Tell the AI What Your Materials Are
Assign glass to windows, paint walls with exact colors, and hide elements you do not want in the render. The more context you give the AI, the better your results. Material assignment happens directly in the browser, on the 3D model, before you render.
Start rendering freeVIDEO: Assigning glass and colors to a 3D model, then rendering
Why material assignment matters
The AI rendering engine takes a screenshot of your 3D preview as input. What it sees is what it works with. If the preview shows flat gray geometry, the AI has to guess that a rectangle is a window, that a surface is marble, that a panel is wood. Results are unpredictable and often require multiple re-renders.
When you assign materials before rendering, the AI sees transparent glass windows, colored walls, and a clean scene without distracting elements. It produces accurate results on the first render because it understands what each surface is.
The difference in practice: without material assignment, you might need 3-5 re-renders to get a good result. With material assignment, the first render is usually right.
Without materials
IMAGE: Plain gray 3D preview + mediocre render
With materials
IMAGE: Material-assigned preview + high-quality render
Glass shader
Select any mesh and apply the glass shader to make it transparent. Perfect for windows, glass doors, partitions, shower enclosures, and skylights. The AI sees the transparency and renders realistic glass with reflections and light passing through.
Click on a surface in the 3D viewer, choose "Glass" from the material picker, and the change applies immediately. You will see the transparency in real time before you render. The effect is especially visible in interior scenes where natural light needs to pass through windows to illuminate the space.
VIDEO: Clicking on window meshes and applying glass shader
Color painting
Paint any mesh with an exact hex color. Walls, furniture, accents, fixtures. The AI preserves your chosen colors in the final render, so the output matches your design intent precisely.
Select a mesh, pick a color, and the surface updates in the 3D preview instantly. You can assign different colors to different parts of the model to fully specify your palette before rendering. This is especially useful when you want to show a client specific paint colors or material tones.
VIDEO: Painting walls and furniture with specific colors
Hide and show meshes
Toggle individual meshes on and off to declutter the scene. Hide background buildings, construction elements, or furniture you do not want in the render. The AI only renders what is visible.
Every visibility change is tracked with full undo/redo history. Your original model file is never modified. You can experiment freely — hide a wall to reveal an interior, remove temporary construction geometry, or isolate specific rooms.
VIDEO: Hiding background elements, before/after render comparison
How it fits into the workflow
Material assignment sits between model upload and rendering. The typical workflow is:
- Upload your 3D model (SketchUp, GLB, FBX, or 3DS)
- Assign materials — glass to windows, colors to walls, hide what you do not need
- Place cameras and render — the AI uses your material assignments as context
- Refine the result with chat editing, annotations, or area-select if needed
Material assignments persist across all viewpoints and render sessions. Once you set up your model, every angle you render benefits from the same material context. You only do the setup once.
Frequently asked questions
How does material assignment improve render quality?[+][-]
The AI rendering engine uses your 3D preview as its primary input. When you assign glass to a window, the AI sees a transparent surface and renders it with realistic reflections, refractions, and light transmission. When you paint a wall a specific color, the AI preserves that exact color in the output. Without these hints, the AI has to guess materials from plain gray geometry.
Can I assign materials to individual parts of the model?[+][-]
Yes. Click on any mesh in the 3D viewer to select it. You can then assign a glass shader, a custom color, or hide it entirely. Each mesh can have its own material assignment, so you can make windows transparent, walls painted, and furniture colored independently.
What does the glass shader do?[+][-]
The glass shader makes selected surfaces transparent in the 3D preview. This is especially useful for windows, glass partitions, shower enclosures, and skylights. The AI sees the transparency and renders realistic glass with proper reflections and light behavior.
Can I undo material changes?[+][-]
Yes. Eler tracks a full edit history for model changes. You can undo and redo material assignments, color changes, and visibility toggles at any time. Your original model is never modified.
Do material assignments apply to all camera angles?[+][-]
Yes. Material overrides are applied to the 3D model itself, not to individual viewpoints. Once you assign glass to a window, every camera angle you render from will show that window as glass.
What file formats support material assignment?[+][-]
Material assignment works with any 3D model loaded in Eler, including SketchUp (.skp), GLB, FBX, and 3DS files. The feature operates on the converted model geometry regardless of the original format.