MAT Edit for Poser 12

One of the biggest limitation when editing materials in Poser has always been the fact that we can only select and edit a single material at a time. This is a general materials editor for Poser 12 that allows processing multiple materials, figures and props simultaneously - and more!

Following the big success of SkinEdit for Poser 12, people have asked for a general materials editor, and this is it!

These are some of the main operations:

• Smart copy & Paste selected materials: Options for 1 to all, 1 to many, or many to many.
• Smart paste only material values: Preserve shader nodes and textures.
• Reset selected materials: Reset values and remove all shader nodes.
• Cleanup: Remove any orphan (disconnected) shader nodes.
• Edit: Ability to edit 1 or all selected materials at once, to include editing shader node connections.
• Select: Selects selected object or material on the Poser scene. Optional auto-select mode.
• Collapse: Mass expand or collapse material root nodes and/or regular nodes input lists, and previews.
• Cascade: Reorganize the shader nodes in a more compact layout.
• Gamma: Mass auto-correct the gamma value on all texture map nodes in your materials.
• Maps: Mass replace all texture maps from the selected materials at once.
• Fix Bump: Auto-correct all legacy “Gradient Bump” shader connections to modern Bump wiring.
• Filtering: Mass setting the Map Filtering method in all selected texture map nodes in your materials.
• Save material selections preset (MC6) to the Poser library.
• Option to show/hide figures from the list.
• Option to show/hide props from the list.
• Native dockable Poser panel with Dark Theme.
• Built-in PDF manual.

For example, we can select ALL of DawnSE's skin materials and edit them all at once. We can edit all of the root node properties without affecting the texture nodes.

The tool includes a complete materials editor that will look similar to what we are used to find in the Material Room, but that can handle any number of materials at once.

The editor can performs some more advanced operations, like copying values from other inputs, and even reconnect or disconnect shader nodes from other inputs. This is very helpful when these operations affect all selected MAT zones at once, saving you tons of work! ^___^

What about those materials where the root node is off-screen, or the connected nodes are scattered a mile away? What a mess - how long does it take to bring them back into place? Well, just click the "Cascade" button to auto-layout everything into a neatly organized compact view. The root nodes are moved back to the origin, and all connected nodes are cascaded next to them on the right.

If you have a perfectly good material, but you would like to replace just the texture maps, how long would that take over the whole figure? With MAT Edit, first select the MAT zones you want to affect, and press the "Maps" button. It will auto-collect all textures and allow you to replace just the ones you want, all in 1-step.

Have you ever wanted to just copy the materials from one figure or prop to another? Just select the figure, prop, or individual MAT zones, and paste them where they need to be! Supports PoserSurface, PhysicalSurface, and even Compound nodes. In the example below, I have copied the entire Dawn character from the left, and then pasted all materials on the Dawn character on the right in 1-step! Copy & Paste is "smart", meaning it analyzes what was copied, how many mats, and then looks at the MAT zones were selected for pasting, their kind and amount, and performs the materials transfer accordingly. For example, if you copy a figure, it will transfer all materials - assuming the target figure is compatible. If we copy only a few MAT zones and paste them over a figure, it will first search for matching MAT zones, and if it finds them, pasting is performed by matching them. If there is no match, they are pasted in the same order they were copied. If we paste over a root node instead, only the root values are affected, preserving everything else. We also the option of pasting only root node values over materials, which preserves everything else.

Sometimes we may want to export the edited materials for the entire figure, or only selected MAT zones into a MC6 file preset. Just select what you want, be it a whole figure, prop, or selected MAT zones, and press the "Save" button on the top, or choose "Save material to library" from the context menu as shown below, and it will create a Poser material collection MC6 file, along with the respective PNG thumbnail. You can save it anywhere you like. If you select specific MAT zones, only those will be included in the export. You decide what you want included!

There are times when we want to organize the shader nodes by expanding or collapsing their input list, or the preview box. We can do this only to the root nodes, only to shader nodes, or to everything over all of your selected MAT zones. No need to tediously do this one at a time.

There are also cases where we want to set the texture maps to the correct GAMMA value, like all textures connected to the diffuse channel should have gamma set to 2.20, while all the grayscale maps connected to channels like bump, normal, displacement, and transparency should have their gamma value set to 1.0. With MAT Edit, just select the figure and press the "Gamma" button, and it will go through the entire figure materials, find the texture maps, verify where they are plugged into, and automatically the correct gamma values - with 1-click! This also be done with props, and only to selected MAT zones.

