Llama Labs Interactive
  • Introduction
  • Game Development
    • TankTop
    • MiniRacers
  • Asset Creation
    • The Crate Series
      • Blender Basics
        • The Base Model
        • Edit Elements
        • Blender Common Tools
        • Simple Materials
        • Useful Techniques
        • Exporting the Asset
        • Summary
      • Materials and UVs
      • Palette & Gradient Texturing
        • Palette Approach
        • Creating the Material
        • Unwrapping UVs
        • Finalizing the asset
      • Tileable Textures
        • Creating the Texture
        • Creating the Material
        • Unwrapping the UVs
        • Finalizing the Asset
      • Trim Sheets
        • Creating the Texture
        • Creating the Material
        • Unwrapping UVs
        • Finalising the Asset
      • Hand Painted Assets
      • High polygon Assets
    • VRM Avatars
      • Getting Started
      • VRM for Blender
        • Installation
        • Rigging the Avatar
        • Weight Painting
        • VRM Details
        • VRM Export
  • Unity
    • VR/XR
      • Setting Up Unity
      • Installing Packages
      • Project Setup for VR/XR
      • Project Setup for XR
      • Movement - Teleportation
      • Picking up Objects
      • Poking Objects
      • Interacting with UI
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On this page
  • Adding a Single Material
  • Adding Multiple Materials
  • Material Considerations
  • Summary
  1. Asset Creation
  2. The Crate Series
  3. Blender Basics

Simple Materials

This doc goes into adding simple materials to your 3D Asset in Blender.

PreviousBlender Common ToolsNextUseful Techniques

Last updated 3 months ago

Adding a Single Material

  • Return to 'Object Mode'.

  • Go to the 'Material Preview' option at the top right of the viewport. The 'Solid Preview' mode will not display changes in the material.

  • Select the Model.

  • Go to the 'Materials Properties' tab in the bottom right.

  • Select 'New' at the top if there is no material in the box. This will create a new material if there isn't one by default.

  • Double click on the Material text to rename it.

  • Under the 'Surface' property, click on the Color property. Adjust the color as needed.

  • If you want to adjust the Metallic (0 is not metallic, 1 is metallic) or Roughness (0 is smooth, 1 is matte) sliders you can do so.

Adding Multiple Materials

  • Select the '+' symbol to the top right of the Material Properties panel to create a second material.

  • Add a new material using 'New' in the slot or use one you have already made with the pulldown to the bottom of the Materials list.

  • Rename and update the settings to a second color, such as a lighter tone for the damaged areas or perhaps add some extra polygons for a sign on the crate.

  • Go to 'Edit Mode' [Tab] on the model.

  • Go to Polygon Selection [3] and select the polygons you would like to apply the second material to.

  • Use the 'Assign' Button in the Material Properties to apply the second material to the polygons.

Material Considerations

Similar to polygons, the number of materials in an experience can affect performance, especially on low end devices such as Mobile, Standalone XR/VR, and WebGL. Each material affects the number of drawcalls the device has to do, or times the GPU/CPU has to call on information to draw something to the screen. The more drawcalls, the more the GPU/CPU has to think, the slower the frame rate.

Even modern mobile devices have considerably more power than previously and can run very complex games, but the number of materials is still an important factor to consider. We will look at more efficient approaches to materials in the Palette Texturing tutorials.

Summary

In this tutorial we looked at adding simple materials to the Crate.

Next, we will look at finalizing the Crate before looking into more efficient approaches of asset creation.

Add a Second Material...