Save material configuration with layerstate manager

Rhino Rhino for Windows
1

Is it possible somehow to create multiple material configurations?

I’m at the stage where I’m doing interior renderings of the same room and furniture, but with the flooring, upholstery, surfaces, veneers, paint colours, etc. customized for each individual client.

It would be nice if there was a way to save each client’s material configuration and be able to switch back and forth between them as required.

1 Like
2

Hi,

With which renderer you’re working?
In V-Ray, there’s a very simple way that mostly work:

  • For each scheme (a client’s collection of materials), use the same name. So the floor is always named “FLOOR” for example.
  • Create a file with some geometry (like an array of cubes) onto which you apply the material “by object” and duplicate that file, one for each client, each file having the same material names but customized for each client.
  • To render for a client; in your main scene file you import the corresponding client file. V-Ray will detect materials with the same name and ask what action you want, you select to over-write and apply to all.
  • Repeat for every client.
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3

Thanks Marc,

I’m trying to avoid branching the file like that… The model is still undergoing some heavy revisions. I don’t want to have to update the geometry in a bunch of files every day. I’d rather redo the material assignments at that point.

I’m using Maxwell.

Seems to me layerstate manager already has basically all the functionality here. We just need an extra checkbox for material. :smile:

I suppose I could save the geometry with customized materials into another file and then import multiple instances of that file with active style layer mode and set them individually. I almost never use active mode, not sure if this will work.

4

I think you misunderstood something.
No geometry update here. The files that holds the material definition has only a bunch of cubes. When you import the file with material specific to a client you import only those cubes and can delete them right away.

5

Oh now I’m with you. I’ll have to check if maxwell behaves the same way.

I have a script that outputs a text file with all the material assignments and passes it onto maxwell as metadata… It’s handy when the client asks what’s on the floor and they can get an exact product code… This strategy would break that functionality. Might be tricky for my own tracking purposes too but worth investigating. Thanks Marc.

6

While it is partially solved, this is still a great feature request.
Is it possible to save the material index in a layerstate?

7

Yes, It would be definitely useful like a scene manager.