Changing surface appearance of installed options

[wile e coyote genius]

After getting excellent advice on creating circular roof I am a little disappointed in the options available using the built-in surface textures. In my case I chose the professional shingle option which I wanted but there isn't any options regarding color. Does that mean I need to find the surface for the shingles and then copy it and modify the color of the surface? It would have been nice to have had an option to change the color. And while talking about surface texture/color, before when selecting a surface color/texture a large window would open and show all of the options available but in AC26 I now get a small window which requires the user to select the type of material (stone, wood, steel, etc.) which then provides the options available. The issue I have is that there seems to be choices than previous versions and it takes more clicks to select the option desired. Does anyone know why the change and reduction of surface options?

Thanks in advance.

[Patrick M]

there are a few options. You can fuss with the color emission settings to get a slightly different hue; but this tends to give surfaces a slightly neon appearance.
Most firms I work with generate custom surface images for almost every project. The default kit of parts, even the SSA extended surface catalog, are a great starting point, or a finish line when "good enough" is your goal.
to access the surface images baked into the AC libraries, you will need to extract the .lfc container. You can do this by going to file > libraries and objects > extract library container. Choose the application file containing the surface catalog .lfc from your applications folder, save the extracted container to your desktop, documents, or file server, then track the image file(s) you need and photoshop them to your desired color/hue/darkness/etc.

If you know the name of the .jpg or .png, I already have those extracted and can shoot it over to you...

[thesleepofreason]

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@wile e coyote genius wrote:

Does anyone know why the change and reduction of surface options?

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Sounds like you are referring to the introduction of folders? You can change to list view in the top right corner of the dialogs left pane and you will get all. Or use search if you know the name. 

[Karl Ottenstein · Accepted solution]

All options that used to be there are still there.  Maybe post a screenshot of where you think something is missing so we can steer you to how to expand the visible settings?

Also, you don't make clear where you intend to see the shingle texture?  If in a rendering, then Cineware/etc let you mix a different color in (which may or may not work satisfactorily depending on the base color/etc).  If 3D window/internal engine then, yes, you have to load your own seamless shingle texture.  As noted by others, there are lots - including in the additional surface catalog - but the colors/styles are still limited vs the vast commercial selections available.  So, if one is close, then save it out and photoshop it to the desired color.  If not, creating a seamless texture from a manufacturer illustration or photograph is a huge topic (covered in years past by Dwight, me and others)...and something for the Visualization forum, vs this Modeling forum.  Even this question is a Visualization question, but will leave here for now and one of us will move it later.

[wile e coyote genius]

Thanks  to those who responded. I believe there is enough information for me to  create what I need. Sorry for posting to the wrong forum as I just assumed it was a modeling issue not realizing there was a visualization forum.

Regards.