Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
There's more...
From now on, every time we start Blender, the layout and the settings we just saved as
default will be seen first.
But maybe we don't want to have this Cycles material interface every time we start, and
we prefer to have it only as an option to be used if needed. Actually, in the previous steps,
we modified the Default screen, but it's also possible to create new screens while keeping
the original screen available. Here is the way to do this:
1.
Start Blender with the factory settings (click on the File menu on the top main
header and navigate to Load Factory Setting) and look at the top of the screen,
in the main header on the side of the Blender Render button. There are two
more buttons labeled Default and Scene.
2.
By clicking on the Default button, we can set a different interface layout (there
are already nine, each of which is studied for a different task, and their names
are perfectly explicative). Clicking on Scene shows just the current scene.
3.
By clicking on the + icon on the side of the Default button, we add a new screen
layout named
Default.001
. Rename it
Materials
.
4.
Then click on the + icon on the side of the Scene button, and by choosing the Full
Copy item, add a new scene to the Scene.001 file. Rename the file as something
like
Cycles_Materials
. This new scene is a full copy of the default scene,
coexisting but independent.
At this point, we can start with all the instructions already seen in the
How to do it
section of
this recipe: switching to Cycles Render, splitting the 3D window, assigning the Subdivision
Surface modifier to the default Cube, and so on.
When done, just click on the screens button, switch back to Default, and then save the user
preferences (
Ctrl
+
U
). Now our material creation interface is saved as a screen option in a
different scene. Every time we need to access it, it's enough to select the layout Materials
from the screens button.
Naming materials and textures
It is well known that one of the most important things to do when working in every workflow
with every 3D package is to give proper and explicative names to all the assets, that is, to
the materials and the textures in our case.
Getting ready
Start Blender, go to the File menu in the top-left corner, and choose Load Factory
Setting (this is just to be sure to start with the default Blender/Cycles settings).
