Intro to Maya: Lesson 5 - Coloring and shading objects

To color an object, select it and choose one of the materials from the Render shelf. In Maya 2020, we recommend the Standard Surface material. Alternatively, you can right-click an object and go to Assign New Material to find it. Or in older versions, feel free to substitute an aiStandardSurface material instead. You can find material settings in the Attribute Editor, via the material’s shape tab.

00:46 - For example, you can adjust the base color… …add Specularity to make it shiny… …or Transmission to make it see-through. You can also choose a Preset to act as a starting point. Just like with the skydome in the previous lesson, you can connect a pattern to any of these attributes by clicking their palette button. Just make sure to turn on Texture mode to see it. To remove a connected pattern, right-click the attribute and select “Break Connection”. Then you can try a ramp instead. Or an image file.

01:53 - This is known as texture mapping, and unlike lighting, you’re not limited to.hdr or.exr files - formats like jpeg or png will do too. Finally, I can apply the same material to other objects, by right-clicking and selecting “Assign Existing Material”… …or I can assign it its own material. If you found this useful, don’t forget to hit the Like and Subscribe buttons below… …then click the link on your screen to move on to the next lesson! .