In a similar way, we can change the texture filtering method on image nodes through the whole figure, prop, or selected MAT zones with 1-click. A huge time saver! Just select what you want, and press the "Filtering" button, choose your desired filtering method, and you are done!

There is also the infamous legacy "Gradient Bump" that plagues older figure materials. There was a time in the distant past when all Poser materials used that instead of regular bump maps, and I believe this doesn't even exist anymore, but older materials still use them, and it looks all wrong in renders. Here again, just select what you want, and press the "Fix Bump" button, and it's all fixed automatically. The texture map node will be rewired to the right input channel, and the bump value preserved. If the bump map is already plugged in correctly, nothing happens, so no worries.

To make the workflow more flexible, MAT Edit allows manually or automatically selecting in Poser what you currently have selected in the tool. If you select a figure or prop, it will be selected in your Poser scene. If you select a MAT zone, it will be selected in the Material Room. This is helpful when you are editing materials and want to see what's happening in the Material Room.

Finally, MAT Edit includes the ability of resetting entire figure/prop materials, or just the selected materials. This zeroes out the root nodes, leaving only a grayscale color, and removes all shader nodes - a perfect starting point for creating new materials. You also have the option to only remove disconnected (orphan) shader nodes, which includes disconnected root nodes that are not assigned to anything. Root nodes assigned to either Firefly and/or Superfly are preserved.

As usual, this script ships with an integrated PDF manual you can open at any time by clicking the "?" button. I have also recorded a 35 mins video tutorial where I explain most of the main functionalities with real world examples.

The script, currently awaiting QAV approval, will be available soon at Renderosity. Requires Poser 12, and (officially) Windows 10. May work in Windows 7 (untested).

Looking forward to this Ken.

Another script request. Not sure if you want to tackle this one though. You know in DAZ Studio you can right click hit Edit and you can multi select dials and what not to delete all at once as well as a multitude of other operations? That would be so cool.

Another niggle I have with work flow is not having a way to hide unused or group's in the dial list. I think it's really odd to me that when there are no dials or they are hidden that the group remains visible. I'm sure you have your own ideas about this but for some of us, being slightly OCD, having these remnants is annoying. I know when you unhide these need to be there or you end up with a mess all under the Morph group header but would it be worth delving into this and seeing if there is a way to tidy up the dial list. I did report this on GIT but if it's something that can be handled from a script that works too.

Thanks for all your hard work. So much appreciated!

RAMWolff posted at 9:16PM Thu, 09 September 2021 - #4427071

Looking forward to this Ken.

Another script request. Not sure if you want to tackle this one though. You know in DAZ Studio you can right click hit Edit and you can multi select dials and what not to delete all at once as well as a multitude of other operations? That would be so cool.

Another niggle I have with work flow is not having a way to hide unused or group's in the dial list. I think it's really odd to me that when there are no dials or they are hidden that the group remains visible. I'm sure you have your own ideas about this but for some of us, being slightly OCD, having these remnants is annoying. I know when you unhide these need to be there or you end up with a mess all under the Morph group header but would it be worth delving into this and seeing if there is a way to tidy up the dial list. I did report this on GIT but if it's something that can be handled from a script that works too.

Thanks for all your hard work. So much appreciated!

Thanks, Rich! I have released "Dial Master" for Poser 12, which tackles the single dial limitation by allowing dialing multiple dials at once, like we can in DS. It also brings the DS dial filtering/search box to Poser dials - something I wanted for the longest time.

When it comes to dial groups, that was something I have asked SMS about a long time ago, and they told me Poser cannot remove empty ones. It appears to be a Poser limitation. For example, REM poses can only hide empty groups - deleting is not possible. That is kind of odd, when it can create but not remove them, but that's how it is. Like you said, that creates a myriad of issues, like INJ files create groups that REM files cannot remove. They just sit there, empty and useless.

I am still tied up with a couple of new script releases, but I want to look into this, and perhaps work with the dev team on having these things fixed. For example, my next script will bring magnets operations that not even Poser itself can handle. I have worked closely with the Poser dev team to get access to new functionality only available to Python at the moment. In other words, my script will do things with magnets that not even Poser can do.

I could make a script to manage dial groups - that would be so helpful. But one thing at a time - first I need to see if Python can even reach dial groups in the first place. At first, I don't think it can, but I will check it out. This script could also allow deleting dials as well. Not sure if Python allows that, so again, I will come back to this when I get a break from the current releases. ^___^

Awesome. Looking forward to your new releases like the magnets one. Would this replace or work WITH the morphing tool to make it like a modeling tool on steroids? One of my requests for the modeling tool would be to add in an inflate/deflate brush. As you know with the smoothing brush it does smooth but it also compacts the poly's so then you end up with a reduced area rather than just a smoother area. It would be cool to have a "topical" smoothing brush that only moves the polys back into alignment without deflating or compacting them!

