c4d.BaseMaterial

class c4d.BaseMaterial

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

Methods Signatures

BaseMaterial.__init__(self, type) Initialize a new BaseMaterial in memory.
BaseMaterial.Compare(self, snd) Check if the materials are identical.
BaseMaterial.GetPreview(self[, flags]) Retrieves the preview picture of the material.
BaseMaterial.GetAverageColor(self[, channel]) Returns an average color for the material, based on the material preview.
BaseMaterial.Update(self, preview, rttm) Recalculates the material’s thumbnail and updates internal values.
BaseMaterial.GetRenderInfo(self) Retrieves information about what the material requires from the raytracer and what it will return.

Inheritance

Parent Class:

Child Class:

Methods Documentation

BaseMaterial.__init__(self, type)

Initialize a new BaseMaterial in memory.

Parameters:type (int) – The material type : Material Types.
Return type:c4d.BaseMaterial
Returns:The new material.
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: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.