2013 Materials editor

[karthur1]

When I imported my materials, some of them came in as a "Misc" category.  Can someone tell me how to edit the category for each material?  I would like to get these into the Metal/Steel category.

This new materials/apperance editor is going to take some getting use to.  Its pretty confusing for me right now.

[Anonymous]

Right click on the material you wish to move and select 'add to'. Choose the appropriate library/category.

You may have to delete it from the misc. category but that shouldn't be a chore 😉

You're right about the editor being a little confusing though. Like creating custom appearances, they only appear in the current document until you say otherwise. Not the way one expects it to behave ... oh well ..... lol

[MariaManuela]

Try this

[karthur1]

Andy, Maria,

I was able to do like you both suggested and it did move the material.  Is there a way to change the category of the material.  Notice that it is listed as "Uncategorized" after I move it.

[karthur1 · Accepted solution]

Just figured it out. After I moved the material to the category that I wanted, it shows "Uncategorized" in the Category column.  To get this to show the correct category, hover over the name, then click the  ↑  to the right of the category.  This will move the material to the current document.  Now move up to the document material that was just added, right click Add To> and choose the library you want it to go in. It then gives me a warning, and I choose "Replace".

It will have the correct category now.

Another Question:

Notice how my library shows Metal/Steel, Metal/Iron ......  I would like to create a category Metal/Non-Ferrous.  Is there a way to do that?  When I add a new category and enter the "/" it tells me its an invalid character.

[Anonymous]

Glad you got the 'category' problem sorted, even if it is the long way round. I think Autodesk need to rethink the whole styles/appearance thing. Things are not working as anyone would expect. Kinda takes you back to the days of Windows 3.1 ... eeeeekk!!!!!!!

As far as renaming the categories goes, I'm having the same issues as you. I tried copy/paste and then rename trick, that didn't work. I tried escaping the / with various characters and that didn't work either. Seems that Autodesk have broken their own rules in regards to category names.

I also notice that if you import a style library, you have to reload that library every time you start Inventor. Makes importing libraries a waste of time IMHO. Another X against Autodesk's idea of a style/appearance library.

Another thing, if you look in the Autodesk Material library, it has sub-categories. You can't create those either. Another X?

I don't know who is in charge of software design at Autodesk, but he or she should be fired because he or she couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, full stop!

[mcgyvr]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 I think Autodesk need to rethink the whole styles/appearance thing.

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HA HA They just did rethink/redo it all.

But Autodesk LOVES to give users half-finished functionality instead of actually taking the time to do it right (or at least get it close) from the start.

Heck just look at the mini-dialogs and how we STILL have the old dialog boxes that worked prefectly fine.. If the new ones were great we wouldn't/shouldn't have the old ones.  But now I need to put up with some stupid half finished dialog box popping up on my screen for 2 years + now.

[Anonymous]

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@mcgyvr wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 I think Autodesk need to rethink the whole styles/appearance thing.

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HA HA They just did rethink/redo it all.

But Autodesk LOVES to give users half-finished functionality instead of actually taking the time to do it right (or at least get it close) from the start.

Heck just look at the mini-dialogs and how we STILL have the old dialog boxes that worked prefectly fine.. If the new ones were great we wouldn't/shouldn't have the old ones.  But now I need to put up with some stupid half finished dialog box popping up on my screen for 2 years + now.

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No No No, all they did was rename it .... it's an old marketing ploy from way back, if you don't want to change anything, rename it and push it out as brand new .... lol

You're right about the mini-toolbars though. I'm not against them, but we DON'T need both dialogs and mini-toolbars. I prefer the dialogs, only because I'm used to them, if I had to live with just the mini-toolbars that would be fine, I could adapt, but why both?

And why do we need to have options hidden in sub-menus on the context menu?

It's not as if there is no room for them, and the whole point of context menus is to provide a QUICK means of selecting options. Hiding them, doesn't make it quicker or easier it just makes it harder if you ask me.

[cmcconnell]

You can specify which libraries are avalible from your project file - you can also set the active library there...

[karthur1]

Yes, you would think that when they put something out like this, they would correct the problems ASAP with a hotfix or SP.  Instead it takes years to get things like this corrected and functioning properly.

[karthur1]

I just updated the texture scale of one of my materials and saved back into my library.  Now I open up a part file that already is using this material, but it has the old texture scale.  In my material browser, I clicked the up arrow by the material and it says " A material or appearance with the same name exist in this document. The local copy with this document will be used".  It would be nice if I had the option to either reuse or replace it with whats in my library.

I can change the material, then purge out the old version, then add the new version back to the document.  Is this the only way?  Whats the quick way to get my new material definition as the local copy?

[cmcconnell]

You can use the Update Styles command from teh manage tab of the ribbon. It is a bit hit or miss at the moment, but once they get the kinks ironed out, it will allow appearances and materials to be pushed from the library to parts and assemblies just like we used to be able to do with the styles library before it was broken....

