Material Editor
The Material Editor panel is where you shape every surface in your scene. Select any face or part in the viewport or Outliner, then open it from View ▸ Material. If that entry is greyed out, choose View ▸ Unlock Advanced UI first. (View ▸ New Panel ▸ Material Editor opens an additional editor instance.)
The panel docks into any side column.
Opening the panel
- Select one or more parts in the viewport or the Outliner.
- Choose View ▸ Material.
- The panel shows the material currently assigned to the first selected face.
If nothing is selected, the panel continues to show the last active material.
Identity band
At the top of the panel a row of controls identifies the active material:
- Finish preview — a rendered preview of the material. Right-click anywhere in the identity band to change the preview shape (Sphere, Cube, Shader Ball) or to Hide preview (to recover from Hide preview, right-click the band again).
- Name field — the material's name. Edit it and press Enter to rename; every part that shares the material sees the new name immediately.
- Context label — the path of the first selected face, truncated to fit.
Action buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Save to Library | Save to Library — store this material in the VIZid library for reuse across documents |
| Make unique | Make unique (this face) — after you double-click a face, gives that face its own copy of the material. Without a double-clicked face, the status bar reads Double-click a face first, then Make Unique. |
| Convert to Standard | Convert to a Standard material — expand any preset into fully editable values |
| Eyedropper | Eyedropper — pick a material from a face |
| Apply to selected | Apply to the selected parts/faces — assign this material to the current selection |
Library state
When a material came from the library, a link badge appears beside the name. Break Link is always visible; Update Library appears after you edit the material.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Break Link | Break Link — detach this material from its library entry |
| Update Library | Update Library — push these edits back to the library entry (new version) |
Escape banner
If you have edited a material in the Node Graph, a yellow banner reads Edited as nodes — curated controls disabled. While this banner is showing, the Surface, Textures, Labels and FX tabs are disabled; if you were on one of those tabs, the panel switches to the Sets tab. Two buttons restore normal editing:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Open Node Editor | Open Node Editor — go to the Node Graph for this material |
| Rebuild from Spec | Rebuild from Spec — discard node edits and restore the panel controls |
Tabs
Seven tabs run across the panel below the identity band.
| Tab | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Surface | Material type picker, surface parameters, bump and finish |
| Textures | Image, video and procedural textures for each surface channel |
| Labels | Decal layers positioned on the surface |
| FX | Material effects — add, reorder and configure geometry and shading effects |
| Sets | Variant sets and colourway tags |
| AI | Reserved for AI material generation — not yet available |
| Keyframes | All animatable material properties in a searchable tree. A green key dot means the property has animation keys; a gold dot means a key exists at the current frame |
Surface tab
Choosing the material type
At the top of the Surface tab the Type row selects the material class. Open the dropdown to choose from:
- Recent — types used recently in this session
| Group | Types |
|---|---|
| Basic | Diffuse, Flat, Glass, Glass (Solid), Liquid, Metal, Paint, Plastic, Thin Film, Translucent; Wood when available |
| Advanced | Advanced, Anisotropic, Dielectric, Gem, Generic, Measured, Metallic Paint, Multi-Layer Optics, OpenPBR, Plastic (Cloudy), Plastic (Transparent), RealCloth, Scattering Medium, Translucent Medium, Velvet |
| Light Sources | Area Light, IES Light, Planar Light, Point Light, Spotlight |
| Special | Cutaway, Dirt, Emissive, Ground, Toon, Toon + Outline, Toon Ink, Outline Only, Wireframe, Xray, X-ray Surface, X-ray + Outline |
Switching type is safe: values shared between both types carry across, and each type's settings are remembered if you switch back.
The Reset options button beside Type opens a menu:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reset Surface | Reverts surface parameters to the type's defaults |
| Clear All Textures | Removes all texture maps |
| Reset Entire Material | Restores the complete material to defaults |
Surface Parameters
The cards below the Type row change to match the chosen type. Classic types (Basic, most Advanced) show one card per surface field. OpenPBR uses open collapsible sections — Base, Specular, Transmission, Subsurface, Fuzz, Coat, Thin Film, Emission and Geometry — using OpenPBR field names (Weight, Color, Metalness and so on). The Advanced type organises parameters into sections: Surface, Transmission, Subsurface, Sheen, Coat, Thin Film, Anisotropy, Emission, Toon, Veins (Stone) and Grain (Leather). Anisotropic shows Roughness X and Roughness Y in place of a single Roughness and Anisotropic pair. Measured leads with a package picker.
