Edit Materials Dialog

No. of Lines. The number of lines that will repeat in the pattern. Usually, this will be 1 or 2, but it could be more depending on the complexity of the pattern.

Edit Line. The line you are currently editing.

Definition. Generally, the segment lengths and spaces in the line's pattern. A single value (other than 0) creates a solid line. Example

For dashed patterns, segments and spaces can be different lengths, but spaces must be preceded by a negative sign to indicate they are spaces.

For example, a definition of 20,-5,10,-5 (in Metric) creates the following pattern: 20 mm dash, 5 mm space, 10 mm dash, 5 mm space. Example

X Origin. The point on the X axis the line passes through.

Y Origin. The point on the Y axis the line passes through.

Angle. The angle of the line in degrees.

Offset. The spacing between lines as the line is repeated (offset) parallel to the original throughout the pattern.

Shift. The distance each offset line is shifted (left or right) from the origin of the previous line. This creates a staggered effect. Example

Material Name. The name of the current material as it appears in the materials library.

Rendered tab

Use Solid Color. Applies a solid color to an element in Rendered and Rendered Outline views. Click Select to access the Color dialog where you can select a different color.

Use Texture. Applies a texture (e.g. JPG image) to an element in Rendered and Rendered Outline views. Click Select to access the Open dialog where you can select a texture to use. A wide selection of textures can be found in the program’s Textures directory. You can use BMP, JPG, TGA and PNG files.

The program uses tiled rendering to display images, meaning images are generated in pieces (tiles) vertically and horizontally. Changing the tile height of a brick material, for example, would make the bricks look taller. Changing the tile width would make the bricks look wider.

By default, the Tile Height and Tile Width have the Maintain Aspect Ratio lock closed. When the lock is closed, the Tile Width changes to match the Tile Height, and vice versa. This prevents distortion. If you want to specify different values for each, you need to open the Maintain Aspect Ratio lock by clicking on it.

Default Settings: Displays the surface finish of the material (dull, shiny, etc.). This setting will take effect when you create a 3DTrueView™.

If you want to specify a custom surface finish, select Custom in the list, then click the Advanced button. The following settings become available:

Specular. Reflection that creates highlights on materials, making them appear shiny.

Emissive. The amount of light given off by a material. The more emissive a material is, the more self-luminous it appears.

To return to the basic view, click the Basic button at the bottom of the dialog.

Patterned tab

The Pattern window displays a list of available patterns. The currently selected pattern will be applied to the element in Patterned view.

Scale. The scale of the currently selected pattern. A value of 2 doubles the original scale, while a value of .5 halves the original scale.