Simply put, currently you can't Render (not the In-Canvas Render) at the same time Physical Material is activated. This is due to the fact that physical material panel will close, reverting back to default appearance, once the Render panel is opened.
The workaround for this is only using the In-Canvas Render, which is not so ideal for a lot of us (less options compared to Render).
You may also use the appearance material similar to the physical material, but in an ideal workflow you should have two materials:
- Appearance material for editing only. Contrasting colors, low performance-impact materials, etc.
- Physical material for rendering & giving physical properties. Highly-reflective, opaque or transparent, high performance-impact materials, etc.
So, it's already a good direction Fusion 360 is taking. Just a little bit more modification.
