Unity Material Skills

BATCH-FIRST: Use *_batch skills when operating on 2+ objects/materials.

Skills Overview

Single Object	Batch Version	Use Batch When
material_create	material_create_batch	Creating 2+ materials
material_assign	material_assign_batch	Assigning to 2+ objects
material_set_color	material_set_colors_batch	Setting colors on 2+ objects
material_set_emission	material_set_emission_batch	Setting emission on 2+ objects

No batch needed:

• material_set_texture - Set texture
• material_set_texture_offset/scale - Texture tiling
• material_set_float/int/vector - Set properties
• material_set_keyword - Enable/disable shader keywords
• material_set_render_queue - Set render queue
• material_set_shader - Change shader
• material_get_properties/keywords - Query properties
• material_duplicate - Duplicate material

---

Skills

material_create

Create a new material (auto-detects render pipeline).

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	Yes	-	Material name
shaderName	string	No	auto-detect	Shader (auto-detects URP/HDRP/Standard)
savePath	string	No	null	Save path (folder or full path)

material_create_batch

Create multiple materials.

unity_skills.call_skill("material_create_batch", items=[
    {"name": "Red", "savePath": "Assets/Materials"},
    {"name": "Blue", "savePath": "Assets/Materials"},
    {"name": "Green", "savePath": "Assets/Materials"}
])

material_assign

Assign material to object's renderer.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
instanceId	int	No*	Instance ID
path	string	No*	Material asset path (for asset)
materialPath	string	Yes	Material to assign

material_assign_batch

Assign materials to multiple objects.

unity_skills.call_skill("material_assign_batch", items=[
    {"name": "Cube1", "materialPath": "Assets/Materials/Red.mat"},
    {"name": "Cube2", "materialPath": "Assets/Materials/Blue.mat"}
])

material_set_color

Set material color with optional HDR intensity.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
r, g, b	float	No	1	Color (0-1)
a	float	No	1	Alpha
propertyName	string	No	auto-detect	Color property
intensity	float	No	1.0	HDR intensity (>1 for bloom)

material_set_colors_batch

Set colors on multiple objects.

unity_skills.call_skill("material_set_colors_batch", items=[
    {"name": "Cube1", "r": 1, "g": 0, "b": 0},
    {"name": "Cube2", "r": 0, "g": 1, "b": 0},
    {"name": "Cube3", "r": 0, "g": 0, "b": 1}
])

material_set_emission

Set emission color with auto-enable keyword.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
r, g, b	float	No	1	Emission color (0-1)
intensity	float	No	1.0	HDR intensity (>1 for bloom)
enableEmission	bool	No	true	Auto-enable _EMISSION keyword

material_set_emission_batch

Set emission on multiple objects.

unity_skills.call_skill("material_set_emission_batch", items=[
    {"name": "Neon1", "r": 1, "g": 0, "b": 1, "intensity": 5.0},
    {"name": "Neon2", "r": 0, "g": 1, "b": 1, "intensity": 5.0}
])

material_set_texture

Set material texture.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
texturePath	string	Yes	-	Texture asset path
propertyName	string	No	auto-detect	Texture property

material_set_float

Set a float property on a material.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
propertyName	string	Yes	Property name
value	float	Yes	Value

material_set_int

Set an integer property on a material.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
propertyName	string	Yes	Property name
value	int	Yes	Value

material_set_keyword

Enable/disable shader keywords.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
keyword	string	Yes	-	Keyword name
enable	bool	No	true	Enable or disable

Common Keywords: _EMISSION, _NORMALMAP, _METALLICGLOSSMAP, _ALPHATEST_ON, _ALPHABLEND_ON

material_get_properties

Get all material properties.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path

Returns: {colors, floats, vectors, textures, integers, keywords, renderQueue}

material_get_keywords

Get all enabled shader keywords on a material.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path

material_duplicate

Duplicate a material asset.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
sourcePath	string	Yes	Source material path
destPath	string	Yes	Destination path

material_set_shader

Change the shader of a material.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
shaderName	string	Yes	Shader name

material_set_vector

Set a Vector4 property on a material.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
propertyName	string	Yes	Property name
x, y, z, w	float	Yes	Vector components

material_set_texture_offset

Set texture offset (tiling position).

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
propertyName	string	No	Texture property name
x, y	float	Yes	Offset values

material_set_texture_scale

Set texture scale (tiling).

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
propertyName	string	No	Texture property name
x, y	float	Yes	Scale values

material_set_render_queue

Set material render queue.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
queue	int	Yes	Render queue value

material_set_gi_flags

Set material global illumination flags.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	No*	GameObject name
path	string	No*	Material asset path
flags	string	Yes	GI flags (None/Emissive/RealtimeEmissive/BakedEmissive)

---

Example: Efficient Material Setup

import unity_skills

# BAD: 6 API calls
unity_skills.call_skill("material_create", name="Mat1", savePath="Assets/Materials")
unity_skills.call_skill("material_create", name="Mat2", savePath="Assets/Materials")
unity_skills.call_skill("material_set_color", path="Assets/Materials/Mat1.mat", r=1, g=0, b=0)
unity_skills.call_skill("material_set_color", path="Assets/Materials/Mat2.mat", r=0, g=0, b=1)
unity_skills.call_skill("material_assign", name="Cube1", materialPath="Assets/Materials/Mat1.mat")
unity_skills.call_skill("material_assign", name="Cube2", materialPath="Assets/Materials/Mat2.mat")

# GOOD: 3 API calls
unity_skills.call_skill("material_create_batch", items=[
    {"name": "Mat1", "savePath": "Assets/Materials"},
    {"name": "Mat2", "savePath": "Assets/Materials"}
])
unity_skills.call_skill("material_set_colors_batch", items=[
    {"path": "Assets/Materials/Mat1.mat", "r": 1, "g": 0, "b": 0},
    {"path": "Assets/Materials/Mat2.mat", "r": 0, "g": 0, "b": 1}
])
unity_skills.call_skill("material_assign_batch", items=[
    {"name": "Cube1", "materialPath": "Assets/Materials/Mat1.mat"},
    {"name": "Cube2", "materialPath": "Assets/Materials/Mat2.mat"}
])

Render Pipeline Compatibility

Skills auto-detect and adapt to your render pipeline:

Pipeline	Default Shader	Color Property	Texture Property
Built-in	Standard	_Color	_MainTex
URP	Universal Render Pipeline/Lit	_BaseColor	_BaseMap
HDRP	HDRP/Lit	_BaseColor	_BaseColorMap

Best Practices

1. Save materials as assets for reuse
2. Use material instances (by name) for runtime changes
3. Use material assets (by path) for persistent changes
4. Check shader property names in Unity Inspector
5. URP/HDRP have different property names than Standard