Once our project model has been imported, our 3D file should be displayed in our viewport along with a new project window. This window contains five different tabs, of which we will discuss three in the following sections.
The Scene tab shows all the parts of our model. The left-hand side of our Project window shows the parts of our mesh under the Parts heading. The order and the name of each of the parts are listed according to the name of the material that was assigned to it by its original application. In this case, our 3D tablet was imported from Maya and all its parts were assigned with a specific material inside Maya. The right-hand side of our Project window shows the list of the current materials that have been applied to the parts inside KeyShot under the Materials heading, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Material tab lists all the available materials in KeyShot according to their category. In the lower part of our Project window, we can see the materials that belong to the specific folder we have chosen from the list. To apply any material to our model, simply drag the material and drop it onto the part of our model where we wish to apply it. Another way of accessing the list of materials is by clicking on the Library tab in our main viewport.
If we need to access the material properties of a specific part of our model, we can do so by double-clicking on any part of the model.
To apply any material to our project, we perform the following steps:
Open the Library window by clicking on the Library icon from the viewport menu.
Drag the desired material and drop it onto our project.
Double-click on our model with the applied material to open the Material Properties window.
The material properties window allows us to modify the attributes of the material we choose. Depending on the material, certain properties will be available for us to modify. For example, any glass models will have the refraction attribute, which won't be available to us if we choose a metallic shader. In general, we have to fine-tune the properties of the materials in order to reproduce the look of real-life materials for most 3D applications such as Maya or 3ds Max. In KeyShot, however, this is no longer necessary since all its materials have been configured to be physically accurate. When using materials in KeyShot, each time a new material is applied to our model, it will show up at the bottom of our material's property window. This is to allow us to recycle a material and use it again if needed. We will discuss the material properties window in more depth in the next chapter.
Right next to the Material tab we will find the Environment tab, which contains HDRIs that come as part of KeyShot. Here, we will be able to drag-and-drop HDRIs as well as backplates onto our scene. The Environment tab, just like the Material tab, has its own property window, which has more advanced attributes that let us assume greater control of the appearance of our scene. In the Pro version of KeyShot, an HDRI editor preference is also available for further control of our HDRIs. Certain features allow us to control the saturation, hue, brightness, contrast, and even the shape of the HDRI.