Material Issues

[b.mccarthy]

Hello,

I have some materials created in 2014 that I wish to add to the 2015 library. I have attempted this a few different ways, but with no success:

1.  For 2014, I followed the prescribed path of creating an Asset Management project to manage the materials. Once I understood the workflow, this worked fine. I have not found a similar approach in the KB for 2015. I cannot access any of the custom materials in the 2014 library to transfer to the 2015 version
2.  Manage Tab > Styles and Standards Panel > Save in an attempt to save these directly from a part into the library... Fail. Nothing saved, although no error was given (see Save to Library.jpg)
3.  Tried to directly update the library from within the part by dragging the material into the library (see attached). However, the library is not displaying the custom materials in the "Document Materials" area, even though one is assigned to the part (display is set to "Show All". See Document Materials.jpg) .The screenshot was taken after the first 2 failed attempts. The Drag/Drop option worked fine in 2014.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you.

[maulik_patel]

Hi

Thank you so much for reporting this issue. Both workflow you have mentioned are logical and should work. I tried the same at my end but failed to reproduce the problem which you are facing.   

For more investigation, Can you please share the part with custom materials created in 2014 and library in which you like to add those materials?

[b.mccarthy]

Here you go. This is the part that the screen shots were taken from.

Thank you.

[maulik_patel]

Thank you so much for providing library and part file. It looks like library you were using got corrupted somehow.  

With loading it in material browser, I’m seeing warning icon next to its name as seen in image.

I created a new library and then tried to copy material/appearance in it from part(you provided) – It worked using both workflow you mentioned earlier. – Please try that at your end.

Will forward this library corruption issue to developers for more investigation.

It will be a great help if you recall how the library got in this state Or something like what kind of workflow you have done using this library.

[maulik_patel · Accepted solution]

Have you created this library just by renaming ‘Inventor Material Library’? If yes, That explains the reason behind the behavior.

Renaming Autodesk Default libraries is not a recommended workflow. Both ‘Inventor Material Library’ and ‘Autodesk Material Library’ are special kind of libraries and Inventor do not support either renaming them or moving out of Design data folder.

Try this to create a new library:

1. Open a part or assembly.
2. From Manage Tab, Click on 'Material'. 
3. In Materila Brower, Expand drop-down list from Bottom-left corner/ Select 'Create a new library'. 
4. Choose location and give ita name/ Save. 

Now try your workflow to copy materials from part - It should work.

Hope this helps.

[b.mccarthy]

Hello Maulik,

I followed the same workflow as I did for 2014:

1. Created a copy of the InventorMaterialLibrary.adsklib file and renamed it to InventorMaterialLibrary2015.adsklib
2. Created a new project named AssetMgmt2015.ipj and attached the new library to the project
3. Created a new part using the Standard (in).ipt template, saved it as AssetMgmt2015.ipt
4. Switched to a working project and opened a file which contained the materials I wished to add to the new library
5. Opened the Material Browser to attempt Drag and Drop or
6. Saved the materials to library using Manage > Styles and Standards > Save

in the previous release, most of the material management was done within the Asset Management project. Apparently that workflow no longer applies.

I was able to create the library and transfer materials as you suggested.

Much simpler process now. Do you recommend the use of a separate project to mange these assets, or is that no longer necessary?

Thank you for your help.

[maulik_patel]

I'm glad that suggested workflow worked out for you. 

There is no need to create a separate project file to manage material/appearance. You can simply add/remove library at will from material browser or appearance browser. If you like a perticuar library to stay in browser always, Just add it in project.