This tut will show you how to use Material Editor for applying textures to your projects...

What is Material Editor?
In my opinion, the material editor is one of the most important tools in Max
Why?
Becouse with it you can apply different variety of textures to an object and it gives you a control over the textures.
Almost all outstanding effects are made with Material editor.

1.)First make a box or a plane primitive.

2.)Open the Material editor in menu "Tools\Material editor".
"Path:\Tools\Material editor"

3.)Nowv look around and try to get familiar with tools that are in Material editor.
First thing that you see are sample windows (that balls with different collor).
On this "balls" you can see your texture when you assign it.
Below and next to this sample windows are command buttons.
Drag your mouse cursor to each command button and wait for a while so you will se what is the function of each button.

4.)Now we will pick a texture .
In a rollout window you can see multiple functios and one of them is "Basic parameters".
In this section you can pick a texture with clicking on a button which is on a right side of "Diffuse" option (see the pic) or you can pick a texture from "Maps" section.
In "Maps" section click on a "Diffuse color" button.

5.)Now  the new window will appear.
In this "Material\Map browser" window click on a option "Bitmap"

6.)In "Select bitmap image file" select the desired texture and click "OK".

7.)You can seeyour texture on a sample window.
Just make sure that object is selected and now jou may assign  your texture to an object with clicking on a "Assign material to selection" button below the sample windows.

8.)You made it!
Have fun!

For deformed objects you must change some settings, for that, look for the Material Editor basic-part two tut.

By:Ego