Materials
- Interactive renderer allows any number of texture maps to be adjusted
in the scene, in real time. Texture mapping gizmos can be animated relative
to objects to provide moving-texture effects. New texture map projections
include Shrink-wrap and Cylindrical with Caps. Maps can be aligned to any
normal of any object.
- The 3D Studio MAX Materials Editor is an interactive shader editor
providing control for creating infinitely-complex materials out of building
blocks. Components of surface materials, procedural environments, and light
projection shaders can be plugged into each other for effects within effects
within effects.
- The 'trees' of pluggable material components are displayed in a material/map
navigator window.
- In additional to all of the UI controls found in 3DS/DOS (backlighting,
NTSC color checking, checkered background, anti-aliasing controls), all
of the parameters in all materials are completely animateable, just by
changing parameter values with the Animate button on. (Including animated
real-time color previews of material samples without having to render the
scene.)
- The materials editor is a floating window and operates interactively
so that changes to materials are seen instantly in the scene.
- Default Illumination models include Phong, Metal, and Constant shading.
(Any illumination model can be plugged into the system.)
- Wireframes (with adjustable wire-size) can be rendered in any illumination
model, and can be mapped with any combination of map channels.
- Material shaders are plug-ins, in addition to the maps that plug into
the shaders. This provides infinite control over material properties. Every
parameter in every material is animateable and has full function curve
control.
- Matte material can reveal images, but can receive shadows (with user
selectable fogging).
- Any tree of material components can be blended with parametric mix
functions with any other tree of material components.
- Double-sided material renders with a different tree of material components
on the positive and negative surface normal directions.
- Mapping is supported for ambient, diffuse, specular, shininess, shininess
strength, self illumination, opacity, filter color, bump, reflection and
refraction. Refraction mapping has controllable Index of Refraction.
- Default mapping types include bitmap, mask map, color tint, 2D procedural
checker, mix map, 3D marble, 3D noise, automatic reflection/refraction,
flat mirror (with adjustable softness), color linear/radial gradient and
multiple map compositor. Every parameter in every map is animateable and
has full function curve control -- and all maps are plug-ins.
- Surface normals can determine the amount of object opacity (for soap
bubbles, glass, etc.)
- A visual material/map browser provides thumbnail material library previews
.
- An extensive materials library is supplied. Multiple libraries can
be created and modified with the Materials Editor.
- 32-bit PhotoShop filters can be plugged into maps for image processing
effects.
- Face Mapping option automatically fits bitmaps to surface topology
without assignment of mapping coordinates (for topologically-accurate mapping
of any arbitrary shape)
- Color values and material map tinting can be controlled with an advanced
color selector provide multiple color control dimensions.
- Multiple maps of every type can be combined with individual percentage
contributions for deeply layered surface effects, and all mapping types
can be composited with masks and mix maps. Maps can be instanced or copied.
- Bitmap filtering options include pyramidal (mip-mapping) and summed
area tables for film quality work.
- Each individual bitmap can have its own texture-filtering settings,
plus unique UV scaling, offset, rotation and blur parameters;
- The output level and offset of maps can be adjusted for each map, and
output can be derived from the RGB or Alpha component.
- Animated fractal noise can be added to any bitmap for flowing abstract
effects.
- Automatic environment mapping can be used to achieve realistic reflections.
- Three different transparency options are included, including mappable
light transmission color.