I still think that reuse materials should be part of the importer because that’s where materials are assigned and created. If the name is the same scene materials would be used and duplicate materials wouldn’t be even created.
Just found =)
3 Likes
So for anyone interested here’s a new version of the importer for testing.
I used @EjnarBrendsdal 's code for the UI - big thanks for sharing it.
Installation is the same as the original - replace the folder in …/scripts/addons with this one.
3 Likes
Great! And I think i based it in a script I got from @stig-atle a long time ago… 
I guess that’s possible but I spoke with some of the developers at a previous BCON event and they mentioned that maybe this should be a generic functionality of all importers, as it’s useful with any file format…
2 Likes
I agree that this should be included in all importers that support materials. The question is when the developers get to it.
Except SVG, I guess)
It generates copes of SVGmat.000 material
Indeed, it can be useful, but every importer is a different Addon right?
So every importer will need a different implementation and patch I assume.
So having this as a patch could make it to be reviewed/commited as quickly as possible in every importer 
I’m not against it. The problem is that I don’t know how to make a patch or a diff(I’m not much of a programmer). Can you do it?
For something like the FBX importer I have no idea, that’s why I was mentioning the devs, maybe @dfelinto can shed a bit of light on this
Do you mean some of those?
1 Like
Yes. The Revit plugin spits out an FBX that works great.
2 Likes
Thanks. It is quite unobvious, since video demo displayes direct connection.
So that explains those 3dsmax bug reports…
Honestly FBX support in blender is a bit rough. I can understand WHY to an extent, but is too bad.
My biggest issue, besides materials being duped though, is the overall speed.
It’s like 10-20x slower to import/export an FBX to blender, compared to most any other DCC i’ve tried.
It is because it is custom, written from scratch.
Cons - limited functionality and speed.
Pros - it can import FBX that 3dsmax sometimes can produce but can’t import by itself.
All importers in Blender use Python wheras in other programs, they are written in C++ or C so they are much faster. There was a GSOC student last year to port some importers into C but it seems the project didn’t get into master.
The slow i/o makes it quite painful to work with large imported data, exporting large data and collaboration with others not using Blender
2 Likes
Yeah, that makes sense. I was really hoping we’d see something by now, but I guess not.
I don’t even care if it’s not FBX necessarily, really we just need just faster I/O in some way or another.
I make AAA game weapons in blender, and send to other DCCs and back. If collapse a Highpoly, to send, it can take 3-5+ minutes, where again, in other apps, its like 10-15 seconds for same FBX/data.
Did you tried a Better FBX plugin?