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How do I change the default appearance of a material?

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Message 1 of 11
cnewmanVIK
6277 Views, 10 Replies

How do I change the default appearance of a material?

I feel like I'm missing something obvious here, but I can't seem to get my head around it.  When I make a new part, from now on, and I choose the material to be "Steel, Mild", I want the appearance to be "Plate" (it's kind of a weatherd look).  How do I get this to stay?  I think I have to change it in my template, but if I edit the material, I can't find anywhere to change the appearance to Plate.  Do I need to make a new material just to change the default apperance?  Any suggestions?  Using Inventor Professional 2015, Windows 7.

10 REPLIES 10
Message 2 of 11
cnewmanVIK
in reply to: cnewmanVIK

I got it.  I guess I should have tried to figure it out a little longer.  I'll answer myself though in case anyone else is trying to figure it out.  There is a little button at the bottom of the material editor window that opens and closes the "asset browser".  When I found that out, I was able to find "Plate".  Then I double clicked on "plate" and it went in to the material editor and I was able to save that to my style.  Smiley Happy

Message 3 of 11
johnsonshiue
in reply to: cnewmanVIK

Hi! You just need to click on the bi-direction arrow on the Appearance tab in Material Editor and then select "Plate" from the dialog. After that, if you want this change saved to Material Library, simply right-click on the Steel material -> Add to the libray where it is currently stored at.

Thanks!



Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer
Message 4 of 11
cnewmanVIK
in reply to: cnewmanVIK

Oh!  I didn't even realize that bi-direction arrow was even a button, but yes, that does exactly what I was trying to figure out.  Thanks!

Message 5 of 11
Ray_P
in reply to: johnsonshiue

Why does Autodesk like to hide these secret buttons where no one can find them?
Message 6 of 11
Zoltan78
in reply to: cnewmanVIK

I had been struggling with this since Inventor 2015. Now I decided to figure this out and after several unsuccessful search I was about to destroy my PC when I found this topic. Really helpful, thanks!

Zoltan

Software: Product Design & Manufacturing Collection
OS: Windows 10 Professional x64
CPU: Core i5-8600K
RAM: 2*8Gb
VGA: GTX 3070
Message 7 of 11
sijcooke
in reply to: johnsonshiue

Hi,

Please can i have a little more info on this? I have wasted a lot of time trying to do this task, which should be quite simple. 

 

When you say in the Material Editor, is this the same as the Material Browser?  I can't see any  bi-direction arrows.

 

If i could please see a screen shot, it would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks, SJCOOKE.

Message 8 of 11
k.hendrickx
in reply to: cnewmanVIK

Please keep in mind that you can't save updated materials to the Autodesk Libraries.

Best practise is to create a new library all together and just store the materials that you use there.

 

Will make it much easier and faster to select the correct material. 

 

If for any reason you still need a material from the Autodesk or Inventor library, you can just switch them on the Material browser.

Message 9 of 11
sijcooke
in reply to: k.hendrickx

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I am using a new library. I just need to change the appearance of one of
the materials.

Please advise.
Thanks,
Sijcooke
Message 10 of 11
k.hendrickx
in reply to: sijcooke

Okay like the others said, go to the Material Browser:

khendrickx_0-1689253403942.png

Very important to remember, EVERYTHING in the top half is only in this local document, any changes done here are only performed in the document itself.

The bottom half are your libraries and their materials which are saved in a completely separate place.

 

When you want to use (and/or edit) a library material, Inventor will basically make a copy of the library material and paste it in your document. Note that it's impossible to make direct edits to library files (no matter whether your library is read-only or not).

 

To change the appearance of a material, edit the local material and click on the 2 arrows next to the Appearance tab

khendrickx_1-1689253629423.png

 

Select your new appearance, again you can only select library appearances, not ones you edited locally in your document. If you want to do this, you first have to save that local appearance to a library.

 

Finally after you've made the nessecairy changes right click the LOCAL material and add it to an existing library.

khendrickx_2-1689253760978.png

Be warned that if you save it under the same name as an already present material, it will overwrite this one with no turning back. So if your not sure, rename your new material before adding it to a library.

Locked libraries (like the Autodesk one) can't be selected because they are protected against changes.

 

Message 11 of 11
sijcooke
in reply to: k.hendrickx

Thanks very much.. got it sorted finally!! 🙂

Best regards, sijcooke

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