Slate Material Editor — 3ds Max 2011 New Features

Easily visualize and edit material component relationships with Slate, a new node-based material editor that helps significantly improve workflow and productivity for artists creating and editing complex material networks. The intuitive schematic framework is engineered to handle the vast numbers of materials required by today's demanding productions.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Autodesk
• 3ds Max
• 3d Studio
• modeling software
• animation software
• rendering software
• compositing software
• 3ds Max 2011
• 3d Studio 2011
• Slate
• material editor

[colonelclaw]

Probably the most significant new feature in Max2011

[Caesaurus]

the menu, the interface, EVERYTHING looks EXACTLY like 'nodejoe'!  :-)

[Drewthema480]

How do you get the mental ray option on the drop down list on the right?

[chris123643]

The best thing this video taught me was that the "old" material editor is still readily available! Ive been forced into this slate one and have been struggling to learn it for a week. I will get to grips with it, but at my own pace! I found it very messy, i think i'm using it all wrong.

[KebleTar]

@KebleTar Correcting: "Slate" not "Slade", even though it doesn't really matter.

[KebleTar]

Even in 2012 it still seem to have some flaws. If you create a material in the slade editor it automatically becomes #25. However when opening the material/map browser to look for a material I can only find #1-24 of the standard material editor slots. Do I really have to create my materials in the standard editor or to apply them to a temporary object in the scene so that the material browser can find them?

[MosinDisciple]

I was always leery of node-based shader editors because the only one I ever used, Hypershade in Maya, was so clunky, non-intuitive, and just plain ugly. Which I suppose describes a lot of aspects of Maya.

Slate has really impressed me. Its really simple to understand and makes it a hell of a lot easier to experiment with shaders in max. Now Autodesk, please just give us a decent and reliable pass manager...

[Sephern]

Thank you so much for keeping the "compact" editor for us older users. Most of us don't find the node based system to be faster because we're used to the older way of doing it, but I've finally hit the point where I need to learn it. Also, this is a great tutorial for me because it shows how the new editor works with the new old editor on the side. :)

[RealationGames]

This is the worst feature ever. It takes atleast 10 minutes to get just a basic material visible and you can add only max of 4 materials until the screen is fully messed up.

I can't use this crap, I need to switch back to older ones for material editor that is simple, fast and effective.

[daggergblue]

@bharathi3d Maya has already had a very similar system to this for many many versions now. Its called the Hypershade.

[daggergblue]

@Noodleydoo this is why they included the fly out menu, so you have the choice.

[katana2665]

It's about time Max got this!