mesh_layer_base
A mesh_chain_base material is used for blending of two different materials selectively: it operates on two sets of textures, which are showed through on the surface according to the mask. Can be applied to meshes, dynamic meshes and skinned meshes.
States
In the States tab you can set rendering passes and available options. Enabling some of the states activates additional textures and parameters in the Textures and Parameters tabs respectively.
The states divide into 2 groups: Passes and Options.
Possible values for an Ambient pass:
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skip | none | Material is not rendered. |
| Opacity | opacity | Material diffuse colors are blended with the ambient color. |
| Transparent | transparent | Material diffuse colors are not modulated by the ambient color. |
| LightMap | lightmap | Material is rendered lit by a light map. Material diffuse colors are multiplied by the light map and the ambient color. To create and automatically set a light map for an object, a Lightmap Generation Tool can be used. |
Possible values for all the other passes:
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skip | none | Material is not rendered during the pass. |
| Default | default | Material is rendered during the pass. |
The options can be either enabled or disabled by ticking the respective boxes.
All the states can be set to default ones - click a Set to parent button near the state (if the state is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green).
The states available for this kind of material are listed below.
Passes
Passes specify during which rendering pass the material should be rendered. They are modified in the Passes field of the States tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Deferred | deferred | Deferred rendering pass. Specifies if the material should be rendered during the deferred pass. For the transparent surfaces see also a Post deferred option. |
| Auxiliary | auxiliary | Auxiliary rendering pass. Specifies if the material should be rendered into the auxiliary buffer to create a custom post-process. |
| Ambient | ambient | Ambient rendering pass. Specifies, how the material should be rendered during the Ambient light pass for the opaque objects. The actual opacity or transparency of the material depends solely on the set blending options. |
| Light prob | light_prob | Probe lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the Probe light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
| Light spot | light_spot | Spot lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the Spot light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
| Light omni | light_omni | Omni-directional lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the Omni light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
| Light proj | light_proj | Projected lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the Projected light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
| Light world | light_world | World lights rendering pass. Specifies, if the material should be rendered illuminated by the World light sources during the light and shadows rendering passes. |
Options
The following options are set in the Options field of the States tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow shafts | volumetric | Specifies if volumetric shadows from world lights will be rendered from surfaces with the applied material. |
Textures
In the Textures tab of the Materials Editor you can:
Load the textures - click a Load button near the texture and specify the path to the texture or type the path in the texture field manually
Open the view window to see texture's details - click a View button near the texture- Set the current texture to default one - click a Set to parent button near the texture (if the texture is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green)
The textures available for this kind of materials are listed below.
Base Textures
Base textures are loaded and modified in the Base field of the Textures tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mask | mask | A mask for two materials. Determines the way for two materials to be rendered. | R: |
| Diffuse 0 | diffuse_0 | Diffuse map for the first material. A texture to define a surface's main color.
Notice The diffuse color is visible only if in a given pixel the alpha value is 0.5 or higher. Otherwise, non-blended diffuse color of the second diffuse texture is used. |
RGBA:
Notice
An alpha (A) value will store transparency values if an Alpha test option is enabled. Otherwise it will store a detail mask. |
| Normal 0 | normal_0 | Normal map for the first material. A texture to store information about a surface's normals deviation. |
RG:
|
| Specular 0 | specular_0 | Specular map for the first material. A texture to define a surface's shininess and highlight color. |
RGBA:
|
| Diffuse 1 | diffuse_1 | Diffuse map for the second material. A texture to define a surface's main color. |
RGBA:
Notice
An alpha (A) value will store transparency values if an Alpha test option is enabled. Otherwise it will store a detail mask. |
| Normal 1 | normal_1 | Normal map for the second material. A texture to store information about a surface's normals deviation. |
RG:
|
| Specular 1 | specular_1 | Specular map for the second material. A texture to define a surface's shininess and highlight color. |
RGBA:
|
Additional Textures
Additional ambient texture is modified in the Additional field of the Textures tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Description | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambient | ambient | Ambient map. A texture to modulate the global environment illumination (when an object is lighter at the top from sky above, darker at the bottom from the ground below etc). The texture takes effect only if the scene environment texture is loaded. |
RGBA:
Second UV map channel. |
Parameters
In the Parameters tab you can set or modify base and additional parameters.
