The current link is Part to material. There bave been some significant changes to Keyshort for Solidworks, so hopefully the Alibre version and Alibre link dll gets some modernisation soon too. For me, part based is not a real issue, and it does fit in with my process, but you should be able to define and use the material that is defined in the source CAD. After all, that's what the 2D drawing uses and the data is already there, so why do the job twice!
Saying that, and if your process is to import into keyshot to 'experiment' with materials and textures ... then there should be a link the
other way to tell Alibre what material you've finally decided the part is going to be!
In Keyshot, there is already the "option" to create a materials link file using either the "part" OR the "material". But the "material" does not seem to work.
What is SUPPOSED TO happen, and does in other CAD programs, is that the Alibre "material" can be linked to a material in Keyshot, so that all you have to do is use the material in Alibre and the appearance in Keyshot is automatic, or nearly so.
Instead, I have to first import the BIP "in white", then assign all the materials, and finally create the file to link them, so that thereafter I can import, then assign that link file to the scene.
That would be reasonably OK if the assignment was to Alibre materials, but instead it is to Alibre filename. So if the part is changed, the assignment is rendered bogus and is ignored.
It very seriously fouls up the use of Keyshot with Alibre.