UAO – Materials – Bella Vita

Ultimate Asset Organizer – Materials

Meet the add-on

Ultimate Asset Organizer – Materials turns texture folders into usable Blender materials, then helps you build a clean material library you can reuse across projects.

This add-on helps you:

Create materials from texture folders
Mark materials as Assets for Blender’s Asset Browser
Generate previews so you can browse visually
Use proxy textures during preview generation to keep memory use under control

The goal is simple:
Spend less time wiring materials and more time building your scenes.

Why you might want it

Use this add-on to build a reusable material library from your texture folders. Once materials are marked as assets, you can browse them in the Asset Browser and drag and drop them into any file.

Turn texture collections into a reusable material library
Drag and drop materials from the Asset Browser into any scene
Keep library files cleaner, especially after generating previews
Build a library once and reuse it across projects

It’s a good fit if you:

Download a lot of PBR texture packs
Work on environments, props, or look development
Want a shared material library for a team

Key features

Folder to Material Conversion

Choose a folder that contains your texture sets.
With Group texture maps into materials on, it creates one material per folder.
With that option off, it creates one material per texture map file.
With UDIM Texture Maps on, it supports UDIM sets.

Smart Texture Detection

Finds common map types such as color, roughness, metallic, normal, AO, opacity, height, and more.
Builds a solid starting material you can adjust later.

Heuristic Smart Search

Helpful when texture packs include extra folders such as previews and renders.
Focuses on the real textures so you get fewer duplicates.

Asset Browser Integration

Marks your materials as Assets so they show up in Blender’s Asset Browser.
Browse in the Asset Browser, then drag and drop into your scene.

Preview Generation

Generates previews for asset materials that do not have one yet.
Uses Proxy Folder and Proxy Size to reduce memory use while generating previews.
You can cancel safely if you need to stop.

Cleanup Tools

Helps remove unused data from the file when you are done.
Can remove temporary proxy folders created during preview generation.

How it works

This is the typical workflow from textures to a reusable material library.

Step 1 — Setup
- Choose your Source Folder where your texture sets live.
- Enable Search Sub-folders if your library is nested.
- Enable UDIM Texture Maps only if your textures use UDIM tiles.
- Pick a Proxy Folder and Proxy Size for preview generation.
Step 2 — Create Materials
- The add-on scans folders and builds materials based on your settings.
- It can create one material per folder or one per texture map file.
Step 3 — Create Asset Library
- Materials are marked as Assets so they appear in the Asset Browser.
Step 4 — Generate Asset Previews
- Generates thumbnails for Asset materials that need them.
- This step does not save your file automatically, so save your blend when you are happy.
Clean up (optional)
- Purge unused data and delete temporary proxy folders after big preview jobs.

After that, you can browse your materials in the Asset Browser and reuse them whenever you need.

Quick start

Install the add-on
1. Download the add-on file.
2. In Blender, drag and drop the ZIP file into the 3D Viewport.
3. Save Preferences so it stays enabled next time.
Find the add-on panel
1. Open the 3D Viewport.
2. Press N to open the sidebar if it is not already open.
3. Look for the tab named UAO — Materials.
Start a dedicated library file
1. Open a fresh blend file.
2. Use Save Library As to create a dedicated Materials Library file.
3. This helps keep your library clean and avoids mixing unrelated materials from other scenes.
Point it to your textures
1. Choose your Source Folder.
2. Enable Search Sub-folders if your packs are nested.
3. Enable Heuristic Smart Search for real-world folder structures.
4. Enable UDIM Texture Maps only if your textures use UDIM tiles.
Create your materials
1. Click Step 2 — Create Materials.
2. Most users should keep Group texture maps into materials on for ready-to-go materials.
Turn them into assets
1. Click Step 3 — Create Asset Library.
2. Your materials are now flagged as Assets and ready for the Asset Browser.
Generate previews
1. Pick a Proxy Folder and Proxy Size.
2. Click Step 4 — Generate Asset Previews.
3. You can cancel safely if needed. Completed previews stay.

When you are happy with the results, save your library blend file.

Examples and ideas

Building a personal library from downloaded textures

Point the add-on at your downloaded packs.
Create materials, mark them as assets, and generate previews.
Save one clean library file you can reuse across projects.

Creating a studio or team library

Store one shared library blend in a shared location.
Everyone points Blender’s Asset Libraries to the same folder.

Cleaning up old projects

Start a fresh file and rebuild materials from the original textures.
Reuse a clean library instead of rebuilding materials in every scene.

Environment building

Create a library of wood, metal, concrete, stone, ground, and more.
Drag and drop materials while blocking out environments or props.

Tips for best results

Keep folders clean when you can

One material set per folder is ideal.
Avoid mixing unrelated images in the same folder.

Use grouping unless you have a reason not to

Keep Group texture maps into materials on for the best ready-to-use result.
Turn it off only when you intentionally want one map per material.

Use UDIM mode only when needed

If your set is UDIM-based, enable UDIM Texture Maps.
If you do not use UDIMs, leave it off for a simpler workflow.

Choose proxy size wisely

Lower proxy sizes are faster and easier on your computer.
Higher proxy sizes look nicer but take longer.
If previews feel slow, lower the proxy size or process fewer materials at a time.

After big preview jobs, run cleanup

Use cleanup to remove unused data and delete temporary proxy folders.
This keeps your library file responsive.

FAQ

Do I need to know anything about shaders or nodes to use this?

Not really. You point it at your textures and it builds solid materials for you. You can still tweak later if you want, but it is not required.

My folders are a bit messy. Will it still work?

It works best when each material has its own folder. If your packs include extra helper folders, enabling Heuristic Smart Search usually helps.

Some materials didn’t get created. What happened?

Usually the folder didn’t contain usable maps, or the images were too mixed to form a clean set. Try cleaning the structure or run a smaller batch to verify results.

Step 4 didn’t generate anything. Why?

Step 4 generates previews for Asset materials. Make sure you ran Step 3 — Create Asset Library first.

Previews are taking a long time. What can I do?

Try these:

Lower the Proxy Size.
Run fewer materials at once.
Close other heavy programs while previews are generating.

Will this break my existing projects?

No. The add-on only affects the file you run it in. For large library builds, a dedicated library blend and backups are a good idea.

Can I stop a job if it’s taking too long?

Yes. You can cancel safely. Completed materials and previews will stay.

Need help?

If something is not working or you have a question, get in touch. It helps a lot if you include:

For the fastest support, include:

Your Blender version
Your operating system
Rough library size, such as number of folders or materials
Which step you were running, such as Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4

Report a bug or issue

Describe what you were doing when the problem happened.
If possible, mention any error messages you saw.

Request features

Share what you want to improve and how it would help your workflow.
Real user feedback helps decide what to improve next.