Making a Decal Texture in 3Ds Max

"Making a Decal Texture in 3Ds Max using the Blend Material " by Michael Grote

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If all you want is different diffuse maps (and/or different bump maps .etc) to show in the decal just put a ‘mix’ map in the diffuse slot of a standard material then add a the black and white decal to the mix map slot, then what ever is white takes whatever is in the white slot and vice versa.
Here’s an example mix map:

And here is a render:

In the above im age I have a cellular map in the white slot of the mix map and a green flat colour in the black slot. If you physically want two different materials in each part (not just two different diffuse maps) then I’d use a blend material. It works the same as the mix map but combines actual materials rather than maps. This way, you can have things like a ‘Raytrace’ material for the lettering and an Ink’n’Paint material for the box for instance.
You can even use blend materials within other blend materials so the letters or shapes are all individual m aterial types, if that’s what you want. In the example below the box is Ink’n’Paint, the circle is a second blend map containing a word mix (Blend Map 2) between a standard red material and a very reflective Raytrace material
Blend Map 1

Blend Map 2

Render:

I hope this tutorial was useful for you.
Michael
(c) Michael Grote, www.mgrote.com