Updating Thumbnails for Materials with Appearance Domains

You can update a thumbnail of a material with an appearance domain using the Update Thumbnails to ensure the thumbnail appears in the search results using the Thumbnails or the 3D Thumbnails display mode.

A thumbnail is created when an appearance domain is propagated to the database using FBDI or Add > Content.

The thumbnails are not automatically created or updated if:

  • You propagate modifications to a texture or shader document that is referenced by an appearance domain.
  • You import a 3D XML file.

The Update Thumbnails function allows you to trigger the thumbnail's creation or update.

Before you begin: Open at least one material in session.
See Also
Accessing Materials
Saving Materials
  1. From the Material Tools section of the action bar, click Update Thumbnails .

    The Update Thumbnails message that appears gives the number of materials and appearance domains open in session or not, their current status, and specifies if a thumbnail is created or updated. This message describes the detailed report, including messages and corresponding actions.

  2. Click OK.

The thumbnails are automatically updated or created accordingly.

You can access a thumbnail for each material in the Search Results panel when selecting the Thumbnail View.