ND H.MAT Root to Selected - Version 1.0.1 Copyright (c) 2026 Nathy-Design Release date: October 17, 2026 VENDOR AND SUPPORT Nathy-Design Contact me via Renderosity sitemail PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ND H.MAT Root to Selected is a DAZ Studio utility for transferring material data from a Hierarchical Material Preset (.duf) to one selected object or Geometry Shell. The utility examines the material-bearing nodes stored in the H.Material, compares their internal surface names with the selected target, and uses the source node with the strongest exact surface-name match. For typical character H.Material presets this is the main/root figure material node. Material data from other hierarchy nodes is ignored. This workflow is intended especially for cases where a character is supplied with H.Material presets but the user wants to apply the character material to a compatible Geometry Shell or another object with matching surface names. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS - Windows with DAZ Studio 4.24 or DAZ Studio 6. - A Hierarchical Material Preset (.duf). - One selected object or Geometry Shell with compatible material surface names. - All textures, shaders, UV sets and other resources referenced by the source preset must already be installed and available to DAZ Studio. The utility does not create a Geometry Shell and does not convert UV layouts or surface names between different figures. VALIDATION Version 1.0.1 has been tested in DAZ Studio 4.24 and DAZ Studio 6 with Hierarchical Material Presets applied to compatible Geometry Shell and clothing targets. Material maps, shaders, values and UV assignments were checked after application. PACKAGE CONTENT AND RESOURCES The package contains one original DAZ Studio utility script, its Content Library thumbnail, this English ReadMe, and the Renderosity license reference. No third-party script, preset, texture, figure, shader or mesh is included. The chosen source preset is opened read-only and remains unchanged. NEEDED FILES Base software: DAZ Studio. https://www.daz3d.com/get_studio/ Supply your own Hierarchical Material Preset and compatible target object. Any assets referenced by the preset must already be available to DAZ Studio. No specific character or commercial material product is required by the tool. INSTALLATION AND UPDATING Extract the Documentation and Scripts folders directly into the root of a mapped DAZ Studio content library. Merge these folders if they already exist. The ZIP intentionally contains no additional Content wrapper folder. When updating this product, replace its existing files with the new copies. Open Content Library: DAZ Studio Formats > your library > Scripts > Nathy Design > HMAT Root to Selected Run ND_HMAT_Root_To_Selected.dsa. The dialog title should display: ND H.MAT Root to Selected - 1.0.1 File > Open can also launch the extracted script directly. Smart Content metadata and a DIM installer are not included. USAGE 1. Save your scene. 2. Select exactly one object or Geometry Shell in the Scene pane. 3. Run ND_HMAT_Root_To_Selected.dsa. 4. Confirm the Selected target shown in the dialog. 5. Click Browse and choose a Hierarchical Material Preset (.duf). 6. Review the Source root/source node and Surface preview. 7. Click Apply Materials. 8. Inspect the result in the Surfaces pane and, when appropriate, in Iray. 9. Use Edit > Undo > ND H.MAT Root to Selected if you want to restore the previous material state. EXAMPLE: CHARACTER H.MAT TO A GEOMETRY SHELL 1. Load the character for which the H.Material was created. 2. Verify that the H.Material works normally on the character in DAZ Studio. 3. Create a Geometry Shell from that character, or select an existing compatible shell. 4. Select the Geometry Shell itself in the Scene pane. 5. Run ND H.MAT Root to Selected. 6. Browse to the same H.Material preset. 7. The preview should list the shell surfaces whose internal names match the source character material surfaces. 8. Click Apply Materials. The source H.Material does not need to be applied manually before using the utility. HOW VERSION 1.0.1 CHOOSES THE SOURCE MATERIAL NODE Earlier builds expected one specific DSON hierarchy layout. Valid H.Material presets can be encoded differently, including local node URLs, selection URLs, external parent selectors, and more than one top-level node. Version 1.0.1 no longer requires one explicit hierarchy root. It scans the material-bearing nodes in the preset and selects the node with the strongest exact match to the selected target's internal surface names. When two candidates have the same match count, an explicit top-level node is preferred, followed by the first matching node stored in the preset. This allows the utility to accept a wider range of valid commercial and custom H.Material presets while continuing to ignore unrelated hierarchy nodes. LIMITATIONS - Internal surface names are matched exactly and are case-sensitive. - The utility does not remap differently named surfaces. - It does not convert between UV layouts or figure generations. - Material data from hierarchy nodes other than the chosen source node is not transferred. - An H.Material with no usable material-bearing node matching the selected target will be refused. - Ordinary MAT presets are refused because DAZ Studio can apply them directly. - Script-driven H.Material data is not supported. - File-relative resources that cannot be safely resolved from the temporary MAT are refused. Standard content-library paths and installed asset references are supported. - Surface-name compatibility does not guarantee UV compatibility or a correct render. - Text and gzip DUF files are supported, with a 32 MiB uncompressed input limit. - The utility creates an internal temporary standard Material Preset, loads it, and removes it after use. The original H.Material is never modified. VERSION 1.0.1 CHANGES - Removed the requirement for exactly one explicit DSON root node. - Added support for additional valid H.Material node selector layouts. - Added support for H.Material nodes that use external parent selectors. - Source material-node selection now uses exact target-surface matching. - Unsupported or unrelated child-node animation selectors no longer invalidate the entire preset preview. - Improved source-node reporting in the preview and DAZ log. - Corrected package structure: Documentation and Scripts are now at ZIP root. - Corrected installation paths in this ReadMe. - Support contact changed to Renderosity sitemail only. - Simplified the successful-application message after DAZ Studio validation. TROUBLESHOOTING If the preset is refused: - Confirm that it is a Hierarchical Material Preset rather than a standard MAT. - Confirm that the selected object has material surfaces. - Confirm that the source H.Material contains surfaces whose internal names match the selected target. - Confirm that the H.Material itself works normally on its intended object in DAZ Studio. - Check that all textures and shader resources used by the preset are installed. DAZ Studio log: Help > Troubleshooting > View Log File Version 1.0.1 log messages begin with: [ND HMAT 1.0.1] When reporting a problem, include the DAZ Studio version, the selected target, the H.Material preset used, the exact on-screen error, and the relevant log lines. Contact me via Renderosity sitemail. FILES Scripts/Nathy Design/HMAT Root to Selected/ND_HMAT_Root_To_Selected.dsa Scripts/Nathy Design/HMAT Root to Selected/ND_HMAT_Root_To_Selected.dsa.png Documentation/Nathy-Design/ND_HMAT_Root_To_Selected_Readme.txt Documentation/Nathy-Design/ND_HMAT_Root_To_Selected_License.txt