Introduction to Materials and Mapping

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials > Materials and Mapping Tutorials >

Materials are like paint. With materials, you make apples red and oranges orange. You put the shine in chrome and the polish on glass. By applying maps, you can add images, patterns, and even surface texture to objects. Materials are what make your scenes look real.

Mapping is a method of projecting pictorial information (materials) onto surfaces. It is a lot like wrapping a present with wrapping paper, except the pattern is projected mathematically, with modifiers, rather than being taped to the surface.

This tutorial introduces the Material Editor, the master design studio for materials and maps. In the following lessons, you will learn how to assign materials to objects, how to create basic materials, and how to create several kinds of advanced materials.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

Access materials from material libraries, scene objects, and other MAX files.
Assign materials to scene objects.
Create basic materials, including wireframe, 2-sided, and self-illuminated.
Use ambient color and light with materials.
Create additive and subtractive transparency.
Use texture, opacity and bump mapping.
Create and adjusting mapping coordinates.
Create multi/sub-object materials using drag and drop.
Create a raytrace material.
Use displacement mapping.
Create stars using noise.
Use Shellac material to create realistic human skin.

Files for This Tutorial

All the files necessary for this tutorial are provided on the program disc in the \tutorials\intro_to_materials directory. Before starting the tutorials, copy the \tutorials folder from the disc to your local program installation.

Lessons in This Tutorial

Accessing Materials

Assigning Materials to Objects

Creating Basic Materials

Understanding Ambient Color and Light

Creating Transparency

Mapping and Mapping Coordinates

Creating Multi/Sub-Object Materials

Using Raytrace Materials and Maps

Texturing the Chessboard

Using Displacement Mapping with Surface Properties

Adding Stars to the Sky

Creating a Skin Material

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