Assign materials to surfaces

For information on creating materials, see Apply color and shading to an object and Build and create materials using the Hypershade.

The following are a few quick ways to assign (connect) a material to a surface.

In the viewport, you can be in either wireframe or shaded mode to make the connection. If you are in wireframe mode, make sure the cursor touches the surface when you release the mouse button, otherwise the connection may not be made.

Note: For information on how to apply materials to individual faces, see Assign shaders to polygon faces.

To assign a material to a surface or surfaces via the viewport

  1. Right-click the object(s) and select Assign Existing Material. Choose among the existing materials in your scene.

    Note:

    Alternatively, you can select Assign New Material or Assign Favorite Material. The Assign New Material window appears that allows you to choose from the available materials, or materials saved in your Favorites list.

To assign an existing material to surface or surfaces via the Hypershade

  1. In the viewport, select the surface(s) to which you want to assign the material.
  2. Right-click the material swatch in the Hypershade and select Assign Material to Selection from the marking menu.

  3. Alternatively, you can also middle-drag and drop the material swatch from the Hypershade onto the surface in the viewport.

To assign an existing material to surface or surfaces via the Outliner

  1. In the Outliner, ensure that Display > Assigned Materials is enabled.

    Shaders assigned to each object in the scene are now displayed.

  2. Select the objects in the viewport to which you want to assign the material.
  3. Right-click the material in the Outliner and select Assign Material To Selection.

    In this example, the Killamari (squid) geometry is assigned the same material as that of the body of the Minion.