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VW 2021 Materials


taoist

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VW 2022 Update: 

The deficiencies with Materials discussed in this and other threads remain.  Notably, not all objects accept Materials (notably Doors, Windows, Stairs PIO), and visibility VP over-rides are not available for Materials.

 

Materials are nowhere to be found in the Public Roadmap (https://www.vectorworks.net/en-US/public-roadmap), so I have to assume that an almost complete feature was added in 2021, and completion of its functionality to apply to all objects won't happen anytime soon.  We've seen this happen to Windows, Doors, Stairs, etc. 

 

@Ben Beaumont, @Wes Gardner, or any other VW employee, do you have any status updates?

 

See also:

https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/64381-window-and-door-tool-maturity/page/5/#comment-417115

https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/76479-applying-material-to-window-glass/

 

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  • 7 months later...
On 2/25/2021 at 5:40 PM, Ben Beaumont said:

We have constructed localised libraries of 100's, (pushing 1000's) of Materials. @Julian Carr has written a script to create Materials from Textures which helped enormously. There is also a Worksheet that can push other material values into Material Styles. This is a boon for building libraries with repetitive information. We have updated our Wall and Slab styles such that the external and internal components (only) use Materials. Typically the external face is textured with an associated surface hatch (eg; painted weatherboard) so the component has a discernable thickness. The weatherboard Material library has any given profile in multiple popular colours. There are around 5 common weatherboard profiles and 100+ popular exterior colours. I don't think we can reasonably use Classes to manage the attributes of 500+ weatherboard options alone.
We have constructed an 'Applied Finishes' Materials library with about 150 popular and fashionable paint colours from a leading paint supplier. The Wall styles have a 0.1mm internal Component for the 'Applied finish'. The slab styles (for ceilings) have the same. The Wall Styles in our libraries have 'Natural White' associated with them, the ceilings have 'Ceiling White' associated with them.

The Attributes of the other Wall and Slab components are still 'by Class'. We have a short list of (legacy?) Component Classes to control these attributes.  
It is a pleasure to use the Wall and Slab Styles straight from the library and to be able to simply swap out the Material with a preferred option (also straight from the library).
I hear the comments about the absence of Class override type control for Materials, but for me the flatter workflow of simply applying a Material to an object is a far lesser evil than trying to do it with Classes. Considering the ease with which a model can be 'painted' in some other platforms, Materials are a welcome development.

@Ben Beaumont

 

Are these scripts available? I have been searching for something like that for the longest.

 

1. Script to create Materials from Textures

2. Script to write info into the material settings

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  • 1 year later...
On 2/25/2021 at 11:40 PM, Ben Beaumont said:

We have constructed localised libraries of 100's, (pushing 1000's) of Materials. @Julian Carr has written a script to create Materials from Textures which helped enormously. There is also a Worksheet that can push other material values into Material Styles. This is a boon for building libraries with repetitive information. We have updated our Wall and Slab styles such that the external and internal components (only) use Materials. Typically the external face is textured with an associated surface hatch (eg; painted weatherboard) so the component has a discernable thickness. The weatherboard Material library has any given profile in multiple popular colours. There are around 5 common weatherboard profiles and 100+ popular exterior colours. I don't think we can reasonably use Classes to manage the attributes of 500+ weatherboard options alone.
We have constructed an 'Applied Finishes' Materials library with about 150 popular and fashionable paint colours from a leading paint supplier. The Wall styles have a 0.1mm internal Component for the 'Applied finish'. The slab styles (for ceilings) have the same. The Wall Styles in our libraries have 'Natural White' associated with them, the ceilings have 'Ceiling White' associated with them.

The Attributes of the other Wall and Slab components are still 'by Class'. We have a short list of (legacy?) Component Classes to control these attributes.  
It is a pleasure to use the Wall and Slab Styles straight from the library and to be able to simply swap out the Material with a preferred option (also straight from the library).
I hear the comments about the absence of Class override type control for Materials, but for me the flatter workflow of simply applying a Material to an object is a far lesser evil than trying to do it with Classes. Considering the ease with which a model can be 'painted' in some other platforms, Materials are a welcome development.

Hi Ben, I know that this is an old post, would you mind explaining how you set up the script to batch create materials and the add properties from worksheets? I was looking exactly for this, I would build a material list according to the products list I use in quantiy estimate takeoff. I intended to use materials the same way you do, putting in wall components, slabs etc

 

Thank you!!

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