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Part IV: Materials, Cameras, and Lighting Basics

Using the Material/Map Browser

Now that you know how to apply materials to objects, the easiest way to get materials is from the Material/
Map Browser. Max ships with several libraries of materials that you can access. If you open the Material/
Map Browser with the Tools ➪ Material/Map Browser menu, the Material/Map Browser panel appears, as
shown in Figure 15.6.
The Material/Map Browser is the place where all your materials are stored. They are stored in sets called
libraries. These libraries are saved along with the scene file or they can be saved as a separate file. Within
the Material/Map Browser are a set of rollouts. These rollouts, called groups, hold any loaded material
libraries, the available Material and Map types in Max, Controllers, Scene Materials, and Sample Slots.

FIGURE 15.6
The Material/Map Browser lets you select new materials from a library of materials.
Browser options

The text field directly above the material sample slot in the Material/Map Browser is a Search by Name field.
By typing a name in this field, you can search and select materials.

Working with libraries
Any time you adjust a material or a map parameter, a new material is created and the material’s sample slot
is updated. Although newly created materials are saved along with the scene file, you can make them avail-
able for reuse by including them in a library.
As more and more libraries get added to the Material/ Map Browser, it can be difficult to locate the specific
library that you want to use. To help with this problem, you can right-click the library title and choose the
Edit Color Group option. This opens a Color Selector where you can pick a color for the library rollout.
There are also options for changing how the materials in the library are displayed. The options include
Small, Medium and Large Icons, Icons and Text, or just Text.

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