Material link to external .vrmat

[jiminy-billy-bob]

Would it be possible to have a special type of material, which would be a simple placeholder linking to a .vrmat file?
The .vrmat file would be loaded at render time.

Similar to how proxies work with .vrmesh files.

This would make content creators life much easier.
For instance, in the Skatter libraries I can have many components sharing the same materials. But the materials are duplicated in each component skp file. So when I need to modify the materials, I need to replicate the modification in every file.

[andybot_cg]

Yes, it's possible in V-Ray (for example it's an option in V-Ray for Blender) I hear you on the duplication of materials, that may be a good solution - but I can also see that it would add more steps to manage materials. I'm still waiting for a simple right-click reload material with vrmat file like was possible in vfs2. I'm still irritated with all the copy and paste steps involved in loading an existing material in vfs3.

[Peter.Chaushev]

Hello,
It is possible to implement a .vrmat placeholder material, although it is not a solution we would like to implement. Adding a context-menu command combining copying vrmat parameters from file and pasting them into an already existing material is something that could be considered.
I've logged it for further internal discussion.

Kind regards,
Peter

[andybot_cg]

Hmm, how would UV mapping be controlled with a linked vrmat? That would be simple for proxies, but not so simple for a material connected to SU.

[Peter.Chaushev]

It could theoretically be controlled on two levels:
1. Through the SketchUp material editor by using a placeholder texture.
2. By editing the texture placement parameters of the slotted material.

However, as I already mentioned, we are currently not looking into implementing a .vrmat placeholder material.

Kind regards,
Peter

[jiminy-billy-bob]

Hello,
it is not a solution we would like to implement

Why not? Is it for simplicity reasons? Not wanting to clutter the UI?
I can understand that, but on the other hand, it's not adding much. Just one more line in an already multi-line drop-up menu.

Adding a context-menu command combining copying vrmat parameters from file and pasting them into an already existing material is something that could be considered

This is also very useful, but serves a different purpose in my opinion.
But indeed, this one should have higher priority I think.

how would UV mapping be controlled with a linked vrmat?

I imagine it exactly like all the procedural maps are handled right now: a placeholder texture, like Peter said.

[jiminy-billy-bob]

Maxwell has this feature, and I always found it very useful : http://support.nextlimit.com/display...nced+Materials

It allows to share materials between multiple assets, but also across multiple Vray plugins on different platforms.

[Peter.Chaushev]

Why not? Is it for simplicity reasons? Not wanting to clutter the UI?

Yes, mainly. It might exponentially complicate the workflow. I am not saying we won't introduce it though, but simply that it is not being currently planned.

Kind regards,
Peter