Modes Menu

Lets you choose which Material Editor interface is active.

• Compact Material Editor displays the Compact interface.
• Slate Material Editor displays the Slate interface.

Material Menu

The Material menu provides the most commonly used Material Editor tools.

• Get Material
• Pick from Object
• Select by Material
• Highlight Assets in ATS Dialog If the active material uses maps that are tracked assets (typically bitmap textures), opens the Asset Tracking dialog with the assets highlighted.
• Assign to Selection
• Put to Scene
• Put to Library
• Change Material/Map TypeEquivalent to clicking the Material/Map Type button.
• Make Material Copy
• Launch Magnify WindowEquivalent to double-clicking the active sample slot, or choosing Magnify on its right-click menu.
• Save as .FX FileSee DirectX Manager Rollout.
• Make Preview
• View Preview
• Save Preview
• Show End Result
• Show Materials in Viewport As
• Reset Sample Slot RotationReturns the active sample slot's object to its default orientation; equivalent to choosing Reset Rotation on the sample slot right-click menu.
• Update Active MaterialIf the Material Editor Options dialog Update Active Only setting is on, choosing this updates the active material in its sample slot.

Navigation Menu

The Navigation menu provides tools that navigate a material's hierarchy.

• Go to Parent
• Go Forward to Sibling
• Go Backward to SiblingLike Go Forward To Sibling, but navigates to the preceding sibling map in the tree instead of the succeeding one.

Options Menu

The Options menu provides some additional tools and display choices.

• Propagate Materials to Instances
• Manual Update ToggleEquivalent to the Manual Update toggle in the Material Editor Options dialog.
• Copy/Rotate Drag Mode ToggleEquivalent to choosing either Drag/Copy or Drag/Rotate on the sample slot right-click menu.
• Background
• Custom Background ToggleIf you have used the Material Editor Options dialog to assign a custom background, this toggles its display.
• Backlight
• Cycle 3X2, 5X3, 6X4 Sample SlotsCycles through the equivalent choices on the sample slot right-click menu.
• OptionsOpens the Material Editor Options dialog.

Utilities Menu

The Utilities menu provides map rendering and selecting objects by material.

• Render MapEquivalent to choosing Render Map on the sample slot right-click menu.
• Select Objects by Material
• Clean MultiMaterial
• Instance Duplicate Map
• Reset Material Editor SlotsReplaces all materials in the Material Editor with the default material type. This action is not undoable, but you can restore the previous state of the Material Editor with the Restore Material Editor Slots command (see below).
• Condense Material Editor SlotsSets all unused materials in the Material Editor to the default type, retaining only materials in the scene and moving those materials to the first slots in the editor. This action is not undoable, but you can restore the previous state of the Material Editor with the Restore Material Editor Slots command (see below).
• Restore Material Editor SlotsWhen you use either of the two previous commands, 3ds Max saves the current state of the Material Editor in a buffer; using this command restores the state of the editor using the buffer contents.
  TipThe buffer that holds the material definitions survives the Application menu Reset command. Thus, if you use either the Reset Material Editor Slots or the Condense Material Editor Slots function, and then reset 3ds Max, you can then use Restore Material Editor Slots to bring all materials back into the Material Editor. This makes it easy to use the same materials in different projects.

  For best results, follow this procedure:

  1. Save your scene.
  2. Use the Reset Material Editor Slots or Condense Material Editor Slots function.
  3. Reset 3ds Max. When prompted to save the scene, click No. Otherwise, you might lose material definitions in the Material Editor that were saved with the scene.
  4. Open the Material Editor and choose Utilities menu Restore Material Editor Slots.

     The Material Editor status before step 2 is restored.