Every material has a type. The default is Standard, which is the material type you will probably use most often. In general, other material types are for special purposes. The other material types are:
Used to fine-tune the effects of a material on Advanced Lighting, including light tracing and radiosity solutions. Radiosity Override is not required for calculating advanced lighting, but it can enhance the result.
Mixes two other materials together. Can use a mask or a simple amount control.
Contains two materials, one for the front and one for the back faces of an object.
Creates cartoon effects with flat shading and “inked” borders.
Supports import and export of data from the Lightscape product.
Displays the environment but receives shadows. This is a special-purpose material. The effect is similar to using a matte in filmmaking.
Lets you morph between materials using the Morpher modifier.
Lets you apply multiple sub-materials to a single object's sub-objects.
Supports the same kind of diffuse mapping as Standard material, but also provides fully raytraced reflections and refractions, along with other effects such as fluorescence.
Contains a material that has been rendered to a texture, as well as the original material upon which the texture is based.
Mixes two materials by applying a "shellac" material to another.
Contains two materials, one for faces that point upward, the other for faces that point downward.
Standard materials let you set values for components such as color, glossiness, and opacity. They also let you apply maps to the components, which can produce an enormous variety of effects. Some other material types have these features as well. Some materials, such as Multi/Sub-Object or Double Sided, have controls only for combining other materials.
A group of materials is provided for use with the mental ray renderer. See Materials for Use with the mental ray Renderer.