When you are adding or editing a material in the materials library, you need to specify the material’s properties. A material has two main types of properties: Rendered and Patterned. Rendered properties determine what texture or color is used to display an element in the Rendered or Rendered Outline display mode. Patterned properties determine what pattern is used to display an element in Patterned mode.
To edit the properties of a material:
Access the materials library. How to
Select the material to edit in the materials list.
Select Material > Edit Material, or click one of the preview swatches.
To edit Rendered properties:
In the Edit Materials dialog, select the Rendered tab.
If you want to display an element in a solid color in 3D rendered or rendered outline view, enable the Use Solid Color radio button. Click the Select button, then select the color you want to use in the Color dialog.
If you want to display an element with a texture applied to it in 3D rendered or rendered outline view, enable the Use Texture radio button. Click the Select button, then select the texture you want 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. If want to use textures from outside sources, see Using Textures from Outside Sources.
If you want to change the scale of the texture, enter new values in the Tile Height and Tile Width edit boxes. Tile height refers to the height of one bitmap tile. 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.
To repeat the bitmap tile horizontally, enable the Tile Horizontally check box. To repeat the bitmap tile vertically, enable the Tile Vertically check box.
To change the surface finish of the material (dull, shiny, etc.), make a selection from the drop box in the Surface Properties area. 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.
If creating a custom finish, specify its properties.
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.
Transparency. The degree to which a material is pervious to light.
Color Bleed. The degree to which different colors blend where they meet.
To return to the basic view, click the Basic button at the bottom of the dialog.
To edit Patterned properties:
In the Edit Materials dialog, select the Patterned tab.
To select a different pattern to use in 3D patterned views, select the pattern in the Pattern list.
To edit a pattern, see Customizing the Patterns Library.