Parameters of different types are set in different ways:
- expression - vector values can be set either in the field near the parameter or in the dialog window opened when double clicking this field
- slider - the value can be set either by smoothly moving the slider of the scroll box or manually in the box near the parameter (if required, the value bigger than maximum one for the slider can be set)
- color - the color can be chosen in the dialog window, activated after double clicking the color field
All the parameters can be set to default ones - click a Set to parent button near the parameter (if the parameter is different from the default one, its field will be highlighted with green).
The parameters available for this kind of materials are listed below.
Transform Parameters
Texture transformation parameters are modified in the Transform field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | base_transform | expression | Base texture native coordinates transformation. A vector of the four float components, consisting of two pairs of vector elements:
|
| Mask | mask_transform | expression | Mask texture native coordinates transformation. A vector of the four float components, consisting of two pairs of vector elements:
Notice
If mask is disabled, transformations would not take an effect. |
| Layer 0 | layer_0_transform | expression | Diffuse 0 texture native coordinates transformation. A vector of the four float components, consisting of two pairs of vector elements:
|
| Layer 1 | layer_1_transform | expression | Diffuse 1 texture native coordinates transformation. A vector of the four float components, consisting of two pairs of vector elements:
|
Auxiliary Parameters
Auxiliary color parameter is present only if an Auxiliary pass is set as a Default. The parameter is modified in the Auxiliary field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auxiliary | auxiliary_color | color | A color picker to choose an auxiliary color for the Auxiliary rendering pass. |
Mask Parameters
Mask parameters are modified in the Mask field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | mask_value | slider |
A coefficient to define the fill factor for the final material:
|
| Threshold | mask_threshold | slider |
A coefficient to modify the blending factor between two materials:
|
Ambient Parameters
Ambient parameter is modified in the Ambient field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | environment_scale | slider | Environment lighting scale. A coefficient to scale how much the global environment texture illuminates the surface. The higher the value, the more the colors will be corrected (lightened or darkened) according to the environment component. |
Lightmap Parameters
Light map parameter is present only if an LightMap option is set during the Ambient Emission rendering pass. The parameter is modified in the Lightmap field of the Parameters tab.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | lightmap_scale | slider | A coefficient to scale the intensity of illumination by the light map. By the value of 0 the light map does not illuminate the surface with this material applied. The higher the value, the more visible and the brighter a light map is. |
First and Second Parameters
First and second textures parameters are identical and are modified in the First and Second fields of the Parameters tab respectively.
| GUI name | XML name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse | diffuse_0_color diffuse_1_color |
color |
A color picker to choose the color of the diffuse map. |
| Diffuse | diffuse_0_scale diffuse_1_scale |
slider | A coefficient to scale the brightness of the diffuse map. The higher the value, the brighter the diffuse map is. |
| Specular | specular_0_color specular_1_color |
color |
A color picker to choose the color of the specular map. |
| Specular | specular_0_scale specular_1_scale |
slider | A coefficient to scale the brightness of the specular map reflections. The default value of 1 grants the correct color. The higher the value, the brighter the specular reflections are. |
| Glossiness | specular_0_power specular_1_power |
slider |
A coefficient to modify size of the highlight (Phong lighting) of the specular map:
|
| Phong rim width | phong_rim_0_width phong_rim_1_width |
slider |
A coefficient to modify the width of an additionally lightened rim of an object, where incident light is perpendicular to surface being lit:
|
| Phong rim scale | phong_rim_0_scale phong_rim_1_scale |
slider |
A coefficient to scale brightness of the additionally lightened rim at the edges of an object, where incident light is perpendicular to surface being lit:
|
| Fresnel bias | fresnel_0_bias fresnel_1_bias |
slider | A coefficient to compensate for the Fresnel effect and set the minimum necessary reflectance level. By the minimum value of 0, there is no compensation for the Fresnel effect. Increasing the value leads to more prominent overall reflections. By the maximum value of 1, reflections are at their maximum and the Fresnel power parameter does not influence the rendered image. |
| Fresnel power | fresnel_0_power fresnel_1_power |
slider |
A coefficient to scale Fresnel effect that defines the amount of reflectance depending on the viewing angle:
|