Can I override existing materials?

[Claudio Branch]

I have a scene with several materials already assigned to several objects.

 

What I want to do is assign a uniform material to all, but be able to "toggle" back to the originally assigned material for each object.

 

Something that will allow me to see my highlights, shadows, etc. independent of texture maps?

 

Anybody out there know what I'm talking about?

[only3d]

its called CLAY MODEL and its a very common and useful technique to work on lighting.

are u using vray by any chance?

if so i can help

[a_w]

If you're using 3DSMax 8 or higher, you could use Scene States (Tools menu > Manage Scene States).

 

Save one scene state where your objects have materials, and another scene state where all objects have a single material. Then you'll be able to toggle between the two with the Restore option.

[daniohayon]

What I want to do is assign a uniform material to all, but be able to "toggle" back to the originally assigned material for each object.

 

 

What you want is a "Material Override". In Mental Ray, go to the processing tab in the render dialog, enable the Material Override and drop your uniform material into the material slot as an instance(so you can make changes from the material editor). Turning off the Material override will revert to the original set of materials.

 

In VRay goto the Global Switches and do the same thing

 

...don't know how to do it in scanline...