Mastering Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010

Chapter 8. Enhancing Models with Materials

The materials feature of 3ds Max lets you simulate surface color, texture, transparency, and even reflectance and roughness or bumpiness. The Material Editor in 3ds Max lets you create and modify materials that you can then apply to objects to achieve realistic effects.

This chapter will introduce you to the Material Editor and how to design, edit, and use materials. You'll see how materials can be used to add color, texture, and realism to your models. In this chapter, you'll learn to:

• Create and edit materials

• Select shaders

• Use bump maps

• Create a material with sub-materials

• Add entourage

• Use the mental ray ProMaterials

• Use the Displacement modifier

Understanding Bitmap Texture Maps

To simulate a surface material, ...