8

1256 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
For choosing materials, see Material/Map Browser
(page 2–1256)
. For applying materials using drag
and drop techniques, see
Dragging and Dropping
Maps and Materials (page 2–1267)
.
For an overview of how to use the Material Editor ,
see
Designing Materials (page 2–1239) .
For the user interface elements in Material Editor
and the different materials and map typ es, see the
following topics:
Material Editor Menu Bar (page 2–1272)
Sample Slots (page 2–1264)
Material Editor Tools (page 2–1271)
Types of Mater ia ls (page 2–1301)
Types of Maps (page 2–1426)
For information about how to animate materials,
see
Animating Materials (page 2–1293) .
Material/Map Browser
Main toolbar > Material Editor > Get Material >
Material/Map Browser
Rendering menu > Material/Map Browser
Material Editor > Click Material Type button or Map Type
button. > Material/Map Browser
Procedure (page 2–1257) Interface (page 2–1258)
The Material/Map Browser lets you choose a
material (page 3–1065) , map (page 3–1062) ,or
mental ray shader (page 2–1520) .
When you click
Get Material (page 2–1283) ,
the Browser that is displayed is modeless (you
can leave it displayed while you do other work).
However, when you display the Browser by clicking
the
Type (page 2–1293) button, a map assignment
button in the
Environment dialog (page 3–268) ,
or from a projector light (see
Advanced Effects
Rollout (page 2–1185)
),itappearsasamodal
dialog w ith OK and C ancel buttons.
You can leave the modeless Browser displayed,
and drag materials from its listings to material or
map sample slots and buttons in the user interface.
When the Browser displays a Material Library, you
canalsoaddmaterialstothelibrarybydragging
them from the Material Editor
sample slots (page
2–1264)
.
When you double-click a material, map, or shader
in the Browser, it places that material, map, or
shader in the Material Editor’s active sample slot.
It automatically chooses b etween an instance or
a copy, as follows:
• Browsing N ew Materials: Creates a new
material.
•BrowsingaLibrary:Makesacopy.
• BrowsingtheMaterialEditor,Scene,or
Selected: Depends on the status of the map or
material.
When you browse the Materia l Editor, the Scene,
orSelectedobjects,thechoicebetweenmakinga
copy or an instance depends on the status of the
material, as follows:
• If the material or map is already in the active
slot, the Browser does nothing.
• If the material or map is in some other sample
slot,theBrowserputsacopyintheactiveslot.
• In all other cases, the Browser m akes an
instance of the material or map.
Browsing mental ray Materials and Maps
When you use the mental ray renderer (page
3–77)
,youmightwanttousethematerialsand
shaders that provide effects for this renderer only.
(The default scanline renderer renders these
materials and shaders only as black or white, or it
simply ignores their effects.) The Material/Map
Browser can list mental ray maps and materials.