BaseMaterial Manual

About

BaseMaterial is the base class for all materials in Cinema 4D. Materials are typically assigned to a BaseObject using a TextureTag. They can be configured like any other BaseList2D based entity. Materials often own BaseShader elements. The most often used material is the standard material (Material class).

BaseMaterial objects are an instance of Mbase.

Access

Materials are stored in a BaseDocument. They can be accessed with:

See BaseDocument Materials

A TextureTag stores a reference to a material. This referenced material is accessed with:

// This example accesses the texture tag on the given BaseObject.
// The texture tag returns the linked material.
TextureTag* const ttag = static_cast<TextureTag*>(object->GetTag(Ttexture));
if (ttag == nullptr)
return maxon::IllegalArgumentError(MAXON_SOURCE_LOCATION);
BaseMaterial* const material = ttag->GetMaterial();
if (material != nullptr)
{
ApplicationOutput("Used Material: " + material->GetName());
}
String GetName() const
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:2412
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:28
Definition: c4d_basetag.h:671
BaseMaterial * GetMaterial(Bool ignoredoc=false) const
#define MAXON_SOURCE_LOCATION
Definition: memoryallocationbase.h:67
#define ApplicationOutput(formatString,...)
Definition: debugdiagnostics.h:210
#define Ttexture
Texture - TextureTag.
Definition: ge_prepass.h:1401

See TextureTag Manual.

Allocation/Deallocation

BaseMaterial objects are created with the usual tools.

A newly created material is typically added to a BaseDocument that takes ownership:

A material is assigned to a BaseObject using a TextureTag. The referenced material is set with:

// This example creates a new "Cheen" material and assigns it
// to the given object with a new TextureTag.
// make new material
// make TextureTag
// check if the "Cheen" material and the
// "Texture" tag could be allocated
const Bool noCheen = cheen == nullptr;
const Bool noTextureTag = textureTag == nullptr;
if (noCheen || noTextureTag)
return maxon::OutOfMemoryError(MAXON_SOURCE_LOCATION);
// assign material
textureTag->SetMaterial(cheen);
// insert material and tag
doc->InsertMaterial(cheen.Release(), nullptr);
object->InsertTag(textureTag.Release());
Definition: ge_autoptr.h:37
TYPE * Release()
Definition: ge_autoptr.h:123
maxon::Bool Bool
Definition: ge_sys_math.h:55
#define Mcheen
Cheen.
Definition: ge_prepass.h:1011
const char * doc
Definition: pyerrors.h:226

Navigation

The BaseMaterial elements of a BaseDocument are stored in a list:

// This example loops through all materials of the given BaseDocument.
BaseMaterial* material = doc->GetFirstMaterial();
while (material != nullptr)
{
ApplicationOutput("Material: " + material->GetName());
material = material->GetNext();
}
BaseMaterial * GetNext()
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:60

Read-Only Properties

The following functions allow to access various properties of a BaseMaterial.

// This example accesses the material preview bitmap and shows it in the Picture Viewer.
BaseBitmap* const preview = material->GetPreview(0);
ShowBitmap(preview);
Bool ShowBitmap(const Filename &fn)
Definition: c4d_basebitmap.h:435
BaseBitmap * GetPreview(Int32 flags)

Update

In certain situations it is needed to manually trigger an update of the material previews. This may be for example needed in a custom material plugin.

Sample Material

Materials define the surface properties of objects. They are sampled in the rendering pipeline e.g. in a VideoPost, another material or a shader.

Internal material resources are initiated and freed with these functions:

If needed the material calculation is initiated with:

The material can now be sampled and used with:

These examples sample a BaseMaterial in a VideoPostData plugin:

