen a warmer look. (In the exercises that follow, you will also create a brick material for the wall and add a tile material to the floor.)
Creating a wood material:
  1. On the toolbar, click Material Editor.
    Tip: You can also press the M keyboard shortcut to open the Material Editor.
  2. In the Material Editor, click an unused sample slot to make it active.
    Reminder: Unused sample slots have no angle brackets in their corners. Used sample slots have angled corners.
  3. In the material name field, enter Wood 3.
  4. On the Shader Basic Parameters rollout, change the shader type from Blinn to Anisotropic.
  5. On the Anisotropic Basic Parameters rollout, click the blank map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.

    The map button is the gray square to the right of the diffuse color swatch.
    The Material/Map Browser dialog is displayed.
    Note: Anisotropic is a variant of the default Blinn shader.
  6. In the Material/Map Browser, scroll to the bottom of the list, then double-click the Wood entry.
    A wood-grain material appears in the sample slot.
Adjusting the colors and settings:
The default colors for this material are darker than you would probably want to use in a kitchen design. You will change them to lighter shades of the same hue.
  1. In the Wood Parameters rollout, click the Color #1 swatch.
  2. In the Color Selector, assign the hue, saturation, value (HSV) fields these values, respectively: 34, 119, 214. (Hue does not change.)
    The red, green, blue (RGB) spinners update to show 214, 194, 114.
  3. In the Wood Parameters rollout, click the Color #2 swatch.
  4. In the Color Selector, assign the hue, saturation, value (HSV) fields these values, respectively: 25, 121, 169. (Hue does not change.)
    The red, green, blue (RGB) spinners update to show 169, 136, 89.
  5. Close the Color Selector.
  6. In the Wood Parameters rollout, change Radial Noise to 2.0, and Axial Noise to 1.2.
    This gives the grain a “noisier” or “busier” appearance.
Applying the material to the scene:
  1. On the toolbar, open the Named Selection Sets drop-down list, and choose Wood Surfaces.
    This selection set consists of the portions of the kitchen that will have wood.
    Tip: The Named Selection Sets list is between the Named Selection Sets button and the Mirror Selected Objects button.
  2. In the Material Editor, click Assign Material To Selection, and then click to turn on Show Map In Viewport.
    The wood grain appears on objects in the scene.
Rendering to view the wood effect:
Viewport display of 3D materials is usually only a rough approximation. To see the full effect, you need to render the scene.
  • On the main toolbar, click Quick Render.
    In the rendering, you can see that the wood grain is much too large. This wood has come from a very big tree! To make the material more realistic, you can adjust the material.
Adjusting the size of the wood grain:
  1. Minimize the rendered frame window.
  2. In the Material Editor > Wood Parameters rollout, change the Grain Thickness to 0.7.
    With the grain a tenth of its former size, the preview in the viewport looks very busy.
    As a rule of thumb for scenes of this scale, if the grain is too “busy” and indistinct in viewports, it is probably about the right size for the renderer.
  3. Click Quick Render.
    The rendered scene looks much more convincing. However, the grain appears to be end-on, which isn’t right.
Adjusting the direction of the wood grain:
  1. Minimize the rendered frame window.
  2. In the Material Editor > Coordinates rollout, change the X Angle and Y Angle to 90 (degrees).
    The Angle values for X, Y, and Z are the third column of spinners.
  3. Click Quick Render.
    Changing the grain angle doesn’t have much effect on the viewport preview, but it greatly improves the rendered scene.
Saving your work:
  • Save the scene as mykitchen_wood.max.
    Next, you'll learn about the Architectural material.

