How does the material appearance system work: applying wood grain, metal, and custom material effects to 3D components?

Overview

The software gives you a lot of control over the appearance of the 3D shaded image, for visualization such as customer approval proofs or marketing material. Each component can be given its own color or material. This does not affect the toolpaths or the actual carving. It is a presentation tool that turns a gray, clay-looking preview into a mockup that looks like a finished sign or plaque.

Accessing Component Appearance

1. Double-click a component in the Component Tree to open Component Properties
2. Find the Appearance section
3. Choose one of these options:

• Same as Parent: uses the appearance of the object's parent. For a component that is its Level, and for a Level it is the model's appearance set in Job Setup.
• Solid Color: uses a single color to shade the component
• Use Material: choose from the list of pre-defined material effects by clicking the box below the Appearance choice. These include many wood grains, metal effects, stone and plastic.
• Color from Children: used for a Group or Level. It lets the software show the individual colors and materials of the components inside the group, instead of giving the group its own color or material.

Properties in this form are dynamic. They can be edited or reset at any time until the component is baked.

The Material Library

Use Material offers a library of pre-defined effects: wood grains, metals, stone and plastic. Pick the one that matches the material you plan to cut so your client sees a realistic result. Additional materials can be added to the library (see below).

Adding Custom Materials

You can add your own material images:

1. Use the material list itself: choose Create new category to group your textures, or Add new texture to add one under a category
2. Or copy an image file (JPG, BMP or TIF) of the material into the Textures folder inside the Application Data Folder. Open that folder from inside the program with File > Open Application Data Folder.
3. For good results the image needs to be roughly 1000 by 1000 pixels. The texture image is scaled proportionally in X and Y to fit the longest side of the job, so very large jobs may show a coarse texture.

Ideas for custom materials:

• A photo of your actual wood slab with its specific grain
• A painted or powder-coated finish a client asked for
• An epoxy or resin look

Per-Component Material Assignment

Each component can have a different material in the same design.

Sign example:

• Background component: a wood-grain material
• Raised text component: a metal material
• Border component: a darker metal material

Workflow:

1. Select the background component in the Component Tree
2. Open Component Properties, choose Appearance, then Use Material and pick a material
3. Select the lettering component and repeat with another material
4. Close the form. The 3D view shows the composite design in the assigned materials.

The Red Selection Tint

While a component is selected it is tinted red, which can hide your chosen material. Untick Highlight Selected Component in Component Properties to turn the red highlight off while you choose. It switches back on automatically when you close Component Properties.

Viewing and Presenting

• Rotate the 3D view to a slightly elevated angle with good lighting, which usually shows relief surfaces and grain better than looking straight down
• The Preview Toolpaths form has a Save Preview Image option that saves an image of the 3D window as a BMP, PNG, JPG or GIF file. The View menu also has Save Shaded Image.
• A screenshot also works for an emailed proof
• Material-rendered previews usually get a better response from clients than a plain gray render