441 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Learning Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ✓ Attach materials to the objects in a drawing. ✓ Change the properties of existing materials. ✓ Create new materials. A material is simply an image stretched over an object to make it appear as though the object is made out of wood, marble, glass, brick, or various other materials. AutoCAD provides an assortment of materials that can be used in your drawings to create a realistic scene. The materials are grouped into categories to make them easier to fi nd. Materials are easy to attach. They can be dragged and dropped onto the objects, attached to all selected objects, and even attached based on the object’s layer. Once the material is attached, you can adjust how the material is mapped to the object. If the current visual style is set to display materials in the viewport, you can immediately see the effects on the object. The properties of a material can also be changed to make it look shinier, softer, smoother, rougher, and so on. When you fi nally render the scene, you will see the full effect of the materials. The materials library is the location where all materials are stored. When you install AutoCAD, the Autodesk Material Library is installed. The images in the Base Resolution Image Library are low resolution (512 × 512) and are used with AutoCAD materials. The Medium Resolution Image Library contains medium-resolution images (1024 × 1024) that are good for close-up work or large-scale model rendering. The Medium Resolution Image Library is an additional software option that you must install after installing AutoCAD. When you attempt to render, you may be asked if you want to download the Medium Resolution Image Library. Just follow the prompts to accomplish this task. Materials in AutoCAD CHAPTER 17 17