Create 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, select an option:
   • Duplicate Material and Assets - The new material is created with the same name as the source material, but with a digit appended. The material asset of the source material is also duplicated.
   • Duplicate Using Shared Assets - The new material is created with the same name as the source material, but with a digit appended. The material asset is shared by the new material and the source material.
     Note: If you edit an asset that is used by a material, any other material in the model that also uses that asset will change. For the duplicated material to be different, use the Duplicate Material and Assets option. For additional information on duplicating an asset for a material, see Duplicate an Asset of a Material.
     

   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.

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.