When working with complex models in PMX Editor, it’s essential to know how to delete material parts without affecting the associated morphs. This can be a crucial process for optimizing models, removing unnecessary data, and ensuring efficient workflow. By understanding the techniques involved, you can confidently modify your models while preserving their intended functionality and appearance.
To begin, select the material part you want to delete from the Material List panel. Ensure that you have the correct material selected, as deleting the wrong one can lead to unintended consequences. Once selected, navigate to the Material tab in the Parameters window. Here, you’ll find the Material Parameter List, which contains various settings for the selected material part. Scroll down the list until you find the “IsShared” parameter. This parameter determines whether the material is shared among multiple morphs or is unique to the current morph. If “IsShared” is set to “true,” deleting the material will not affect the morphs that share it. However, if “IsShared” is set to “false,” deleting the material will permanently remove it from the associated morph.
Now that you have identified whether the material is shared, you can proceed with the deletion process. If the material is shared and you want to delete it, you must first unshare it. To do this, set the “IsShared” parameter to “true.” This will create a unique copy of the material for the current morph, allowing you to delete the original without affecting the other morphs. Once unshared, you can safely delete the material part by clicking the “Delete” button in the Material List panel. This will remove the material from the model while preserving the morphs that were previously associated with it.
Identifying and Selecting the Material Parts
Before deleting material parts, it’s crucial to identify and select them accurately to avoid deleting essential morph data. Material parts are essentially textures applied to 3D models. Each material part can have different properties like color, transparency, and texture mapping.
To identify and select material parts in PMX Editor:
- Open the model in PMX Editor and navigate to the “Material List” tab.
- In the Material List, you’ll see a list of all material parts assigned to the model. Each material part has a name and thumbnail preview.
- To select a material part, click on its thumbnail or name in the list. The selected material part will be highlighted in the 3D viewport, and its properties will be displayed in the “Material” tab on the right.
- If you want to select multiple material parts simultaneously, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on each desired material part in the list.
Note:
Pay close attention to the material part names and associated textures before deleting any of them. Deleting a material part accidentally can potentially remove important textures from your model, leading to visible issues when rendering.
Isolating the Material Parts
To isolate the material parts without deleting the morphs, follow these steps:
1. Select All Material Parts
- Click on the “Material” tab in the PMX Editor.
- Select all the material parts that you want to isolate by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each material part.
2. Create a New Material Group
- Right-click on the selected material parts and select “Create Material Group” from the context menu.
- Enter a name for the new material group and click “OK”.
- The selected material parts will now be grouped together under the new material group.
3. Hide the Material Group
- Click on the eye icon next to the material group name to hide the material group.
- The material parts will now be hidden, but they will still be present in the PMX file.
By following these steps, you can isolate the material parts without deleting the morphs. This can be useful for troubleshooting material issues or for making changes to the material without affecting the morphs.
Deactivating the Material Parts
This method is the most straightforward and non-destructive. It allows you to hide material parts without permanently deleting them, making it easy to restore them later if needed.
To deactivate a material part:
- Select the material part you want to deactivate in the Material List.
- In the Material Editor, locate the “Enable” checkbox.
- Uncheck the “Enable” checkbox to deactivate the material part.
Deactivated material parts will become invisible in the 3D view, but they will still be listed in the Material List. To make them visible again, simply check the “Enable” checkbox.
Advanced Deactivation Options
PMX Editor provides additional options for deactivating material parts:
Option Description Hidden Hides the material part from the Material List and 3D view. Locked Prevents the material part from being edited or deleted. These options can be useful for temporarily disabling material parts without affecting the overall model structure.
Creating a New Material
To create a new material, open the Material Editor window by clicking the “Edit” button in the Material Manager window. To edit an existing material, select the material from the Material Manager window and then click the “Edit” button. The Material Editor window will open, displaying the properties of the selected material.
Texture Settings
The Texture Settings tab contains the settings for the material’s texture. Here you can specify the texture file, set the texture wrap and filter modes, and adjust the texture transform. You can also specify a normal map, which is used to add detail to the surface of the model. The normal map is typically a grayscale image with each pixel representing the normal vector at that point on the surface.
Color Settings
The Color Settings tab contains the settings for the material’s color. Here you can specify the diffuse color, which is the main color of the material, and the specular color, which is the color of the material’s highlights. You can also specify the opacity of the material, which controls how transparent or opaque the material is.
Advanced Settings
The Advanced Settings tab contains additional settings for the material. Here you can specify the shininess of the material, which controls how shiny or matte the material is, and the emission color, which is the color of the material’s glow. You can also specify the blending mode of the material, which controls how the material is blended with other materials in the scene.