// This example prepares the material for usage within the rendering pipeline.
VolumeData* const volumeData = vps->vd;
// init material
InitRenderStruct irs(vps->doc);
irs.vd = volumeData;
// if VOLUMEINFO_INITCALCULATION is set, call InitCalculation()
material->InitCalculation(volumeData, INITCALCULATION::SURFACE);
// init
const INITRENDERRESULT res = material->InitTextures(irs);
VOLUMEINFO GetRenderInfo()
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:210
INITRENDERRESULT InitTextures(const InitRenderStruct &irs)
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:104
void InitCalculation(VolumeData *sd, INITCALCULATION type)
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:171
Definition: c4d_shader.h:351
Py_UCS4 * res
Definition: unicodeobject.h:1113
@ SURFACE
Called during rendering for surface calculation.
INITRENDERRESULT
Definition: ge_prepass.h:412
@ OK
Everything is OK, there was no error.
@ OUTOFMEMORY
Not enough memory.
@ INITCALCULATION
Needs MaterialData::InitCalculation() call.
Definition: c4d_tools.h:1388
// prepare VolumeData
volumeData->ray = &ray;
volumeData->n = si.n;
volumeData->p = si.p;
volumeData->tex = texData;
volumeData->calc_illum = 0;
volumeData->uvw = uvw;
// sample the material surface color
material->CalcSurface(volumeData);
// get result color
const Vector surfaceColor = volumeData->col;
void CalcSurface(VolumeData *sd)
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:139
const TexData * tex
[READ ONLY] The surface texture, never change this pointer.
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1096
Vector64 n
[READ ONLY] The surface phong normal.
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1087
Vector64 p
[READ WRITE] The surface point, this can only be modified by MaterialData::Displace().
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1082
Ray * ray
[READ ONLY] The current eye ray. Always valid, not nullptr.
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1085
Vector col
[READ WRITE] Set the calculated color within MaterialData::CalcSurface() and MaterialData::CalcVolume...
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1076
Int32 calc_illum
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1111
Vector uvw
[READ ONLY] The surface UVW coordinates, this is invalid for volumetric shaders.
Definition: c4d_shader.h:1092
// This example unlocks a material after it has been
// used in the rendering pipeline.
// free material
material->UnlockTextures();
void UnlockTextures()
Unlocks all textures used by the material.
Definition: c4d_basematerial.h:109

Compare Entity

Two BaseMaterial elements can be compared with:

// This example compares the given material with the first material of the document.
BaseMaterial* firstMaterial = doc->GetFirstMaterial();
if (firstMaterial == nullptr)
return maxon::OK;
// compare the selected material with the first material
if (selectedMaterial->Compare(firstMaterial))
ApplicationOutput("The selected material has the same settings as the first material");
return OK
Definition: apibase.h:2747
Note
The comparison is mostly based on the material's BaseContainer. Other internal data may not be compared.

Bits

If an element is copied it must mark the materials it uses so that these materials are copied along with the actual element.

  • BIT_MATMARK: This bit defines the material as a "marked" material.
// This example reacts to MSG_MULTI_MARKMATERIALS in an ObjectData::Message() function
// and marks a linked BaseMaterial.
{
BaseDocument* const doc = node->GetDocument();
if (doc == nullptr)
return false;
// get referenced material
GeData geData;
node->GetParameter(ConstDescID(DescLevel(EXAMPLE_MATERIAL_LINK)), geData, DESCFLAGS_GET::NONE);
BaseMaterial* const mat = static_cast<BaseMaterial*>(geData.GetLink(doc, Mbase));
if (data) // called when the element is pasted into the scene, update material links
{
MarkMaterials* const markMaterial = static_cast<MarkMaterials*>(data);
// check original material
if (markMaterial->omat == mat)
{
// set new material
node->SetParameter(ConstDescID(DescLevel(EXAMPLE_MATERIAL_LINK)), markMaterial->nmat, DESCFLAGS_SET::NONE);
node->Message(MSG_CHANGE);
}
}
else // called when the element is copied, mark needed materials
{
if (mat)
}
break;
}
Definition: c4d_basedocument.h:497
void SetBit(Int32 mask)
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:2302
Definition: c4d_gedata.h:83
const BaseList2D * GetLink(const BaseDocument *doc, Int32 instanceof=0) const
#define BIT_MATMARK
Marked material.
Definition: ge_prepass.h:891
#define MSG_MULTI_MARKMATERIALS
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:531
#define MSG_CHANGE
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:362
#define Mbase
Base material.
Definition: ge_prepass.h:1003
@ CHANGE_SMALL
Change to the local data of the node as its data container. Does not apply for changes on substructur...
#define ConstDescID(...)
Definition: lib_description.h:594
Definition: node.h:10
Represents a level within a DescID.
Definition: lib_description.h:298
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:782
BaseMaterial * nmat
New material. Cinema&#160;4D owns the pointed material.
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:789
BaseMaterial * omat
Original material. Cinema&#160;4D owns the pointed material.
Definition: c4d_baselist.h:788

Further Reading