Next

Using an Architectural Material on the Wall

Using an Architectural Material on the Wall

The Architectural Material in 3ds Max provides heightened realism when used with photometric lights and radiosity, because its settings are based on physical properties.
The Architectural material lets you choose from a series of templates of preset parameters for the material. These templates approximate the general characteristics of the kind of materials you're creating, such as masonry, glass, or painted surfaces, for example.
Note: The Architectural material is not meant to be used with standard 3ds Max lights or with the Light Tracer.
In this lesson, you'll explore the Architectural material and its application to a scene. You'll be using the material to create a texture for the wall of the kitchen.
Set up the scene:
  1. Continue from the previous lesson, or choose File menu > Open and browse to the \tutorials\designviz folder. Open kitchen_with_wood.max.
    Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
  2. If the geometry is not visible in the viewport, click the Zoom Extents All button twice to correct the display.
The next material you'll create for this kitchen is a brick material for the wall.
Setting Texture Coordinates Preferences:
  1. From the Customize menu, choose Preferences.
  2. In the General tab, under the Texture Coordinates group, make sure the Use Real-World Texture Coordinates option is turned off.
  3. Click OK to exit the Preferences dialog.
Creating a brick material for the wall:
  1. On the toolbar, click the Material Editor button.
  2. In the Material Editor, click an unused sample slot to make it active.
  3. Click the Standard button to open the Material/Map Browser and choose Architectural. Click OK.
  4. In the Templates rollout, open the Templates list and choose some of the different material presets and watch the Physical Qualities rollout. You'll see how the material presets fill in the physical characteristics for Shininess, Luminance, and so forth.
  5. Choose Masonry before you continue.
  6. In the Physical Qualities rollout, click the Diffuse Map button.
    It currently says None.
  7. Choose Tiles from the list of map types and click OK.
  8. From the Standard Controls rollout, open the Preset Type list and choose Running Bond.

    A typical, staggered placement of bricks
  9. Open the Advanced Controls rollout and click the Texture map button in the Tiles Setup group.
    The Material/Map Browser reopens.
  10. Choose Noise and click OK.
    The Material Editor shows you the Noise Parameters.
  11. In the Noise Parameters rollout, set the Noise Type to Fractal and the Size to 10.
  12. Click the Color #1 swatch and set a deep red color in the Color Selector. Some good settings are Red: 112, Green: 5, and Blue: 0.
  13. Click the Color #2 swatch and set a lighter red color in the Color Selector: 180, Green: 106, and Blue: 106. Close the Color Selector dialog.
  14. Click the Go To Parent button.
  15. In the Tiles Setup group of the Advanced Controls rollout, set the Horiz. Count to 6.0, Vert. Count to 14.0, and Color Variance to 0.63.
  16. In the Grout Setup group, click the Texture swatch to re-open the Color Selector.
  17. Set the Value setting to 90, then close the dialog.
    Tip: If you know a color needs to be black, white or any shade of gray in between, the Red, Green and Blue values must be the same. Adjusting the Value setting automatically assigns the same value to Red, Green and Blue.
  18. Set the Rough value to 5.0 to give the mortar joints a little irregularity.
  19. Click the Go To Parent button.
    This puts you at the top level of your material.

