Is it possible to create a Material _asset_ from a script?

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Hi,

I know how to create a temp material for a game object, but is it possible to create a new asset within a script?

I want to be able to do this as part of an editor script I'm writing.

Thanks

Steve

Answer 1

Best Answer

Answer by Mike 3 · Jul 04, 2010 at 11:46 AM

Check out AssetDatabase.CreateAsset - it'll turn an instance of a material into an Asset in the project

http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/ScriptReference/AssetDatabase.CreateAsset.html

(Even has a material example for you)

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Steve Edwards · Jul 04, 2010 at 01:02 PM 0

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Thanks $$anonymous$$ike, ideal. I also modified it slightly to name the material after whatever is currently selected in the Hierarchy: (I put this in a separate answer because it didn't seem possible to format code in a comment)

Answer 2

Answer by Steve Edwards · Jul 04, 2010 at 01:10 PM

 @MenuItem("GameObject/Create Material")
static function CreateMaterial () {
    // Create a simple material asset
    var material = new Material (Shader.Find("Diffuse"));
     AssetDatabase.CreateAsset(material, "Assets/" + Selection.activeGameObject.name + ".mat");
}

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Steve Edwards · Jul 04, 2010 at 01:16 PM 0

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I also wanted to then assign the new material to the currently selected object...

Selection.activeGameObject.renderer.shared$$anonymous$$aterials = material;

but get this error: "Cannot convert UnityEngine.$$anonymous$$aterial to (UnityEngine.$$anonymous$$aterial), which is quite funny as errors go.

Mike 3 · Jul 04, 2010 at 02:21 PM 0

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(UnityEngine.$$anonymous$$aterial) means it's expecting an array of $$anonymous$$aterials. If you use shared$$anonymous$$aterial ins$$anonymous$$d of shared$$anonymous$$aterials it should work fine

Steve Edwards · Jul 04, 2010 at 02:45 PM 0

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Thanks, that got it.

Answer 3

Answer by lumeneo · Mar 13, 2019 at 04:43 PM

https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/AssetDatabase.CreateAsset.html

 using UnityEngine;
 using UnityEditor;
 
 public class CreateMaterialExample : MonoBehaviour
 {
     [MenuItem("GameObject/Create Material")]
     static void CreateMaterial()
     {
         // Create a simple material asset
 
         Material material = new Material(Shader.Find("Specular"));
         AssetDatabase.CreateAsset(material, "Assets/MyMaterial.mat");
 
         // Print the path of the created asset
         Debug.Log(AssetDatabase.GetAssetPath(material));
     }
 }

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Is it possible to create a Material _asset_ from a script?

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