# Materials editing and shaders

## Materials editing and shaders

### Materials editing and shaders

Instead of using the [Phong shader](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415/https://help.sansar.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002888226) in your 3D modeling tool, you can use the Materials Settings panel to apply shaders and texture maps to objects.

## Accessing Materials Settings

### Access Materials Settings when uploading an object in edit mode

1. Click **Import > 3D Model** in the top toolbar. See [Uploading items in Sansar](/latest/creating-in-sansar/importing-things-to-sansar.md).
2. When the Import 3D Model panel appears, you will need to select a .fbx file first to upload. Under 3D model file, click **Browse** and choose a 3D model (.fbx or .obj) from your computer.
3. Once a file is selected, click the **Materials Settings** button to access the **Materials Settings** panel.\\

   | ![Import\_3D\_model\_panel.png](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415im_/https://help.sansar.com/hc/article_attachments/115018287703/Import_3D_model_panel.png) |
   | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   | The upload panel once a .fbx file has been selected from your local drive.                                                                                           |

### Access Materials Settings for an object that is already in a scene

You can access Materials Settings on objects that have been placed in a scene. Note that you cannot currently take objects from a scene back into your inventory, so there is no way to save and reuse changes you make to an object in this way:

1. Find the object in the Scene Objects panel.
2. Right-click the object's name and choose **Materials...**

| **Note:** When changing materials settings for an object that is already in a scene, those changes are previewed on the object. The changes are reverted if you close the Materials Settings panel by clicking **Cancel.** |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

| ![Access\_materials\_settings\_on\_existing\_object.png](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415im_/https://help.sansar.com/hc/article_attachments/115018307983/Access_materials_settings_on_existing_object.png) |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Accessing the Materials Settings panel for an object that is already in the scene.                                                                                                                                   |

#### Materials Settings panel overview

| [![Materials\_settings\_with\_callouts.png](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415im_/https://help.sansar.com/hc/article_attachments/115012264346/Materials_settings_with_callouts.png)](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415/https://help.sansar.com/hc/article_attachments/115012264346/Materials_settings_with_callouts.png) |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The Materials Settings panel.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |

### Loaded materials

The **Loaded materials** list shows the materials applied to the model at the time of upload. If no materials are assigned, a single default material is applied to all parts of the model. Select each material to assign a shader and texture maps to each.

### Shader Setting

The **Use shader** dropdown lists all shaders that can be applied to the currently selected object part. Each shader is ideal for a different application, and comes with its own subset of possible texture maps.

For a full list of available shaders and some suggested uses, see [Shaders](/latest/creating-in-sansar/shaders-and-materials/shaders-information.md).

| ![Examples\_shaders.png](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415im_/https://help.sansar.com/hc/article_attachments/115012474363/Examples_shaders.png) |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Example usage of **Standard**, **Standard+Alpha Mask**, and **Standard+Emissive** shaders.                                                               |

### Applying maps

| ![Applying\_maps.png](https://web.archive.org/web/20230603215415im_/https://help.sansar.com/hc/article_attachments/115012264246/Applying_maps.png) |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Choose one of the object's existing texture maps or click the **Browse** button to choose one from your computer.                                  |

For each kind of map supported by a shader, you may choose any of the object's existing textures from the dropdown, or choose **Custom Texture File**. If you choose a custom texture, click **Browse** to choose a suitable texture from your computer to use as the map.

### Tips

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of Shaders and Materials

* The maximum texture resolution is 4096 x 4096 pixels.
* When in doubt, use the simplest shader you can. If you don't need an alpha mask, don't use a shader with that feature. The **Standard** shader is the fastest, most efficient shader available.
* Sansar uses a custom physically based renderer (PBR) and doesn't use specular maps. However, Sansar does use roughness and metalness maps to define the specular highlights of an object.
* When applying maps on an object that is already in the scene, a preview of the result is shown on the object in the scene. If you choose to cancel your changes, the object reverts back to its previous maps.

Known changes

* As of July 18th, 2018, the Tint attribute, which affects the color of a surface, now affects emissive surfaces. Previously, Tint attribute only affected non-emissive surfaces. This means that emissive textures (e.g. a light bulb) can now be colored via “Tint”. However, these changes may affect existing content where the Tint value had been changed from the default value.


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