Apply Materials

The Apply Materials tool lets you assign materials to model parts across multiple models at once, directly from the Models page. Instead of opening each project individually and swapping materials one by one in the studio, you define rules or build a variant grid and apply everything in a single action.

There are two modes: Replace globally for find-and-replace across your models, and Generate variants for creating product colorways and finish options.

Opening the tool

1. Go to the Models page.
2. Select one or more models using the checkboxes.
3. Click Apply Materials in the selection bar that appears at the bottom.

The tool opens as a full-screen modal.

Choosing which models to edit

The scope bar at the top-left controls which models the operation applies to:

• All models — Apply to every model in your workspace.
• Tagged — Apply only to models with specific tags. A searchable tag selector lets you pick one or more tags.
• Selected — Apply only to the models you selected before opening the tool.

Changing the scope updates the model count and the summary in the right panel.

Replace globally

Use this mode to find material slots by name across your models and replace them with a different material.

How it works

1. Switch to Replace globally using the mode toggle at the top.
2. Add a swap rule by typing a material slot name — the name of the part you want to target (e.g., "sole", "fabric", "handle").
   • As you type, suggestions appear based on the actual material slot names found in your selected models.
   • The match mode is detected automatically: exact if the name matches a slot exactly, or contains if it's a partial match.
3. Pick a material from the material picker. You can browse your workspace materials under Recent or the Polyhaven library under Library. Use search to filter by name.
4. The tool shows how many materials match across your models (e.g., "Matches 12 materials across your models").
5. Add more swap rules if needed — each rule targets a different slot name.
6. Review the summary in the right panel, then click Apply.

Tip: Use "contains" matching to target related slots in one rule. For example, typing "leather" will match "leather_seat", "leather_arm", and "back_leather" across different models.

Generate variants

Use this mode to create named product variants — colorways, finish options, or material combinations — in bulk. Each variant defines a set of material assignments across one or more material slots.

How it works

1. Switch to Generate variants using the mode toggle at the top.
2. Add material slots (columns) — These are the parts of your models you want to customize. Type a slot name (e.g., "sole", "upper", "lining") and press Enter.
   • Suggestions appear based on material names found in your models.
   • Each slot has a match mode (exact or contains), just like swap rules.
3. Add variants (rows) — Name each variant to describe the combination (e.g., "Midnight Black", "Natural Oak", "Arctic White"). A new empty row appears automatically as you work.
4. Fill in the grid — Click each cell to pick a material for that variant × slot combination. For example, the "Midnight Black" variant might use a black leather for the upper and a black rubber for the sole.
5. Duplicate variants — Use the duplicate action on any row to copy it with all its material assignments, then adjust individual cells.
6. Review the summary in the right panel, then click Generate.

The tool creates a new model variant for each row, with the material assignments you defined. Your base model and its original materials are unchanged.

Example

A shoe model has three material slots: sole, upper, and lining.

Clicking Generate 3 variants creates three new variants of the shoe, each with the specified materials applied to the matching slots.

Picking materials

The material picker appears whenever you click a material cell or assignment. It has two tabs:

• Recent — Materials you've created or uploaded in your workspace, sorted by most recent.
• Library — The Polyhaven material catalog, sorted by popularity. These are free, high-quality PBR materials.

Use the search bar to filter by name. Hovering over a material shows a preview. Click to assign it, or use the clear button to remove an existing assignment.

Right panel summary

The right side of the modal shows a live summary of what will happen when you apply:

• Scope — Which models are affected and how many.
• Preview — The list of replacements or variants that will be created.
• Action button — "Apply X replacements" or "Generate X variants", depending on the mode. This button is disabled until you have at least one valid rule or variant.

Related

• Materials — Managing your material library
• Model Variants — How variants work in the studio
• Editing Your Model — Applying materials to individual surfaces in the studio