What are Materials?

eclark1849

Hey guys, I need a definition of the word "materials" as it relates to it's use in Poser and DS.. In other words, how would you explain to someone who has never used or even seen Poser or DS before just what materials are?

eclark1849

If you sent them into the DAZ store, and told them to buy some materials for a figure or prop, what would you expect them to bring back?

agent unawares

Shader presets are items that will load surface information onto a selected surface of any object. Materials presets are collections of shader presets which will automatically load different shader presets onto multiple surfaces of a predefined object to achieve a certain look.

Havos

I am not claiming to know of any "official" definition, but for me the word "materials" refers to both the shader settings applied to a particular surface, and any texture files it uses. As such materials are very specific to both the program (DS, Poser etc) and the renderer (Iray, 3DL, Firefly, Superfly etc).

Design Anvil - Razor42

"Getting all of the settings right for each surface, loading image maps, setting values etc. can be tedious. Most products you purchase from the DAZ 3D store will come with presets that set values and load image maps onto the properties that, together, describe the surface(s) of a figure or object - collectively referred to as a “Material.” These presets are called “Material(s) Presets” and are by far the easiest way to set the properties for the surface(s) of your model."

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/chapters/textures_surfaces_and_materials/start

This page isn't bad for a general description of a Material Preset.

Generally you have:

Shaders:  "The concept of a surface shader is a little more abstract than that of a surface, or an image map. The reason being that you can't really see a surface shader in your scene, you can only see the results of one. The simplest way to describe a surface shader is to say that it is a program that is run, by the “Render Engine”, for every visible/sampled point on a surface in order to describe what the final color and opacity of that surface should be. It calculates how a surface reacts to light, how or whether it reflects, or refracts etc. A surface shader ultimately determines the RGB value for every pixel in the scene." e.g. Uber, MDL, RSL shader types.

Shader Preset: A Shader preset applies specific settings to a predefined Shader type rather than being a unique Shader. Generally a shader preset can be used with any UV'd mesh.

Material Preset: A preset that applies specific shaders with uv specific settings/textures for specific surfaces on a mesh. Generally for an entire mesh with multiple surfaces.

Richard Haseltine

Design Anvil - Razor42 said:

"Getting all of the settings right for each surface, loading image maps, setting values etc. can be tedious. Most products you purchase from the DAZ 3D store will come with presets that set values and load image maps onto the properties that, together, describe the surface(s) of a figure or object - collectively referred to as a “Material.” These presets are called “Material(s) Presets” and are by far the easiest way to set the properties for the surface(s) of your model."

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/chapters/textures_surfaces_and_materials/start

This page isn't bad for a general description of a Material Preset.

Generally you have:

Shaders:  "The concept of a surface shader is a little more abstract than that of a surface, or an image map. The reason being that you can't really see a surface shader in your scene, you can only see the results of one. The simplest way to describe a surface shader is to say that it is a program that is run, by the “Render Engine”, for every visible/sampled point on a surface in order to describe what the final color and opacity of that surface should be. It calculates how a surface reacts to light, how or whether it reflects, or refracts etc. A surface shader ultimately determines the RGB value for every pixel in the scene." e.g. Uber, MDL, RSL shader types.

Shader Preset: A Shader preset applies specific settings to a predefined Shader type rather than being a unique Shader. Generally a shader preset can be used with any UV'd mesh.

Material Preset: A preset that applies specific shaders with uv specific settings/textures for specific surfaces on a mesh. Generally for an entire mesh with multiple surfaces.

UVs aren't absolutely required, if the shader used is procedural for example.

eclark1849

Thanks Razor. That is probably the best description to use without getting overly technical.

McGyver

I used these in the CGI glossary for noobs back in 2010 when I put it together for the new users section... 

Material: A set of mathematical attributes that determine the ways in which the surface of a model to which they are applied reacts to light. These attributes are sub-divided into individual channels.

Shader: A computer program used to determine the final surface properties of an object or image. This often includes arbitrarily complex descriptions of light absorption, diffusion, texture mapping, reflection, refraction, shadowing, surface displacement and post-processing effects. In real-time shading languages there are two different applications of shaders: vertex shaders and pixel shaders.

Texture (or Texture Mapping): The process of assigning (mapping) an image (texture) to a 3D surface. This allows a complicated colouring of the surface without requiring additional polygons to represent minute details.

 

But these are not an answer you would give to a noob or someone unfamiliar with CGI... I usually say to people who have no idea why the heck I'm taking pictures of a rock or grass, something to the effect of...  "Think of materials as a computer generated method of painting the surface of a model... They can behave as individual colors and sheens of paint, or more like seamless decals that are applied to the surface and wrap perfectly over every detail on the area to which they are applied... Image based textures are basically the same idea, but they use digital photographic images instead of computer generated patterns and colors to create the impression of a detailed surface on the model"... 

Or I say "Leave me the hell alone, this is public property, why the hell do you care if I'm taking picture of tree bark"... 

It depends on how nicely or stupidly they inquire as to what I'm doing... Some people can be quite friggin obnoxious.

 

eclark1849

yep, clear as mud, McGyver.

DestinysGarden

McGyver said:

Or I say "Leave me the hell alone, this is public property, why the hell do you care if I'm taking picture of tree bark"... 

It depends on how nicely or stupidly they inquire as to what I'm doing... Some people can be quite friggin obnoxious.

 

Oh, good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. Or when you are at the zoo, "Hey, can I borrow your zebra for 20 minutes?"

Knittingmommy

DestinysGarden said:

McGyver said:

Or I say "Leave me the hell alone, this is public property, why the hell do you care if I'm taking picture of tree bark"... 

It depends on how nicely or stupidly they inquire as to what I'm doing... Some people can be quite friggin obnoxious.

 

Oh, good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. Or when you are at the zoo, "Hey, can I borrow your zebra for 20 minutes?"

Oh, that actually sounds like a good idea for a render.  I can just see it now.  @DestinysGarden, a zebra and the swat team closing in.  :)