#Keyshot material library how to

The same shoe is often available in a few colorways. In CMF design (color, finish and material), the term colorway describes a specific combination of color, finish and materials applied to specific products. What you can’t do with KeyShot Multi-Materialsĭespite the power and flexibility of Multi-Materials, there is one thing you can’t accomplish with them. KeyShot has other tools for managing variations in other aspects such as lighting and more. Generally speaking though, as the name suggests, they’re all about capturing and grouping variations of materials. So, as you can see, there’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to Multi-Material use cases. Texture variants contained in a KeyShot Multi-Material Material variants contained in a KeyShot Multi-Material Creating texture variationsĪnd finally, if you want to explore different possibilities when it comes to textures, either bump, color, roughness, Index of Refraction or even displacement, you can use Multi-Materials for this. For example, a chair manufacturer might offer a wooden armchair in 4 unique woods. You might want to offer the same product in several different materials. Finish variants contained in a KeyShot Multi-Material Creating material variations Once again Multi-Materials will work for this. You might want to present a matte, satin, semi-gloss and glossy version of a product. Perhaps you’re working though the design process and want to compare a few options for what a product might look like. Label variants contained in a KeyShot Multi-Material Creating finish variations A Multi-Material with a unique label on each version will work well. Let’s say you’ve got a product that needs the same label but in several different languages. Color variants contained in a KeyShot Multi-Material Creating label or graphic variations This is probably the most common and obvious use of this feature. If you have a single item that is available in several colors, Multi-Materials will do the job. Here are some of the ways you can use Multi-Materials. Being that KeyShot is a product-focused render engine, a fair amount of its strengths come from managing variations of products. However, I’m often surprised to see how few people make use of this feature. You can accomplish a lot by using Multi-Materials. What can you do with KeyShot Multi-Materials?

#Keyshot material library how to

In the video below, I’ll walk through some practical uses of Multi-Materials and how to create them in both environments. If the video won’t load, click here to watch. For most visual learners, this is easier to navigate.

However, I find it easier to follow as it shows all the ‘building blocks’ of the Multi-Materials at the same time. This can become busy with lots of nodes and connectors. While this works just fine, I find that the layers of menus and material and label properties can become quite confusing, especially for beginners. First, there’s the regular Material tab in KeyShot’s property panel. There are two main areas in KeyShot where you can create a Multi-Material. Let’s look at how to actually build Multi-Materials in KeyShot. Whether you’re looking to tidy up your material library, streamline a workflow or unify a team’s material application, Multi-Materials can play a big role. This assumes we’re using a shared material library. If my design team knows to apply Multi-Material A to parts B and C, then the correct material variations will be available on the correct parts. What about a team of designers or artists are collaborating on a project? Using Multi-Materials can also remove a lot of guesswork and human-error. It can be a big time-saver when it comes to locating materials. With a library of organized Multi-Materials, you’ll reduce the number of materials saved to your library. They help you manage different finish options an object may be available in. Taking advantage of Multi-Materials is a convenient way to tidy up your workflow. Different colors and labels contained in a single KeyShot Multi-Material What’s the Benefit of KeyShot Multi-Materials? Then, you can conveniently toggle between the Sub-Materials (shift+b). Just drag-and-drop a single Multi-Material onto an object. A Multi-Material can be applied to a part the same way any other regular material can. What is a KeyShot Multi-Material?Ī KeyShot Multi-Material is a collection of appearances, called Sub-Materials. Either way, today we’re going to brush up on Multi-Materials and when and how to use them to save you time and clean up your workflow. Ever heard of them? Ever used them? Maybe you’re just getting started with the KeyShot, or perhaps you’re a seasoned veteran.