Applying Materials

Materials are stored in the Materials library in the Library Browser. They can be applied to objects in a variety of ways.

Object Specification Dialog

Select an object (or a group of similar objects) and click the Open Object

edit button to open the specification dialog for that object. On the Material tab you can specify material assignments for the components that make up that object. When a material has been assigned, its appearance updates in the preview. See "Materials Tab".

From the Library Browser

Materials can be applied directly from the library in 3D Views. Select a material from the Library Browser and notice that the pointer changes (

) to indicate that the selected material is ready to be applied to an object using the Material Painter application method.

Material Painter

Select 3D> Materials> Material Painter to apply materials to surfaces in 3D views.

To use the Material Painter tool

Select 3D> Materials> Material Painter and select the desired Material Painter Mode from the submenu.

Select 3D> Materials> Material Painter> Material Painter .

Select a material from the Select Library Object dialog.

Click on the surface of an object with the pointer to apply that material. The selected material is applied to surfaces in the model based on the active Material Painter Mode.

There are five Material Painter Modes. Each mode specifies how broadly or narrowly the selected material will be applied to surfaces in your plan. A check displays next to the active mode in the submenu.

The Material Painter Component Mode is the default mode. This applies the selected material to an object component. Using this tool is the same as opening an object for specification and changing the material for one of its components on the Materials tab. See "Materials Tab".

The Material Painter Object Mode applies a material to all components of an object.

The Material Painter Room Mode applies a material to all the objects in the room that currently have the same material. For example, if you apply a material to a dining room chair, this mode applies the material to all other objects in the room with the same original material, such as other chairs and the dining table.

The Material Painter Floor Mode applies the selected material to all surfaces on the floor that currently have the same material. For example, if you apply a material to the kitchen countertops using this mode, the bathroom countertops on the same floor also have the material applied.

The Material Painter Plan Mode applies the selected material to all surfaces in the entire plan that currently have the same material. For example, if you have the same carpet on all floors in a plan, applying a selected material while this mode is active will change all carpet on all floors.

When you apply a material to a wall using the Material Painter, the material is applied to the entire room - not the individual wall. This rule applies to exterior wall surfaces, as well. See "The Exterior Room".

Material Eyedropper

The Material Eyedropper tool allows you to load the material assigned to an existing object and apply that material to other objects.

In a 3D view, select 3D> Materials> Material Eyedropper

and then click on the surface of an object to load its material assignment. The pointer then changes (

) to indicate that the material is ready to be applied to another object using the Material Painter tool. You can continue to apply the material to the surfaces of other objects.