FAQ

General

Does it require a saved .blend file?

Yes — Blender needs a saved file to write asset catalogs and output rendered previews. Material builds work without a saved file, but object assets and preview renders require one.

What Blender versions are supported?

Asset Forge requires Blender 5.0 or newer.

Can I preview changes before applying?

Yes. Enable Dry Run before any action — material builds, object marking, or preview renders — to see exactly what will happen without changing anything.

Material Assets

Can it work without normal maps?

Yes. Required maps are inferred from what's detected in your texture root — only base color is always required. If your folders don't contain normal maps, they won't be required.

Does it support UDIMs?

Yes. Enable Detect UDIM Tiles in Build Options. Tile sets numbered 1001, 1002, 1003 etc. are grouped automatically.

Will it overwrite my existing materials?

Only if the selected overwrite policy allows it. Update Generated Only (the default) protects user-made materials. Skip Existing never overwrites. Use Dry Run to check what would be affected before running a build.

Does it build complex shader graphs?

Not yet — it creates clean Principled BSDF or Diffuse setups from detected maps.

Can I use custom node groups instead of Principled BSDF?

Not currently. The add-on builds either Principled BSDF or Diffuse material graphs.

My textures aren't being detected. What should I check?

Open Texture Naming Keywords and verify the keywords match your filename conventions. Also check that your textures are inside the Texture Root folder (or its subfolders) and that Folder Tails includes any intermediate folder names like maps or textures.

Object Assets

Where are asset catalogs saved?

In Blender's asset catalog system, which is stored alongside the .blend file. The file must be saved before catalogs can be written.

What do the hierarchy placement options do?

They control where parent objects, immediate child export roots, and assembly collections are placed in the catalog tree. When Children is enabled, Asset Forge promotes only the immediate children of each in-scope root to child export roots, and child roots with descendants export as assemblies instead of turning every deeper descendant into a separate child asset. Use Dry Run to preview the structure.

Preview Renders

Does it work with Cycles?

Preview renders use either Quick (Workbench-based) or Eevee. Cycles is not currently supported as a preview render engine.

Can I cancel a render in progress?

Yes — Eevee renders support cancel with Esc. Quick renders are fast enough that cancellation isn't usually needed.

Why do Asset Browser selections clear after rendering?

This is a known Blender limitation. The selection state in the Asset Browser may reset after a preview render completes. Your assets and previews are not affected.

Other

Does it pack textures into the .blend?

Not currently. Textures remain as external file references.

Can I undo a material build?

Yes — use Ctrl+Z to undo. Alternatively, re-run the build with a different overwrite policy.

Where can I report bugs or suggest features?

Reach out through the Superhive inbox or join the Discord server. Feedback helps shape future updates.