    The primary brick mapping is complete.
    To make the material more realistic, you're now going to add a bump map.
Adding realism with a bump map:
  1. Open the Special Effects rollout and make sure the size of the Materials Editor dialog lets you see both the Physical Qualities and Special Effects rollouts.
  2. In the Physical Qualities rollout, click the Diffuse Map button and drag it down onto the Bump map button.
    The Instance (Copy) Map dialog is displayed.
  3. Choose Copy and click OK.
    You're using Copy for this example because you want to make unique settings for the bump map. If you chose Instance, any change you make to the bump map would propagate to the diffuse map.
  4. Click the Bump map button to begin working on the bump map for the bricks.
  5. Click the Noise map on the Tiles Setup group in the Advanced Controls rollout.
  6. In the Noise Parameters rollout, leave the Noise Type set to Fractal and set the Size to 15.0.
  7. Click the Color #1 swatch to open the Color Selector, and drag the Whiteness slider all that way to the bottom to give you a solid white.
  8. Click the Color #2 swatch and set the Red value to 126 and Green and Blue values to 0. Close the Color Selector.
    Tip: To quickly set spinner values to zero, right-click the spinner arrows.
  9. Click the Go To Parent button.
  10. Click the Texture map button in the Grout Setup group.
    The Material/Map Browser is displayed.
  11. Click the Tiles map and click OK.
  12. In the Standard Controls rollout, set the Preset Type to Running Bond.
    You want to duplicate most of the Tiles map settings you used for the Diffuse map. These settings will ensure that the grout lines for the Bump map align properly with the Diffuse map.
  13. In the Advanced Controls rollout, in the Tiles Setup group, set the Horiz. Count to 6.0 and Vert. Count to 14.0.
  14. Click the Texture swatch for the Tiles Setup and set it to black.
    Dark colors are embossed when used with a Bump map.
  15. In the Grout Setup group, click the Texture swatch and set it to white.
    Lighter colors, on a Bump map, are recessed. These will form the depressions along the mortar joints.
  16. Close the Color Selector and enter a Rough value of 5.0 for the Grout Setup.
  17. Click the Go To Parent button twice to get back to the top level of your material.
  18. In the Special Effects rollout, set the Bump amount to 50.0, and then rename the material MyRedBricks.
    Now your material is done and ready to apply to the wall.
Assigning texture coordinates:
  1. Activate the Camera01 viewport and select the wall object named VC Wall.

    The wall is selected.
    Before you can apply the brick material to the wall, the wall needs texture coordinates.
    Without texture coordinates, the texture map will not show up and you will receive a Missing Map Coordinates message when you render the scene.
  2. Open the Modify panel and click the down arrow of the Modifier List.
  3. Scroll down the list and choose MapScaler from the Object Space Modifiers grouping.

    Texture coordinates (UVWs) are assigned to the object when the modifier is applied.
Applying the bricks to the wall:
  1. In the Material Editor, click your brick material and drag it onto the wall.
  2. In the Material Editor, click the Show Map In Viewport button.
    The scale of the texture is way too small. The default scale of the MapScaler modifier is 1”.
  3. In the Parameters rollout, set the Scale to 2'6”.
    The bricks are more proportional now.
    Note: If the bricks appear crooked, right-click the Camera01 viewport label and turn on Texture Correction if 3ds Max is configured to use the Software display driver. Next you deal with the brick size.
  4. Save the scene as mykitchen_brick.max.
  5. Click Quick Render.

    The kitchen of your trendy loft.

Next

Material Combinations: Using Blend to Create a Floor Material

Material Combinations: Using Blend to Create a Floor Material

The Material Editor provides a number of ways to combine materials. Bitmaps and procedural (3D) materials will probably serve your needs for most models, but this lesson is an example of the versatility of the Material Editor.
In this lesson, you create a complex Blend material for the tile floor in the kitchen.
Set up the scene:
  • Continue from the previous lesson, or open the file, kitchen_with_brick.max located in the \tutorials\designviz folder.
    Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
Setting Texture Coordinates Preferences:
  1. From the Customize menu, choose Preferences.
  2. In the General tab, under the Texture Coordinates group, make sure the Use Real-World Texture Coordinates option is turned off.
  3. Click OK to exit the Preferences dialog.
Create the floor material:
  1. In the Material Editor, select an unused sample slot.
  2. In the material name field, enter Floor Tile.
  3. Click the Material Type button to the right of the material name field. (Initially, its label says “Standard.”)
  4. In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Blend in the list.
    A Replace Material dialog is displayed.
  5. Choose Discard Old Material, and then click OK.
    Like the Multi/Sub-Object material, a Blend material is a container for other materials. The Multi/Sub-Object material apportions sub-materials among different sub-objects. The Blend material, on the other hand, blends the colors and other attributes of its sub-materials. You can also control the amount and the method of blending.
Configure the sub-materials:
  1. On the Material Editor toolbar, open the Material/Map Navigator.
    The Material/Map Navigator is a dialog that shows the components of the material in the active sample slot. For complex materials such as Blend, it can help you to visualize and navigate the material hierarchy.
    Note: The Navigator is one way to move about the hierarchy of a complex material. Another is to use the Go To Parent and Go Forward To Sibling buttons on the Material Editor toolbar.
  2. In the Material/Map Navigator, click Material 1.
  3. In the material name field of the Material Editor, rename this material Grout.
  4. In the Material/Map Navigator, click Material 2.
  5. In the material name field of the Material Editor, rename this material Tile Surface.
    Sub-material names are automatically updated in the Material/Map Navigator.
Set the texture and color of the grout:
  1. In the Material/Map Navigator, choose the Grout material.
  2. In the Material Editor > Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the blank map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.

