Too many colors?
When working with PC based animation programs, and even wokstation, programs.
If the animator is using more than 256 materials, he or she is wasting alot and
being sloppy. This is especially true, if there are maps involved. Each new
map means memory, and more time to render. And since time is money, it pays to
use materials wisely. If you are using only colors, and not maps, using 256
colors means millions of color variations according to the lighting and surface
conditions in the model. I have made some very complex scenes, none of which
has ever used more than 50 materials.
I can see your point with translation, but I wouldnt loose sleep over it being
a limitation with 3D Studio models.
Andrew McClary Graphic Alchemy Productions