Blending Mode Description Opaque The material is opaque and does not blend with other materials. Alpha Blend The material is blended with other materials using the alpha channel of the texture. Additive The material is blended with other materials by adding the colors of the materials together. Subtractive The material is blended with other materials by subtracting the colors of the materials from each other. Multiply The material is blended with other materials by multiplying the colors of the materials together. Assigning the New Material
Once you have created a new material, you need to assign it to the desired material parts. To do this:
1. Selecting the Material Parts
Select the material parts you want to assign the new material to. You can do this by clicking on the parts in the 3D view or by selecting them from the Materials list.
2. Opening the Material Settings
Once the material parts are selected, open the Material Settings window by clicking on the “Edit” > “Edit Materials” menu or by pressing the “M” key.
3. Changing the Material
In the Material Settings window, find the “Material” dropdown list and select the new material you created.
4. Saving the Changes
Click the “OK” button to save the changes and assign the new material to the selected parts.
5. Verifying the Changes
To verify that the material has been assigned correctly, switch back to the 3D view. The selected parts should now be displaying the new material. You can hover over the parts in the 3D view to see the name of the assigned material displayed in the tooltip.
Step Action 1 Select the material parts to be assigned. 2 Open the Material Settings window. 3 Change the material to the desired material. 4 Click “OK” to save the changes. 5 Verify that the material has been assigned correctly in the 3D view. Deleting the Deactivated Material Parts
To remove material parts without affecting the morphs, follow these steps:
1. Deactivate the Material Parts:
- In the Material editor, select the “Material” tab.
- Locate the desired material parts and uncheck the “Active” checkbox to deactivate them.
- Click on “File” > “Export” > “PMX File”.
- In the “Export Options” dialog box, set “Morph” to “Include” and “Material” to “Exclude”.
- Select the desired export location and save the file as a new PMX file.
- Open the new PMX file in PMX Editor.
- Click on “File” > “Import” > “Material Part List”.
- Locate the original PMX file and select the material part list to import.
- In the Material editor, select the “Material” tab.
- Locate the imported material parts and uncheck the “Active” checkbox to deactivate them.
- Click on “File” > “Save” to save the modified PMX file.
- Click on “File” > “Export” > “PMX File”.
- In the “Export Options” dialog box, set both “Morph” and “Material” to “Exclude”.
- Select the desired export location and save the file as a new PMX file.
- Select the material part you want to delete.
- Right-click on the material part and select “Delete”.
- In the “Delete Material Part” dialog box, make sure that the “Delete Morphs” checkbox is not checked.
- Click “OK” to delete the material part.
- Select the material part you want to delete.
- Right-click on the material part and select “Delete”.
- In the “Delete Material Part” dialog box, make sure that the “Delete Morphs” checkbox is not checked.
- Click “OK” to delete the material part.
- Select the morph you want to delete.
- Right-click on the morph and select “Delete”.
- In the “Delete Morph” dialog box, click “OK” to delete the morph.
2. Export the Model:
3. Import the Deactivated Material Parts:
4. Deactivate the Imported Material Parts:
5. Save the Model:
6. Export the Model with the Deleted Material Parts:
Additional Notes:
These steps remove the deactivated material parts from the PMX file while preserving the morphs.
The exported file with excluded material parts will contain only the visible meshes and morphs.
Deleting the Unused Materials
To remove unused materials from your PMX model without affecting its morphs, follow these steps:
1. Open the Model in PMX Editor
Launch PMX Editor and open the PMX file containing the materials you want to delete.
2. Access the Material Manager
Click on the “Material” tab in the PMX Editor window to open the Material Manager.
3. Identify Unused Materials
In the Material Manager, select the “Materials” tab. Unused materials are typically grayed out and have no textures assigned to them.
4. Select the Unused Materials
Hold down the “Ctrl” key and click on each unused material to select them.
5. Delete the Materials
Right-click on the selected materials and select “Delete” from the context menu.
6. Refresh the Model
Click on the “Refresh” button in the Material Manager to update the model with the deleted materials.
7. Verify Morphs
To ensure that the morphs have not been affected, check each morph by selecting it in the Morph Manager and clicking the “Render” button. If the morph appears as expected, it has not been impacted by the material deletion.
Note:
Deleting materials that are still referenced by any morphs or skin textures can cause unexpected results. Always check the morphs and textures before deleting materials to ensure that they are not affected.
Saving the Changes
Once you have completed your edits, it is important to save your changes to the PMX file. To do this, click on the “File” menu and select “Save”. A dialog box will appear asking you where you want to save the file. Choose a location and click “Save”.
Your changes will now be saved to the PMX file. You can now open the file in other programs or share it with others.
