You can use a bitmap file or procedural map to assign a pattern or texture to a material's diffuse color. The colors of the map replace the material's diffuse color component. This is the most common kind of map usage.
Click the Material Editor icon on the Main toolbar or press M. Click and hold the icon to show the flyout.
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Material Editor > Standard Material > Maps rollout > Diffuse button (or Color button for the Strauss shader)
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Material Editor > Raytrace Material > Maps rollout > Diffuse button
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Material Editor > Arch & Design Material > General Maps rollout > Main Maps group > Diffuse Color button
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Material Editor > Other materials that have a Diffuse Color component
Applying a texture with a diffuse color map
Using a map for the diffuse color is like painting an image on the surface of the object. For example, if you want a brick wall in your scene, you can use a bitmap with an image of bricks as the diffuse map in the material applied to the wall object.
lock off and using a different map for each component, you can obtain interesting blend effects. But in general, the purpose of the diffuse map is to simulate a single surface that is more complex than a basic material, and for this purpose you can leave the lock on.
Procedures
To use a Diffuse color map:
- Click the map button for Diffuse.
3ds Max opens the Material/Map Browser.
- Choose a map from the Maps group, and then click OK.
(If you choose Bitmap as the map type, 3ds Max opens a file dialog that lets you choose the image file.)
- Use the map controls to set up the map.
Alternatively, you can use the
Slate Material Editor to
wire a map node to the Diffuse Color component.