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Warning! This version of documentation is OUTDATED, as it describes an older SDK version! Please switch to the documentation for the latest SDK version.
Warning! This version of documentation describes an old SDK version which is no longer supported! Please upgrade to the latest SDK version.

grass_impostor_base

A grass_impostor_base material is used for vegetation impostors. It can be applied to grass objects that, in turn, can be used as impostors for trees.

Impostor Trees

States

States

Material Settings, States Tab

Options

Auxiliary

Auxiliary rendering pass is used for writing an additional texture into an auxiliary color buffer. Detail information on the pass can be found in the Rendering Sequence article. The pass can be used for custom post-process effects.

Notice
Enabling this option activates the additional Auxiliary texture and Auxiliary parameters.

Noise

Noise activates spatial color noise texture, so the grass is colored according to it. The noise texture can add irregularity to the color of the grass field or it can color the grass.

Notice
Enabling this option activates the additional Noise texture and Noise parameters.

Ambient Occlusion

Ambient Occlusion enables the ambient occlusion that sets shading arising from the ground to the top of the grass blade.

Notice
Enabling this option activates the additional Ambient Occlusion parameters.

AO Map

AO Map enables the ambient occlusion effect. This effect is used to modulate global environment illumination using baked shadows from environment probes. Enabling the option activates the ambient occlusion texture.

Normal Map

Normal Map enables the normal map for the grass impostors. This option is used to fake the relief on the impostor surface.

Shading Map

Shading Map enables the shading texture for the material.

Microfiber Map

Microfiber Map enables using of the A channel of the shading texture that stores the microfiber texture.

Specular Map

Specular Map enables using of the B channel of the shading texture that stores the specular texture.

Translucent Map

Translucent Map enables the translucence effect and activates an additional translucent texture.

Screen Aligned

Screen Aligned sets the impostor parallel to the screen plane. The option should be enabled for correct rotation of impostors when the camera looks down. We recommend you to use this option only when impostor rotation is required, as in other cases it may lead to visual artifacts.

Notice
It is not recommended to enable this option when multi-monitor configuration is used: noticeable seams between monitors may occur.

Lerp

Lerp enables smooth linear interpolation of sprites when the camera rotates around the object. This state should be enabled, if the grabbed impostor textures store low number of frames (i.e. the Phi and Theta values are small).

Up Direction

Up Direction makes impostors always pointing upwards.

When the impostors are oriented along normal of the parent node (usually - a terrain), trees grow almost perpendicular to the terrain slopes. To make the trees pointing up, the Up Direction option should be enabled. At that, the impostors normals remain the same. It allows you to get correct shadowing of trees impostors on the steep slopes.

Animation

Animation option enables animation for objects (e.g. for plants swinging in the wind). Available modes:

  • None - animation is disabled.
  • Animation - standard animation is used.

    Standard Animation of Impostors
  • Field Animation - standard animation is used together with animation produced by Field Animation.

    Standard Animation of Impostors + Field Animation
Notice
Enabling this option activates the additional Animation parameters.

Jitter Transparency

Jitter Transparency enables creating deferred transparency by using jittering. The state can be used when such result is acceptable and post-effects are applied to the material.

Mip Bias

Mip Bias activates an additional mip bias parameter. It is used to adjust mip mapping.

Visibility Mask

Visibility Mask activates an additional visibility mask texture and visibility mask threshold parameter. It is used to cut out grass according to the mask texture.

Post Processing

Material SSAO

Material SSAO enables screen space ambient occlusion.

Material SSR

Material SSR enables screen space reflections.

Material SSS

Material SSS enables subsurface scattering.

Material DOF

Material DOF enables the depth of field effect.

Material Motion Blur

Material Motion Blur enables the motion blur effect.

Material Sun Shafts

Material Sun Shafts enables sun shafts.

Textures

Textures available for the material. All of the textures fields have set default textures, which can be replaced by your own ones. Availability of some textures depends on the set States values.

Textures

Material Settings, Textures Tab

Base Textures

Albedo Texture

An albedo texture that specifies the color of the impostor surface. To create an albedo texture for impostor, use Impostors Creator tool: the texture will be set automatically after generation.

The texture is 4-channelled (RGBA):

  1. RGB values store color information.
  2. An alpha (A) value stores transparency information.

Shading Texture

A shading texture is a container for four different textures:

  • The R channel stores a metalness texture.
  • The G channel stores a roughness texture.
  • The B channel stores a specular texture.
    Notice
    The texture from this channel can be used only if the Specular Map option is enabled.
  • The A channel stores a microfiber texture.
    Notice
    The texture from this channel can be used only if the Microfiber Map option is enabled.

