Material Basics

This page provides some basic information you need to work with materials in Twinmotion.

For more information about working with materials, see the Working with Materials documentation.

Accessing the Materials

The Library panel in Twinmotion contains materials in the Twinmotion assets, Quixel Megascans, and Adobe Substance 3D libraries.

To open the Library panel, in the footer, click Library.

Twinmotion Materials

The Twinmotion materials in the library are located in the Materials category. 

The materials are stored on a dedicated server online. You need to download them before you can use them in Twinmotion. You can download Twinmotion materials directly from the library, or download them as part of the Library Packs. For more information, see Downloading Twinmotion Assets.

Quixel Megascans Materials

The Quixel Megascans materials in the library are located in the Megascans > Surfaces category.

To use Quixel Megascans materials, you must first sign in to your Epic Account, and then download them. For more information, see Using the Quixel Megascans Assets in Twinmotion.

Adobe Substance Materials

The Adobe Substance 3D category in the library contains a selection of free Adobe Substance materials.

From the Adobe Substance 3D category in the Library panel, you can sign into your Adobe account, and then download other Substance materials and import them into Twinmotion.

For more information about Substance materials, and how to download and import them into Twinmotion, see Adobe Substance 3D Materials in the Library.

Previewing Materials

To preview materials before applying them, do one of the following:

• In the library, hover over a material to see a closeup preview.

• In the library or Materials dock, select the material and drag it onto the objects or surfaces in the scene without releasing the mouse button.

• Select the Material multidrop tool in the toolbar, then select a material in the library or the Materials dock and hover over the objects in the scene.

Applying Materials

You can select a material from the library, the User library, or the Materials dock and apply it to an object or to multiple objects in the scene.

When you use a material from the library (including the User library), an instance of the material is added to the Materials dock. If the material you want to apply is already in the Materials dock, we recommend you select it from the Materials dock instead of the library, in order to avoid creating another instance of the material in the Materials dock.

Applying a Material to an Object

To apply a material to an object, do as follows:

1. Select a material from the library or the Materials dock.

2. Drag the material onto an object in the scene, and release the mouse button.

Applying the Same Material to Multiple Objects

  To apply the same material to multiple objects, do as follows:

1. Select a material from the library or the Materials dock.

2. In the toolbar, select the Material multidrop tool.

3. With the Material multidrop tool, click on the objects in the scene to apply the material. 

Replacing Materials on Objects

You can replace the material on an object in the scene with another material — from the library, the User library, or the Materials dock — by using one of the following methods:

• Select the material and drag it onto an object in the scene.

  

• Select the material and drag it onto another material, or a selected group of materials, in the Materials dock.

  

  Replacing a group of materials in the Materials dock

The way materials are replaced can vary and depend on the following factors:

• Whether the object appears only once in the scene, or if the object is a duplicate created as a copy or as an instance. 

• The material application mode you select:

  

• The UV application mode you select:

  

For information about the material and UV application modes, see Tools in the Toolbar.

Organizing and Filtering Materials

You can organize the contents of the Materials dock by using folders and subfolders, and sort and filter the contents of the Materials dock by using the options in the View options dialog box.

Folders and Subfolders

To organize the materials into meaningful categories, you can create folders and subfolders and move the materials into them. 

To create a folder or subfolder, do one of the following:

• Click the Add material folder icon.

  

• Right-click inside the Materials dock, and in the menu select Create folder.

  

To move materials into a folder, do as follows:

• Select the materials in the Materials dock and drag them onto a folder, or the name of the folder in the breadcrumb. 

When you click on a folder or subfolder in the Materials dock, the folder name is added to the breadcrumb. You can navigate folders and subfolders by clicking their entries in the breadcrumb.

View Options Dialog Box

Use the options in the View options dialog box to sort and filter the materials in the Materials dock.

To open the View options dialog, click the View options icon.

The table below describes the options in the View options dialog box.

Option	Description
Filter	The Filter section shows all the material types that are currently in the Materials dock.  Depending on the complexity of the scene, the Materials dock can contain a large amount of materials. You can simplify it by showing only certain types of materials and hiding all the others. To show only certain types of materials, select the checkboxes next to the material types you want to show. A red dot on the View options icon means that the material types are filtered.
Current folder	If the Materials dock contains folders and subfolders that contain materials, you can choose to see a flat view of all the materials. The flat view hides any folders or subfolders and shows you all the materials at the same hierarchical level. To see a flat view of the materials, select the Flatview option.
Sort	You can sort the contents of the Materials dock in an Alphabetical order, or manually using a Custom order. To sort the contents manually, select the Custom order option, then select the content you want to move, and drag it to a new folder or a new location on the Materials dock. You can also drag the materials or folders to an entry in the breadcrumb.

Selecting Materials in the Scene

To select a material in the scene, do as follows:

1. In the toolbar, select the Material picker.

   

2. With the Material picker, click on a material in the scene. 

   The thumbnail of the material is selected in the Materials dock, and the settings of the material appear in the Properties panel.

Editing Materials

To edit the properties of a material, do as follows:

1. In the footer, click Properties to open the Properties panel.

   

2. Select the material in the Materials dock, or use the Material picker to select a material in the scene. 

   The modifiable settings for the material appear in the Properties panel.

   

3. Modify the settings in the Properties panel. The changes you make are applied automatically to all objects in the scene that use the same material.

Editing Multiple Materials at the Same Time

You can select multiple materials in the Materials dock and edit all their common settings at the same time. 

• If you select multiple materials of the same material type (for example multiple Glass materials), you can edit all the settings for that material type. 

• If you select multiple materials that are not of the same material type (for example multiple Glass and Standard materials), you can edit only the settings that are common to all the selected materials. The settings in the Main tab are not available for editing when multiple material types are selected. 

To edit the properties of multiple materials at the same time, do as follows:

1. In the footer, click Properties to open the Properties panel.

   

2. Select the materials in the Materials dock. The common settings you can modify appear in the Properties panel.

   

Finding the Materials Applied to Objects

You can find all the materials that are applied to one object, or to a group of objects, and view the list of materials in the Properties panel. If you select more than one object, only the materials that are common to all the objects will be listed. Any material that is applied to one object only, or to a few objects, will not be listed.

To find all the materials that are applied to one or more objects in the scene, do as follows:

1. In the footer, click Properties to open the Properties panel. You will need this to see the list of materials.

   

2. Select one or more objects in the viewport or the Scene graph. 

   Once the objects are selected, the applied materials appear in the Materials section of the Properties panel.

   

Finding the Objects that Use a Material

You can find all the objects that use a material, or a group of materials, and view the list of objects in the Properties panel. If you select more than one material, only the objects that use all the materials will be listed.  

To find all the objects on which one or more material is applied, do as follows:

1. In the footer, click Properties to open the Properties panel.

   

2. Select a material in the scene with the Material picker, or select one or more materials in the Materials dock.

3. In the Properties panel, click the Assign tab.

   

   The objects that use the material(s) appear in the Applied on section of the Assign tab. 

   

   Clicking the object name(s) in the Applied on section selects the object(s) in the Scene graph and the viewport.