--- title: "Materials Tab" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/ARENA/125143866/Materials%20Tab" format: markdown --- This page provides information about the Materials tab in Chaos Vantage. Overview The Materials tab offers a list of all materials in the scene. This includes materials imported with .vrscene file. Scene sub-state Scene sub-state – A dropdown list of all scene material assignments sub-states. Create  ( ) – Creates a new scene material assignments sub-state. Update  ( ) – Updates a scene material assignments sub-state. Delete  ( ) – Deletes a scene material assignments sub-state. Double-click to delete.  Note that the default scene sub-state cannot be updated or deleted. Clay mode Clay mode – When enabled, overrides all scene materials with a simple grey (default) material. Clay color – Specifies the color for the override material. Use reflection – When enabled, the original material's reflection setup is used instead of overriding it. Use refraction – When enabled, the original material's refraction setup is used instead of overriding it. Use bump – When enabled, the original material's bump setup is used instead of overriding it. Use opacity – When enabled, the original material's opacity settings are used instead of overriding them . Use self illumination – When enabled, the original material's self-illumination setup is used instead of overriding it. Material lister Button Description Assigns a material from the list to the selected objects in the scene. Available only when a material is selected. Selects all scene objects based on the material that has been selected in the list. Available only when a material is selected. Selects the material of the selected object in the scene. Available only when an object is selected. Opens the Preview scene settings dialog. Filters the material list and shows only those materials that contain the input string. Clears the filter string. Filter menu that enables the listing of materials based on type, e.g., Generic, 2-sided, Multi-material, etc. Use Ctr + click to isolate a selection. Controls the amount of columns in the materials list: Sorts the material list: Materials can also be assigned to objects by dragging and dropping . There are also modifier key combinations with drag-and-drop, with the following functionality: Alt+drag-and-drop replaces material on all objects with the same material. Ctrl+drag-and-drop assigns material to objects and their children. A context menu is available when right-clicking a material thumbnail: Select objects with this material – Selects all scene objects based on the material that has been selected in the list. ( ) Assign this material to the selection – Assigns a material from the list to the selected objects in the scene. ( ) Assign this material to the selection and its children – Assigns a material from the list to the selected objects and their children in the hierarchy in the scene. Delete unused Cosmos material assets – Deletes any currently unused imported Cosmos material assets. This frees up GPU memory. Preview Scene Settings The Preview scene settings dialog contains options to customize how the material thumbnails are rendered. Load vrscene – Loads a custom vrscene file for the material preview scene. The material preview scene has the following requirements to be loaded properly: scene must contain at least one object with '__thumbnail_target' user attribute scene objects(nodes) that will be listed in the Preview mesh dropdown must have a '__thumbnail_target' user attribute set. Different objects must have incremental values, e.g, __thumbnail_target=1, __thumbnail_target=2 Features of the loaded material preview scene: scene lights will be listed, and their color, intensity, and enable/disable properties can be modified scene cameras will be listed in the Preview camera dropdown list objects that have a '__thumbnail_target' user attribute set will be listed in the Preview mesh dropdown  A sample preview scene with a background, two cameras, a studio light setup, a sphere, and a teapot can be downloaded using the download button.   Please note that the loaded scene will replace the current preview scene. If there are no lights and/or an environment texture or color set, then the preview thumbnail will render black. Samples – Specifies the samples per pixel for refining the material thumbnail. Low values speed up thumbnail generation at the cost of quality. Preview mesh – Specifies the mesh to be used in the material thumbnail: Sphere Cube Cylinder Shaderballl Liquid Cloth Preview camera – Specifies the render camera for the material thumbnails: Main Zoom Environment mode – Specifies the mode that will be used for scene lighting. Texture – Enables the use of an environment texture for lighting. When this option is selected, Load environment and Rotation parameters appear. Solid Color – Enables the use of a solid color for lighting. When this option is selected, the Environment Color parameter appears. Load environment – Loads an image for the Environment. This option is available only when Environment mode is set to Texture . Flip horizontally – Flips the environment image horizontally. This option is available only when Environment mode is set to Texture . Rotation – Specifies a rotation angle in degrees for the Environment texture. This option is available only when Environment mode is set to Texture . Intensity – Specifies the intensity of the Environment lighting. Rim Light – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the rim light in the default preview scene. Fill Light – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the fill light in the default preview scene. Front Light – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the front light in the default preview scene. Internal Lights – Enables/disables and controls the intensity and color of the internal light in the default preview scene. Useful for previewing two-sided materials. Close – Closes the Preview scene settings dialog. the