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Part IV: Materials, Cameras, and Lighting Basics

Cross-Ref
For information on environment maps, see Chapter 23, “Rendering a Scene and Enabling Quicksilver.” Chapter
20, “Using Lights and Basic Lighting Techniques,” covers projection maps.
Maps that are used to create materials are all applied using the Material Editor. The Material/Map Browser
provides access to all the available maps. These maps have many common features.

Enabling the global viewport rendering setting
To see applied maps in the viewports, select the Show Standard Map in Viewport button in the Material
Editor or enable all scene maps with the Views ➪ Show Materials in Viewport As ➪ Standard Display with
Maps menu command.

For more accurate maps that show highlights, you can enable the Views ➪ Show Materials in Viewport
As ➪ Hardware Display with Maps option. This is especially helpful when the scene objects use the Arch &
Design materials. Hardware rendering in the viewport is available only when the Direct3D display driver is
being used and if you are using a video card that supports hardware rendering.

New Feature
The ability to display MetaSL shader materials in the viewport is new to 3ds Max 2011. n

Using Real-World maps
When maps are applied to scene objects, they are applied based on the object’s UV coordinates, which con-
trol the size of the applied map. But, each bitmap can be sized along each axis to stretch the map over the
surface. Another way to stretch a texture map is to resize the geometric object that the map is applied to.
This is the default behavior of maps, but another option is available.
When a geometric object is created, you can enable the Real-World Map Size, which is generally next to the
Generate Mapping Coords option. This option is also available when the UVW Mapping modifier is applied
to an object. When enabled, this option lets you specify the size of the applied texture using scene units.
When this option is enabled, it causes the texture maps to maintain their sizes as geometry objects are
resized. Set the dimensions of applied texture maps in the Coordinates rollout.
Tip
You can select to have Real-World mapping enabled for all new objects by default by enabling the Use Real-World
Texture Coordinates option in the General panel of the Preference Settings dialog box. n

Working with Maps

Maps are typically used along with materials. You can open most material maps from the Material/Map
Browser. To open the Material/Map Browser if it isn’t visible in the Slate Material Editor, select the
Tools ➪ Material/Map Browser menu or press the O key in the Slate Material Editor. You also can open the
Material/Map Browser by clicking any of the map buttons found throughout the Parameter Editor panel,
including those found in the Maps rollout. Figure 17.1 shows this browser with its available maps.
In the Material/Map Browser all available maps are displayed by default in the Maps/Standard rollout, but if
you have the Quicksilver Hardware or the mental ray renderer enabled, rollouts for mental ray maps and
MetaSL maps are also displayed. If you right-click within the Material/Map Browser away from any rollouts

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