You add realism to scene objects by adding materials to their surfaces. Material texture can include information from bitmap images, as well as bump maps for a 3D effect. In this tutorial the battlefield terrain, as well as the rock, cannon, and windmill, all get their appearance from bitmap texture mapping.
Cannon texture
Rock texture
Set up the scene:
- Continue from the previous lesson or open battlefield_rock.max.
Add a battlefield material:
- On the main toolbar, click and hold
(Material Editor), then on the flyout menu, open the Compact Material Editor.
(A flyout is like a drop-down menu, but with buttons instead of text.)
The Material Editor opens as a floating window.
The Compact Material Editor is usually more convenient when you want simply to assign materials that have already been designed. The Slate Material Editor, which takes up more screen space, is more convenient and versatile for designing materials.
Note: If you open the large Slate Material Editor by mistake, then from the Material Editor toolbar choose Modes
Compact Material Editor.
By default, the Compact Material Editor shows six sample slots, each of which is capable of holding a material. Typically, you would have multiple materials to choose from, so you might prefer to expand the number of sample slots selectable from the editor.
- Locate the
Battlefield material sample slot and click it.
Notice that the name Battlefield appears in the Material Name field below the sample slots.
This material has already been constructed for you. It uses a bitmap as a texture and includes a bump map.
- Drag the
Battlefield material from its sample slot and drop it onto the
Field object in the Camera001 viewport.
The viewport now displays a landscape covered by grass and dirt.
Tip: If the material doesn't appear in the viewport, click to turn on
(Show Shaded Material In Viewport). This button is in the row of buttons just below the sample slots.
- Select the
rock object in the viewport, and then drag the
Stone material from its sample slot onto the rock object. The stone surface updates to a realistic texture.
If at first you can't see the sample slot for the Stone material, right-click one of the sample slots and choose 5 X 3 Sample Windows to display more of the slots.
Next, you will apply a material to the cannon.
Apply a material to the cannon:
- From the main menu Named Selection Sets drop-down list, choose Cannon.
Notice that the cannon is now selected in each viewport.
- On the Material Editor, click the
Cannon sample slot and then click
(Assign Material To Selection).
This method is another way to apply materials to selected objects.
The oak tree and windmill already have materials applied to them, so now you’re ready to begin animating the scene.
- Close the Material Editor.
All parts of the cannon were previously grouped together into a single entity, called a selection set. This way, when you choose a material, it is applied to all components in the selection set in a single action.
Make the rock more central:
Move the rock so it is directly in front of the cannon.
Save your work:
- Save your scene to your local folder as my_battlefield_scene.max.