Как удалить материал в blender

Назначение материала¶

Materials available in the currently open blend-file can be investigated by clicking on the Materials icon in the Properties editor Header. In this section we look at how to assign or remove a material to/from the Active Object in Blender, either by:

• создание нового материала,
• переиспользование существующего материала или
• удаление материала.

Также мы дадим вам подсказки о практическом использовании материалов.

Создание нового материала¶

Когда создаётся новый объект, он создаётся без привязанного материала. Создать объекту материал вы можете следующим способом:

• Выберите объект.
• В редакторе свойств нажмите на кнопку объекта.
• Click on the Materials button in the Properties editor header.

Появится панель настроек затенения. Она содержит следующие элементы:

Добавление нового материала

• Context: The currently selected scene and object.
• Object Material Slots: this panel shows the «slots» for the material (or materials) that this object data contains.
• Active Material: Initially empty, asking for «New».

Для добавления нового материала нажмите на кнопку «+» в блоке активного материала. В результате этого действия произойдёт несколько вещей:

Панель материалов с новой записью

1. В блоке активного матерала откроется новый материал.
2. На промежуточной панели появятся дополнительные кнопки.
3. Новый материал добавится в список доступных материалов.
4. Новый материал добавится в список слотов материалов объекта для активного объекта (или данных объекта – смотрите далее).
5. Новый материал появится в области предпросмотра .
6. Появится ряд панелей, на которых вы сможете установить свойства нового материала.

Кнопки на панели нового материала¶

Ниже представлена подробная информация о дополнительных кнопках, появляющихся на панели материала при создании нового активного материала:

Активный материал Список с просмотром. Материал Блок данных материала для выбранного слота материала.

Хорошей идеей будет давать вашим материалам понятные имена, чтобы вы могли легко понимать, для чего они нужны, особенно, если они связаны с несколькими объектами. Постарайтесь давать материалу описательное, а не функциональное имя (например, «жёлтая раскраска» вместо «цвет кухонного стола»).

Переиспользование существующих материалов¶

Blender is built to allow you to reuse anything, including material settings, between many objects. Instead of creating duplicate materials, you can simply reuse an existing material. There are several ways to do this using the Materials data-block menu:

Одиночный объект – когда выбран объект, нажмите на сферу, расположенную слева от имени материала. Появится выпадающий список со всеми материалами, доступными в текущем blend-файле. Чтобы использовать конкретный, просто нажмите на него.

Выбор существующего материала

Поле поиска под списком материалов позволит вам искать материалы по их именам в списке. Например, введя в поле «wood» («дерево»), список отфильтруется так, что будет содержать только материалы со словом «wood» в своём имени.

Multiple Objects – In the 3D View, with Ctrl-L you can quickly link all selected objects to the material (and other aspects) of the active object . Very useful if you need to set a large number of objects to the same material; just select all of them, then the object that has the desired material, and Ctrl-L links them to that «parent». (See Tip on Linking Data in Creating about data linking).

Удаление материала¶

Для удаления материала выберите его и нажмите на крестик (X) на записи в списке активных материалов.

Хотя материал немедленно пропадёт, действие удаления зависит от того, используется ли этот материал где-либо ещё.

Если материал связан с объектом и существуют другие использующие его объекты, то он будет убран из этого объекта (но всё равно останется на всех остальных объектах).

Если в списке доступных материалов была нажата кнопка «Фиктивный пользователь» (F), то материал останется при сохранении файла, даже если им никто не пользуется.

Только когда у материала будет ноль «реальных» пользователей и не будет «фиктивного» пользователя, он будет окончательно удалён. Обратите внимание, что он всё ещё будет находиться в списке материалов до тех пор, пока blend-файл не будет сохранён, но пропадёт оттуда после перезагрузки файла.

Несколько материалов¶

Обычно различные цвета или узоры на объекте достигаются путём добавления текстур к вашим материалам. Однако, в некоторых приложениях вы можете получить несколько цветов на объекте путём назначения различных материалов на разные грани объекта.

Добавление нового материала

To apply several materials to different faces of the same object, you use the Material Slots options in the Materials header panel.

