The Architectural material is the default material in Autodesk VIZ 2008. The settings for an Architectural material are physical properties, so it provides the greatest possible realism when used with photometric lights and radiosity. With this combination of features, you can create lighting studies with a high degree of accuracy.
It is not recommended that you use the Architectural material with standard Autodesk VIZ lights in the scene. The point of this material is to provide accurate modeling. Use it with photometric lights and radiosity. The mental ray renderer, on the other hand, can render the Architectural material, with some limitations described below.
Tip: If you don't need the degree of realism that the Architectural material provides, you can use a standard material or other material type.
When you create a new material, you can choose from a variety of templates. A template is simply a set of preset material parameters, which approximates the kind of material you want to create, and gives you a starting point. See Templates Rollout.
The mental ray Renderer can render Architectural materials. There are some limitations, as follows:
Tip: When rendering with mental ray, instead of the Architectural material, we highly recommend that you use the Arch & Design material instead. This material was designed especially for mental ray and provides superior flexibility, rendering characteristics, and speed.