When displaying a model to a user, it is often desired to override the materials that may come with model. This is can be done explicitly through a combination of material applications referencing materials and application areas.

Material applications have the following attributes:

• Application Area References – A list of references to application areas. These application areas make reference surfaces, which, by extension, the material application make reference to. When the material application is in effect, it’s material will be applied to these surfaces. It is not invalid for a material application to make reference to surfaces that are not currently visible, they are simply ignored.
• Material Reference – A reference to a material in the project, made by mean’s of the material’s code. When the material application is in effect, this is the material that will be applied.