Confused by process of painting objects

[MBagshaw]

I am quite new to CA and really only intend to use it to design my own home. I'm hoping somebody can explain how I colour/paint objects but keep their basic structure the same. Using a simple timber door as an example (the default one will do – the default material for internal doors is timber/alder(blonde) in my version of CA), I want the door to remain a timber door so it is accurately recorded in the material list, but I want to paint it white. If I change the materials definition of the inside or outside of the door to be Colour/White, it seems to lose the definition specifying it's a timber door. I have attached a screenshot.

 

Mark

[Alaskan_Son]

Not sure what version you're using...might be a good idea to post that, but there are at least three things you can do that immediately come to mind...

 

1.  You can use the Adjust Material Definition tool (little rainbow icon) and just delete the texture file from the material definition (under the Texture tab).  This way you can simply paint the door whatever color you want either with the spray can or by simply changing the color on the General tab. 

 

2.  You can set the material painter to Blend Colors With Materials which will keep the material definition but change the color.  It will also almost always leave some sort of remnant of the texture though which is not always welcome...depends on the look you're going for.  You can also achieve the same result by using the Adjust Material Definition tool and checking Blend With Texture and selecting a new color. 

 

3.  Click on the Material Painter>Plan Material>New (or Copy if you prefer as alluded to in Option #1) and just make your own material.

[glennw]

Mark,

 

It seems that you may be a little confused as to how materials work.

The Alder(blonde) material performs the same function as your white paint.

The white paint is replacing the timber finish.

These materials have nothing to do with the structure of the door - only how they appear in a 3D view.

 

The best way to control how your door will appear in the Material List is to use the Components dbx. 

Here, you can change entries like the Description, or you can add Sub Categories. 

eg, you could change the Description of the standard Hinged-Slab door to Flush Timber Door.