c4d.BaseMaterial

class c4d.BaseMaterial

This is the material base class that all materials in Cinema 4D are derived from.

Methods Signatures

BaseMaterial.__init__()

Initialize a new BaseMaterial in memory.

BaseMaterial.Compare()	Check if the materials are identical.
BaseMaterial.GetPreview()	Retrieves the preview picture of the material.
BaseMaterial.GetAverageColor()	Returns an average color for the material, based on the material preview.
BaseMaterial.Update()	Recalculates the material’s thumbnail and updates internal values.
BaseMaterial.GetRenderInfo()	Retrieves information about what the material requires from the raytracer and what it will return.
BaseMaterial.GetNodeMaterialReference()	Returns a weak reference of the actual Material as a c4d.NodeMaterial.

Inheritance

Parent Class:

• c4d.BaseList2D

Children Classes:

• c4d.Material

• c4d.NodeMaterial

Methods Documentation

BaseMaterial.__init__(self, type)

Initialize a new BaseMaterial in memory.

Parameters

type (int) – The material type : Material Types.

BaseMaterial.Compare(self, snd)

Check if the materials are identical.

Note

Only the name of the compared materials can be different.

Parameters

snd (c4d.BaseMaterial) – The material to compare with.

Return type

bool

Returns

True if the materials contents are the same, otherwise False.

BaseMaterial.GetPreview(self, flags=0)

Retrieves the preview picture of the material.

Parameters

flags (int) – Currently not used.

Return type

Optional[c4d.bitmaps.BaseBitmap]

Returns

The preview picture or None if it has not been calculated.

BaseMaterial.GetAverageColor(self, channel=NOTOK)

Returns an average color for the material, based on the material preview.

Parameters

channel (int) –

An optional specific channel to get the average for.

CHANNEL_COLOR	The color channel of a material.
CHANNEL_LUMINANCE	The luminance channel of a material.
CHANNEL_TRANSPARENCY	The transparency channel of a material.
CHANNEL_REFLECTION	The reflection channel of a material.
CHANNEL_ENVIRONMENT	The environment channel of a material.
CHANNEL_FOG	The fog channel of a material.
CHANNEL_BUMP	The bump channel of a material.
CHANNEL_ALPHA	The alpha channel of a material.
CHANNEL_SPECULAR	The specular channel of a material.
CHANNEL_SPECULARCOLOR	The specular color channel of a material.
CHANNEL_GLOW	The glow channel of a material.
CHANNEL_DISPLACEMENT	The displacement channel of a material.
CHANNEL_DIFFUSION	The diffusion channel of a material.
CHANNEL_NORMAL	The normal channel of a material.
CHANNEL_ANY	An unlabeled plugin channel.

Return type

c4d.Vector

Returns

Average color.

BaseMaterial.Update(self, preview, rttm)

Recalculates the material’s thumbnail and updates internal values.

Note

Recalculating the thumbnail/RTTM image is time intensive.

It only needs to be done if you want to let the user view the change.

The calculations are done asynchronously.

Parameters

• preview (bool) – If this value is True then the preview thumbnail is updated.

• rttm (bool) – If this value is True then the real time texture map of the material will be recalculated.

BaseMaterial.GetRenderInfo(self)

Retrieves information about what the material requires from the raytracer and what it will return.

Return type

int

Returns

The return values are:

VOLUMEINFO_NONE	None.
VOLUMEINFO_REFLECTION	Calculates reflections.
VOLUMEINFO_TRANSPARENCY	Calculates transparency.
VOLUMEINFO_ALPHA	Calculates alpha.
VOLUMEINFO_CHANGENORMAL	Calculates bump mapping.
VOLUMEINFO_DISPLACEMENT	Calculates displacement mapping.
VOLUMEINFO_ENVREQUIRED	Needs environment reflection data.
VOLUMEINFO_DUDVREQUIRED	Needs du/dv bump mapping data.
VOLUMEINFO_MIPSAT	Requires MIP/SAT data.
VOLUMEINFO_VOLUMETRIC	Is volumetric.
VOLUMEINFO_TRANSFORM	Needs back-transformed data.
VOLUMEINFO_EVALUATEPROJECTION	Requires texture tag projections.
VOLUMEINFO_PRIVATE_GLOW	Calculates glow. Private.
VOLUMEINFO_INITCALCULATION	Needs InitCalculation() call.
VOLUMEINFO_FINAL_ALPHA	New in version R18: Writes final alpha value.

BaseMaterial.GetNodeMaterialReference(self)

Returns a weak reference of the actual Material as a c4d.NodeMaterial.

Returns

The material as a c4d.NodeMaterial.

Return type

c4d.NodeMaterial