Меню материалов в режиме редактирования

Рабочий процесс по назначению второго материала некоторым граням объекта, уже имеющим базовый материал, следующий:

1. In Object Mode, apply the base material to the whole object (as shown in Assigning a material ).
2. Создайте/выделите второй материал (материал всего объекта изменится на этот материал).
3. In the Active Material box, re-select the base material.
4. Перейдите в режим правки и выделите грани (над списком с активным материалом появится новая группа кнопок «Назначить»/«Выделить»/«Снять выделение»).
5. Выберите грань/грани, которым вы хотите назначить второй материал.
6. In the Object Material Slots box, click the Plus to create a new slot, and while this is still active, click on the second material in the Available Materials list.
7. Нажмите на кнопку «Назначить» и второй материал применится к выделенным граням объекта.

Также вы можете сделать этот новый материал копией существующего материала, путём добавления блока данных:

Select the object, get the material, RMB and Copy data to clipboard. When you have renamed the material, click «Link: Data» to link to the existing material. Proceed to assign faces as required. NB: If you change the material on the original object, the new object color changes too.

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How To Delete a Material in Blender

So you’ve just started learning Blender, you’ve got your good old friend the default cube just sitting there as you begin to model it into something show-stopping. You’ve textured it through the use of materials, but what if you change your mind? What do you do with all these extra, outdated materials now?

To delete a material, select the object and go to the ‘Material Properties’ tab in the properties panel. Select the material to be deleted and click on the ‘x’ sign underneath to ‘Unlink data-block’ and remove the material from the object.

One of the most important steps in maintaining a user-friendly, efficient workflow while working in Blender is to stay organized, and it’s far too easy to get lost in mountains of unused materials with random duplicates cluttering your workspace. Hence, it remains crucial to quickly discard any outdated materials on-the-go, so let’s explore how to delete materials from specific faces, objects, or even from the entire blend file.

How To Remove a Material from an Object

Removing a material from an object can be done by following a few simple steps:

• Select the object in the viewport and go to its Material Properties in the properties panel.
• Find and select the material in the visible list.
• Click on the X symbol right underneath to unlink the data-block. This will remove the material from the object. This leaves an empty material slot in the list where a new material can be created or selected.
• To remove the material as well as the material slot, select the material in the list and press the ‘-’ symbol to the right of the list.

In this image you can see how pressing the X on the material leaves the material slot to be filled with an actual material.

In this case, we press the minus sign and delete the selected slot together with any material that might be present in it.

How To Completely Delete a Material from a Blend File

If none of the objects in a scene require a material, it can be completely deleted from the blend file altogether in two different ways:

Method 1: Purge Orphan Data

• In the Outliner, search for the material name to find all objects using this material.
• In the Material Properties tab, remove the material from each object by following the steps outlined above.
• In the Outliner, change the Display Mode to Orphan Data, this will show all unused materials.
• Right-click on the unused material and select Delete or click purge in the outliner header to remove all unused data.

Any unused materials (i.e. materials that are not assigned to any object) are automatically deleted from the blend file when the blind file is reloaded. Hence, the second method includes simply re-opening the file.

Method 2: Reloading File

• In the Outliner, search for the material name to find all objects using this material.
• In the Material Properties tab, remove the material from each object.
• Save the file by pressing Ctrl+S
• Reload the file by pressing Ctrl+Shift+O and selecting the file name from the top of the pop-up list.

How To Unassign a Material from a Face

If you assign multiple materials to an object, only the first added material is shown on every face of the mesh. But what if you’d like a different material for different faces on a mesh? This is once more an easy task which can be accomplished in a few steps.

• Select an object with two or more materials attached and switch to Edit Mode by hitting Tab or selecting it from the Object Mode dropdown in the top left corner of the viewport.
• Switch to Face Select Mode by hitting 3 on your keyboard or selecting the option from the Select Mode list in the top left corner.
• Select the faces you would like to assign to a different material.
• In the Material Properties tab, select the material to be assigned, and hit the Assign button underneath it while the previously mentioned faces are still selected.

