The MaterialsA set of attributes or parameters that describe surface characteristics. Tab displays a list of all the AutoCAD materials, along with the Octane node structure that those materials where converted to.
MaterialThe representation of the surface or volume properties of an object. Conversion
The first time am AutoCAD material is selected from the plugin, the plugin will convert that AutoCAD material to an Octane material. Once this happens, the Octane material should be the “master copy” of that material, since changing the AutoCAD material will not automatically change the Octane material. If you need to at any point, you can re-convert the AutoCAD material to an Octane material by rightclicking the material tree and selecting “Re-Convert From AutoCAD”.
NOTE: If an AutoCAD object has it’s material “ByLayer”, the plugin will create an Octane material for that layer.
Material Tab Controls
Scene Materials – This combo box contains a list of all AutoCAD materials in the scene. Selecting a material from this box will present the Octane material for that AutoCAD material in the tree structure.
Selection Materials – This popup box contains a list of all AutoCAD materials for the elements that are currently selected in AutoCAD. Selecting a material from this box will present the Octane material for that AutoCAD material in the tree structure.
Favourites – Provides access to assign the current material with your “favourite” nodes setups (saved via the “Save as Favourite” menu option).
Material editing tree – each tree item represents an Octane node pin. Click on any item, and the edit options for that pin will appear the the Node Parameters box. You can change the node type by selecting a different node type in the Node Type popup control (only node types compatible with the selected Octane node pin will be available).
Rightclick the tree for additional options:
Copy – Copies the currently selected node into the plugin clipboard. Only one node can be in the clipboard at any given time.
Paste – Pastes the clipboard node into the currently selected tree node. The Paste option will only be available when the clipboard node is compatible with the currently select node pin.
LiveDB – This option allows you to load a material from the Octane LiveDB database into the currently selected material. To select from the LiveDB, select the category from the Categories tree, and then selecting Materials will fill the preview window. Click OK once you have the required material.
livedb
Re-Convert From AutoCAD – Select this option to reconvert the selected AutoCAD material to an Octane material.
Load/Save as Default – If you save this Octane material as a default, when this AutoCAD material next needs to be converted for a scene, the saved default will be used. It is highly recommended that you save all materials as a default as you edit them in order to minimise the amount of effort required to edit Octane material for each new scene. Defaults are saved in the Users[username]AppDataLocalOctaneRender for AutoCADDefaults folder (on Windows 7).
Import/Export Material – Allows you to save and load materials into the currently selected Octane material. Material exports are saved in the Users[username]AppDataLocalOctaneRender for AutoCADExport folder (on Windows 7).
Save as Favourite – Adds the current Octane material node setup to the “Favourites” combobox.
Save All Materials To Defaults – This option saves all the converted (and modifed) materials from the AutoCAD scene as Octane default materials, so they will be next used on a new scene.