1
$\begingroup$

So I read in the blender manual and watched some tutorials where it is explained that the material index offset is used to choose a different material for the new geometry. Alright this is the screen shot and what I'm trying to do is making a spaceship that glows from the inside and I cannot figure out how to change the inside color with solidify modifier, and I'm new to blender so sorry if this question is a stupid one.

Here is the screen shot:

model in blender with solidify modifier

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ If you added Solidify modifier on simple cube you won't see any material differences as solidified geometry is inside cube hence is invisible (unless you crank up Thickness option and see only solidified geometry). So edit the question, show what you did exactly, preferably with screenshots $\endgroup$
    – Mr Zak
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 14:33
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ There is Matcap viewport material activated, so they will override any materials you assign to the object. Further the Thickness in the Solidify modifier is set to 0,01 units, probably that value is too small. Note also to check if scale of the object is applied, in Object mode > Ctrl+A $\endgroup$
    – Mr Zak
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 10:54

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1
$\begingroup$

No stupid question. The answer to it is just obvious, if you know it. I struggled with it myself. :)

Just add another material to your object. In your screenshot it's not visible, if you did this already. The index for Material Index Offset inside your Solidify modifier points to the position of your material in the material list.

Solidify material index

So, if you leave Material Index Offset at 0, the newly generated faces will use the same material as the original object - the topmost material in your list. Set it to 1, and all original faces will use original material, while all new faces will use the next material in your list. Same goes for the rim - give it an own material as needed.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Good answer, I just want to add that the material index offset does not refer directly to the position of the material in the list, but to an offset from the material that would have been used. If you solidify a mesh using two materials, at positions 2 and 4, giving it an offset of 2, the solidified mesh will use materials 4 and 6 instead of 2 and 4 respectively. So there's a lot of power there. $\endgroup$
    – Nathan
    Commented Jun 28, 2018 at 14:38
0
$\begingroup$

In my case, It was that I was in Material Preview mode instead of Rendered mode for Viewport Shading. Even with everything set up correctly, if you're not in Rendered Viewport Shading mode, the material offset is not taken into account. This is a bug in Material Preview mode, IMHO.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .