Product(s):	AECOsim Building Designer
	Version(s):	08.11.09.829
	Area:	Settings/Attributes
	Subarea:	N\A

Problem

How are materials intended to work when used through Part and Level/Color assignment, as well as when attached?  I've noticed that when an element has both a Part with Render material and a Level/Color assignment, the Part Rendering material seems to take precedence.  However, I've also noticed that when I pan or rotate the View, elements will display using the Level/Color assigned material instead.   And, when I attach a material to one face of the Solid, that target face displays the attached material while the remaining faces display the Part Rendering material.

Solution

When the configuration variable TFPART_RENDER has a value of 1 (default) the material defined for that Part under Rendering Properties in Dataset Explorer should take precedence over Level/Color assignments. This is why the elements will display using the Part assigned material.

If the Part assigned material changes to the Level/Color assigned material when panning or rotating the view, it is likely that the configuration variable BB_ACCELERATE_DYNAMICS is set to Low or High (default is None).  This variable controls whether elements display using their Part assigned materials during view navigation: None = always use Part rendering for view navigation, Low = do not use Part rendering specifically within Clip Volumes when view navigating, and High = never use Part rendering in any view when view navigating.  The end result is that the element will display its Level/Color assigned material instead if set to Low or High (depending where you're panning or rotating).

Lastly, the Attach Material option will override both TFPART_RENDER and Level/Color assigned materials, so in this case any face with a different attached material will display as such while the remainder should display using the Part assigned material.