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Modify materials properties of a 3D layer

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After Effects

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  6. Importing footage
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      4. Replace images and videos in Motion Graphics templates and Essential Properties
      5. Animate faster and easier using the Properties panel
  8. Drawing, Painting, and Paths
    1. Overview of shape layers, paths, and vector graphics
    2. Paint tools: Brush, Clone Stamp, and Eraser
    3. Taper shape strokes
    4. Shape attributes, paint operations, and path operations for shape layers
    5. Use Offset Paths shape effect to alter shapes
    6. Creating shapes
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    8. Remove objects from your videos with the Content-Aware Fill panel
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  9. Layers, Markers, and Camera
    1. Selecting and arranging layers
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  14. Expressions and Automation
    1. Expressions
      1. Expression basics
      2. Understanding the expression language
      3. Using expression controls
      4. Syntax differences between the JavaScript and Legacy ExtendScript expression engines
      5. Editing expressions
      6. Expression errors
      7. Using the Expressions editor
      8. Use expressions to edit and access text properties
      9. Expression language reference
      10. Expression examples
    2. Automation
      1. Automation
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  15. Immersive video, VR, and 3D
    1. Construct VR environments in After Effects
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    6. Import 3D models from Creative Cloud Libraries
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    8. Extract and animate lights and cameras from 3D models
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    11. Embedded 3D model animations
    12. Shadow Catcher
    13. 3D depth data extraction
    14. Modify materials properties of a 3D layer
    15. Work in 3D Design Space
    16. 3D Transform Gizmos
    17. Do more with 3D animation
    18. Preview changes to 3D designs real time with the Mercury 3D engine
    19. Add responsive design to your graphics 
  16. Views and Previews
    1. Previewing
    2. Video preview with Mercury Transmit
    3. Modifying and using views
  17. Rendering and Exporting
    1. Basics of rendering and exporting
    2. H.264 Encoding in After Effects
    3. Export an After Effects project as an Adobe Premiere Pro project
    4. Converting movies
    5. Multi-frame rendering
    6. Automated rendering and network rendering
    7. Rendering and exporting still images and still-image sequences
    8. Using the GoPro CineForm codec in After Effects
  18. Working with other applications
    1. Dynamic Link and After Effects
    2. Working with After Effects and other applications
      1. Export After Effects project as Premiere Pro project
    3. Sync Settings in After Effects
    4. Creative Cloud Libraries in After Effects
    5. Plug-ins
    6. Cinema 4D and Cineware
  19. Collaboration: Frame.io, and Team Projects
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro and After Effects
    2. Frame.io
      1. Install and activate Frame.io
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      3. Frequently asked questions
    3. Team Projects
      1. Get Started with Team Projects
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      3. Collaborate with Team Projects
  20. Memory, storage, performance
    1. Memory and storage
    2. How After Effects handles low memory issues while previewing    
    3. Improve performance
    4. Preferences
    5. GPU and GPU driver requirements for After Effects
  21. Knowledge Base
    1. Known issues
    2. Fixed issues
    3. Frequently asked questions
    4. After Effects and macOS Ventura
    5. How After Effects handles low memory issues while previewing

Learn about working with material options in Adobe After Effects and how to modify them to create a wide variety of materials for 3D layers in your compositions.

With Advanced 3D, any objects created internally within After Effects can be rendered with Adobe Standard Material. You can use the Material Options to adjust materials properties of synthetic 3D layers such as text, shapes, and solids to create a variety of materials that react realistically to light and reflections.

  1. Add a solid, text, or shape layer to the composition.

  2. Activate the 3D Layer switch for the layer.

    3D Layer switch activated for a text layer in a composition.
    Identify the layer, activate the 3D Layer switch to convert the layer into a 3D layer, and use Material Options to work with the textures.

  3. Twirl down your 3D layer to Material Options or use A + A on the keyboard with the 3D layer selected.

    Material Options enabled for a text layer and options expanded to work with Shadows, Ambient, Diffuse, Specular Intensity, Specular Shininess, and Metal.
    Select the layer with the activated 3D switches to use Material Options and work with the textures.

  4. Modify the values for the following properties:

    Ambient

    The amount of After Effects ambient lighting applied to the layer, if any is present (there may not be any). This behaves similarly to the Adobe Standard Material emissive property but does not cast light onto other objects.

    Diffuse

    Mapped to the Adobe Standard Material (ASM) Base Color channel and will pass through your layer’s inherent color— the one you see when viewed in 2D. Setting this to 100 will help you get the closest match to the 2D version of a layer.

    Specular Intensity

    Mapped to the Adobe Standard Material (ASM) specular level.

    Specular Shininess

    Commonly thought of as inverted Adobe Standard Material (ASM) roughness (0 is very rough, 100 is very shiny). Note that the response is non-linear, and changes may be most visible in the middle of the range.

    Metal

    Controls how much a surface alters the color of specular reflected light.

Tip:
  • To have more physically accurate lights to go with your new physically accurate materials, set the light’s falloff to Inverse Square Clamped (Double-click the light layer in the Timeline panel > Falloff > Inverse Square Clamped > OK). This will give you a natural and realistic gradient the further your objects get from the light. 
  • If you want your 3D layer to match the look of the 2D version as closely as possible, turn Ambient and Diffuse to 100 and turn down Specular Intensity, Specular Shininess, and Metal to 0.
  • Environment Lights may make matching 3D versions of 2D art more difficult, as there will be much more interaction between the lights and the artwork.
  • Currently, After Effects only calculates reflections from Environment Lights. When there are 3D layers in a composition but no lights, After Effects uses a default and hidden Environment Light, and that environment is reflected in your 3D object. When you add a light layer After Effects disables the default Environment Light. You can manually add an Environment Light referencing an .HDR file to add reflections back in.

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