Normal Texture

Normal texture of the grass impostor. The texture is used to fake the relief on the impostor surface. To create a normal texture for impostor, use Impostors Creator tool.

Additional Textures

Ambient Occlusion Texture

Ambient occlusion texture modulates the global environment illumination, for example, when an object is lighter at the top from sky above, and darker at the bottom from the ground below. The texture uses only R channel.

Translucent Texture

Translucent texture stores information on material's translucency. For example, by using this texture, it is possible to specify parts of the object that aren't translucent (the Translucent parameter won't affect them).

Auxiliary Texture

Auxiliary texture is used for auxiliary rendering pass.

Notice
The texture is available only if Auxiliary is enabled.

Noise Texture

Noise texture is used to color the grass (for example, to match the colors of the terrain) or to add irregularity to the color of the grass field. In both cases, the colors of the grass diffuse texture and the spatial noise texture are blended in the overlay mode.

The texture is 3-channelled (RGB).

Notice
The texture is available only if Noise is enabled.

Visibility Mask Texture

Visibility Mask texture is used to cut out grass.

The texture is 1-channelled (R).

  • R - visibility mask.
Notice
The texture is available only if Visibility Mask is enabled.

Parameters

Availability of some parameters depends on the set States field values.

Material Settings, Parameters Tab

Material Mask

Material Mask parameter specifies a decal bit-mask. If the material mask of the decal material matches the material mask of the surface material, the decal will be projected.

Transform Parameters

This group of parameters determines coordinates transformation of impostors

Transform Parameters

Phi

Phi determines the number of frames grabbed into the impostor texture (horizontal camera rotation).

Theta

Theta determines the number of frames grabbed into the impostor texture (vertical camera rotation).

Size

Size size of the object for which impostors were grabbed.

Pivot Offset

Pivot Offset offset of the pivot point from the center of the object's bounding box.

Base Shading Parameters

Albedo

Albedo is a multiplier of the base color of the surface provided by the albedo texture.

Metalness

Metalness is a multiplier of metalness.

Roughness

Roughness is a multiplier of the roughness of a surface.

Specular

Specular is a multiplier for the intensity of highlight provided by the specular texture.

Microfiber

Microfiber is a coefficient to scale the intensity of the microfiber effect (provided by the microfiber texture). This parameter creates an effect of the napped surface. The higher the value, the higher the microfiber effect is.

Translucent

Translucent is a coefficient to scale the translucent effect, which permits light to pass through the grass blades, but diffuses it so objects behind the grass blades are not visible. The higher the value, the more translucent the material is.

Alpha Intensity

Alpha Intensity is a coefficient to scale the value of the alpha channel of the grass diffuse texture. The higher the value, the bigger areas of the texture are rendered.

Shadow Offset

Shadow Offset sets an offset of grass impostors shadows.

Orientation Normals

When the Up Direction option is used for impostors that are oriented along normal of the parent node (usually - a terrain), the normal map set for impostors is blended with the normal map produced by such orientation settings. Orientation Normals sets a coefficient of such normal maps blending. The default value is 1. The higher the value, the more intense the effect of orientation settings.

Mip Bias

Mip Bias is a coefficient for mip maps adjusting.

Animation Parameters

Stem Noise

Stem noise is a coefficient to scale a spatial noise that diversifies the direction of movement of the grass.

  • 0 makes the grass move uniformly.
  • Increasing the value makes the grass blades movement more random.

Stem Offset

Stem offset is a coefficient to scale an amplitude of horizontal movement of the grass.

Stem Radius

Stem radius is a coefficient to scale an amplitude of vertical movement of the grass.

Stem Scale

Stem scale is a coefficient to scale the speed of grass movement.

Ambient Occlusion Parameters

Visibility

Visibility specifies how the AO has influence on grass.

Multiplier

Multiplier is a coefficient to scale the occlusion that sets shading starting from the ground to the top of the grass blades. The higher the value, the less shaded the grass is.

Power

Power is the rate of ambient occlusion appearance on the grass.

Impact On Diffuse

Impact On Diffuse shows how ambient occlusion affects the grass diffuse texture.

Noise Parameters

Notice
Available only when Noise is enabled.

Transform

Transform specifies spatial noise texture coordinates transformation.

Scale

Scale is a coefficient to scale intensity of the spatial noise texture.

Auxiliary Parameters

Auxiliary Color

Color is a color for the auxiliary rendering pass.

Notice
Available only when Auxiliarystate is enabled.

Visibility Mask Threshold

Visibility Mask Threshold determines the threshold of the visibility mask texture.

Notice
Available only when Visibility Mask option is enabled.
Last update: 2018-08-10
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