User manual

© Next Limit Technologies 2010
Maxwell Render 2.5 User Manual
Chapter 12. Maxwell Studio | 116
12.05.03 The Material Browser
This panel provides a way to browse the Maxwell materials available on your system.
For every MXM le found in the material database, the material browser shows a small
preview of the material. Within the Maxwell installation folder there is a material database
that you can browse. If you have set a material folder in your Studio preferences (Edit>
Preferences> Paths), the Material Browser will open in that folder.
F.03 The Material Browser
Assigning/ adding materials from the browser is done by drag and drop, in one of three
ways:
a. Drag and drop a material from the Material Browser onto a selected object or
group of triangles in the 3D/ 2D viewport. This action will add the material to the
current scene and assign it to the object/ triangles.
b. Drag and drop a material from the Material Browser onto the Materials List (from
the browser in Studio or from the browser in MXED). The material is added to
the list, but not assigned to any object.
c. Drag and drop a material from the Material Browser into the Material Editor
over another material you are currently editing. It allows you to embed the new
material in another layer to mix or combine them.
A material can also be dragged from the Materials List into the Material Browser,
which is an easy way of creating your own material libraries. It is also possible to
select several materials at once and drag them to the Material Browser.
Browsing the MXM Web Gallery
F.04 Search in MXM Gallery
Click this icon to search for a material in the entire online MXM Gallery database, from
within Maxwell Studio. This gives you access to thousands of free materials, just a few
clicks away, ready to be used in your scenes.
Use the Search eld to type in a material name and the results of your search will be
displayed in the window below. Use the Advanced Search to specify keywords, search
by color, and specify a category or displaying options. The window below will show you
the materials that match your searching criteria, their thumbnails, and some specic data
such as rating, the creator’s name and the upload date. Click on the thumbnail to display
a bigger version. Drag the desired material to the Materials List or Material Editor, and the
material will be downloaded automatically, unzipped, and added to your scene. You can
also drag it over an object or triangles group to automatically assign it to your objects.