[Anonymous]

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@karthur1 wrote:

I can change the material, then purge out the old version, then add the new version back to the document.  Is this the only way?  Whats the quick way to get my new material definition as the local copy?

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That's the only way I have found to do it thus far.

I've tried the update styles command along with purge styles etc... but nothing has worked for me. I have two parts styled with exactly the same appearance and yet they both display two completely different colors. Nothing I have tried will change one part to match the color of the other part.

I have tried deleting the color (copper - polished) from the library, then adding it back to the library from the part with the tone that I wish to keep, then updating styles then changing and deleting the color from the part that I don't wish to keep, and then adding the color back from the library, but I still end up with two completely seperate colors.

I'm pretty sure the color I wish to keep was converted from the part which was originally drawn using 2012, I don't think I elected to update the styles within that part when it was first opened in 2013.

I have examined the appearance of both parts in the editor and all parameters are identical in both parts, including the lighting styles. So I have no idea why each part shows a different color.

I have added the parts here so you can see for yourself.

The color I wish to keep is in GlowPlug Washer.ipt (assuming you see the different colors as I do).

[ChrisMitchell01]

Andy,

Try putting both these files in to an assembly & viewing them in Realistic mode - you'll see that they will both appear the same, which confirms that the appearances are the same as you state.

One of the parts has a material of Copper, with a Copper - Polished appearance. The other has a material of Copper, Wrought with a Copper - Polished appearance, so there is a subtle difference.

I also see that they both contain an appearance override, which suggests that they might have been custom appearances in 2012.

There are various options here depending on exactly what you want:

If you use Update Style on each part & compare against the Inventor Material Library, say Yes to All, you will see that they appear the same again.

Or you can clear the appearance overrides in each part & they will appear the same.

You may want to set them both to Copper, & then purge the local Copper Wrought material.

It's possible that something went awry during migration which lead to the override, etc. Do you still have these files from 2012 so that we can investigate further ?

Thanks,
Chris

BTW - if you're ever in Portland, Oregon, USA, let me know; I wasn't involved in the design but I'll treat you to a piss-up in brewery anyway 🙂

[WHolzwarth]

Chris, can we expect a change in Appearance behavior in the near future?

Thanks

Walter

[Anonymous]

Thanks Chris, I appreciate your time.

The different materials is no doubt the result of my twiddling with the settings to try and duplicate the color of GlowPlug Washer.ipt.

I hadn't noticed that, that part file had an override, could that be the result of the import/update into 2013?

Clearing the override, results in the the part having the same color as the second part, but i've been trying to keep the color of the GlowPlug Washer.ipt file, or at least the color of the override.

I know the second part had an override because I had changed it from the default copper - satin to copper - polished. Most of my twiddling has been with the second file, trying to duplicate the color from the first file.

But the override would help explain why, when I added that color to the library it remained the same as the color already present in the library, it obviously ignored the override in that file.

I have the original part files from 2012, but both have been modified a little in 2013, to suit the new model I'm now developing. Anyhow I have attached the original files here.

BTW In realistic mode both parts share the same color as you said, and if I ever make it to Portland, I'll take you up on that offer

[ChrisMitchell01]

Hi Andy,

Looking at what you had in 2012, I believe that everything worked properly during the migration to 2013.

In GlowPlug Washer 2012.ipt, your physical material was set to Default & you had applied a part level color override to make it look as you wanted by selecting "Copper (New/Polished)". This would be classed as an override in 2012, since the color of the Default material was changed.

When this is migrated to 2013, the physical material remains as Default, & the Appearance is set to "Copper - Polished", which is the best match to what it was previously. (This is the override mentioned below).

In your original 2013 version, you'd changed the physical material to be Copper & left the appearance as it was, (or perhaps with a few tweaks??). If you then remove the override, you return the appearance to that of the default for the Copper physical material.

All seems Ok so far (programmatically at least), & this explains why you can get these 2 parts to look the same by removing the overrides - they both go back to being Copper.

So if you want to preserve your "tweaked" copper appearance, you have 2 choices:

1. From the Appearance Broswer, Rt click on the "Copper - Polished" appearance & use Add To & write it back to the Inventor Material Library, essentially updating the master appearance.

2. Create a custom appearance library & then use Add To & copy it there instead - might be worth giving it a different name so that you know it's your modified version.

Note that if you decide to create your own custom appearance/material library you should edit your project file, to include it & make it active. Note that you can have a single custom library that contains both physical materials as well as appearances, or keep them separaate if you prefer.

I hope this is clear, (as mud ?); it's reasonably well documented in the wiki help, but this probably shows that we need to provide some better info there too.

Thanks,

Chris

[karthur1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can use the Update Styles command from teh manage tab of the ribbon. It is a bit hit or miss at the moment, but once they get the kinks ironed out, it will allow appearances and materials to be pushed from the library to parts and assemblies just like we used to be able to do with the styles library before it was broken....

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That works for me.  I guess I was so caught up in looking for the new buttons, I missed the OLD ones.

Thanks

 

[cmcconnell]

Same thing happened to me. 🙂

[Anonymous]

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