Map / Material Select handled by User property

[maru]

I am attaching two examples made with Multimap in Object GBuffer ID mode: monitors (changing displayed image through object properties - per object, works with instances) and lamp on/off.
My question is: How is this less flexible / less convenient / causes some errors compared to using the requested user properties method?

Note: you do not have to open the material editor - this was one of the arguments in this thread.

[Tanner]

I agree with you Maru, I don't know how User Property is more efficient compared to every way you and I suggested. In fact, this is the first time in my 15+ years of using 3ds that I've seen or heard of someone using that tab under object properties.

It may be worthwhile for the OP to have a maxscript written for him to achieve the level of "efficiency" he's after. Those kinds of requests can be made elsewhere here or on the Autodesk forum.

I will add, if OP doesn't like the material editor (whether its Slate Material Editor or the compact editor) because its too slow, you may have too much going on, especially with the SME. If you clean up your views and purge unnecessary tabs, it helps both 3ds max load files quicker and open SME faster. Also make sure you don't have the SME rendering enabled all of the time, every change needs 1 or more nodes to update, slowing things down.

[romullus]

I am attaching two examples made with Multimap in Object GBuffer ID mode: monitors (changing displayed image through object properties - per object, works with instances) and lamp on/off.
My question is: How is this less flexible / less convenient / causes some errors compared to using the requested user properties method?

Note: you do not have to open the material editor - this was one of the arguments in this thread.

That's very useful maru, but would it be possible to make the IR trigger automatically on object properties change? I tried to make similar setup today and couldn't understand why it's not working, until i realized that you need to restart IR.

Another issue that gbuffer IDs seems not to be working with decals, so maybe option to user properties to drive multimap selection still can be useful? Assuming that user property is working with decals.

And i have even more exiting idea how user properties could be very useful - how about utilizing them in exclude/include lists? The idea is that you could automatically include or include objects in various lists based on their user properties, without needing explicitly add those objects to any of those lists. One of numerous possible scenarios - you create new camera, open its include/exclude list, write something like exclude user property = "interior_1", "kitchen_props", "toilet" and any object that has those tags in their user properties will be automatically excluded from that camera. That would also apply to decals, lights, scatters, distance maps - anything that has exclude/include lists. I think this could be very powerful tool to have. What do you think?