Authoring Hub - Materials: adding and managing

To use existing material from the Starter Catalog follow these steps:

1. Go to Materials tab and click + Add Material.

   

2. Select one or more materials by clicking on them.
3. Click Use X templates.

The selected materials will appear in the Materials section.

You can organize them by creating folders. For more information on creating and managing groups, see How to create and edit groups.

You can copy materials from read-only catalogs in several ways.

Opening Another Catalog

From the Editor, you can open another catalog to review or copy data:

• Internal authors can access all catalogs.
• External authors can access only catalogs under their assigned manufacturer and their system catalogs.

To open a catalog:

1. Click the + sign next to an already opened catalog.

   

2. Select the required catalog version.

Copy and Paste

1. Select items using the checkbox.

2. Right-click and choose Copy.

   

3. Navigate to your target catalog and paste using the following option:

Paste Here
Copies the material along with all related data: subitems, features, options, attributes, dependencies, and referenced materials.

Add Materials to View

1. Select the desired material(s).
2. Click Add X Materials to view.

This adds the materials without using copy/paste.

Drag and Drop

You can drag a material from a read-only catalog and drop it into an editable catalog. This has the same effect as Paste Here.

Duplicate

1. Right-click on a material.
2. Select Duplicate.

This creates an exact copy of the material with all associated data.

1. Click + Add Material.

   

2. Select Create Material from scratch.

3. Enter a Code for the new material.

   

4. Click Create Material.

The new material will appear in the Materials tab on the left panel.

Double-click a material to view its properties and options.

The mCode defines how the material will be rendered in the 3D viewer. It contains the rendering properties and instructions for displaying the material. For more information on mCodes, see this article.

The baseColorFactor defines the solid color of the material using RGBA values.

• Use baseColorFactor only for plain colors without textures.
• You can enter RGB and alpha values manually or use the color picker.
• Important: If you apply both a texture and a baseColorFactor, they will multiply together. For example, a wood texture with a red baseColorFactor will display as reddish wood.

If no texture is defined for the material, it will use the baseColorFactor as its appearance.

Texture Maps

Materials can include various texture maps to define their appearance:

• baseColor – the primary texture or color
• normal – adds surface relief and depth without additional geometry
• metallicRoughness – controls reflective and matte properties
• transmission – allows light to pass through (typically used for glass materials)
• emissive – makes the material emit light (used for illuminated surfaces)

Hover over each field in the interface for additional explanations.

Texture Alternates

Alternates provide texture variations to avoid visible repetition, especially important for tiled surfaces like floors or walls.

Instead of repeating the same texture pattern identically, alternates allow you to:

• rotate or offset the texture
• use different texture variations
• apply entirely different textures from a set

For example, a tile material might have one base color texture and multiple alternate base color textures that are randomly applied to create a more natural appearance.

Alternates support the same texture maps as the primary material (base color, normal, metallic, etc.).

Texture Transforms

Texture transforms control how textures are positioned and oriented on the geometry:

• Scale – adjusts the size of the texture pattern
• Rotation – rotates the texture orientation
• Offset – shifts the texture position on the surface

Texture Randomization

Add minimum and maximum values to randomize texture placement. Instead of always starting from the same corner, the system applies the texture from random positions, creating more natural variation (especially useful for wood grain and organic textures).

Texture Sampling

Sampling defines the real-world dimensions of the texture.

For example, a 2000×2000 pixel texture doesn't automatically represent a specific physical size. Use the real width and real height fields to specify the actual dimensions (e.g., 500mm) that the texture represents. This allows high-resolution textures to be scaled appropriately in the 3D space.

Primary Direction

Defines the grain direction of the texture (important for materials like wood or fabric).

Wrap Mode

Controls how the texture repeats across the surface geometry:

• Horizontal wrap mode – repetition along the horizontal axis
• Vertical wrap mode – repetition along the vertical axis
• Projection method – how the texture is mapped onto the geometry

If wrap mode values are not specified in the material, they will be inherited from the geometry settings. Adjusting these values changes how textures tile and align on surfaces.

Advanced

Instead of relying solely on the mCode, you can define additional parameters:

• metallicFactor
• roughnessFactor
• transmissionFactor
• emissiveFactor
• emissiveStrength

These parameters provide fine-tuned control over how the material interacts with light, especially useful for metallic surfaces, glass, and light-emitting materials.

Notes

• Materials can exist with or without textures
• If no texture is provided, the material displays using the baseColorFactor
• Texture maps and baseColorFactors can be combined, but will multiply their effects