RAMWolff posted at 9:54PM Thu, 09 September 2021 - #4427075

Awesome. Looking forward to your new releases like the magnets one. Would this replace or work WITH the morphing tool to make it like a modeling tool on steroids? One of my requests for the modeling tool would be to add in an inflate/deflate brush. As you know with the smoothing brush it does smooth but it also compacts the poly's so then you end up with a reduced area rather than just a smoother area. It would be cool to have a "topical" smoothing brush that only moves the polys back into alignment without deflating or compacting them!

Oh I don't think the Morph Tool could be replaced. Magnets are just another way to deform geometry, and weight maps make them even more powerful, but we don't get the same freedom as we have with the Morph Tool. However, inflating geometry seems like we could do with magnets + weight maps. My upcoming tool will be the first to allow copying and pasting magnets WITH weight maps, auto-creating symmetric copies WITH weight maps, and so on. It will also be the first to allow editing the magnet's list of affected actors, straight from a tree view with checkboxes, like Poser was supposed to be, but never was. LOL

As an example, I have created a magnet to control a figure's breast size by painting its weight map for precise deformations. Then using the new script, I have created a symmetric copy on the other side that included the weight map - something not possible until now. Then I can keep editing one side, and create a symmetric magnet on the other side with 1 click. One could say we could spawn the morph on the figure, and then mirror it to the other side - but magnets are 100% non-destructive. And even after we have a symmetric magnet in place, we can also copy the symmetric values to the other side to keep it updated. ^___^

Good news! Renderosity QAV has approved "MAT Edit" today, and it's now available HERE. :D

Today I have submitted an update for MAT Edit P12, fixing a bug, optimizing the tool, and also adding a new feature. The update may take a day or two to process, so keep an eye for an email I have sent to all customers who have purchased the tool, where I provide instructions on how to update the script.

The new feature expands the "Cleanup" button, where RIGHT-clicking it now removes ALL shader nodes, leaving only the texture map nodes still connected to the root nodes. This feature was available in "SkinEdit P12", and is now also in "MAT Edit P12", where it can be applied to anything. The regular "Cleanup" removes only disconnected (orphan) nodes, while the new right-clicking the button removes all, except for texture maps, which are reconnected directly to the root nodes. This is great for creating PBR materials - a huge time-saver. This new functionality is also available from the context menu that opens when we RIGHT-click a tree view selection.

The v1.1.2 update should be available for all current owners of MAT Edit P12 soon. When you receive the email notification, just follow the instructions on how to first remove the current version before installing the new one to avoid file versioning issues. Once this is done, just reinstall from the store or ZIP file as usual, and you should be good to go.

Good news - MAT Edit update v1.1.2 is now available for download at Renderosity. Just remember to remove the previous version folder before installing to avoid file versioning issues. If you own my "Script Manager", just CTRL+click the MAT Edit launch button to uninstall it. If not, just follow the instructions from the update email. 

Hope you enjoy the new automation feature to remove all shader nodes from materials, leaving only the texture maps connected to the root node(s). That is a quick and easy way to convert legacy Firefly materials to Superfly, by creating a simplified starting point you can further edit. This feature is fully automated in the "SkinEdit" script, but it's also figure-specific. In MAT Edit, you can now apply it to anything you like to make a starting point for creating Superfly-friendly materials. A huge time-saver!

I want to make a view video tutorial just to cover this feature. :)

MAT Edit just got a new update v 1.16.4 with exciting new features and improvements! Requires Poser 12.0.703 or later, taking advantage of brand new PoserPython features, and will not work in older versions. This update is free to all existing owners. Just redownload your purchase, but remember to remove the previous version folder before installing to avoid file versioning issues. If you own my "Script Manager", just CTRL+click the MAT Edit launch button to uninstall it. If not, just follow the instructions from the update email. 

Here are some of the highlights: 

* Updated the script to comply with the new Python API in Poser 12.0.703.

* Updated "Fix Legacy Bump" to now affect multiple selections.

* Added pixel scaling support for high DPI 4K monitors.

* Added keyboard shortcut accelerators.

* Added a dockable toggle button.

* Script and sub-panels can now be closed with the ESC key.

* Supports Room switching (requires Poser 12.0.682 or later).

* Updated the documentation.