In order to unassign the second material from the face, reselect the face and repeat the process, assigning the original material to it instead.

How to store a material that is not in use?

As mentioned above, any unused materials are automatically deleted once the file is refreshed or reopened. However, it is possible to save a material (despite it not being in use whatsoever) for any future use or reference.

To do so, simply select the required material in a slot and select the Fake User icon shown next to the name of the material (displayed as a small shield symbol) before removing it. This saves the material and prevents it from getting deleted upon refreshing or restarting the file at any later time.

How to store a material as an asset?

Ever since the release of Blender’s newest 3.0 version, the asset browser has been one of the most efficient ways of storing and duplicating assets for a much faster workflow. So, what is it?

The asset browser allows grouping and storing of different objects and materials (both of which come under the term ‘Assets’) so that they can be used in a drag-and-drop manner to be placed in a scene.

For example, a material stored in the asset browser can simply be dragged above an object and mesh, and it will be automatically added on in the Material Properties tab for use.

To mark a material as an asset, simply right-click on it and select Mark as Asset in the list menu.

To view all the materials marked as assets, follow these steps:

1. Expand the timeline window or open a new window.
2. Change Editor Type, found in the top-left corner of the window to Asset Browser. All assets, including materials, objects, and worlds should be visible here.
3. To only show materials, select the filter option (the funnel icon in the top-right corner of the window) and unselect all options except Materials.
4. Drag and drop a material from the asset browser onto an object to apply it.

How to remove a material from the asset browser

With the incredibly intuitive user interface of the new asset browser, it becomes notably easy to delete assets as well.

Simply right click on an available material in the browser and select Clear Asset. Once more, the option for Fake User can also be selected to clear the material but still keep it for future use.

Final Thoughts

Materials in Blender are a crucial part of creating anything from truly mesmerizing artworks to photorealistic product design or even colorful game artworks, and this further emphasizes the importance of keeping your materials organized and easy to use and reuse over and over again.

Developing a proper workflow when working with hundreds of different materials is certainly the key to your success.

Thanks for taking your time to go through this article, and remember: keep those materials organized!

Add, Assign, Delete Materials

Generally speaking Blenders (node-based) material system can be thought of as a two-part process, of material creation and material assignment, that in practice means adding, assigning or deleting materials can be done independently of an object or element selection.

Design note: for Blender 2.8+ and newer meshes need to be UV unwrapped and mapped for materials assigned an image or texture to appear on the mesh in LookDev or Rendered display modes otherwise the materials diffuse colour (Base Color) is shown. Learn more about the basics of node-based materials here.

A project shown in the 3D View comprising multiple objects, each assigned a single unique material taken from a larger pool of materials (not ordinarily visible unless objects are joined together and/or selected using Browse Material to be linked menu).

Add Material

Materials in Blender are data blocks, segments or chunks of information that define the surface (or volumetric) properties of whatever they might be assigned to or associated with. As such this means they can be created in Object Mode or Edit Mode with or without an active object or selection being made.

Design note: although no object or selection is strictly necessary, adding a new material to a project will automatically assign it to, or associated it with, the last item selected, especially if this was a mesh (depending on object selection a number of different material ‘sets’ might appear to be created because Blender defaults to assuming an association between the last selected object or item and the materials subsequently generated – a completely new set of materials can be added to different object selections – all of which then become available project-wide).

Although no objects are shown selected in the 3D View, the Outliner highlights the last item interacted with as an inactive selection, for example ‘trim’ shown in the above, new materials will be associated with this by default.

To create or add a material, in Material properties click the + (Add Material Slot) button to the right of the Material List aperture and then the + New (Add a new material) button below, once an entry appears, to populate. Alternatively click the + New button (Add a new material) below the aperture to create a new list item (index) and set of properties at the same time.

Design note: using the + button adds an ‘index’ or ‘list item’ to the Material List (the aperture displaying materials associated with the selected object) minus accompanying properties; + New places a new index and populates it with a set of default (node-based) properties – where multiple materials are being created, a multi-material, the + button inserts an index which then needs to be populated clicking +New (the + New button isn’t available once an index/instance has been populated so click + first to add an index then + New to populate).

