Editing Materials

If you cannot find a material that suits your needs, you can create a new material or edit an existing one. Applying a different material to an object is not the same as editing an existing material. See "Applying Materials".

When a material is applied to an object in a plan from the library, a copy of that material is made and saved with the plan. If you access the Define Material dialog through a menu or object specification dialog, your edits affect that material wherever it is found within that plan. Other objects in that plan that use that material are also affected, but objects outside the current plan are not.

Plan Materials

Click the Plan Materials button to open the Plan Material dialog for the current plan. Select a material and click the Edit, Copy, or New button to open the Define Material dialog. You can add a newly defined material to the library from the Plan Material dialog by selecting it and clicking the Add to Library button. See "Plan Materials Dialog".

Adjust Material Definition

This tool is useful for changing plan materials directly from a 3D view. Click the Adjust Material Definition button and then click any surface in a 3D or render view to modify the material currently assigned to that surface in the Define Material dialog. Changing the material definition with this tool affects all objects in the current plan that are using that material.

Library Browser

Select a material from an unlocked library in the directory view of the Library Browser and select Library> Open to open the Define Material dialog for that material. You can also right-click a material in the Library Browser and select Open from the contextual menu to open the Define Material dialog.