Part of Lesson Plan: Creating 3D Materials

Activity Overview / Details

Create and apply each of the materials to the objects. Discuss the settings as they are adjusted and emphasize the process of mapping each material to each object.

Materials must be “mapped” onto a surface of an object. Think of it as dressing the object with the material. How do you make it best fit the object? Where do the seams go? How many “tiles” of the image do you want repeat on the object?

Once a material has been applied to an object, it needs to be properly mapped to the object. To do this you often need to define the projection, orientation, and the number of tiles of the material. 

Projection: Normally based on shape, typical options are cubic, spherical, cylindrical, flat, and UVW mapping.

Orientation:  This is rotated, scaled, and moved as you would an object.  

Tiles:  This relates to how the material is repeated on the object.