Autodesk 3ds Max 2015 Essentials: Autodesk Official Press

Chapter 9 Introduction to Materials

A material defines an object’s look—its color, tactile texture, transparency, luminescence, glow, and so on. Mapping is the term used to describe how the materials are wrapped or projected onto the geometry (for example, adding wood grain to a wooden object). After you create your objects, the Autodesk^® 3ds Max^® program assigns a simple color to them, as you’ve already seen. You define a material by setting values for its parameters or by applying textures or maps. These parameters define the way an object will look when rendered. Much of an object’s appearance when rendered also depends on the lighting. In this chapter and in Chapter 13, “Introduction to Lighting: Interior Lighting,” you will discover ...