Material Parts Without Deleting Morphs
When you delete a material part, all of the morphs that use that material part will also be deleted. However, there is a way to delete a material part without deleting the morphs that use it.
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Select the material part that you want to delete.
2. Click on the “Edit” menu and select “Delete Selected Material Part”.
3. A dialog box will appear asking you if you want to delete the material part. Select “Yes”.
4. The material part will now be deleted.
5. Select the morphs that use the deleted material part.
6. Click on the “Edit” menu and select “Assign Default Material”.
7. The morphs will now be assigned the default material.
8. You can now save your changes to the PMX file.
Table Summarizing the Process:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Select the material part that you want to delete. |
| 2 | Click on the “Edit” menu and select “Delete Selected Material Part”. |
| 3 | Select “Yes” in the dialog box that appears. |
| 4 | Select the morphs that use the deleted material part. |
| 5 | Click on the “Edit” menu and select “Assign Default Material”. |
| 6 | Save your changes to the PMX file. |
Troubleshooting Material Deletion
If you encounter difficulties deleting materials without affecting morphs, consider the following troubleshooting tips:
1. Check Material Visibility
Ensure that the materials you intend to delete are not hidden. In the Material List, expand the “Visible” column and verify if the materials are marked as visible.
2. Unassigned Materials
Identify and remove any unassigned materials. Materials that are not assigned to any object can be safely deleted.
3. Dependent Morphs
Some morphs may rely on specific materials for their functionality. If a material is essential for a morph, deleting it will also remove the morph.
4. Update Texture Mapping
After deleting materials, ensure that the texture mapping of affected objects is updated. This ensures that the objects continue to display correctly.
5. Unlink Materials from Morphs
If a morph is dependent on a particular material, it can be unlinked from that material. To do this, right-click on the morph, select “Edit Morphs,” and uncheck the corresponding material in the “Material List” section.
6. Check Material References
Some materials may be referenced by other objects or effects in the scene. Deleting such materials may lead to unexpected results. Double-check for material references before deletion.
7. Use the “Delete Unassigned Materials” Function
The PMX Editor offers a “Delete Unassigned Materials” function that automatically finds and removes unassigned materials. This can help prevent accidental deletion of essential materials.
8. Consider Using a Backup
Before making any significant changes to your PMX file, it’s recommended to create a backup copy. This allows you to restore your model in case of any unforeseen issues.
9. Common Issues with Material Deletion
Table of common issues:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Morph Is Deleted Along With Material | Verify if the morph relies on the material being deleted. Unlink the morph from the material before deleting it. |
| Texture Display Errors | Update the texture mapping of affected objects after deleting materials. |
| Unexpected Object Behavior | Check for material references in other objects or effects in the scene before deleting materials. |
Advanced Techniques for Complex Models
To ensure the integrity of complex models, additional considerations are necessary when deleting material parts without affecting morphs.
1. Understanding Material Part References
Morphs may reference specific material parts. Deleting a referenced material part can lead to unexpected issues. It’s crucial to identify and preserve these references before deletion.
2. Selective Bone Masking
For models with multiple materials assigned to the same bone, use bone masking to isolate the desired material part before deletion. This prevents unintended deletions.
3. Morph Cloning
If a referenced material part cannot be deleted directly, clone the morph that relies on it. Create a new morph with the material part modification and assign it to the desired bones.
4. Material Vertex Group Isolation
Create a vertex group based on the material part to be deleted. Use the group to isolate and delete the vertices belonging to that material part.
5. Morph Copying
Copy the morph that references the deleted material part. Create a new morph with the reference updated to the new material part and assign it to the affected bones.
6. Renaming Associated Bones
If a material part is assigned to a specific bone, rename that bone to avoid conflicts after deletion. This ensures that morphs referencing the old bone name can still function.
7. Bone Parent Adjustment
In cases where deleting a material part affects the bone structure, adjust the parent-child relationships of the remaining bones to maintain the model’s integrity.
8. Vertex Weight Preservation
When isolating and deleting vertices, ensure that their weight values are preserved. This prevents the loss of morph data related to the deleted vertices.
9. Material Assignment Cleanup
After deleting material parts, verify that all bones are properly assigned materials. Fix any inconsistencies to prevent rendering errors or unexpected behavior.
10. Morph Reorganization and Testing
Reorganize morphs to ensure that they reference the correct material parts and bone assignments. Perform thorough testing to verify the functionality and integrity of the model after the deletion process.
How To Delete Material Parts Without Deleting Morphs Pmx Editor
If you want to delete material parts without deleting morphs in PMX Editor, you can follow these steps:
The material part will now be deleted, but the morphs will remain intact.
