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SmartPlant Foundation / SDx Version
7.1 (2018 R1)
Smart Review Version
13.x(2018)

Creates and edits material definitions. If you want to assign an existing material to your model, see the Assign Materials.

To use this functionality, you must install the Photo-Realism module.

Palette

Displays the name of the active palette file. Type the name of the file to create a new palette file. You also can select Browse to find and open an existing palette file.

Material name

Specifies the name of the active material definition. Type the name of the material to create a new material definition, or select one of the materials in the active palette.

Browse

Locates a file or folder.

Copy

Copies the material from an object that you select in the model. After you select an object, the selected object's material surface characteristics are loaded and the material displays in the Preview.

Replace/Add

Replaces the active material definition with the new values that you have defined. If you rename the material name, this button changes to an Add button, allowing you to add the new material definition to the current palette. You can also create a new palette by typing a new palette name and then creating new material definitions in that palette.

Delete

Deletes the active material from the active palette file.

Base color

Default

Sets the base color back to the default color.

Edit

Displays the Color dialog box, which allows you to select a new base color.

Specular color

Default

Sets the specular color back to the default color.

Edit

Displays the Color dialog box, which allows you to select a new specular color. The specular color is the color of the glare. A shiny, green surface is rendered more realistically, for example, when the specular color is tinted toward the diffuse green color. Specular color is extremely important for the accurate rendering of metallic surfaces. Gold, for example, has a deep tan/orange diffuse color and a pale yellow specular highlight. Specular color can only be a solid color.

Diffuse

Controls the intensity of the diffuse color of a material. Diffuse values range from 0-1, where 0 is black and 1 is 100% color saturation. The diffuse color can be either a solid color or a bitmap file (BMP, pattern, and scan). The intensity value is the degree to which the diffuse color or pattern contributes to the final look of the geometry. A highly diffuse intensity results in a high saturation of the diffuse color or pattern.

Specular

Controls the intensity of the specular features of the material. The specular property is the degree to which light reflects from the surface of the geometry of the model. The specular property creates a hot spot or glare, which is proportional to the surface finish. Specular values can range from 0-1, where 0 is a low specular surface, such as a tennis ball, and 1 is a high specular surface, such as a cue ball.

Finish

Controls the degree of polish or smoothness on an object's surface. When light is reflected off of a surface, the finish determines whether it is scattered (a rough surface) or concentrated (a smooth surface). Finish values range from 0- 1, where 0 is a low polish, such as felt, and 1 is a high polish, such as glass. The finish of a material interacts directly with its specular characteristics. A high specular value and a high finish value results in a bright concentrated hot spot on the surface. A high specular value and a low finish value results in a large glaring hot spot that is scattered all over the surface.

Reflectivity

Controls the amount of reflectivity that a material exhibits. This property determines how other surfaces in the model are reflected in the material. For example, a pond of water, a mirror, and highly polished metals are all highly reflective. Reflectivity values range from 0-1, where 0 is no reflectivity and 1 is a high reflectivity. As the reflectivity value of a material gets higher, environment clouds begin to appear in the Preview to display the reflectivity.

Use the following guidelines to use reflection mapping:

  • Create a pattern file for the reflection in a raster image editor. Use a spherize filter (or equivalent) to distort the image slightly.

  • Turn off the old patterns before applying reflection to objects on which patterns are already applied.

  • Use a high reflection slider value to display more reflection on the object than the base color. Use a low reflection value to display more base color than the reflection.

Ambient

Controls the ambient reflectivity of a material. The ambient reflectivity of a material is the degree to which the ambient lighting in the overall model will be reflected by the surface of the material. The total ambient light value of a surface is calculated by multiplying the ambient reflectivity value by the model ambient light setting. The ambient reflectivity value can range from 0-1, where 0 is no ambient light reflected and 1 is full ambient reflectivity.

For example, if the overall ambient light setting for the model is set to 1.0, and a material has an ambient reflectivity value of 0.10, model elements using that material will have an effective ambient lighting value of 10%. A lower ambient light value causes the shadows that fall on the material to be dark, with a high contrast between the directly and indirectly lit areas. A higher ambient light value results in a more uniformly lit surface with fainter shadows and less overall contrast in lighting. This would be desirable, for example, if you wanted to create a bright, uniformly lit ceiling in a room.

Transmittance

Controls the transmittance of a material. Transmittance is the degree of transparency that a surface exhibits. You can select values from 0 (0% transparent, or opaque) to 1.00 (100% transparent, or invisible). As you change the transmittance value of a material, the background image behind the preview becomes visible to illustrate the degree of transparency.

Remember that the diffuse color should be evaluated when you are using transparent and reflective surfaces. A high diffuse value can saturate the material with diffuse color and thus override most of the reflectivity or transparency. By setting the diffuse color intensity (saturation) lower, the object becomes more transparent and less opaque when transmittance is used. For example, a clear drinking glass should have a white diffuse color, a very low diffuse intensity value (0.01), and a high transmit intensity value (100).

Refraction

Controls the angle of refraction on a material. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes through transparent surfaces. The lens of a pair of eyeglasses, for example, would exhibit refraction. A straw in a clear glass of water also appears to bend, when viewed from certain angles, due to refraction.

Refraction values range from 1.0-2.0, where 1.0 is no refraction and 2.0 is high refraction. For example, water has some refraction (1.20) because it causes objects to appear distorted when they are immersed. Refractive surfaces must also be transparent (have a high transmittance setting). When a material is transparent and refraction is high, the image behind the Preview appears distorted to illustrate the degree of refraction.

You can define refraction as less than 1.0. The default value of 1.0 still equals no refraction. For example, a refraction value of 1.2 is good for light passing from air into water or glass. Use a value less than 1.0 when the eye point is inside water or glass looking into air.

Set Refraction to 1.0 (not 0.0) when defining a completely clear material.

Pattern Weight

Mixes the percentage of pattern and base color for a material. Values range from 0 (all color) to 1 (all pattern); midrange values are a mix of both attributes.

Preview

Displays the material definition as it is mapped onto a spherical surface. The sphere updates as you modify the material's display properties.

Pattern

Specifies the diffuse color between a solid and a pattern. The diffuse color can be either a solid color or a bitmap image file (BMP, pattern, and scan). You can edit a solid color or choose an image file for the diffuse color. For more information, see Adjust Pattern Dialog Box.

Bump Map

Specifies the bump map pattern file. When you select the bump map, it appears in the Preview. For more information, see Adjust Bump Map Dialog Box.

The Photo-Realism Renderer currently does not support Fresnel and Shadow material settings. Smart Review does save these settings in the material file.

Fresnel

Activates fresnel characteristics. When on, fresnel makes transparent objects more opaque on curved and angular surfaces, such as a soap bubble: the steeper the angle at which you view the surface, the greater the reflection and opaqueness of the surface. The effects of this command appear in the Preview.

Shadows

Activates shadows. Activate if you want materials to cast shadows in a Phong-shaded mode. The effects of this option appear in the Preview.

See Also

Edit Materials
Edit a Search Path
Assign Material to Display Sets