9

Material Modifier 715
Object ma pped using a multi/sub-object m aterial:
Material ID 1 for the housing of the monitor
Material ID 2 for the image on the screen
Tip: If you want a gradual blend from one material
to another, t ry animating the Mix parameter on a
Blend (page 2–1588) material.
Use this modifier in conjunction with the
multi/sub-object (page 2–1594) material t ype, to
assign different materia ls to objects or faces at
different fr ames of an animation, or to quickly
change the material ID of a n object.
See also
Editable Mesh Surface (page 1–996)
Pat ches
As of 3ds Max 4, patch objects coming up the
modifier stack are not converted to a mesh by this
modifier. A patch object input to the Material
modifier retai ns its patch definition. Files that
contain patch objects with the Material modifier
from previous versions of the software wil l be
converted to meshes to maintain backward
compatibility.
Procedure
Example: To change the mater ial ID of a sub-object
selection:
1.
In the Top viewport, create a sphere.
2. In the Material Editor, create a
multi/sub-object material.
Make the colors of material ID 1 and 2 different.
3. Assign the multi/sub-object material to
the sphere.
4. OntheModifypanel,chooseMesh
Select from the Modifier List.
5. On the Mesh S elect Parameters rollout,
click Polygon.
6. In the Front viewp ort, region-select the lower
half of the sphere.
The selected polygons turn red.
7. While Polygon is still the active sub-object level
(in the stack display, a square polygon icon
appears to the right of Mesh Sele ct), choose
Material from the Modifier List.
8. On the Material modifier Parameters rollout,
set the value of the Material ID to 1 and 2 to
toggle the color on and off.
In the s haded viewport, the lower half of the
sphere changes to the color of the selected
material ID.
Interfa ce
Material ID—Sets the material ID to be assi gned;
this ca n be animated. If the input object is in