When adding materials to a project they can be created as an initial ‘index’ or ‘list item’ without an accompanying set of material properties and options, or a list item with a set of properties, the panel below propagated with various settings and options.

Adding new materials can be done by clicking the + button to add a new index then populating with a set of material properties or, clicking the + New button to add an entry and populate at the same time.

The Material List (Material Index) displays the instances available for assignment, each accompanied by a set of properties and options.

Assign to Object (Global)

Once a material or set of materials are available they can be assigned. To do this in Object Mode, select an object 3D View then in Material properties click the Browse Material to be linked drop-down icon below-left of the Material List aperture and select an item from the list of materials shown, e.g. frame in the below. This immediately assigns the selected material to the object.

Design note: blank objects, that is objects absent material indexes or material assignments, will assume or take on the properties associated with whichever material is first assigned – subsequent applications generally don’t override this behaviour unless applied to local selections (Edit Mode).

To assign a single material to an object first make a selection then from the Browse Material to be linked drop-down menu choose an item to assign from the list shown, e.g. frame.

To assign additional materials, so two or more are associated with the selected object, with the object still selected click the + button to add a new material index, ensure this remain selected and use the Browse Material to be linked drop-down again to make a selection. The new slot will populate with properties. Repeat for however many materials need to be assigned to the item.

Important: assigning several materials to an object (in Object Mode) does not change the initial assignments influence over the object, it remains the primary reference regardless. Changing this in Object Mode means deleting all assignments (cf. below) and reordering their (re)application, or their being assigning to specific element selections in Edit Mode (cf. below); reordering the indexes as they appear in the Material List only changes display order, it does not affect the material/object relationship.

Assigning materials in Object Mode, objects will take on the properties of whichever material is assigned first – reordering the Material List does not change this.

To assign several (multiple) materials to an object a new material index has to be created which is then populated with a properties selection using the Browse Material to be linked drop-down list.

Assign to Element (Local)

Generally speaking, assigning materials in the local sense means using Edit Mode to apply them to specific element selections of an object. This is typically done when several materials need to be assigned to specific regions, areas or faces.

Design note: objects take on the properties of the first material assigned in Object Mode, which remain otherwise unaffected unless changed in Edit Mode through the addition and assignment of other materials. If materials are created and assigned entirely in Edit Mode, object mode behaviour is not generally applicable – the initial assignment won’t be automatically assigned to everything.

With an object selected, in Edit Mode make an element selection, a group of vertices, edges or faces associated with a particular mesh region or area. In Material properties click the + button to add a new material index, ensure this is selected then click the Assign button below the Material List aperture. Once done click Browse Material to be linked and select the appropriate set of properties to accompany the index.

Design note: the material index can be assigned with or without a set of properties – rather than assigning blank indexes they can be matched to a set of properties beforehand making each more easily identifiable (once matched to a set of properties each index will have a named and/or Base Color making identification easier).

Assigning material indexes to different parts of a mesh before being associated with a set of properties can make it difficult to determine what’s assigned where as nothing uniquely identifies the assignments.

To assign several (multiple) materials to an object a new material index has to be created which is then populated with a properties selection using the Browse Material to be linked drop-down list.

To assign materials to different selections of a mesh, whilst still in Edit Mode, make another selection (being mindful to clear previous selections, Alt + A ) and click the + button to add another material index, ensure this is selected then click the Assign button. Click Browse Material to be linked and select the appropriate set of properties from those available.

Design note: in Edit Mode, to test assignments select each entry in the Material List in turn then click the Select and Deselect buttons below; different parts of the mesh will highlight relative to the selected material.

Test material assignments in Edit Mode selecting entries in the Material List and click the Select and Deselect buttons below – this can only be done in Edit Mode.

Multiple materials (shown with Base Color above for clarity) can be assigned to different selections in Edit Mode clicking the Assign button once an available index or material slot is available – each can be accompanied by a set of properties or left blank (default state).