    The map button is the gray square to the right of the diffuse color swatch.
  3. In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Noise in list.
    This applies a Noise map as a texture for the Grout material.
  4. In Noise Parameters rollout, change the Size to 3, and choose Turbulence as the Noise Type.
    This gives the Grout material a grainy texture, as you can see in the sample slot if you turn off Show End Result in the Material Editor toolbar.
    • When the Show End Result button is on, the final result of the top-level material is shown on the sample sphere.

      Show End Result turned on - Background turned on for clarity.
    • When Show End Result is off, you are shown only the material level you are working on. That way it is easier to view your adjustments to a specific map.

      Show End Result turned off.
  5. In the Noise Parameters rollout, click the Color #1 color swatch (black by default).
  6. In the Color Selector, change Color#1 to R=232, G=219, B=197.
  7. In the Noise Parameters rollout, click the Color #2 color swatch (white by default).
  8. In the Color Selector, change Color#2 to R=196, G=170, B=159.
  9. Close the Color Selector.
Add a bump pattern to the grout:
  1. In the Material/Map Navigator, choose the Grout material.
    Previously, the Noise map was active.
    Note: You can also click the Go to Parent button to move up one level to the Grout material.
  2. Go to the Utilities panel. Click Asset Browser. Answer OK to the warning dialog, and then resize the Asset Browser window so you can see both the Browser controls and the Material Editor.
  3. In the Asset Browser, navigate to the \tutorials\designviz folder.
  4. In the Material Editor, open the Maps rollout for the Grout material.
  5. Drag the file glasblkb.gif (the image looks like a tile pattern) from the Asset Browser to the blank (“None”) Bump map button in the Material Editor. Release the mouse.

    The image in glasblkb.gif

    The Maps rollout with glasblkb.gif assigned to the Bump map button
    Just as you can search for geometry models, you can use the Asset Browser to find bitmap files and use them in the scene. The Asset Browser also gives you the freedom to search for models and bitmaps anywhere on your local hard drives or across the Internet.
  6. Minimize the Asset Browser.
  7. In the Material Editor > Maps rollout, change the Bump map’s Amount to 50.
    The Grout material now has a grid-like bumpiness.
Set the texture and color of the tile surfaces:
  1. In the Material/Map Navigator, choose the Tile Surface material.
  2. On the Material Editor toolbar, click to turn off Show End Result.
  3. In the Material Editor > Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the blank map button to the right of the Diffuse color swatch.

