Map to Material Conversion

Command entry:

Slate Material Editor

Material/Map Browser

Materials

MetaSL

Map to Material Conversion

NoteMap To Material Conversion displays a MetaSL shader tree in 3ds Max viewports regardless of the active renderer, but to render MetaSL shaders, you must use the mental ray renderer or the Quicksilver hardware renderer. Because of this, the MetaSL material and maps are not visible in the Material/Map Browser panel while the Default Scanline renderer is active.

Strictly speaking, Map To Material Conversion is not a material in its own right, but a Slate Material Editor node that converts a MetaSL shader tree into a material you can use in 3ds Max scenes.

Map To Material node in the Slate Material Editor

To view a MetaSL material in viewports, you must use hardware shading: See Lighting and Shadows Panel (Legacy Drivers).

You can export a Map To Material node to an XMSL file: See Export as XMSL File. For information on using an XMSL file in a 3ds Max scene, see DirectX Shader Material.

Interface

The interface to Map To Material Conversion consists of a single map input. Of course, the child of this node will typically be a tree built out of various MetaSL shaders.

MetaSL shader tree with Map To Material as the parent

Map check box: Toggles use of the shader tree. When off, the effect of the shaders is not visible in viewports or renderings. Default=on.
[map button]: Click to show the parameters for the shader node assigned to Convert Map To Material. If no shader is assigned (the button shows “None”) then clicking the button opens a Material/Map Browser so you can assign a shader: This is an alternative to wiring a shader node in the Slate Material Editor active View.