Delete Material

Although materials can be added and assigned in Edit Mode and Object Mode to varying degrees they can only be deleted in the latter, Object Mode. To do this, if in Edit Mode toggle into Object Mode, Tab , and select the object to which the errant material is assigned.

Design note: upon object selection the Material List only displays assigned materials then available for removal.

In the Material List click an material index entry to highlight the instance to be removed, then click the – (minus) button (Remove Material Slot) to the right of the aperture (alternatively press the Delete or X keys). The material will be disappear from the list and the object will either; a) display ‘white’ if the removed material was the only one assigned, or b) the selected element from which the material was removed will assume the properties associated with the first instance in the Material List – faces assigned ‘frame’ in the below for example will assume ‘screen’ as that is the first available index.

Important: deleting materials does not remove the material itself, the underlying data block, it simply clears the associative link between it (data block as expressed as a material) and the object or element to which it was assigned. In this way materials can be removed (partially or fully/all) from selections and remain available for (re)assignment to other objects and selections (caveat: materials absent a Fake User will be lost if the *.blend is saved and reopened).

Deleting materials removes the association between material and object/selection not the underlying data block (cf. above), which should remain available for use – caveat: materials prefixed with a ‘0’ are Fake Users, data that can be lost if the project they’re in is saved and reopened.

Materials can only be removed in object mode, which will strip the association, the selection then assuming the initial materials properties or those of the first index in the Material List – in the above ‘frame’ is removed and in doing so those faces then take on the properties of the first entry in the Material List, ‘screen’.

Delete All Materials

To batch delete some or all materials from an object, the Outliner can be used as an alternative because the Material List can only remove single instances at a time. To do this, select the object with materials to be removed and in the Outliner expand its details clicking the ► icon to the left of the appropriate mesh listing. Once assignments are shown, Shift + click each item, right-click those highlighted and then select Delete from the context menu. All the materials will be deleted from the selected object.

Design note: using the Outliner to delete materials may leave indexes in the Material List, which will need removing separately per the above – using the Outliner, as with the Material List, is only deleting the relationship between object and material(s), it does not remove the underlying data blocks.

Removing several materials at a time (batch removal) can be done using the Outliner; view the objects details and highlight the entries to be removed, right-click then select Delete from the context menu.

Delete Material Data-Blocks

Regardless as to how materials are deleted the underlying datablocks remain in place ready for reapplication. If this not wanted and materials should be removed from the file outright this can be done using the Outliner. To do this, switch the Display Mode to Blender File and expand the Materials category to reveal the assigned entries. Select the items to be removed from the file then right-click the highlighted entries, from the context menu click Delete.

Important: once removed from Blender File using the Outliner the project will need to be saved and reopened to ensure the data is cleared properly – removing data this way can occasionally give rise to orphaned data, which can be removed using the Outliner and the Orphan Data editor.

Removing materials from a project can leave data behind that’s not assigned to anything (indicated above by the column with 0’s [zero’s]), orphaned data as this is called. Use the Orphan Data editor to remove.

Removing the underlying datablocks associated with the materials being deleted in the Outliner – switch the Display Mode to Blender File, select the Materials to be removed, right-click and select Delete.

How to delete all unused materials from a Blender 2.8 file, time saving tips for beginners

Beginner tip and tricks — a short video showing how to remove unused (or used) materials from Blender 2.8 in two different ways, first of a series of quick tips clips.

8 Comments

Very useful advice. Thank you.
Great «Purge»!!

Thank you so much Wilson 🙂

Awesome stuff. These types of tips are incredibly useful, though often overlooked. Thank you!

Oh cool! What I always did was to save my scene, then File > Revert. Now the unused materials should be marked with a 0. Now save and do File > Revert one more time. This usually makes the unused stuff disappear. You way is obviously better! 🙂

Well that’s awesome to know, thanks!
Would be nice to figure out a way of permanently deleting it from the file in the material screen, so that I don’t have to the outliner too. Hmmm . . .

SO i go to remove material and it’s just not an option. Like it’s not on the dropdown and I can’t seem to find any actual reason as to why