Slate Material Editor

The Slate Material Editor is a material editor interface that uses nodes and wiring to graphically display the structure of materials while you design and edit them. It is an alternative to the Compact Material Editor.

• Main Toolbar > (Material Editor): Slate
• Standard menu: Rendering menu > Material Editor > Slate Material Editor
• Enhanced menu: Materials menu > Create/Edit Materials > Slate Material Editor

In general, the Slate interface is more versatile when you are designing materials, while the Compact interface is more convenient when you just need to apply materials that have already been designed.

The Slate interface is a graphical interface with several elements. Most prominent are the Material/Map Browser, where you can browse for materials, maps, and base material and map types; the active View, where you can combine materials and maps; and the Parameter Editor, where you can change material and map settings.

1. Menu bar

2. Toolbar

3. Material/Map Browser

4. Status

5. Active View

6. View navigation

7. Parameter Editor

8. Navigator

The main visual elements of this interface are where you do most of your work:

• Material/Map Browser

  This panel shows the Material/Map Browser. To edit a material, drag it from the Material/Map Browser panel to the View. To create a new material or map, drag it from the Materials group or the Maps group. You can also double-click a Material/Map Browser entry to add that material or map to the active View.

• Active View

  The active View is where you construct material trees by wiring maps or controllers to material components.

  You can create a number of Views for the materials in your scene, and choose the active View from among them.

• Parameter Editor

  The Parameter Editor is where you adjust detailed settings for maps and materials.