    The map button is the gray square to the right of the diffuse color swatch.
  4. In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Noise in list.
    This applies a Noise map as a texture for the Tile Surface material.
  5. In the Noise Parameters rollout, change the Size to 10.
  6. In the Noise Parameters rollout, click the Color #1 color swatch. (Black by default.)
  7. In the Color Selector, change Color#1 to R=220, G=197, B=181.
  8. In the Noise Parameters rollout, click the Color #2 color swatch. (White by default.)
  9. In the Color Selector, change Color#2 to R=162, G=132, B=111.
  10. Close the Color Selector.
    The tile surface is also “noisy” or rough, and somewhat darker than the grout.
Change the shininess and bumpiness of the tile surfaces:
  1. In the Material/Map Navigator, choose the Tile Surface material.
    Previously, the Noise map was active.
  2. In the Blinn Basic Parameters, go to the Specular Highlights group. Change the Specular Level to 15. Leave Glossiness set to 10.
  3. In the Maps rollout, click the Bump map button.
  4. In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Noise in the list.
  5. In the Noise Parameters rollout, change the Size to 1.
  6. Click Go To Parent.
    This takes you to the parent Tile Surface material. The highlight in the Navigator indicates the change.
  7. In the Maps rollout, change the Amount for the bump map to 15.
Combine the two materials by using a mask:
The Blend material now has two sub-materials, Grout and Tile Surface. You will use a bitmap file as a mask to combine them.
  1. In the Material/Map Navigator, choose Floor Tile (Blend).
    This is the top level of the material. The Blend Basic Parameters rollout shows the two component sub-materials.
  2. Restore the Asset Browser.
  3. Drag the file glasblkb.gif from the Asset Browser to the Mask button on the Blend Basic Parameters rollout.
  4. Minimize the Asset Browser.
Rename the mask:
  1. On the Blend Basic Parameters rollout, click the Mask button.
  2. In the material name field, rename the mask map Grout Lines.
Adjust the blending:
  1. In the Material/Map Navigator, select the Floor Tile (Blend) material.

    Floor Tile, the blend material, is the top material in the tree.
    The Navigator now shows all component materials and maps of the Floor Tile material.
  2. In the Blend Basic Parameters rollout > Mixing Curve group, turn on Use Curve.
  3. Change the Transition Zone Upper amount to 1.0 and the Lower amount to 0.0.
    This gives a crisp appearance to the grooves.
Apply the material to the floor:
  1. In the viewport, select the Floor object.
  2. In the Material Editor, click Assign Material To Selection.
Assign coordinates to the floor:
  1. With the Floor still selected, go to the Modify panel.
  2. Open the drop-down Modifier List and choose UVW Map.
    This guarantees that the floor has mapping coordinates the Floor Tile material can use, and gives you a means to adjust them. You will need to, as the following steps demonstrate.
Render the scene:
  • On the toolbar, click Quick Render.
    The floor has a tiled appearance, but the tiles are far too large.
    You will correct the tile size in the following lesson.
Save your work:
  • On the menu bar, choose File > Save As. Name your design mykitchen_with_tile_floor.max.
    You can use this file in the following lesson.

Next

Using the UVW Map Modifier to Adjust the Floor Tiles

Using the UVW Map Modifier to Adjust the Floor Tiles

In the previous lesson, you tiled the floor, but found that with default mapping, the tiles appeared too large. The tiles should be 10” x 10”, with roughly 1/4” grout lines between each tile. You can use the UVW Map modifier to set these values.
Set up the scene:
  1. Continue from the previous lesson, or open the file, kitchen_with_tile_floor.max found in the \tutorial\designviz folder.
    Note: If you see the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog, choose the option Adopt The File's Unit Scale. This will change your system unit, so be sure to reset your system unit after completing this tutorial.
  2. Close the Material Editor and the Asset Browser.
Setting Texture Coordinates Preferences:
  1. From the Customize menu, choose Preferences.
  2. In the General tab, under the Texture Coordinates group, make sure the Use Real-World Texture Coordinates option is turned off.
  3. Click OK to exit the Preferences dialog.
Adjust the floor tile size:
  1. Select the Floor object.
  2. Go to the Modify panel.
  3. With UVW Mapping selected in the modifier stack display, go to the Parameters rollout and change the Length and Width values to 3’5”. (The Floor Tile material has four tiles in each dimension, with grout lines around them.)
  4. Click Quick Render.
    The tile dimensions are now correct.
Save your work:
  • On the menu bar, choose File menu > Save As and name the finished model mykitchen_final.max.

Summary

This completes the material design tutorial. Features it has covered include:
  • Using the Material Editor to create and assign materials.
  • Creating a simple “one-color” material.
  • Using a map in a material.
  • Creating a multi/sub-object material for assigning multiple materials to a single object.
  • Using the Architectural material to use the material presets.
  • Creating a Blend material that includes a procedural map.
  • Using the Asset Browser to find textures.
  • Using the UVW Map modifier.
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