_{^{shadow_matte shader used to capture shadow on the floor plane (rollover image)}}

The shadow_matte is a specific shader, used typically on floor planes to 'catch' shadows from lighting within the scene. It is useful for integrating a rendered object onto a photographic background. You can create a custom shadow pass with this shader. You can also render out shadows separately for use in a compositing package. For example, you may want to change the shadow density or color of the shadow to match some live-action footage.

Background

Shadow

Diffuse

Drag and drop images directly into material editor map slots (requires 3ds Max 2017 Update 1) Creative Market - Search thousands of high quality 3D assets. Object Paint 3D files by simple drag and drop into 3ds Max scene; 3ds Max file details available; Collection files (.3dsmal) are viewable and can be added via drag and drop inside the app. Exporting an IBL PBR Material in 3ds Max is largely the same as before. However there are some maps that need to be filled regardless of if they are used. A full description of the gTexture slots is also presently missing. ScriptSpot is a diverse online community of artists and developers who come together to find and share scripts that empower their creativity with 3ds Max. Our users come from all parts of the world and work in everything from visual effects to gaming, architecture, students or hobbyists. Register for free and be part of the community!

Specular

Lights

AOVs

Background

This can be set to either scene_background (default) or background_color, which allows connecting a specific texture in the background_color parameter slot.

Shadow

Shadow Color

The color of the shadow. You can use it to 'tint' the color of the shadows to match a photographic backplate.

Shadow Opacity

Determines how 'opaque' or dark the shadow appears. Higher values will produce a lighter shadow. The captured shadow is visible in the alpha channel. If you have a very hilly or bumpy ground, you may need to increase the Transparency Depth in the Render Settings.

Alpha Mask

Controls whether the alpha should be opaque or contain the shadow mask.

Diffuse

Diffuse color

The color used to determine the overall indirect diffuse contribution in the scene.

^{_{Diffuse Color: Red}}

Use Background Color

If enabled, the background color is used to determine the overall indirect diffuse contribution in the scene. Otherwise, the color defined in the diffuse color is used.

The amount of diffuse contribution.

Backlighting

When enabled, it takes into account the backlighting illumination. Backlighting provides the effect of a translucent object being lit from behind (the shading point is 'lit' by the specified fraction of the light hitting the reverse of the object at that point). It is recommended that this only be used with thin objects (single-sided geometry) as objects with thickness may render incorrectly.

Indirect Diffuse

Switch for enabling/disabling capture of the indirect diffuse light.

Specular

Indirect Specular

Switch for enabling/disabling capture of the indirect specular light.

Specular Color

The color the specular reflection will be modulated with.

The specular weight. Influences the brightness of the specular highlight.

Specular Roughness

Controls the glossiness of the specular reflections. The lower the value, the sharper the reflection.

Specular IOR

The IOR parameter (Index of Refraction) defines the material's Fresnel reflectivity and is by default the angular function used. Effectively the IOR will define the balance between reflections on surfaces facing the viewer and on surface edges. You can see the reflection intensity remains unchanged, but the reflection intensity on the front side changes a lot.

Lights

Light Group

Per light group shadow mattes. More information about light groups can be found here.

3ds Max Materials Free

AOVs

A list of available AOVs available for the Shadow Matte shader. Each option creates a separate AOV render pass for that component. Note that the AOV must also be enabled in the Render Setup window.

Shadow

Direct light shadow AOV.

Shadow Diff

A difference AOV which can be used to eliminate the shadow from the direct component.

Shadow Mask

This AOV can be used in comp to localize and tweak the shadow.

Offscreen Color

There may be areas visible in the specular reflections which are outside of the background plate; so-called offscreen areas. This parameter defines the color used for these offscreen areas; you can link a texture for instance.

^{_{Backplate bitmap -> projection_color. Environment HDRI -> offscreen_color}}

Skydome Light Sampling

The Shadow Matte shader requires more than 1 sample to avoid noisy shadows. This is because it is computing a ratio of shadowed/unshadowed lighting, and to get a good estimate of that it requires multiple samples.

The sample slots let you maintain and preview materials and maps. Each slot previews a single. You can change the material by using the Compact Material Editor controls, and you can apply the material to objects in the scene. The easiest way to do this is to drag the material from the sample slot to objects in viewports.

• (Material Editor): Compact > Sample slots display

You can display a sample slot in a window of its own. This magnifies the sample slot, which can make it easier to preview the material. You can resize the magnified window to make it even larger. To magnify a sample slot, double-click it, or right-click and choose Magnify from the pop-up menu.

3ds Max More Material Slots Machines

The Material Editor has 24 sample slots. You can view them all at once, six at a time (the default), or 15 at a time. When you view fewer than 24 slots at once, scroll bars let you move among them.

A material in a slot is shown on a sample object. By default, the object is a sphere. Use the Sample Type flyout to change the sample object.

By default, a standalone map in a slot fills the whole slot. This is when the slot shows only a map; for example, when you drag the map onto the slot from elsewhere in the 3ds Max interface. When a map is assigned to a material, the slot shows it as part of the material, mapped to the sample object.

Sample slot showing a map

Hot and Cool Materials

A sample slot is 'hot' when the material in the slot is assigned to one or more surfaces in the scene. When you use the Compact Material Editor to adjust a hot sample slot, the material in the scene changes at the same time.

The corners of a sample slot indicate whether the material is a hot material:

• No triangle: The material is not used in the scene.
• Outlined white triangle: The material is hot. In other words, it's instanced in the scene. Changes you make to the material in the sample slot will change the material displayed in the scene.
• Solid white triangle: The material is not only hot, but is applied to the currently selected object.

Left: 'Hot' material applied to currently selected object.

Middle: 'Hot' material assigned to scene but not to currently selected object.

Right: 'Cool' material: active but not assigned to scene.

A material is 'cool' if it is not applied to any object in the scene.

To make a hot sample slot cool, click (Make Material Copy). This copies the material in the sample slot on top of itself so that it's no longer used in the scene.

You can have the same material (with the same name) in more than one sample slot, but only one slot containing that material can be hot. You can have more than one hot sample slot, as long as each has a different material.

3ds Max More Material Slots 777

If you drag to copy a material from a hot slot to another slot, the destination slot is cool, and the original slot remains hot.