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Element 3D v1.6 Help Home

What's New

Getting Started

Updates

Element 3D v1.6 Element 3D v1.5

Installation and Compatibility

Installing Element 3D Specifications & Requirements Installing VCP model packs Updating Element from a previous version

Importing 3D Objects into Element

Importing 3D Objects Supported 3D Formats Exporting 3D Objects for Element 3D Exporting 3D Objects from C4D Object Transform and Anchor Point Settings Importing Pre-Fractured Geometry 3D Object Troubleshooting Baked Animation Sequences Exporting Animated 3D Sequences

Texturing & Materials

Building Materials in Element 3D Material Texture Slots Environment Textures (reflection map) Texture Channel Pop-up Material Presets Supported Image Formats Surface & UV Mapping Animated Video Textures Normal Bump Map Creation Minimizing Texture Artifacts Pro Shaders Advanced Material Options Opacity Maps Auto Map Size Limit

Animating 3D Objects

3D Object Groups Particle Replicator Particle Look Baked Animation Options Multi-Object Mode Adjusting the Anchor Point Group Utilities & Null Objects World Transform Animation Engine

Extruding 3D Text & Mask Shapes

Extruding Text Tessellation Options Bevel Options Use Layer as UV Bevel Presets

User Interface (Scene Setup)

Panel Descriptions, Preview, Browser, etc. Adjusting UI Panels Saving Presets Preferences Hotkeys Selecting Atom particle vs Replicator Array Changing the Environment map

Compositing Element 3D

Using Depth Compositing World Position Matte Using a Mask with an Element Layer Custom Layer Maps Using Matte Shadow plane Element 3D with 3D Camera Trackers Element 3D & Lens Flare Obscuration Custom Environment maps

Camera & Lighting

Camera Setup Lighting Controls

Render Settings

Environment Lighting Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) Fog Motion Blur Depth of Field Glow Camera Cutoff Tips for Large Resolution Comps Render Order & Opacity Maps Optimizing Render Settings & Performance

Sharing & Transferring Projects

Transferring Element 3D Projects and Assets Relinking missing files

Troubleshooting

Licensing Problems Model Browser Empty Plug-In Not Opening Render Problems Installer Errors Unable To Find Solution?

FAQ

Home > Texturing & Materials > Material Texture Slots

Material Texture Slots

Element 3D comes with many advanced material options to make your models look as good as possible. By tweaking the settings of each texture component, you can achieve stunning results.

BUILDING MATERIALS
For an overview on how to build materials, refer to the previous section.

TEXTURE CHANNELS
Please refer to the Texture Channel Pop-up section for detailed information on those parameters.

DIFFUSE
This is generally the main color of your material’s surface.

SPECULAR
The specular channel has a dual purpose of controlling the amount of specular and reflectivity the surface can receive. We recommend using a single map to control both settings to minimize excessive memory usage when possible. There is an option to ignore the reflectivity and refractivity if you plan to use the reflection/refraction map exclusively.

REFLECTION / REFRACTION
This slot controls the amount of reflection or refraction a surface is able to receive. This channel will work in combination with the specular map and block out additional reflectivity.

ILLUMINATION
This slot allows you to use an illumination map for areas that you want to appear illuminated. Once the map is set be sure to increase the illumination intensity.

NORMAL BUMP
This channel allows you to use a special surface map called a Normal Bump to create textured surfaces that are affected by lighting. To adjust the intensity of the Normal bump, you can decrease the opacity of the map next to the map slot.

OCCLUSION
This texture channel will multiply dark shading on top of the diffuse channel. Great for being able to fine tune the ambient occlusion texture pass with the opacity amount.

ENVIRONMENT
This texture slot allows you to specify a specific environment map other than the default one to reflect. One purpose would be to have a blurry version of the map for one material and a non-blurred version on another material in the same scene to create objects that appear more chrome and objects with blurry reflections.

Watch beyond the basics video for more information on material texture slots

Beyond The Basics Video
• Customizing UI
• Adding textures
• Basic texture mapping options

WATCH NOW!