Open Paraplex

Materials and appearances

A material decides how a surface meets the light: chalky or glossy, metal or glass. An appearance is a finished look built on one, such as oak, terracotta, brushed steel or velvet, with its color and texture included. Click a look to start, then tune the material's dials.

The Appearance gallery: rendered thumbnails of oak, walnut, paper, cardboard, terracotta, porcelain, concrete, plaster, worn, metals, soft materials and glass

Where to find it: the Appearance and Panel Material sections, with a layer selected.

Choose an appearance

  1. Select one or more shapes, text layers, 3D models or blobs.
  2. In the Appearance section, click a look.

The look sets the material, the color and the texture together, as one step for undo. Hover a thumbnail to read what it is.

Six appearances on the same bevelled card: Oak, Terracotta, Brushed steel, Gold, Velvet and Porcelain
GroupAppearances
Wood and paperOak, Walnut, Paper, Cardboard
Stone and clayTerracotta, Porcelain, Concrete, Plaster, Worn
MetalBrushed steel, Chrome, Gold, Copper
SoftLeather, Velvet, Rubber
GlassGlass, Frosted, Crystal, Liquid glass, Dark glass

A look is whole. Choosing Chrome after Oak takes the wood texture off, because Chrome has none.

Everything an appearance sets stays editable: the color under Panel Fill, the dials under Panel Material, and the texture under Texture. See Textures.

Note

A 3D model or a blob takes the look's material and texture, and keeps its own colors.

Set a material by hand

Shapes and text have a Panel Material section.

The Panel Material section with its settings numbered
  1. Preset: a starting point. Choosing one sets the dials below it, which you can then change.
  2. Roughness: 0 is a mirror-smooth surface with sharp reflections, 1 is chalky and spreads the light.
  3. Metalness: 1 turns the surface into metal, which takes its color from what it reflects.
  4. Clearcoat: a thin glossy layer on top, like varnish or a car's paint.
  5. Transmission: lets light through, turning the surface to glass.
  6. Backdrop blur: frosts what you see through a surface with Transmission above 0.
  7. Advanced glass: refraction, color splitting, iridescence and more, for glass. See Glass and Liquid glass.

Roughness through Backdrop blur each have a ◆, so a material can change over time. See Animation basics.

The presets

A white sphere in each preset: Matte, Glossy, Glass, Frosted glass, Metal, Fabric and None (unlit)
PresetWhat it is
MatteChalky, no shine.
GlossySmooth with a clear coat. A new shape starts as Glossy.
GlassClear glass. It shows what's behind it, so on an empty background it looks dark.
Frosted glassGlass that blurs what's behind it.
MetalPolished metal that reflects the scene's environment.
FabricSoft and dull, like cloth.
None (unlit)Ignores the lights: the color shows exactly as you set it, flat.
Image / LogoFlat and unlit, for a picture or logo that should look exactly like the file. The dock's Image uses it.

Important

Metal reflects the environment around the scene. In a black environment, a metal surface renders black. Pick a brighter environment in the Scene's lighting. See Lighting and environments.

Save a material

To reuse a material you've tuned, choose Menu › Materials › Save current material…. It's named after the layer and listed in the same menu, marked saved. Choose it there to put it on other layers.

Layers given a saved material follow it. To change the saved material, adjust one of them and choose Menu › Materials › Update followed material…. The Materials menu also applies the built-in presets to the selected layers.