Materials describe the surfaces in your scene; Environment describes the light around them. Together they help distinguish a concrete courtyard, a grassy slope and a bright interior while keeping the same underlying forms.

Give Surfaces A Clear Purpose

Select an eligible object and open Materials to adjust base color, opacity and texture. A group selection can apply supported changes to its descendants; locked objects are not changed.

Available textures include Snow, Layered stone, Cracked stone, Gravel and Dry earth, plus None. Tile size controls their scale across the scene. Texture transparency blends the texture with the base surface; surface opacity controls how transparent the object itself becomes.

For terrain, Gentle and Cliff controls let you choose separate treatments for flatter ground and steep faces. The slope transition blends between them. This is useful when the land needs grass-colored ground with exposed rock on its sides, rather than one texture stretched across every slope.

Shape The Light

Open Environment to change sunlight and the surrounding brightness. Sun direction and elevation determine which sides catch the light. Drag the sun helper or its rotation ring for a preview, then release to finish the edit.

The scene's light settings include:

These are saved scene choices. Local exposure and inspection settings in Camera can also affect what you see, so compare the same display mode when judging two material choices.

Use Shadows Selectively

Eligible objects can inherit the scene's shadow settings or override them. Turning off an object's shadow casting can make a diagram easier to read; retaining shadows is often more helpful when judging height and contact with the ground.

Paper has two different visual effects: the shadow cast into the scene and the decorative treatment of the sheet itself. Changing one does not necessarily remove the other.

Common Questions

Why can I not see the texture I selected?

Check that you are in Material or Rendered mode. Solid and Wireframe are intended for inspecting geometry.

Why does changing texture transparency not make the whole object transparent?

It changes the texture's contribution to the surface. Use the surface opacity control for the object's transparency.

Will a local display adjustment change someone else's view?

Local Camera presentation choices do not rewrite the saved materials or environment. Editing Materials or Environment changes the scene itself.