Work with the Materials interface

The materials interface provides a flexible, visual way to see all of the materials in the current scene and the materials in your libraries. The top section shows the Materials In This Scene, while the lower section shows the available Material Libraries. When library materials are applied to objects in the scene, they are copied to the Materials In This Scene section. For more information on working with materials in the scene, see Work with materials used in the scene.

NoteLibrary materials cannot be edited after being saved to a library. Any edits to a material in the scene are only stored with the scene, and will not affect the library material they may be based on.

Resize the Materials interface

The Materials interface can be resized to maximize the view of the materials or maximize the view of the scene behind it. The relative size of the two main categories of materials can also be adjusted

Scroll with the scroll bar on the left of the interface.
Click and drag on the “arrows in a circle” icon at the bottom, right corner of each section of the interface to dynamically resize the interface proportions and icon arrangement.
NoteThe resize corner icon will only extend the interface to 60% of the width of your screen, and will move the split between libraries and in scene materials to show at least one row of icons in each, or the title areas at the least.
Collapse or expand individual material categories.

Manage Material Libraries

Custom materials and frequently used materials can be saved to custom libraries displayed in the Material Interface.

Add a material library

Press M to view the material interface.
Click the Manage button at the top of the Material Libraries section of the interface.
Select Add Library

A file browser will appear asking for a folder location to be the new material library location.
If the target folder is empty, a new library will be created within it. If the target folder has a material library description in it, the contents will be added to the new library.

NoteMaterial libraries can either be local (on the current computer’s hard drive) or networked (on a shared location in an accessible network).

By default, a user library for materials is created during installation and named “My Materials.”

Remove a material library

Press M to view the material interface.
Click the Manage button at the top of the Material Libraries section of the interface.
Select Remove library and choose which library to remove.
NoteRemoving a material library will not delete the material files or folders. It will only remove the reference to the library in Showcase for this user.

Add a material to a library

Press M to view the material interface.
Scroll to the material icon you wish to add, either in the In Scene Materials, or within another library.
NoteUsing the filters under the Manage button of the In Scene Materials interface can simplify finding a material to save.
Right-click on the material icon in the interface and select Save to Library.

Choose the library and category where the material should be saved. If a new library is needed, choose New Library... then browse to a folder location. If a new category is needed, choose New Category...