Maya 2015

Lecture Details

It is usually a good idea to assign multiple materials to game objects. If we only assigned a single material to our entire sword we would be limited in what we could do with that material. If we broke the sword up into multiple materials we could have a separate material for our blade, handle and hilt. This will allow us to for instance, change the color of the hilt and not have to worry about that color change affecting the color of anything else. The idea behind applying multiple materials to a game object is so that you can reuse the same model while only changing the texture applied to it.

Modern game engines such as Unity 3d, CryTek and the Unreal Engine 4 will recognize that the game object has multiple materials applied to it. Some game engines such as the Unreal Engine 4 will even create the different materials for us within the game engine upon import. Setting up these materials within Maya prior to exporting to the game engine is a major time saver. While it is not always necessary, it is generally a good idea to do so when possible.

One method of splitting up materials on a game object is by taking into consideration the type of material it is. For instance, you could break the metal parts into a separate material from those of the cloth parts. Both the materials can use the same exact textures but you will be able to adjust them individually within the game engine in order to achieve the desired results. Overall, providing your model with multiple materials will allow for more flexibility in your project.

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