Materials and Maps Reference / 3ds Max
To some extent, Verge3D supports almost all materials and maps provided by 3ds Max' Material Editor. However, for most tasks of web-based real-time graphics it is sufficient to use just a limited set of them. Below we only list the materials and maps that are used in stock Verge3D demos.
Contents
Conventions
Inputs that are supported by Verge3D are marked with green check mark, while unsupported inputs are marked with red one. Parameters supported by Verge3D are overlaid with green color. Settings located on the Verge3D Material Params panel are not overlaid as they are all supposed to work.
Materials
Physical
Physical materials are a powerful tool for visualizing model surfaces in Verge3D. They usually require setting up an environment map (included in the default cube scene). Physical materials can be quickly checked against the Arnold renderer in 3ds Max viewport, or in Verge3D by using the Sneak Peek menu option.
Physical materials are used in most Verge3D demos such as Scooter, Industrial Robot, Jewelry Configurator among others.
See more information on the Physical material on Autodesk website: help page.
Verge3D Material Params panel
You can tweak Physical materials by using the following settings located on the Verge3D Material Params panel:
- Alpha Mode
- Material transparency mode. Check out the Transparency section of this material for more info.
- 2-Sided
- Being a real-time engine, Verge3D uses the back-face culling technique to optimize performance. By default, only the front side of the polygons is rendered. If you need it to behave similarly to 3ds Max, enable the 2-Sided property.
- Depth Write
- Disable depth write to implement the additive transparency mode.
- Depth Test
- Disable depth test and raise the Rendering Order property for planar objects such as sprites or decals if you want them rendered above all objects.
- Dithering
- Enable dithering to reduce banding artifacts when using darker shading or gradients.
- glTF 2.0 compatible
- Make the material glTF-compatible. See the corresponding section of this manual for more information.
Standard
Standard materials are simpler than Physical and provide better performance in real-time rendering. They usually require setting up some lights, although they will work on scenes without any lights thanks to the light sources automatically provided by 3ds Max (which is reproduced by Verge3D). Standard materials can be quickly checked against the Scanline renderer in 3ds Max viewport, or in Verge3D by using the Sneak Peek menu option.
Standard materials are used, for example, in Verge3D's Augmented Reality demo and Farmers Journey game.
See more information on the Standard material on Autodesk website: help page.
Blend
This component mixes two materials using a mask or a factor.
Blend is often used for mixing a baked ambient occlusion map to a material in order to remove any lighting from the shaded surface.
See more information on the Blend material on Autodesk website: help page.
Multi/Sub-Object
This component is used to assign multiple materials to different parts of the same object.
In the following example, two Physical materials, painted steel and brushed chrome, are assigned to the same wheel object in different places:
See more information on the Multi/Sub-Object material on Autodesk website: help page.
Maps
Bitmap
This map assigns an image to be used as a texture in materials.
A usage example can be seen below:
See more information on the Bitmap map on Autodesk website: help page.
Normal Bump
This map supplies a normal texture to materials.
A usage example can be seen below:
See more information on the Normal Bump map on Autodesk website: help page.
Gradient Ramp
This map creates a gradient of various kinds.
In the following simplified example, Gradient Ramp is used for covering the background model.
See more information on the Gradient Ramp map on Autodesk website: help page.
Color Correction
This map modifies the color of an input map.
Color Correction may be used for retrieving occlusion, roughness and metalness components packed in R, G, B channels of a single texture (aka ORM texture), or for retrieving any other masks packed in a single texture for memory and file size optimization reasons.
See more information on the Color Correction map on Autodesk website: help page.
Composite
This map overlays input maps on top of each other.
In the following simplified example, Composite is used for combining a local occlusion map with the whole-object occlusion map via multiplication.
See more information on the Composite map on Autodesk website: help page.
Mix
This map combines 2 input maps or colors using a mix factor.
Mix may be used, for example, for adding masked colors to materials, or for swapping between material options in an animated transition.
See more information on the Mix map on Autodesk website: help page.
Color Map
This map provides solid colors or gamma-corrected bitmaps.
Color Map is preferable for use when you need to supply the same color in multiple places for the sake of consistency. In the following example, Color Map is used as masked Base Color and as Emission Color input of the material.
See more information on the Color Map on Autodesk website: help page.
Falloff
This map combines 2 input maps or colors using a mix factor which is calculated from the direction or distance to the object.
Falloff may be used, for example, for adding freshnel effect to materials, or for creating nice background effects.
See more information on the Falloff map on Autodesk website: help page.
Vertex Color
This map provides vertex coloring for use in materials.
A usage example can be seen below:
See more information on the Vertex Color map on Autodesk website: help page.
Triplanar
This node allows for texture mapping without the need for UV coordinates by projecting textures from three different axes simultaneously. This method is particularly useful for avoiding UV stretching and seams, making it ideal for complex surfaces like terrain or hard surfaces:
Node's texture inputs accept only Image node.
See more information on the Triplanar map on Autodesk website: help page.
UV Projection
This node provides precise control over texture placement on 3D models without the need for UV unwrapping. It offers a range of projection types like flat, spherical, cylindrical, cubic and etc:
Node's texture inputs accept only Image node.
See more information on the UV Projection map on Autodesk website: help page.
Matrix Transform
This node allows to apply transformations to texture coordinates using a transformation matrix, providing advanced control over how textures are mapped onto surfaces. It is particularly useful for adjusting the position, rotation, and scale of textures without altering the underlying geometry:
See more information on the Matrix Transform map on Autodesk website: help page.
Controllers
Introduction
Controllers are used in 3ds Max to provide animated inputs, which can be picked up by Verge3D as animations. In addition to that, Verge3D have means to modify a Controller value with Puzzles (set color or set value), or with JavaScript.
The choice which Controller to use depends on whether it is possible to connect it with a desired input. Typically, you may use RGB/RGBA/Point3/Point4 Controllers for colors and Float Controllers for values.
Setting Up. Use With Puzzles
In 3ds Max, Controllers can only be connected to so the called Additional Params of a material or a map. Additional Params are hidden by default, so you need to show them first with the right-click menu:
In the following example, a Bezier RGBA Color controller is connected to Base Color Map input of a Physical material via a Color Map (can be also connected directly without a Color Map).
As a result, it becomes possible to change the color of the material with the set color puzzle. To do this, insert a material selector puzzle and choose your material name in its drop-down menu. Then, select the name of the Controller-enabled map in the drop-down of the set color puzzle.
Animation
A Controller can be animated using standard 3ds Max methods. In the following example, animation keys were added to the Bezier RGBA Color controller to provide smooth color transition.
An animation may be quickly checked with Verge3D's Sneak Peek feature. After exporting a scene, it becomes possible to control the animation with Puzzles or JavaScript.
See more information on Controllers on Autodesk website: help page.
Performance Considerations
Physical Materials Performance
Being the only choice for creating nice and realistic renders, Physical Material nevertheless require more computing power from your GPU and slows down application loading. This is especially true if you have lots of these materials in your scene.
To improve performance you can do one of the following:
- Replace Physical Material by Standard Material.
- Tweak Environment Map Size or IBL Environment Mode property to improve environment lighting performance.
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