FAQ

General

Where did the original settings go in 1.1.0?

Choose Material Assets, Objects & Assemblies, or Asset Previews at the top of the panel, then expand that workflow's Advanced Settings. Switching workflows does not reset settings or apply presets.

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 material builds, object asset creation, preview rendering, or clearing custom previews. The action uses a Plan label and reports intended asset changes without applying them. The sample Live Preview can still refresh as you change settings.

Material Assets

Can it work without normal maps?

Yes. Base color is always required; other requirements come from recognized map-type folders or detected root-scan textures, plus any active manual overrides. A detected type can become required even if some sets lack it. Use Dry Run to check the requirements for your current setup.

Does it support UDIMs?

Yes. Enable Detect UDIM Tiles under Material Assets > Advanced Settings > 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 Material Assets > Advanced Settings > Texture Sources > 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.

Does Object mapping unwrap my mesh or use triplanar mapping?

No. Mapping > Object uses local planar coordinates. Use UV for existing UV coordinates. These options, Normal Strength, and Bump Strength are under Advanced Settings > Build Options and affect newly built or updated materials. Flat thumbnails show the base-color image, not normal or bump detail.

Object Assets

What do the Objects and Assemblies quick setups change?

They change catalog placement only. Objects enables parent and child outputs in their existing catalogs and disables additional root assemblies. Assemblies groups parent hierarchies while keeping standalone objects individual. Neither preset changes scope, transforms, or preview settings.

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

Can I combine a backdrop with HDRI lighting?

Yes. The Backdrop and HDRI pickers are independent. HDRIs provide lighting and reflections in Eevee but stay hidden from the camera, while the selected backdrop remains visible. Choosing an HDRI selects Eevee; Quick uses approximate Workbench lighting instead.

Why is the Empty thumbnail blank?

It is intentional. Empty removes all backdrop geometry and enables a transparent background. Other thumbnails illustrate shape only; their decorative colors and patterns are not used in the render. Set backdrop color and roughness under Advanced Settings > Preview Options.

Do I need to resize or rotate the backdrop for each asset?

No manual size setup is needed: the temporary studio fits each asset's evaluated bounding box, including modifiers and assembly meshes. Backdrops remain aligned with the scene axes rather than rotating with the camera. An open-side view may expose transparency instead of a wall; see backdrop placement.

Why does Match Camera not reproduce my exact scene framing?

Match Camera and Match View copy angle, projection, and lens while retaining automatic asset framing. They do not copy camera position, shift, crop, or orthographic scale, and do not move the source camera.

Why do edits to my scene World not appear immediately?

With Advanced Settings > Environment > Light Source > Current World, click Refresh Preview after editing World nodes. This mode uses the active scene World in Eevee without adding rig lights or editing the original World.

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.