Color/Material Management for Complex Scenes
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When my scene becomes increasingly populated, I tend to loose track of colors that are already in use. It's frustrating to export into Kerkythea, spend about 20mins+ editing materials just to find out that the color of the pillows is asigned the same color as the railing you want to make chrome. This often happen when using downloaded models where I had no part in selecting materials. I find myself sifting through the "in model" list before choosing a color. The problem is the list is grown big. Is there a easy way to tell what colors or mterial is in use already to make it easier to choose an unused material perhaps a ruby?
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I feel your pain. I once populated a scene with a bunch of different FormFont cars, and had to go through and write down what each color was for before rendering it. I am unaware of any such ruby or tool that does what you suggest. One solution I have come up with to combat that problem, when using one of SU's materials, is to create a new material from it with a descriptive name. This is especially helpful if using the same color/texture for two different materials.
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http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=31378&start=0
That should help. That way you can see in sketchup if things have the same material. Not a solution as good as what you want but easier than just reading every one
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I name my materials, and keep the material browser in list view (just text) instead of using the thumbnails. I also prefix important materials with 01 - 09 in order to bring them to the top of the list.
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Thanks for your helpful replies! All good suggestions.
I started naming materials but its the ones that come with downloaded models that I'm concerned about.the ruby MrMike pointed out is a big help (material select). Even though not perfect, it pretty much helped me discover what model brought in that dark red color. And if I select a material I have the opportunity to see if its in use and by what. Cool.I actually would rather make my own models to have more creative control, especially when it comes to material introduction. There's not enough hours in a day for 3D modelin when working on a deadline.
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