3ds Max - Remove Duplicate materials from Multi-sub object

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  monster polycounter

  Apr 2013

  Hey bro, I had this script laying around. If you are only using diffuse maps it might help you.
  

  (
  	prevMatCount = scenematerials.count
  	diffuseMapList = #()
  	materialList = #()
  
  	scenemats = scenematerials
  
  
  	for m = 1 to scenemats.count do
  	(
  		dmapFile = scenemats[m].diffuseMap.filename
  		getMat = findItem diffuseMapList dmapFile
  		
  		if getMat == 0 then
  		(
  			--MATERIAL NOT FOUND, ADD IT TO THE MATERIAL LIST
  			append diffuseMapList dmapFile
  			append materialList m
  		)
  		else
  		(
  			--MATERIAL FOUND, APPLY TO ALL IT'S OBJECTS
  			for obj in refs.dependents scenemats[m] do
  			(
  				try
  				(
  					obj.material = scenemats[getMat]
  				)
  				catch()
  			)
  			
  		)
  	)
  	
  	gc lite:true
  	
  	messageBox ("Materials condensed from " + prevMatCount as string + " material(s) to " + materialList.count as string + " material(s).") title:"Materials"
  )
  

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  TorQue[MoD] polycounter lvl 20

  Mar 3 2025

  I tried to get Chat GPT to modify the script to not only remove duplicate sub-object ids, but also remove them from the mesh, but it wasn't able to sort it out. Maybe someone who knows MaxScript could fix this?
  

  (
      -- Get the selected object
      obj = selection[1]
      
      -- Ensure the object is valid and has a Multi/Sub-Object material
      if obj != undefined and isKindOf obj.material MultiMaterial then
      (
          -- Get the Multi/Sub-Object material
          multiMat = obj.material
          matCount = multiMat.numsubs
          
          -- Arrays to store material names and the first instance mappings
          matNameList = #()  -- Stores unique material names
          replacementMap = #()  -- Maps duplicate slots to their first occurrence
          
          -- Step 1: Loop through all sub-materials and find duplicates
          for i = 1 to matCount do
          (
              mat = multiMat.materialList[i]
              if mat != undefined then
              (
                  matName = mat.name
                  getMat = findItem matNameList matName
                  
                  -- If it's the first occurrence of this material name, store it
                  if getMat == 0 then
                  (
                      append matNameList matName
                      replacementMap[i] = mat  -- Keep the first occurrence
                  )
                  else
                  (
                      -- If duplicate, replace with the first occurrence
                      replacementMap[i] = replacementMap[getMat]
                  )
              )
          )
  
          -- Step 2: Reassign cleaned materials to the Multi/Sub-Object material
          for i = 1 to matCount do
          (
              if replacementMap[i] != undefined then
                  multiMat.materialList[i] = replacementMap[i]
          )
  
          -- Step 3: Remove empty slots in the material
          newMaterialList = #()
          for mat in replacementMap do
          (
              if findItem newMaterialList mat == 0 then append newMaterialList mat
          )
          multiMat.materialList = newMaterialList
          multiMat.numsubs = newMaterialList.count
          
          -- Step 4: Reassign Material IDs on the mesh to the first instance
          for face = 1 to obj.numfaces do
          (
              -- Use the correct function to get the material ID for each face
              matID = getFaceMatID obj face
              
              -- Check if the material ID is valid (not undefined)
              if matID != undefined and matID > 0 and matID <= matCount then
              (
                  -- Find the original material that corresponds to the duplicate
                  originalMat = replacementMap[matID]
                  
                  -- Ensure the original material is valid
                  if originalMat != undefined do
                  (
                      -- Find the new material ID in the cleaned list
                      newMatID = findItem newMaterialList originalMat
                      if newMatID != 0 do  -- Only reassign if newMatID is valid
                      (
                          -- Set the new Material ID for the face
                          setFaceMaterialID obj face newMatID
                      )
                  )
              )
          )
          
          -- Garbage collection and message
          gc light:true
          messageBox ("Sub-materials reduced from " + matCount as string + " to " + newMaterialList.count as string) title:"Multi/Sub-Object Cleanup"
      )
      else
      (
          messageBox "Please select an object with a Multi/Sub-Object material." title:"Error"
      )
  )

  
  

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