How to Use Render Materials in BricsCAD

Quick answer: MATERIALS creates and edits materials through the Drawing Explorer; MATBROWSEROPEN/MATBROWSERCLOSE open and close the Render Materials panel, a library of high-resolution materials; MATERIALMAP adjusts how a texture maps onto a 3D solid’s faces or filled entities. Material definitions save with the drawing, and every drawing has an editable but undeletable, unrenameable Global material.

Worth distinguishing clearly: this is a different concept from the “Physical Materials” covered on this hub’s mechanical blocks page, both are called materials, but Render Materials govern visual appearance for rendering, while Physical Materials govern engineering properties for mechanical assemblies.

The Materials Glossary

• Diffuse color: the color an object reveals under pure, direct white light, perceived as its own color.
• Ambient color: the object’s color in shadow, under ambient rather than direct light.
• Highlights: reflective highlights in the material’s own color.
• Shading: how a surface’s color and brightness vary with lighting.
• Texture-Mapping: adds surface detail not present in the 3D model itself.
• Diffuse map: adds a structure or pattern to simulate a material.
• Transparency map: sets transparency from 0% (black, fully transparent) to 100% (white, opaque), with grayscale values between.
• Bump map: simulates roughness or bumpiness on a surface.
• Reflectivity: a surface’s ability to reflect light.
• Transparency: sharp transmission of light through a solid object.
• Translucency: scattered transmission of light through a solid object.
• Refraction: the bending of light passing through a transparent object.
• Self-illumination: makes a surface appear to emit its own light, without casting light onto other objects.

Adding a Render Material from the Library

1. Select the material in the Render Materials panel.
2. Right-click and choose Add to drawing.

Adding Your Own Custom Materials

1. Download the textures you want to use. A photo works, but a zip file with multiple representations of the same texture gives a more realistic result.
2. Launch MATERIALS; the Drawing Explorer’s Materials dialog opens.
3. Click New.
4. Name the new material.
5. Tick Diffuse Map and Bump Map.
6. Browse to set the Diffuse map path to your texture’s colored image.
7. Browse to set the Bump map path to your texture’s normal image, giving the material a more 3D, realistic look.
8. Adjust the image scale until the preview looks realistic (scale represents how many drawing units the full image width covers).
9. Right-click your new material and choose Add material(s) to library.
10. Close the Drawing Explorer.
11. Open the Render Materials panel and click the User Defined folder to find your new material there, automatically saved to C:\ProgramData\Bricsys\RenderMaterials\UserMaterials\User defined.

Assigning Render Materials

Materials can be assigned to a layer, or to entities and subentities directly. An entity with its Material property set to ByLayer, the default for new entities, uses whatever material is assigned to its layer instead. Materials only actually render visually when the current visual style is BIM, Modeling, Realistic, or X-Ray.

Assigning a Material to Entities

Via the Properties panel: select the entities or subentities, then under 3D Visualization > Material, choose one from the dropdown (only materials already in the drawing are listed).

Via the Render Materials panel: selecting a material launches MATERIALASSIGN, turning the cursor into a paintbrush; click entities or subentities to assign it, optionally selecting a different material partway through. Hold Alt to switch the cursor to a dropper instead, letting you click a source entity to copy its material, then click targets to apply it. The Hotkey Assistant shows the current selection mode (3D solids or 3D solid faces); hold Ctrl to invert it.

To assign a material to an entire selection set: select the entities, search for the material in the Render Materials panel, and click it; it applies to every entity or subentity in the selection.

Assigning a Material to a Layer

1. Select the Material field of the layer, in the Layers panel or the Drawing Explorer’s Layers dialog.
2. Choose a material from the dropdown (only materials already in the drawing are listed).

Removing a Render Material

1. Select the entities and/or subentities.
2. Under 3D Visualization > Material in the Properties panel, select the Global material.

Note the difference: clicking the Erase Material tile in the Render Materials panel instead sets the Material property to ByLayer, not Global.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do render materials only affect how a model looks when actually rendered? They only display visually when the current visual style is BIM, Modeling, Realistic, or X-Ray.

What’s the difference between assigning the Global material and using Erase Material? Assigning Global sets the Material property directly to Global. Erase Material instead sets it to ByLayer, inheriting whatever material the entity’s layer has assigned.

How do I quickly copy a material from one entity to others? Hold Alt while using the Render Materials panel’s assign tool to switch to a dropper, click the source entity, then click the targets you want to apply it to.

Where does BricsCAD store custom materials I add to the library? In the User Defined folder of the Render Materials panel, saved at C:\ProgramData\Bricsys\RenderMaterials\UserMaterials\User defined.