Cards reflow into 1, 2 or 3 columns as the dock widens (1 column at the minimum width, 2 at 600 px, 3 at 900 px).
Finish section
Every type also has a Finish section:
| Row | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Bump Depth | Relief depth of the surface; negative values invert the effect |
| Round Edges | Switch to enable edge softening, plus a Radius value |
The Glass type additionally shows Fast Refraction and Fast Reflection toggles in this section.
Type-specific sections
Some types add their own sections above Finish:
- Point Light, Spotlight, IES Light (Light Sources group) — Light controls
- Area Light, Planar Light (Light Sources group) and Emissive (Special group) — Emission controls
- Multi-Layer Optics (Advanced group) — Film Layers (see below). Thin Film (Basic group) shows a hint to switch to Multi-Layer Optics for a full layer stack.
- Ground (Special group) — Ground receiver controls
- Cutaway (Special group) — Cutaway controls
- OpenPBR (Advanced group) — a Geometry section
- Toon (Special group) — Surface Parameters cards (no separate controls section)
- Wood (Basic group) — dedicated Wood sections; see Procedural Wood.
Film Layers section
The Film Layers section adds thin-film interference layers (for example soap bubble, oil slick, anodising). Click Add Layer to add the first layer; each subsequent click adds another layer up to a maximum of eight.
Each layer row shows a numbered label (1 = outermost), IOR and Thickness (nm) sliders, and buttons to reorder (Move outward (towards layer 1) / Move inward (towards the surface)) or Remove this layer to remove that layer.
Film Mode chooses between:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Coating | The stack sits on the surface (soap film on metal, anodising) |
| Transparent film | The stack IS the surface — a free-standing bubble or foil |
Ground receiver
Choose Special ▸ Ground in the Surface tab's Type picker. The Ground controls let a receiver catch shadows, reflections or local contact shading around the product.
| Mode | Controls shown |
|---|---|
| Shadow Catcher | Shadow Colour |
| Shadow Catcher + Reflections | Reflection, Roughness, Filter Saturation, Contrast, Reflection Colour, Shadow Colour |
| Occlusion (Contact Shadow) | AO Distance, AO Strength, Shadow Colour |
All three modes also have Clip Geometry:
- Off leaves geometry unclipped.
- Surface Mask hides geometry behind the receiver's upper surface.
- Interior Clip hides geometry inside a closed receiver. Without an exit surface it falls back to Surface Mask.
Mode and Clip Geometry are always shown. The Ground receiver is invisible from below. Use AO Distance to control the reach of contact shading and AO Strength for its intensity in Occlusion mode.
Cutaway
Choose Special ▸ Cutaway to reveal a section of the model. The Cutter Shape determines which transform defines the cut:
| Shape | Cutting reference |
|---|---|
| Self Plane (this part's X = 0) | The material-bearing part's own X = 0 plane. Rotate the part to aim it. |
| Plane (cutter part) | The cutter part's Z plane. |
| Box (cutter part) | A unit box scaled and positioned by the cutter part's transform. |
| Sphere (cutter part) | A unit sphere scaled and positioned by the cutter part's transform. |
Cutter Part and Excluded Parts (one path per line) appear for the three cutter-part shapes. Type or paste the cutter's scene path from the Outliner into Cutter Part, for example /World/Cutter. The cutter itself is not cut. Excluded Parts lists parts that use this Cutaway material but should stay uncut, such as fasteners. Moving the cutter restarts rendering while the section updates.
Cap offers None (hollow shell) or Colour (solid section). Choosing Colour reveals Cap Colour, which colours the exposed interior so the section reads as solid. This is a render treatment; it does not create a new solid CAD body.
