Creating a Material

You can create a material from the Material Browser dialog. The recommended method is to duplicate an existing, similar material and then edit the name and other attributes as required. For example, a machinery model could have many steel parts with a dull gray appearance. If one of the parts has a chrome-plated surface, you can create a suitable material by duplicating the steel material and then replacing the gray appearance with a chrome appearance, leaving the physical asset unchanged. If a similar material is not available, you can create a new material from scratch. However, this approach usually requires a bit more editing work, such as adding assets and changing properties.

To create a new material by duplication

1. Open the Material Browser: click Manage tabSettings panel Materials.
2. Select the source material in the Material Browser, and open it in the Material Editor panel, using one of the following methods:
   • If the material is in the current project, select it in the project materials list.
   • In the library materials list, select the material, and then on the right end of the material row, click Add - Edit . The material is also added to the project.
3. In the Material Browser dialog, on the browser toolbar at the bottom, click the drop-down menu Duplicate Selected Material.

   The new material is created with the same name as the source material, but with a digit appended. The new material opens in the Material Editor panel, and is added to the project materials list in the Material Browser.

4. In the Material Editor panel, you can modify the name, information, assets, and properties of the new material as required. (See Editing Material Properties for more information.)

Tip: Right-click a material in the Material Browser project materials list for quick access to controls for renaming, duplicating, and other common tasks with materials.

To create a new material from scratch

1. Open the Material Browser: click Manage tabSettings panel Materials.
2. In the Material Browser, on the browser toolbar, click .

   The material, named Default New Material, is added to the project materials list in the Material Browser.

3. In the Material Editor panel, just above the Assets list, enter a descriptive name for the new material, replacing the default name.
4. Enter additional information, add assets if necessary, and edit properties to define the new material. (See Editing Material Properties for more information.)