# 3DS Max 2022: Using the Slate Material Editor
3DS Max 2022 has been out for a while, and one of its new features is the Slate, an updated interface for the material editor. This is a move toward a node-based system, which is something that a lot of other software (Maya, XSI, Blender, Shake, Fusion, Nuke, and so on) has been using for a while and is generally thought to be an efficient and intuitive method...but is it?

The old material editor in Max had a couple of issues, such as the need to reset material slots if you went over 24 mats, and the fact that you had to click through everything to get to the 'deep' settings on complex materials. One big advantage it had was familiarity; I'd been using it for about ten years and, despite its quirks, I knew what I was doing with it...and then Slate came along. There are many institutes out there who are claiming to provide best [animation course in Delhi](https://www.tgcindia.com/course/animation-courses-in-delhi/) but you have to take demo first before joining any institute. Tgc India is an institute which provides free demo before you join there.

I must admit that I found it difficult at first; the very different look and feel of everything was quite off-putting, and my initial reaction was that it didn't really add anything productive to your workflow. But after about a day of perseverance, I began to see the benefits and haven't looked back since - and what makes it so good? As I previously stated, I found it difficult to grasp at first (and a number of colleagues still don't see the point of moving away from the old system), so I thought I'd go over some of the key features from my perspective:

# Workplace.

The first issue with the old material editor (now called the 'compact material editor') was running out of mat slots, but that is no longer an issue because the working space available to place your materials on is enormous. Using the new available space, it is now possible to create hundreds of mats in the same location; however, this may become confusing in terms of organization. To avoid confusion in complex scenes, you can create new workspaces to keep things organized; these simply sit at the top as tabs for you to switch between.

# Layout can be customized.

When I first opened the Slate, the layout wasn't quite to my liking, but if you click on any of the standard windows and drag them around, you'll see some highlighted positions; drag the selected window to the position you prefer and drop it there. A feature I really like is the ability to add a custom material group into which you can drag all of your most frequently used items. This saves a lot of time because choosing from the standard drop down menus you start with can be a bit befuddling; having a custom set to choose from is far easier.

# Everything is visible at a glance.

This addresses my previous comment about dealing with complex materials; the new node-based view allows you to see the setup of your material right away. There's no need to click through channel after channel of mats and sub-mats to figure out what's going on; everything is right there for you to see. Another advantage is that if you use the same map in multiple places, you can simply drag the wire out from it to multiple slots/materials at the same time - it's basically the same as instancing but is a much cleaner way of doing it.

# Bonus items.

The option to load all scene materials onto the work area at once is useful, as are the node/child layout options (the option to re-sort everything vertically can be very useful if things start getting a little complicated), the navigator window, and the search functionality built right into the Material Map Browser window. But I really like how matlibs work now; you just click on the arrow to the left of the search bar and select 'open material library,' select one and it opens above your custom set and you can drag mats onto the work area; when you're finished, just right-click the lib and close it. You can also open scenes as matlibs by changing the 'Files of type' drop down in the Open window - this is very useful as you can get quick access to previously used mats without having to add them to a custom library. [Tap here](https://www.tgcindia.com/course/animation-courses-in-delhi/) for a free animation course demo at Tgc India.

# Space Invader.

One thing with the Slate is that it takes up a lot of screen space, it is lovely to use with a dual monitor setup (it does really need an entire screen in my opinion), working on one screen is of course possible but it's a bit cramped and I found myself having to constantly resize and move the window to see what was going on...the title of 'compact' for the old material editor is apt indeed!

Personally I think the Slate is a big improvement over the old material editor and, as my first experience of a node-based system, I have indeed found it to be efficient and intuitive. I would say it is a great addition to Max, hopefully development will continue and new features will be added to improve the workflow of material creation even further.