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
• Materials
  • Physical
  • Standard
  • Blend
  • Multi/Sub-Object
• Maps
  • Bitmap
  • Normal Bump
  • Gradient Ramp
  • Color Correction
  • Composite
  • Mix
  • Color Map
  • Vertex Color
• Controllers
  • Introduction
  • Setting Up. Use With Puzzles
  • Animation
• Performance Considerations
  • Physical Materials Performance

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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.

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Materials

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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 ART 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, Load Unload among others.

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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 Farmer's Journey game for all assets.

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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.

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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:

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Maps

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Bitmap

This map assigns an image to be used as a texture in materials.

A usage example can be seen below:

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Normal Bump

This map supplies a normal texture to materials.

A usage example can be seen below:

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Gradient Ramp

This map creates a gradient of various kinds.

In the following simplified example, Gradient Ramp is used for covering the background model.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Vertex Color

This map provides vertex coloring for use in materials.

A usage example can be seen below:

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Controllers

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Performance Considerations

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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.
• Switch to glTF 2.0 model.

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