A material is data that you assign to the surface or faces of an object so that it appears a certain way when rendered. Materials can affect object color, glossiness, opacity, and so on.
Spheres with variations of the standard material type (no maps used):
Green sphere: High Glossiness
Red sphere: Constant shading
Blue sphere: 60% opacity
Yellow sphere: Wireframe mode, slight self-illumination
A standard material consists of ambient, diffuse, and specular components. You can assign maps to the various components of a standard material.
The standard material is the default material in the sample slots of the Compact Material Editor. However, you can change the type of material you're working on by clicking the button labeled Type below the sample slots. This displays the Material/Map Browser, and lets you select from a list of alternative material types.
You can also change the type of material you're working on by clicking the Get Material button below the sample slots. This displays the Material/Map Browser, and lets you select from a list of alternative material types.