Creating Materials
Materials define how surfaces look in your 3D scene. Simplio3D uses a PBR (Physically Based Rendering) material system with a three-tab editor, a live 3D preview sphere, and four material presets for quick starting points.
New MaterialName & base preset
Surface TabColour or texture mode
Properties TabMetallic, roughness, reflectivity
Advanced TabTransparency, IOR, emissive
Preview & SaveCheck on 3D sphere
Step-by-Step: Create a New Material
- 1Navigate to Dashboard > Materials.
- 2Click the "New Material" button.
- 3Enter a name for your material (e.g., "Brushed Aluminium", "Oak Wood").
- 4Optionally choose a base preset (Flat, Fabric, Metal, or Glossy) to pre-fill sensible property values.
- 5Configure the Surface tab: choose between a flat colour or a texture. For textures, click the texture slot to browse your uploaded textures or open the Texture Library directly.
- 6Configure the Properties tab: adjust Metallic, Roughness, Specular, and Reflectivity sliders.
- 7Configure the Advanced tab if needed: set double sided rendering, transparency mode, IOR (for glass), or emissive glow.
- 8Check the live 3D preview sphere — it updates in real time as you change settings.
- 9Click "Save" to create the material. It appears in your material library immediately.
Material Editor — Surface Tab
The Surface tab controls the base appearance. Switch between Colour mode (flat colour via the colour picker) and Texture mode (image-based via texture maps).
| Setting | Range / Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | Colour | Texture | Switch between a flat colour or a texture-based surface. |
| Colour | Any colour | The base surface colour (Colour mode). Overridden when a diffuse texture is applied. |
| Opacity | 0 – 100% | Surface opacity. 100% = fully opaque, 0% = fully transparent. |
| Texture (Diffuse) | Image | The main colour/albedo texture map. |
| Tiling | 0.1 – 5 | How many times the texture repeats across the surface. Higher = smaller pattern. |
| Rotation | 0 – 360° | Rotates the texture around the UV centre. |
| Bump / Normal Toggle | Bump | Normal | Choose between a bump map (height-based) or a normal map (directional). |
| Bump / Normal Intensity | 0 – 2 | Strength of the surface detail effect. 1 is standard. |
Material Editor — Properties Tab
The Properties tab controls the physical characteristics of the material.
| Property | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Metallic | 0 – 1 | How metallic the surface is. 0 = dielectric (plastic, wood, fabric), 1 = full metal (steel, gold, chrome). |
| Roughness | 0 – 1 | Surface smoothness. 0 = mirror-like, 1 = fully matte. |
| Specular | 0 – 1 | Intensity of specular highlights. Increase for shinier surfaces. |
| Reflectivity | 0 – 1 | Overall reflectivity of the surface. Controls how much the environment is reflected. |
| Reflection Strength | 0 – 1 | Multiplier for the reflection intensity on top of reflectivity. |
Material Editor — Advanced Tab
| Property | Range / Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Double Sided | On / Off | Render both sides of the geometry. Enable for thin surfaces like curtains or leaves. |
| Transparency Mode | Opaque | Transparent | Switch between opaque and transparent rendering. Use Transparent for glass, water, plastic film. |
| Index of Refraction (IOR) | 1.0 – 2.5 | How much light bends when passing through the material. Glass ≈ 1.5, Water ≈ 1.33, Diamond ≈ 2.42. |
| Emissive Colour | Any colour | Colour of light emitted by the surface. For LEDs, screens, indicator lights. |
| Emissive Intensity | 0 – 2 | Strength of the emissive glow. 0 = no glow, 2 = very bright. |
PBR Texture Map Slots
When in Texture mode, four PBR map slots are available. Assign textures to each slot for realistic surface detail.
| Slot | Purpose | What to Upload |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Map | Adds surface detail (bumps, scratches, weave) without extra geometry. | RGB normal map. Use PNG to avoid compression artefacts. |
| Metallic Map | Defines which areas are metallic vs. dielectric. | Greyscale image: white = metal, black = non-metal. |
| Roughness Map | Varies glossiness across the surface. | Greyscale image: white = rough/matte, black = smooth/glossy. |
| Ambient Occlusion (AO) | Adds subtle shadowing in crevices and contact areas. | Greyscale image, typically baked from 3D software. |
Material Presets
Four built-in presets pre-fill property values as a starting point:
| Preset | Roughness | Metallic | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat | 1.0 | 0 | Matte surfaces — cardboard, clay, unfinished wood. |
| Fabric | 0.8 | 0 | Textiles — cotton, linen, upholstery. |
| Metal | 0.3 | 1.0 | Metals — steel, aluminium, gold, chrome. |
| Glossy | 0.1 | 0 | Smooth non-metals — lacquer, gloss plastic, varnish. |
Organising into Categories
- 1In the Materials page, click the "Categories" tab.
- 2Create categories like "Metals", "Woods", "Fabrics", "Glass", "Plastics" — pick a colour swatch for each so they're easy to spot.
- 3Assign a category from either the per-card Select on the Materials grid OR the category chip in the Material Editor header (next to the status badge). Both routes write to the same field.
- 4Need a new category while editing? Open the category chip in the Material Editor and click "Manage categories…" at the bottom — the management dialog opens inline; new categories are available immediately without leaving the editor.
- 5Use category filters to quickly find materials when assigning them in project option blocks.
Texture Library shortcut: You can import free PBR textures directly from the Material Editor. Click the texture slot, then "Texture Library" to browse 60+ PBR sets. The imported maps are automatically assigned to the correct slots (diffuse, normal, roughness, AO, metallic).
More in Materials
Material LibraryOrganize your material library into categories, search and filter swatches, and reuse materials across projects.Applying PBR TexturesApply PBR texture maps to 3D models and option-block variants with correct UV orientation for accurate, realistic surfaces.Material ExamplesReady-made material recipes — metals, woods, fabrics, glass, and plastics — to copy and tune for your own products.Bulk-Add Materials by CategoryPopulate a Select Material block from an entire category so shoppers can pick from large material libraries without per-variant authoring.