Materials are used in conjunction with Mesh or Particle Systems attached to the GameObject. They play an essential part in defining how your object is displayed. Materials include a reference to the Shader used to render the Mesh or Particles, so these Components can not be displayed without some kind of Material.
Material用于引用一个Shader和一个Texture，以让Mesh和ParticalSystem使用。
The properties of any Material will change depending on the selected Shader. These are the most often used properties:
| Shader | The Shader that will be used by the Material. For more information, read the Built-in Shader Guide. |
| Main Color | Any kind of color tint can be applied. Use white for no tint. |
| Base | The Texture that will be displayed. |
原文：http://www.cnblogs.com/tekkaman/p/3536784.html