Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 User Guide 3 - Page 124

Types of Materials Rendering menu > Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > In Show group, turn off Maps. > Material types are listed. Materials create greater realism in a scene. A material describes how an object reflects or transmits light. You assign materials to individual objects or selection sets; a single scene can contain many different materials. Different materials have different uses. ■ Standard material on page 5395 is the default material. This is a versatile surface model with a large number of options. ■ Raytrace material on page 5490 can create fully raytraced reflections and refractions. It also supports fog, color density, translucency, fluorescence, and other special effects. ■ mental ray materials on page 5543 are provided for use with the mental ray renderer on page 6230. Of particular importance in this category is the Arch & Design material on page 5544. ■ Architectural material on page 5526 provides a physically accurate material. It is especially intended for use with the default scanline renderer and radiosity on page 6168. ■ Matte/Shadow material on page 5699 is specifically for making an object into a matte object on page 8042 that reveals the current environment map on page 7964. A matte object is effectively invisible in the scene, but it can receive shadows cast onto it from other objects. ■ Shell material on page 5732 is for storing and viewing rendered textures on page 6371. ■ Advanced Lighting Override material on page 5734 is used to fine-tune the effects of a material on radiosity solutions on page 6168 or the Light Tracer on page 6154. This material is not required for calculating advanced lighting, but it can help improve the result. NOTE The Architectural material has its own controls for adjusting advanced lighting. ■ Lightscape material on page 5741 helps support import and export of data from the Lightscape product. ■ Ink 'n Paint material on page 5742 gives a cartoon appearance to objects. Types of Materials | 5379