Reset
Each row's reset slot (the small icon to the right of the value) reverts that field to its default.
Shared materials and multi-face assignments
A material name identifies one set of properties. When multiple faces share a name, editing any of them edits all of them. To work on one face without affecting the others, double-click the face first then press Make unique. A number beside the name shows how many faces or parts share the material.
To give one whole part its own copy, select that part, open the Node Graph panel (View ▸ Node Graph) and click Single-user in its toolbar. The button is available only while more than one part shares the material, and it copies for the last-selected part. Alternatively, Edit ▸ Copy Material from the part, then right-click it and choose Paste Material As ▸ Unlinked Copy.
Material commands and presets
Select the part or parts to change, then choose a preset from Edit ▸ Apply Material. For thumbnail browsing, choose Gallery… in that submenu, select a finish and click Apply, or double-click its thumbnail. Applying a finish changes the current selection; closing the gallery does not undo an application. Use Ctrl+Z to undo it.
The built-in presets are Chrome, Gold, Copper, Brushed Metal, Anodized Blue, Glossy Plastic, Matte Plastic, Ceramic, Clear Glass, Frosted Glass, Rubber, Soft-Touch, Velvet, Pearlescent, Emissive, LED Red, Jade and Satin Clearcoat.
When selected parts use different editor materials, apply the preset to one material at a time. With nothing selected, a preset reports Select a part first; the Gallery reports Pick a material first.
Copy a material between parts
- Select the source part. If several parts are selected, the last-selected part supplies the material.
- Choose Edit ▸ Copy Material (Ctrl+Shift+C).
- Select the destination parts and choose Edit ▸ Paste Material (Ctrl+Shift+V). When the source has a Material-editor material in this document, this shares it and later edits affect the parts using it. If the source still has its imported appearance, or came from another document, Paste copies its appearance instead. Locked destination parts are skipped.
For a different paste behaviour, right-click the selected destination in the viewport and open Paste Material As:
| Choice | Result |
|---|---|
| Linked Copy | Shares the copied editor material when it is available in this document; otherwise copies its appearance. |
| Unlinked Copy | Gives each destination its own private copy of the editor material; an imported appearance is copied as appearance settings instead. |
| Labels Only | Adds the copied labels while keeping the destination's surface material. Available when the copied material has labels. |
| Material, Keep Labels | Uses the copied surface and keeps the destination's existing labels. |
The last two choices combine source and destination content, so the resulting material is independent. Paste is undoable with Ctrl+Z.
Edit ▸ Select Same Material selects parts matching the active part's material state. Edit ▸ Reset Material clears the selected parts' flat material settings and library assignment; Ctrl+Z restores them. To reset a material built in the Material editor, use Reset Entire Material in the editor's Reset options instead.
Face materials
Double-click a face in the viewport to edit its material, then right-click without holding a modifier key to open the face-material menu. These commands act on the last face you double-clicked. Changes to a locked object are refused.
The status bar confirms face mode with the part, face number and material name. A face still showing its part's material has no separate face material to copy or unlink: use Make Unique for This Face first, or Edit ▸ Copy Material for the whole part. Geometry without per-face information selects the part instead and reports no per-face pick here.
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
| Make Unique for This Face | Duplicates the face's current material and assigns the private copy to that face. Other faces keep their original material. |
| Copy Face Material | Remembers the face's material for the Paste commands. |
| Paste (Copy) | Assigns a new, independent copy of the copied material to the target face. |
| Paste Linked (Shared) | Assigns the same material to the target face. Later material edits affect every face or part sharing it. |
| Unlink (Single-User) | Duplicates the target face's material so later edits to that face do not change the other users. |
To reuse a finish, double-click the source face and choose Copy Face Material. Double-click the destination face, right-click, then choose Paste (Copy) or Paste Linked (Shared). Paste is disabled until a face material has been copied. The status bar confirms the assignment; Ctrl+Z undoes it.
Common tasks
- Set a colour and roughness — Getting started
- Add a texture — Textures and Labels
- Create a colour variant — Colourways
- Save to the library — Library
- Animate a material property — see the Keyframes tab or Animation