Feature availability 🛈
✔️ Personal ✔️ Suite 🧩 Supported 3ds Max Versions
Overview
Connecter offers a range of built-in tools for managing the contents of 3ds Max material libraries (.mat files). Whether you're organizing, editing, or moving materials between libraries, Connecter provides a clean visual interface and intuitive workflows to streamline the process.
This guide covers managing materials inside .mat files using the Material Library Previews tab and how 3ds Max supports these workflows in the background.
- To learn more about viewing and navigating materials, refer to: 👉 Previewing and Browsing Materials in Connecter.
- To learn how to load or apply materials, see: 👉 Loading Materials.
Editing Materials in .mat Libraries
When you select a .mat asset in Connecter, its materials are shown in the Material Library Previews tab. Each material appears as a thumbnail with its name and metadata. From here, you can perform various editing and organizational actions via the contextual menu (right-click on any thumbnail):
- Cut (Ctrl+X), Copy (Ctrl+C), Rename (F2), or Delete – These actions help you organize or clean up materials inside a .mat file.
- Paste (Ctrl+V or via right-click in an empty area) – After copying one or more materials, you can paste them into a different .mat asset opened in another tab.
- Move materials to another .mat asset – Select one or more materials and drag them into a different material library tab. This moves them from one file to another.
- Copy materials to another .mat asset – Hold Ctrl while dragging and dropping to copy materials instead of moving them.
- Refresh material previews – If any material names or thumbnails are out of sync (e.g., after edits), use the Refresh command to regenerate the previews and ensure all materials are displayed correctly.
These workflows make it easy to manage materials across your library files without opening or modifying them directly inside 3ds Max.
Managing External Files
Locate, review, and fix asset dependencies (textures, proxies, caches) directly in Connecter – no need to have 3ds Max running or even installed. Batch relink or re-path files to shared locations and verify everything before merging or rendering. Learn more here.
Previewing
- Material Browser – Browse materials inside .mat and .max files, including sub-materials and texture maps, to see their structure before adding them to 3ds Max. Learn more about previewing and browsing materials in Connecter here.
- Generate Custom Previews – Create and update your own preview images for material libraries, making it easier to identify and select the right material in Connecter. Learn more here.
How These Workflows Use 3ds Max?
All operations related to reading and managing .mat libraries rely on a 3ds Max environment. Connecter determines whether to use the currently running Max session or start a background instance:
When a .mat Asset is Selected:
- If a user instance of 3ds Max is running, Connecter uses it to open the .mat file, extract metadata, and manage operations like rename, delete, move, or copy. This method is quick and minimally disruptive to your workflow.
- If no user session is available, Connecter automatically launches a dedicated background instance of 3ds Max to perform the same operations. This may take a few extra seconds to initialize, but it ensures full functionality without requiring you to open Max manually.
In both cases, Connecter retrieves and updates:
- Material names and types.
- Renderer name.
- Thumbnail previews.
This background handling ensures that the .mat file is always processed in a 3ds Max-safe environment, whether you’re browsing, editing, or restructuring its contents.
For more details on how these background operations work, see: Using Dedicated Services.
Troubleshooting and Common Questions
Why Are My Material Previews All Black?
If the material thumbnails in the Material Library Previews or Asset Materials tab appear completely black, it's likely related to your render engine setup.
This typically happens when Connecter can't render the material correctly in 3ds Max due to missing or improperly configured renderer licensing or features. To resolve this:
- Open 3ds Max and try rendering a simple scene using the same render engine.
- Ensure that the renderer is fully licensed and functional.
- Verify that all plugins or renderer components are installed and loaded correctly.
Connecter generates material previews using the same rendering capabilities as 3ds Max. If rendering fails inside Max, preview generation in Connecter will also fail.