A new Depot Material to store different material versions in a scene

[pokoy]

Most shading and rendering artists create numerous versions of a material. Very often, we need to store a material in the scene so it's not lost, either to have a backup version or to have different material versions because different versions need to be rendered out.

Currently, keeping different material versions in the scene is cumbersome and forces us to come up with creative workarounds - carry hidden object with the scene that carry these materials, or create Multi/Sub-Object materials with different material versions nested in it and making sure it's kept in the material editor or assigned to a hidden object etc.

In short, there's no easy dedicated way to store multiple material versions in a scene.

This is easy to solve and can be probably done with very little effort while supporting all renderers. The idea is to have a new material type - let's call it the Depot Material - which can hold materials in a list like, for example, the Multi/Sub-Object Material. The material used for rendering would be simply activated with a simple radio button.

Depot Material UI mockup:

[pokoy]

This request is similar to the new Depot Material request but it's meant for maps/textures. Basically, it would allow shading artists to store different maps or textures within a Depot Map, and the map meant to be used for rendering would be activated by a simple radio button within the Depot Map's UI. Have a look at the attached mockup.

If you want to know why this is useful, please look at the request description of the Depot Material here:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-ideas/a-new-depot-material-to-store-different-material-versio...

Ideally, both request should be implemented together to allow for more creative freedom and a better user experience.

Depot Map UI mockup:

[Swordslayer]

This needs an animatable parameter for the material index (so it would basically become Material Switcher), currently doing that via multisub+material modifer is cumbersome and cannot be easily used in multisub material.

[gandhics]

It should also have an option to use material/map by..

Material ID

Object ID

Object Name

Object AnimHandle

User Property

with random option

[michael_spaw]

+1

Thanks

-Michael

[pokoy]

This request is marked for future consideration since more than a year - can we please get it in Max 2020?

When working with shaders during lookdev I miss this feature every single day. We absolutely need a way to store materials and maps without crude workarounds or having to keep 10 maps in the material editor because we need to test different versions. The requested material and map are the only straight forward solution to this.

Please make it happen finally! I don't care how many noise maps someone can code with OSL on a day as long as working as a shader artist in Max lacks so many useful tools and workflows. 

[gandhics]

Now with OSL Maps, I don't need randomization option anymore.

Just give me a spinner to choose material manually. Then, everything will be OK!