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Material to Shader (mental ray) 1533
Options dialog (page 3–160) when creating the
height map. Default=10.0.
Height Ma p—The height map itself (usually a
bitmap).
Material to Shader (mental ray)
Material Editor > mental ray Connectio n rollout > Assign
a shader. > Material/Map Browser > Material to Shader
Material Editor > mental ray or DGS material > Assign a
shader. > Material/M ap Browser > Material to Shad er
Note: Shaders do not appear in the Browser unless you
have enabled the mental ray extensions by using the
mental ray Preferences panel. In addition, shaders don’t
appear unless the mental ray renderer is the currently
active renderer.
Lets you use a regular 3ds Max material as a shader.
Depending on the component to which this shader
is assigned (Surface, Shadow, Displacement,
Volume, and so on), the mental ray renderer uses
theappropriatematerialcomponent.
For example, if you want a mental ray material’s
Surface component to look like a standard material
you have, assign Material To Shader as the Surface
shader, and then assign it the sta ndard material.
Note: Material To Shader doesn’t work as an
environment backg round. Use the original
3ds Max material, instead.
Tip: To edit the material assigned to Material To
Shader, you can drag the button to an unused
sample slot in the Materia l Editor (be sure to
choose Instance when prompted). Or you can
follow these steps:
1. In an unused sample slot, create the material
and adjust its settings.
2. Save the m aterial to a library.
3. Assign the Mater ial To Shader to its component.
4. When you click the Material To Shader’s shader
button, browse from the library and load the
material you prepared in advance.
If you need to f urther adjust the material, you c an
repeat these steps (without having to reassign t he
Material To Shader).
Interfa ce
Mater ial button—Click to display the Material/Map
Browser (page 2–1256)
and choose the material
to use for shading.
Sh ader Lis t (menta l ra y )
Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > Assign
a shader. > M aterial/Map Browser > Shader List
Material Editor > m ental ray, DGS, or Glass material >
Assignashader.>Material/MapBrowser>ShaderList
Note: Shaders do not appear in the Browser unless you
have enabled the mental ray ex tensions by using the
mental ray Preferences panel. In addition, shaders don’t
appear unless the mental ray renderer is the currently
active renderer.
The Shader List shader provides an interface for
constructing a mental ray shader list. A shader
list combines the effect of multiple shaders: each
shader is called in turn, the first one’s output being
treated as input to the next, and so on.
Interfa ce