MatCap Browser

A MatCap is a picture of a shaded sphere. Vertexix looks up each point of the surface in that picture by which way it faces the camera, so the model takes on the sphere’s look — clay, chrome, wax — without any lights. Pick one in the MatCap Browser window: open it from Window → MatCap Browser, or with Load MatCap... in the MatCap accordion of OpenGL Settings or PBR Settings.

Turning MatCap on and off

There are three switches, and they all control the same setting:

• Show MatCap on the Icon Toolbar.
• Use MatCap Image in the MatCap accordion. The accordion is the same in OpenGL Settings and PBR Settings, so changing it in one changes it in the other.
• Caps Lock. Turning Caps Lock on switches MatCap on; turning it off switches MatCap off. You can still use the toolbar button while Caps Lock is on.

Clicking a thumbnail in the browser also turns MatCap on, so you see the image straight away.

MatCap replaces the material’s lighting entirely: the scene lights and the material’s own shading are not used while it is on. What you see depends only on the shape of the surface, which is why it is useful for judging form, sculpting and checking for dents. It works in both the OpenGL view and PBR Preview. In the OpenGL view it is one of three solid looks, along with the UV texture image and vertex colours: turning one of them on turns the others off, and turning it off again brings back whichever one was showing before.

The MatCap Browser window

The browser shows the images in one folder on your disk as a grid of thumbnails. The folder path is shown at the top. Hover over a thumbnail to see its file name and size in pixels; the image in use is highlighted. The window can be resized, or docked, in which case it sizes the thumbnails to fit five across (fewer in a very narrow dock).

Control	What it does
Set Folder...	Shown when no folder has been chosen yet. Picks the folder to browse.
Change Folder...	Picks a different folder to browse. This is the same folder as Import from folder in the MatCap accordion.
Update List	Reads the folder again and rebuilds the grid. Use it after adding or removing images in the folder.
Click a thumbnail	Applies that MatCap and turns MatCap on. The window stays open so you can try several.
Right-click → Set as Default	Applies the MatCap and makes it the one Vertexix starts with.
Right-click → Delete...	Deletes the image file from the folder, after asking you to confirm.
Load From a Different File...	Opens a file picker so you can use a single MatCap image from anywhere else, without adding it to the folder.

Opening the window shows the list saved from the last time the folder was read; it does not read the folder again until you press Update List. So a folder on a slow network drive costs nothing until you ask for it, but new images will not appear by themselves. A folder can show up to 2,000 images.

Adding your own MatCaps

Any folder of MatCap images can be used. Put the images in a folder, choose it with Set Folder... or Change Folder... (or Browse... under Import from folder in the MatCap accordion), then press Update List.

The folder you choose is where MatCaps are imported from. When you apply one, Vertexix copies it into its own assets/MatCap folder next to the program and loads it from there afterwards. Your MatCap stays available at startup and in saved presets even if the original folder is later moved or the network drive is unavailable.

Duplicates

Libraries put together from several packs often have the same image more than once. The browser outlines each extra copy in red and says how many there are above the grid. Hover over an outlined thumbnail to see which other file it duplicates.