Compound materials combine two or more sub-materials for a variegated look, especially when used with maps. Compound materials are similar to compositor maps, but they exist at the material level. You load or create compound materials using the Material/Map Browser.
Different types of materials create different effects, behave in particular ways, or are provided as ways to combine multiple materials.
Note: The sub-material buttons and sub-map buttons for most materials and maps have checkboxes beside each button. These let you turn that branch of the material or map on or off. For example, in the Top/Bottom material, the Top Material and Bottom Material each have a checkbox. Similarly, the Checker map has two map buttons, one for each color. Each button has a checkbox beside it that lets you disable that color's map.