XSMPmax Create Library

Create User Material Library

With XSMP Material Manager you will need to create only the folder (for each library separately) where your library will be located.
Theoretically, the number of libraries may be unlimited. In practice, it’s good way to have separate libraries for only different rendering engines. For example, library for V-Ray materials, library for Corona materials, library for Redshift materials, etc… It’s just your choice.

For some reasons for libraries use of third-party databases was discarded, and the simple XML (LINQ to XML) database was used. Users with basic XML knowledge can easily edit files in case of an unexpected error. The user material library database consists of just two files. The data file LibraryData.xml contains basic directories information, MaterialData.xml – basic materials information.

Because libraries are completely independent from one another, temporary libraries can be created, for example, for a large project. Later, the temporary library can be deleted or archived.
The entry for the library’s main directory is created in the XSMP user configuration file, located in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Siger Studio\XSMPmax

Steps of library creation are very simple.

Create a directory on a local or network drive and use the button

to specify a path to it.
Now you have your first (root) directory added. By default, he’s named “New Library”, and you can add as many categories/folders as you like.

Important! Make sure that you have all read/write rights for the newly created (or previously created) directory. Otherwise Input/Output errors are possible.

Important! Each library must have a unique name, so rename it immediately to the name you want. Select recently created directory from a tree and press F2 or open the context menu (right mouse button) and select item “Rename”.

The root library directory can not contain materials. To do this, you need to create a new Category (grey icon) or Folder (yellow icon): both directory types can have sub-categories, sub-folders and materials. Directories are partitioned into types only for convenience.
The directory tree depth is unlimited, but it’s recommended to keep the rate to 5 – 7 folders. Directories can be reorganized with the simple drag-drop.

Now you can start adding materials.