3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [199]
Note
Although the Slate Editor and the Compact Material Editor share most controls, the Slate Material Editor has more features and is the focus of our discussion. The Compact Material Editor is maintained for backward compatibility and is easier to use for existing users. •
Note
You can find coverage of the Compact Material Editor as a bonus chapter on the book's CD. •
Using the Slate Material Editor controls
The Slate Material Editor, shown in Figure 15.1, consists of four panels: the Material/Map Browser panel, the Material Node View panel, the Navigator panel, and the Parameter Editor panel. Of these panels, only the Material View panel is open at all times. The others can be closed and reopened using the Tools menu. If you drag the panel title away from the interface, the panel floats independently. If you drag a floating panel over the interface, several arrow icons appear. Dropping a panel on one of these arrows positions the floating panel to the side of the panel in the direction of the arrow. This interface gives you the power to set up the Slate Material Editor just as you want.
Tip
You also can use a keyboard shortcut to show or hide the various panels: O for the Material/Map Browser, P for the Parameter Editor, and N for the Navigator panel. •
At the top of the default Slate Material Editor window is a menu of options. The menu commands found in these menus offer most of the same functionality as the toolbar buttons, but the menus are often easier to find than the buttons with which you are unfamiliar.
Below the menus are several toolbar buttons. These buttons are defined in Table 15.1.
FIGURE 15.1
The Slate Material Editor has four unique panels.
Loading the Material Node View panel
When the Slate Material Editor is first opened, the Node View panel is blank. You can add material nodes to the node view by double-clicking them in the Material/Map Browser or by dragging them from the Material/Map Browser onto the Node View panel. This loads the selected node into the Node View.
If your scene has some objects with materials already applied, you can use the Material⇒Pick from Object menu or select the eyedropper tool on the toolbar and click an object in the viewport. The applied material for that object is loaded in the Node View. If the selected object doesn't have an applied material, then nothing is loaded.
You can also get all the applied materials in the current scene using the Material⇒Get All Scene Materials menu. This loads all applied materials. If all the scene materials make it tough to find what you are looking for, you can use the Edit⇒Clear View menu to clear the Node View panel. This doesn't remove any assigned materials; it only clears the Node View panel.
Navigating the Material Node View panel
All current materials for the open scene are displayed as material node blocks in the Material Node View panel of the Slate Material Editor. At the top of each material node block are the material name and type. You can change the material name using the Name field at the top of the Parameter Editor or by right-clicking the material name and selecting Rename from the pop-up menu. Beneath the material name are all the parameters that are available for this material. Each of these parameters has a corresponding parameter in the Parameter Editor panel.
If you drag the material title (where the name is located), you can move the material node block around. You also can reduce the size of the material block by clicking the Hide Unused Nodeslots button. If multiple material blocks are present, you can use the Layout All buttons to align them in a column or a row. Figure 15.2 shows some material node blocks.
FIGURE 15.2
The Material View panel can hold multiple material blocks.
The Navigator panel shows all the material