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Table of Contents

This page provides information about the Materials tab in Chaos Vantage.



Overview

The Materials tab offers a list of all materials in the scene. This includes materials imported with .vrscene file.



Scene sub-state

Scene sub-state – A dropdown list of all scene material assignments sub-states.

Create (Vantage_CCtab_CreateSubState.png) – Creates a new scene material assignments sub-state.

Update (Vantage_CCtab_UpdateSubState.png) – Updates a scene material assignments sub-state.

Delete (Vantage_CCtab_DeleteSubState.png) – Deletes a scene material assignments sub-state. Double-click to delete.

 Note that the default scene sub-state cannot be updated or deleted.


EnvironmentTab_SceneSubstate.png



Clay mode

Clay mode – When enabled, overrides all scene materials with a simple grey (default) material.

Clay color – Specifies the color for the override material.

Edges – When enabled, renders geometry edges with a specified Color and Thickness in pixels on top of the clay override material.

Color – Specifies the color of the edges when Edges is enabled.

Thickness – Specifies the width of the edges in pixels when Edges is enabled.

Use reflection – When enabled, the original material's reflection setup is used instead of overriding it.

Use refraction – When enabled, the original material's refraction setup is used instead of overriding it.

Use bump – When enabled, the original material's bump setup is used instead of overriding it.

Use opacity – When enabled, the original material's opacity setup is used instead of overriding it.

Use self illumination – When enabled, the original material's self illumination setup is used instead of overriding it.


Vantage_MaterialsTab_ClayMode.png



Material lister

ButtonDescription

Vantage_MaterialsTab_AssignMtl.png

Assigns a material from the list to the selected objects in the scene. Available only when a material is selected.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_SelectObj.png

Selects all scene objects based on the material that has been selected in the list. Available only when a material is selected.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_SelectMtl.png

Selects the material of the selected object in the scene. Available only when an object is selected.

Imports a material(s) from an external supported file and adds it to the Material lister.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_Preview.png

Opens the Preview scene settings dialog.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_Search.png

Filters the material list and shows only those materials that contain the input string.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_Clear.png

Clears the filter string.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_Filter.png

Filter menu that enables the listing of materials based on type e.g. Generic, 2 Sided, Multi material, etc. Use Ctr + click to isolate a selection.

Vantage_MaterialsTab_FilterMenu.png

Vantage_MaterialsTab_Grid.png

Controls the amount of columns in the materials list:

Vantage_MaterialsTab_GridMenu.png

Vantage_MaterialsTab_Sort.png

Sorts the material list:

Vantage_MaterialsTab_SortMenu.png


Vantage_MaterialsTab_MaterialLister.png


A context menu is available when right-clicking a material thumbnail:

Select objects with this material – Selects all scene objects based on the material that has been selected in the list. ()

Assign this material to the selection – Assigns a material from the list to the selected objects in the scene. ()

Assign this material to the selection and its children – Assigns a material from the list to the selected objects and their children in the hierarchy in the scene.

Delete unused Cosmos material assets – Deletes any currently unused imported Cosmos material assets. This frees up GPU memory.


Vantage_MaterialsTab_MaterialsMenu.png



Materials can also be assigned to objects by drag-and-drop. There are also modifier key combinations with drag-and-drop with the following functionality:

  • Alt+drag-and-drop replaces material on all object with same material.
  • Ctrl+drag-and-drop assigns material to objects and its children.



Preview Scene Settings

The Preview scene settings dialog contains options to customize how the material thumbnails are rendered.


Load vrscene – Loads a custom vrscene file for the material preview scene.

The material preview scene has the following requirements in order to be loaded properly:

  • scene must contain at least 1 object with '__thumbnail_target' user attribute
  • scene objects(nodes) that will be listed in the Preview mesh dropdown must have a '__thumbnail_target' user attribute set. Different objects must have incremental values e.g __thumbnail_target=1, __thumbnail_target=2


Features of the loaded material preview scene:

  • scene lights will be listed and their color, intensity and enable/disable properties can be modified
  • scene cameras will be listed in the Preview camera dropdown list
  • objects that have a '__thumbnail_target' user attribute set will be listed in the Preview mesh dropdown

 Sample preview scene with a background, 2 cameras, studio light setup, a sphere and a teapot can be downloaded using the download button.


Download  

Please note that the loaded scene will replace the current preview scene. If there are no lights and/or an environment texture or color set then the preview thumbnail will render black.


Samples – Specifies the samples per pixel for refining the material thumbnail. Low values speed up thumbnail generation at the cost of quality.

Preview mesh – Specifies the mesh to be used in the material thumbnail:

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewMesh_Sphere.png

Sphere

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewMesh_Cube.png

Cube

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewMesh_Cylinder.png

Cylinder

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewMesh_Shaderball.png

Shaderballl

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewMesh_Liquid.png

Liquid

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewMesh_Cloth.png

Cloth


Preview camera – Specifies the render camera for the material thumbnails:

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewCamera_Main.png

Main

Vantage_MaterialTab_PreviewSceneSettings_PreviewCamera_Zoom.png

Zoom


Environment mode – Specifies the mode which will be used for scene lighting.

Texture – Enables the use of an environment texture for lighting. When this option is selected, Load environment and Rotation parameters appear.
Solid Color – Enables the use of a solid color for lighting. When this option is selected, Environment Color parameter appears.

Load environment – Loads an image for Environment. This option is available only when Environment mode is set to Texture.

Flip horizontally – Flips the environment image horizontally. This option is available only when Environment mode is set to Texture.

Rotation – Specifies a rotation angle in degrees for the Environment texture. This option is available only when Environment mode is set to Texture.

Intensity – Specifies the intensity of the Environment lighting.

Rim Light – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the rim light in the default preview scene.

Fill Light – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the fill light in the default preview scene.

Front Light – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the front light in the default preview scene.

Internal Lights – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the internal light in the default preview scene. Useful for previewing two sided materials.

Close – Closes the Preview scene settings dialog.


Vantage_MaterialsTab_PreviewSceneSettings.png

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