Material Preset Manager

Material Preset Manager

Module: Tech · Category: Workflow · Tool ID: MaterialPresetManager

Capture material parameter values (scalar, vector, texture) from any Material Instance, save as a named JSON preset, and apply to a different Material Instance. Useful for: copying a tested look across multiple assets, building project-wide preset libraries, sharing parameter recipes via Git.

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When to use it

• Capturing a tested material parameter set as a reusable preset
• Applying a saved preset to multiple new MIs
• Sharing material recipes with the team via JSON files in Git
• Building per-project preset libraries (e.g., “Stone Wall A”, “Wet Concrete”)

When not to use it

• Don’t use this to capture textures themselves — only parameter references are captured (texture asset paths)
• Don’t expect cross-parent compatibility — a preset built from MI A’s parent won’t fully apply to MI B from a different parent

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Opening the tool

1. Open the EQLabs Hub and search for Material Preset (or browse to Tech → Workflow)
2. Click the tool card
3. Capture from a source, save with a name, apply to a target

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Interface tour

Field	What it does
Source Material picker	The MI to capture parameters from
Target Material picker	The MI to apply to
Capture Params	Reads source MI’s parameters into the panel
Captured Params list	Per-param row: name, type (Scalar/Vector/Texture), value
Save Preset	Persists to JSON with a name
Load Preset	Loads a saved preset back into the captured-params view
Apply to Target	Writes captured params onto the target MI
Copy Params	Plain-text dump
Refresh Preset List	Reloads JSON files from disk
Preset Search	Filter by preset name
All Presets list	Per-preset row: name, file path, source material name, date saved, param count

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Workflow

Capture and apply

1. Drop source MI into Source picker
2. Click Capture Params
3. (Optional) Click Save Preset, give it a name
4. Drop target MI into Target picker
5. Click Apply to Target

Load and apply

1. Browse the All Presets list, click one
2. Captured Params populate from the JSON
3. Drop target MI, click Apply to Target

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Settings reference

Presets save to [Project]/Saved/EQLabs/MaterialPresets/<presetname>.json.

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Output

• JSON preset files — versioned, human-readable, Git-friendly
• Material Instance modifications — Apply to Target writes parameters; undoable
• Clipboard — Copy Params writes a text dump

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Tips & gotchas

• Texture parameters store paths, not the textures themselves — preset is portable as long as the texture assets exist
• Cross-parent application is partial — only parameters present on both parents apply
• JSON format is stable — feel free to hand-edit / Git diff
• Preset naming convention helps team libraries — <Material>_<Variant> (e.g., Concrete_Wet, Concrete_Dry)

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Related tools

• Material Replacer — for swapping the material itself, not just parameters
• Material Property Diff — diff two MIs to verify a preset applied correctly
• Material Instance Manager — hierarchy + override tracking

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