Material Editor

This page provides information about the Material Editor in the Chaos Envision.

Overview

The Material Editor appears in the Details tab when you perform any of the following actions:

Select a material in the viewport using the Select material () tool;
Select a material in the Materials bottom tab and then click .

The Material Editor provides detailed information about the selected material, including its name, type, preview and properties. It enables a range of actions, such as duplicating the chosen material, applying it to selected objects in the viewport or selecting all geometries that use the material. Additionally, the Material Editor allows for editing material properties, including changing colors, assigning textures, and adjusting parameters. It also offers the ability to add various enhancements to achieve specific material effects, such as a varnished finish, vegetation, strands, and more.

Material Types

Materials are categorized into different groups based on specific criteria.

Editable vs Non-editable

Materials are classified as editable or non-editable, depending on whether their properties can be modified. Editable materials allow adjustments to their properties, while non-editable materials cannot be modified but can be replaced with other materials from the scene or from the Chaos Cosmos library.

Standard vs Mix

Materials are also categorized as standard or mix, based on their properties. Standard materials include essential controls for color, reflection, refraction, and bumps, along with advanced enhancements for achieving complex appearances. Mix materials combine base and top materials, allowing for material blending to create specific appearance such as car paint for example.

See the Standard Material and Mix Material pages for more information.

Actions with Picked Materials

The following parameters are available for all material types.

	A field showing the name of the selected material, allowing you to rename it. The new name is automatically displayed in the Materials bottom tab.
	Tile Settings – Opens the Tiling Settings dialog, where you can control the placement and randomization of all textures in the selected material. See the Textures page for more information.
	Duplicate – Duplicates the selected material.
	Apply to selection – Applies the selected material to the currently selected objects.
	Select All – Selects all objects that have this material assigned.
	Reset – Resets all modifications made to the selected material.
	A non-assigned material indicator – An indicator that the material is not assigned to any object yet.

Open Cosmos – Opens the Cosmos bottom tab, allowing you to choose a Cosmos material. Available for non-editable materials. See the Cosmos Tab page to learn more about Chaos Cosmos.

Embed Material – Embeds the Cosmos material in your project, adding it into the Materials bottom tab and allowing you to edit it. See the Materials Tab page to learn more about the Materials bottom tab.

Working with Material Editor

The following actions can be performed either on Standard or Mix materials only.

Change a Color

To change any color of the material – diffuse, reflection, refraction, etc. – click on the respective Color slot. This opens the Color settings where you can specify the color from a color palette and apply it to this particular slot.

You can also apply a color to a material from the combined Color/Texture slot. Click the arrow of the slot and select Color. Then click again on the slot to pick a color.

Add a Texture

To add a texture to a material, click on the Texture slot and load the desired texture.

Alternatively, click on the small arrow of combined Color/Texture slot () to display options for adding color or texture. Select Texture and load the desired image.