Materials panel

The Materials panel displays the created or imported materials in the scene which specifies the color, finish, transparency, texture, and bump for use by the built-in Rhino renderer.

The Materials panel is divided in three sections or areas:

1. Toolbar line
2. Materials list
3. Properties area

1. Materials toolbar line

Add material
Select an action to create a new material:

• Import from material library: Imports a material (.rmtl) from the Render Content library folder.
• Create Physically Based material from texture files: Creates a physically based material from image files, or a PBR texture set (.zip).
  (Free or paid PBR texture sets can be downloaded from the Internet.)
• Choose existing: Creates a new material by using an existing material as the template.
• Blend: Creates a new blend material.
• Custom: Custom materials have all possible settings available in the editor.
• Double Sided: Creates a new double sided material.
• Emission: Creates a new emission material.
• Glass: Creates a new glass material.
• Metal: Creates a new metal material.
• Paint: Creates a new paint material.
• Physically Based: Creates a new physically based material.
• Picture: Creates a new picture material.
• Plaster: Creates a new plaster material.
• Plastic: Creates a new plastic material.
• Gem: Creates a new gem material.
• More types: Creates a new material from the Material Type Browser dialog.

Current item
Displays the current item icon and name.

Search
Click the search box to display a menu for searching names, notes, or tags.

Menu
Displays the Tools menu.

• Assign to Objects Assigns the current material to selected objects.
• Assign to Layers of Objects Assigns the current material to the layers of selected objects.
• Assign to Layers Assigns the current material to selected layers.
• Assign to ground plane Assigns the current material to the Ground plane.
• Select objects Select objects that use the current material.

• Create New Creates a new material from a template.
• Import from material library Imports Material from the Render Content folder, Internet connection is required to download online.
• Create Physically Based material from texture files Creates a physically based material from image files, or a PBR texture set (.zip).
• Save to File... Saves a material to a Rhino .rmtl file.

• Copy Copies the selected item to the Clipboard. The Clipboard can then be pasted into the editor to create a new item.
• Paste Creates a new material based on the Clipboard contents.
• Paste as Instance Creates a new material based on the Clipboard contents that is linked to the original through instancing.

• Delete Deletes the selected material.

• Select All Select all the materials of the editor.
• Replace Replace the selected material with another new or existing material.
• Reset to Defaults Changes all the material settings to the default white, matte, non-reflective, untextured material.
• Duplicate Copies the selected material to a new material with the same settings.
• Merge Identical Material Finds materials with the same settings in the model, keeps one of them, and deletes the rest.

• Edit Floating Edits the selected item in a separate dialog.
• Tags Pops up the Render Content Tag dialog to manage tags. Tags group or categorize items to make searching easier.
• Filter by Tags Hides the items that don't have the selected tags.
• Sort Alphabetically Lists the items with their names in ascending (A to Z) order.
• Remove Instancing Removes the connection between instanced items.
• Update Preview Now Updates the preview of the selected item when auto-update is disabled.

• Grid Displays the previews as a grid of thumbnails.
• List Displays the previews as a list of thumbnails.
• Tree Displays the previews as a tree showing nesting.

• Show All Materials Displays used and unused materials.
• Show Only Used Materials Hides unused materials.
• Show Only Unused Materials Hides used materials.

• Horizontal Layout Displays the previews to the left of the controls.

• Thumbnails Adjust the appearance of the preview thumbnail.

Help

2. Materials list

List all the materials contained in the file, showing their name and thumbnail. The icons at the lower-right corner of a material thumbnail indicate the status of the material.

Thumbnail actions

• Right-click a thumbnail to display the context menu.
• Right-click the blank area of the thumbnail browser to display the New material context menu.
• Drag and drop to a different position in the list to reorder.
• Drag and drop with Ctrl to a blank area to make a copy.

3. Materials Properties

Name and type

The name and the type of the current material.

Custom settings

The properties and settings of a material change depending on the type.
The default material is white and matte, with no reflectivity or transparency.

Textures

Textures (images or procedural textures) can be used for color, transparency, bump, and environment.

Supported file formats:

• Do not support transparency: JPEG - JFIF Compliant (*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jpe),Windows Bitmap (*.bmp)
• Support transparency: DDS files (*.dds), HDRi files (*.hdr, *. hdri), OpenEXR files (*.exr), Portable Network Graphics (*.png), Tagged Image File Format (*.tif, *.tiff),Truevision Targa (*.tga)

To use a texture

Add a new texture
Select a new texture by types.

• Click the texture name to edit the texture.
• When a texture has been added, right-click the texture name to show the Context menu for actions.

Browse in folder
Select an external bitmap image file on the computer.

• Click the texture name to edit the texture.
• When a texture has been added, right-click the texture name to show the Context menu for actions.

Remove texture
Delete the texture being added.

Turn texture on/off
Enable or disable the texture.

Value
Control visibility level of the texture.

• Drag the mouse cursor to change the value.
• Double-click to enter a value.

Advanced Settings

Notes

Extra text information stored in the material that appears in the tooltip when you mouse-over the thumbnail.