Speedy Material Access

[muzedesigns]

Howdy.

There has *got* to be a more efficient way of reaching material selections than having to scroll through the lists.. hasn't there? (please say you know of one - because scrolling from pine to aluminium is killing me!)

I now realise through reading through previous discussions, that the most logical way is to set up a template with the material selections that you desire already assigned to the objects you believe you will use.. but as i am over 60% through my project.. I am searching for an alternative solution.

Is it possible to clear the entire material library and start from scratch with only the few materials you need? (without wiping it for other projects)

Also, does anyone know of a site the list the favorable or most sucessful settings for individual materials when using the light works render engine..?

Chrissy

[Link]

Chrissy

As a quick and dirty solution, try moving your dialog towards the top left of your screen. Then you'll get more columns on the screen. You can also use your scroll wheel to scroll between the columns horizontally.

You can strip materials out of your project, but it can be a little risky. You may suddenly realize that your elements can no longer reference their materials, and it will appear as 'MISSING'. In which case you'll need to use attribute mnager to bring them in from another project or backup.

Having said that, if you're prepared to save a backup and do a little experimenting first, you can use your Attribute Manager to 'purge' all the unused attributes. Kind like Kenny's purge, but you can do it right there in the middle of the office.

In the attribute manager you'll see the used* materials have ticks next to them. The purge command simply deletes all the ones that don't have ticks next to them. Try it at your own risk. I don't usually recommend it unless you've really OD'd on materials, otherwise you experience issues later, especially with library parts.

Cheers,
Link.

* Used means actually used in the project, or a default for a tool that is yet to be used.

[muzedesigns]

Thanks Link! (again)
I have recently moved from working on PC for years in ArchiCAD onto a mac - and for some reason the little sliders don't appear - hence the frustration with the need to scroll.
I might try the 'kenny inspired' purge technique, and then will spend time building up my own library.. possibly.. i will wait to decide in a few hours time..

[Link]

I always find that beer o'clock is the best time to make these kind of decisions.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Link.

[muzedesigns]

Beer O'Clock is sounding very nice about now!

Thanks for all your help!

Chrissy : )

[David Maudlin]

Another approach to this problem would be to use the Attribute Manager to add something like "z" to the beginning of all the material names that you guess are not being used, dropping them to the bottom of the material list. If these materials are being used in the project, then you can go back and remove the "z" to bring them back to the top of the list. This allows your most frequently used materials to group at the top of the material list for easier access, and does not remove any materials from the project (which can cause errors in library parts). This change in name does not change how the material is assigned, so all parts with the material(s) with the altered name(s) remain as is.

HTH

David

[Anonymous]

Following David's approach you can also put some mark in front of the material name so you will have them always on top of the lists. What I usually do is put exclamation mark in front of the (favourite) material name "!_material name".
This way you don't need to scroll down to look for most often used materials. This also works with the library parts, of course it is smart to do so with a copy of the original material/objects.

[muzedesigns]

Thank you for all your suggestions! I usually use the *materialname trick myself.

The solution to my problem in the end was the removal of a few 'downloaded' libraries that came with what seemed like hundreds of object specific materials.. Considering i never use the objects anyway - their removal was not a painful exercise in the least, so i am back down to a managble sized library that doesn't' take 30 seconds to scroll from 'z' to 'a'.

you guys are all great and so very helpful.. It is excellent to know so many people are using archiCAD around the world and are passionate enough about the program to help others so selflessly.. so Cheers!

[Anonymous]

We need this : (read my post)
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=103809#103809