Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Raytrace material > Maps rollout
As with a standard material, the Maps rollout for a Raytrace material contains map buttons for the components of the Raytrace material that can be mapped.
You can choose from a large variety of map types. See Map Types to find descriptions of these types, and how to set their parameters.
Applying the same map to different parameters is useful in some cases. For example, using a pattern as both a self-illumination map and an opacity map can make the pattern appear to glow and hover in space.
The Specular Level, Glossiness, Self-Illumination, and Opacity values in the four spinners in the Basic Parameters rollout are blended with their associated map Amount values in the Maps rollout.
When the Opacity spinner is set to 0, the map Amount spinner completely controls Opacity. That is, reducing the Amount value increases the transparency of the entire surface. On the other hand, when Opacity is 100, reducing the map Amount value increases the opacity of the areas where the Opacity map is less than 1. For example, you can now adjust a Checker Opacity map so that the solid areas remain solid, while the clear areas are semi-transparent.
The Specular Level, Glossiness, and Self-Illumination channels all behave in the same way. A setting of 100 applies all of the map; a setting of 0 is the equivalent of turning the map off.
When you load old 3ds Max files or bring earlier materials from the Browser into the Materials Editor, the spinner values for Opacity, Specular Level, Glossiness, and Self-illumination are altered, where necessary, to maintain the equivalent material effect.
To assign a map:
-
A modal Material/Map Browser is displayed.
-
Use the Browse From buttons to choose where you want to look.
If you choose Material Library and the dialog's display area is blank, you need to open a library file. Click the Open button and then choose the library to browse.
To use the same map for different parameters:
-
In the Maps rollout, use a map button to assign a map.
The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters.
-
Click Go To Parent to return to the material level, and then open the Maps rollout.
-
Drag the assigned map button to another map button.
The Copy (Instance) Map dialog is displayed.
-
Choose Copy or Instance, and then click OK.
If you choose Swap, the Material Editor swaps the two button assignments.
To view a map's parameters:
-
If you are currently at the material level in the Material Editor, click the button that corresponds to the map.
The parameters for the map are displayed. Also, the Show End Result and Go to Parent buttons become available.
In the Basic Parameters rollout, if a map has been assigned to a color component or parameter, the corresponding button displays a letter M. In the Maps rollout, if a map has been assigned, the corresponding button displays the map name.
To view a map's location:
-
Click Material/Map Navigator to view the Navigator.
The Material/Map Navigator displays the hierarchy of the current material, which contains the map.
To go to a map using the Navigator:
-
In the Material/Map Navigator, click the name of the map, or the green or red parallelogram to the left of the map's name.
The Navigator goes to the level of the map, and the Material Editor displays the controls for the map you clicked.
As the Navigator's map tree shows, maps for basic material components and parameters are one level below the material itself.
To preview a map in a sample slot:
-
Go to the level of the map, as described in previous procedures.
-
Turn off Show End Result.
The sample slot shows the map instead of the material. If the map contains sub-maps, these are also visible.
By default, the sample slot displays a map with no three-dimensional shading. You can change this in the Material Editor Options dialog.
To view the map interactively:
-
In the object's creation parameters, make sure that Generate Mapping Coords is on.
If the object type does not have a Generate Mapping Coordinates toggle, you need to assign mapping coordinates by applying a UVW Map modifier.
-
In the Material Editor, assign the mapped material to the object.
-
If you are at the material level (the top level), click the appropriate map button to go to the map level.
-
Turn on Show Map in Viewport.
The map appears on objects assigned the material in all shaded viewports. Now when you adjust the map, the viewports update to display the adjustments.
Turning on Show Map In Viewport for one map automatically turns this button off for all other maps the material has.
Viewports can display 2D maps such as Checker and Bitmap. They cannot display other kinds of maps such as 3D maps. Show Map in Viewport is unavailable if the active map type cannot display in viewports.
Tip: Displaying mapped materials in a viewport can slow performance. If you don't need to view the texture, turn off its viewport display.
To turn off interactive texture display:
-
If you are at the material level, click the appropriate map button to go to the map level.
-
Turn off Show Map in Viewport.
To move directly to an ancestor:
-
Click the arrow to the right of the map's name field.
-
Click a name in the Ancestor list.
With this list, you can skip intermediate levels in the tree.
The Ancestor drop-down list shows only part of the tree. It does not show side branches and siblings. To view these, use the Material/Map Navigator.
You can also use the Go Forward to Sibling and Go to Parent buttons.
To change a map type:
-
At the level of a map, click the button labeled Type below the Material Editor toolbar.
A modal Material/Map Browser is displayed. If you were at a map, it lists only maps (if you were at a material when you clicked Type, the Browser lists only materials).
-
Choose a map type from the list, and then click OK.
If you change a map type and the new map type can have component maps, a Replace Map dialog is displayed. This dialog gives you a choice between discarding the original map or using it as a component map.
If the new map type does not have components, it simply replaces the original map type.
The Maps rollout for Raytrace contains a wide button for each map type. Click this button to select a bitmap file stored on disk or to select a procedural-map type. After you select a map, its name and type appears on the button. Use the check box to the left of the button to turn the effect of the map off and on. When the check box is off, the map is not computed and has no effect in the renderer.
The Amount spinner determines the amount that the map affects the material, expressed as a percentage of full intensity. For example, a diffuse map at 100% is completely opaque and covers the base material. At 50%, it is semi-transparent and the base material (the diffuse, ambient, and other colors of the material without mapping) shows through.
Lock button—Locks the Environment map to the Transparency Environment map. When on, the Transparency Environment map controls are disabled, and a map applied to the Raytrace Environment applies to the Transparency Environment as well. When off, the Transparency Environment map controls are enabled, and the Transparency Environment can have a different map assigned to it. Default=on.
Changing this button’s setting here also changes it on the Basic Parameters rollout, and the Extended Parameters rollout.
The Diffusion map component lets you apply an additional, second texture to modify the Diffuse component. Typically, you will want to reduce the Amount of this map to allow the main Diffuse map to show through.
For example, you might have a clean, bright image for a billboard. You use this image as the Diffuse map, and then use a second map as a Diffusion map to apply soot and city grime.
Tip: Animating the Amount can change the appearance of the material over time, letting the Diffusion map either conceal or reveal the underlying Diffuse map.
Note: Show Map In Viewport does not display the Diffusion map.