Material Properties

Example: Car Paint

Note: This topic lists properties for car paint, as an example. Properties differ depending on the type of material.


Base and Flakes	+ Coating	= Car paint

General


Name	Defines the name of the material.
Asset	Displays the name of the material asset. Click the […] button to open the material in the last app used for this type of object.

Color Properties

Note: The color defines the absorbed spectrum.

The reflectance represents the amount of light reflected by the surface. It is the way the light behaves when it strikes the interface between two media.


Default slot diffuse color	Defines the base color of the surface. Note: A black color deactivates the emission. You can use a texture, in which case its alpha channel (if any) is ignored.
Edge color	Defines the color perceived on the border of a curved surface. Usually darker than the base color for car paints.
Edge color bias	Controls the amount of color on the edges. Set the bias to 0 to null the edge color effect, and to display only the base color.
Default slot specular color	Defines the color of areas highlighted on a surface. Usually brighter than the base color for car paints. Set the color to black to null the specular effect.
Default generic BRDF IOR	BRDF stands for bidirectional reflectance distribution function. It is a function of four real variables that defines how light is reflected at an opaque surface. The IOR (Index of Refraction) parameter defines the way the light is refracted when crossing the interface between two media.
Default slot specular glossiness	Defines the specular reflection lobe by approximating the surface glossiness.

Flakes Properties

Note: Flakes are thin and highly reflective particles. They are often used in car paint or make-up powder.


Flake intensity	Defines the intensity of the flakes layer.
Flake flip color	Defines the base color of the flakes. Usually brighter than the base color.
Flake flop color	Defines a secondary color for flakes. All the flakes don’t lay flat on the surface, and can be perceived with a totally different color. The visual perception of a surface with such flakes changes with the angle of vision, which creates a color variation known as “flip-flop”.
Flake flop color bias	Defines the amount of “flop”. Set the bias to 0 to null the flip-flop effect, and to display only the flip color.
Flake size	Defines the size of the flakes.
Flake density	Defines the amount of the flakes.
Flake glossiness	Defines the general glossiness of the flakes. Note: When this value is set to 0.0, the flakes behave like mirrors which take longer to resolve during rendering. Higher values let individual flakes appear glossier.
Flake bumpiness	Defines the distribution of the flakes orientation. Note: Low values result in flakes that are oriented towards the surface. Higher values result in more randomly oriented flakes.

Coating Properties

Note: A coating is an additional reflective transparent layer of matter that is put over another. It is often used to represent varnish.


Coat activation	Activates coating.
Coat IOR	Defines the reflectivity of the coat layer. Note: IOR stands for Index Of Refraction.
Coat absorption color	Defines the color of the coating. White means the coating is fully transparent. Other tints modify both the perceived base color and the flake color.
Coat glossiness	Defines the glossy appearance of the coating layer.
Coat normal	Defines the surface's relief deformation through the surface normal gradient.

Mapping Properties

Note: The mapping defines the way a texture is projected onto a surface.


DPI	Specifies the image definition of your svg files, in dots per inch.
Type	Mapping types let you select the most appropriate mapping for the shape of the geometry. They are used in real time visualization only. Five mapping types are available: Cubical: For cubical geometries, such as boxes. Finite cylindrical: For cylindrical geometries, such as bottles. Geometry UV: For complex-shaped texture with bended area (labels or seats). Note: This mapping projector is available only if the geometry is set as UV. UV appears after you import a 3D geometry or you unfold an operation in Generative Shape Design. Planar: For planar geometries, such as a slide projector or textures with two privileged directions (chessboard or a wall of bricks). Spherical: For spherical geometries, such as a painted light bulb or a ball, or for textures with no privileged direction (stones or raw metal).
Mapping focus	Defines the way textures are mapped on the surface. Keep the texture dimension to respect the texture size, and repeat the texture pattern to cover the whole surface. The other option stretches the texture to cover entirely the surface without having to repeat the texture pattern.
Offset U	Lets you translate the texture along the U axis.
Offset V	Lets you translate the texture along the V axis.
Scale U	Defines how the texture is stretched along the U axis.
Scale V	Defines how the texture is stretched along the V axis.
Angle	Defines the angle of the texture on surfaces.
Repeat U	Lets you indefinitely repeat the texture along the U axis.
Repeat V	Lets you indefinitely repeat the texture along the V axis.
Flip U	Lets you invert the texture along the U axis.
Flip V	Lets you invert the texture along the V axis.