These topics give you an overview of using the Material Editor to design materials. The Material Editor gives you a huge number of options in material design. It also has a large number of controls. If you aren't already familiar with using it, read this topic for a general idea of working with materials, and what the most important options are.
For more details, follow the links in the workflow outline.
In general, when you create a new material and apply it to an object, you follow these steps:
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Make a sample slot active, and enter a name for the material you are about to design.
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Choose the material type.
Tip: Autodesk VIZ provides two renderers, the default scanline renderer and the mental ray renderer. Each has its own capabilities. In general, for each scene, you will decide which renderer you want to use. It is a good idea to design materials with a particular renderer in mind. The mental ray Connection rollout lets you add features unique to the mental ray renderer to basic Autodesk VIZ materials.
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For a Standard or Raytrace material, choose the shading type.
In Autodesk VIZ, the default material type is the Architectural material.
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Enter settings for the various material components: diffuse color, glossiness, opacity, and so on.
Note: Lights and Shading describes how lights affect the appearance of a material. Choosing Colors for Realism gives guidelines on getting good results from unmapped materials.
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Assign maps to the components you want to map, and adjust their parameters.
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Apply the material to the object.
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If necessary, adjust the UV mapping coordinates in order to orient maps with objects correctly.
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Save the material.