Modifying Basic Materials

You can modify the basic material properties.

Before you begin: Open a product with a Basic material already applied onto it.
  1. To access the Appearance Domain dialog box and edit the material appearance, do one of the following:
    • In the tree, expand the Materials node, and then double-click the material appearance .
    • In the tree, right-click and then select xxx object > Definition....
    • From the top bar, enter your search criteria for the material in the Search box, and then click . In the Material Browser, click next to the material to display the context menu, and then click Appearance.
    • From the Tools section of the action bar, click Material Browser .

    Any changes you make in this dialog box impacts the material appearance but also the visual aspect of all the applied materials referring to this material appearance.

    The dialog box contains different areas that you can expand and collapse.

    Area Description
    Preview Displays a preview of the material using a predefined shape, a default UV mapping, and a default black ambience.

    You can perform some viewing operations (pan, rotate, or zoom) and detach or attach the preview from the main dialog box. To do so, click:

    • to detach the preview from the Appearance Domain. You can move, resize, or dock the window to one of the four docking areas like any immersive panel.

      If you resize the window, the new dimensions are stored in the local preferences and applied next time you detach the window.

    • to attach the preview to the Appearance Domain dialog box.
    Appearance Parameters Contains a series of tabs that group parameters in a logical way.
    Tip: Double-click a tab to keep its parameters visible in the area. This lets you display the contents of several tabs at the same time.
    Substance Parameters Dedicated to material with Adobe substances.
    Reference Mapping Parameters Contains the mapping parameters for the material reference (that is, the material appearance). This mapping impacts all the material applications.
    Material application mapping Contains the mapping parameters for the applied material. This mapping is a local modification of the material appearance.

  2. Modify the Lighting and Texture parameters.
  3. To change the color, click in the box, and then select a color in the color picker.

    By default, the Ambient, Diffuse, Specular, and Transparency colors are defined to the basic color.

    Recommendation: The Ambient parameter is exposed for upward compatibility only. It has no longer any effect on visualization because visualization relies on IBL for better visual consistency. Convert materials of type Basic Material to 3DS PBR Generic whenever possible by changing the type in the Type list.

    The Transparency color and the Refraction parameter are relevant only for software rendering (for example, Live Rendering).

  4. To apply the color to the material, click OK.
  5. To connect a parameter to a texture, click in the Texture area.

    For more information, see Modifying Materials with Textures.