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446 Chapter 20: Managing Scenes and Projects
object or block is equivalent to assigning the same
material to every instance of that component of
that object or block throughout your scene.
As an example, let’s say you have multiple instances
of a block named Telephone in your AutoCAD
Architecture drawing, which consists of two nested
blocks named Handset and Base. If you assign a
material to one Handset an ywhere in your scene,
alltheHandsetsinalltheTelephonesthroughout
the scene will receive that material.
If you want to keep materials from prop agating
between instances in y our scene, turn off the
Propagate Materials To Instances toggle (page
2–1432).
See also
Instanced Ob jects (page 3–457)
Blocks (page 3–457)
Mak ing Changes to AutoCAD
Architecture Materials
AutoCAD Architecture (formerly Architectural
Desktop) object components frequently appear in
3ds Max carrying rendering material assignments
that were made in AutoCAD Architecture. You
can use these materials, adjust them, or replace
them with new rendering materials for use in
3ds Max. If you modif y or replace the materials in
3ds Max, or if they change in the linked AutoCAD
Architecture drawing, you can choose either to
retain the current material in 3ds Max or else to
revise the material assigned in 3ds Max with the
current m aterial in AutoCAD Architecture when
you use the File Link Manager (page 3–422) to
reload the linked drawing.
Note: When 3ds Max encounters additional
material references among xref files that use a
material name that is already in use, it compares
the properties of the two material definitions
in an attempt to determine whether they really
represent ident ical materials. If the two materials
appear to be the same material being used in
different drawings, 3ds Max will use only one of
the material definitions for all objects assigned
either material. But if 3ds Max determines that this
is merely a naming conflict between two different
materials, it will slight ly modif y the name of one
of the materials and keep the materials and their
assignments distinct.
Legacy M a ter i a ls i n Au toCAD
Architecture
Longtime users of AutoCAD may be familiar with
an older form of material creation and assignment
associated with the RMAT command in AutoCAD
that is still present in AutoCAD Architecture.
Materia ls developed in this way can be viewed
in Architectural D esktop and rendered with the
legacy AutoCAD renderer. Any assig nments
of these materials to geometry in AutoCAD
Architecture that is made through the RM AT
command or its Material dialog in Architectural
Desktop w il l b e ig nored in 3ds Max.
In theor y, RMAT materials could be assigned to
AutoCAD Architecture objects (not AutoCAD
objects) by incorporating them into AutoCAD
Architecture material definitions, and using
these material definitions in edits to AutoCAD
Architecture styles or object overrides. Materials
created and assig ned in this way would appear
in 3ds Max assigned to the linked AutoCAD
Architecture objects. However, this practice is
not recommended because the native 3ds Max
Architectural materials have more complete
information on the surface characteristics of
objects, and are easier to create and share. In other
words, you work faster, share easier, and get better
results using native 3ds Max rendering materials
in both AutoCAD Architecture and 3ds Max.