[rboaz]

I am using Sketchup for all our modeling. I am looking for workflow that allows me to setup my various entourage pieces (cars, trucks, people, etc) with maxwell materials one time such that I can place in different sketchup models these pieces are ready to go with maxwell and not have to "remap" maxwell materials everyttime I use them in a new model. Is this possible? What are some suggestion for a workflow.

[Stinkie7000]

I suspect - new user! - there's not much more to it than texturing your entourage and using auto mxm.

Say you got a car. Texture it. See to it that the material names are those of the mxm's you want to use. Save.

If you wanna use it in, say, a model of a street, just import it, and before exporting the whole model to Mxcl, turn on "auto mxm".

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Richard]

Where you will have to be carefull is with SU's tendency to rename textures automatically when importing a component and a similarly named texture exists in the current model.

I've already put the suggestion through beta testing SU several times for the developers to introduce a similar system to maxwell where upon import you are alerted by SU that a texture exists and what option you wish to undertake. I feel the option to replace the new imported material with the one existing in the model.

I have had issues where I have used "furniture chrome" on two different imported components, if the colour applied in each component isn't exact then all hell breaks loose!

For this reason I actually find it better to work through the direct link option as my workflow, the issue then doesn't occur! Not to say I wouldn't mind google fixing this issue in SU!!!!