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Visual Representation

Visual representation of nodes can be changed by adjusting parameters of its surfaces on the Node tab of the Parameters window.

Notice
Only nodes of the object-related types can have surfaces.

Surfaces are organized in a hierarchy that displayed in the following section:

Surfaces Hierarchy

Surfaces can be filtered by name:

Filtering Surfaces

To change the surface parameters, select the required surface in the hierarchy and tweak its parameters. For each surface, the parameters listed below are available for editing.

Rendering Parameters#

Rendering Settings

This section provides parameters for setting up rendering of the surface and its shadows.

Viewport Mask Viewport mask of the surface.
Shadow Mask Shadow mask of the surface.
Lighting Mode Preset defining the contribution of the surface to lighting:
Shadow Mode Considering the concept of static and dynamic light, a surface can cast static (using precomputed shadow texture) or dynamic (geometry-based) shadow depending on the light source mode. Two shadow modes are available:
  • Static. The surface casts both types of shadows: cached (from static lights) and dynamic (from dynamic lights).
    Notice
    In this mode, the Min Visibility parameter of a surface should not be greater than 0. Otherwise, a shadow from a static light source wouldn't be baked.
  • Dynamic. The surface casts shadow only if lit by a dynamic light or a static light with Mixed shadow mode. No shadows are baked.
Cast Proj and Omni Shadows Flag indicating if the surface casts shadows from projected and omni light sources.
Cast World Shadows Flag indicating if the surface casts shadows from world light sources.
Cast Global Illumination Flag indicating if the surface is to be baked to static GI.
Bake to Environment Probes Flag indicating if the surface is to be baked to environment probes.
Cast Environment Probe Shadows Flag indicating if the surface casts shadows from environment probes. This option is required for the Cutout by Shadow feature.

Lightmaps Parameters#

Lightmaps Settings
Notice
Lightmap Parameters are available only for surfaces of Static Mesh objects in the Static or Advanced Lighting Mode.

This section provides lightmapping-related parameters for the surface.

Enabled Flag indicating if lightmapping and related parameters are enabled for the surface.
Mode Option indicating the lightmapping mode for the surface:
  • Bake Unique Texture — bake lighting into a new texture.
  • Use Custom Texture — specify a lightmap texture from assets.
  • Reuse Texture From Other Surface — use the lightmap texture from another surface. This option is intended for use with LODs having the same UV maps.
Bake To Target asset for baking and storing the lightmap texture in the Bake Unique Texture mode. If the value is empty, a new lightmap texture will be created and assigned to this parameter upon light baking.
Texture Lightmap texture assigned to the surface in the Use Custom Texture mode.
Quality Lightmap baking quality preset:
  • Global — the global quality preset set in the Bake Lighting settings.
  • Draft option provides the highest iterativity with the lowest sampling quality and number of rays simulated.
  • Low option provides low sampling quality and number of light rays simulated.
  • Medium option corresponds to stable quality level which is good for most cases.
  • High option corresponds to high sampling quality and number of light rays simulated intended for release production.
  • Ultra baking quality might be useful to get rid of small inconsistencies on the release production.
Compression Flag indicating if the baked lightmap texture should be compressed.
Notice
Compressed lightmaps are lightweight but can be subject to compression artifacts.
Surface The surface providing the lightmap texture when the Reuse Texture From Other Surface mode is selected.

LOD Parameters#

LOD Settings

This section provides parameters for setting up surface LODs.

Notice
All distances listed below are measured from the camera to the object's pivot point. Make sure that all pivots are set properly, otherwise wrong LOD management is imminent.
Min Visibility Minimum visibility distance from the camera when a surface starts to appear on the screen. By default it is -inf.
Max Visibility Maximum visibility distance when a surface is no longer fully visible: it can either disappear completely or start to fade out. By default it is inf.
Min Fade Minimum fade distance, over which the surface fades in until it is completely visible. Along this distance the engine will automatically interpolate the level of detail from alpha of 0.0 (completely invisible) to 1.0 (completely visible). Fading in starts when the camera has reached the minimum distance of surface visibility and is in the full visibility range.
Max Fade Maximum fade distance, over which the surface fades out until it is completely invisible. Fading out starts when the camera has reached the maximum distance of surface visibility and is out of the full visibility range.
Min Parent Reference object, from which the minimum visibility distance of the surface is measured.
  • If 0 is set, the minimum visibility distance is measured from the current surface.
  • If 1 is set, the distance is measured from the surface one level up in the surfaces hierarchy. If there is no parent surfaces, the distance will be measured from the node it belongs to.
  • For higher numbers, the reference object is found n levels up in the surfaces hierarchy. If the number of parent surfaces is less than the specified value, the node or its parent will be used as the reference object.

The reference object is used to ensure simultaneous LOD switching for all surfaces.

Max Parent Reference object, from which the maximum visibility distance of the surface is measured. The same principle as for the minimum parent is used to count it. The reference object is used to ensure simultaneous LOD switching for all surfaces.

Surface Custom Texture Parameters#

Custom Texture Settings
Notice
Custom texture parameters are available only for surfaces of Static Mesh objects.

This texture gives you a wide range of opportunities for customization, and enables you to optimize the number of materials while extending visual diversity. For example, instead of tweaking a set of similar materials for different surfaces, you can assign a unique custom texture to each surface and use a single material with the final look depending on the custom texture.

Notice
In the Material Editor you can refer to this texture via the Surface Custom Texture node.
Enabled Flag indicating if surface custom texture and related parameters are enabled for the surface.
Mode

Defines the source of the custom texture for the surface:

  • Unique Texture — use a unique custom texture for this surface. You can specify an existing texture from your assets or create a new one and edit in the Texture Paint Mode.
  • Reuse Texture From Other Surface — use the custom texture from another surface. This option is intended for use with LODs having the same UV maps.
Texture Custom texture asset assigned to the surface. Click to create a new one.
Surface The source surface providing the custom texture to be reused for this surface when the Reuse Texture From Other Surface mode is selected.

Material Parameters#

Material Settings

In this section, a material can be assigned to the surface and then material's parameters can be tweaked (if the material is editable). Here you can also inherit a new material from the material assigned to the surface: it will be assigned automatically. To inherit the material, click right to the field with the material name. To set the default material, click right to the field with the material name.

The material parameters can also be changed on the Material tab of the Parameters window: it becomes available when the target material is selected in the Material Hierarchy window.

Quick Copy and Paste Operations#

You can copy and paste all parameters from one surface to another using the following context menu displayed by clicking in the top-right corner of the Surfaces section.

Context menu for copying and pasting surface parameters

The copy/paste option supports multi-selection. This can be especially useful, when setting up LODs for several models, for example. Suppose you have 3 LODs in each model as separate surfaces, you just set up parent, visibility and fade distances for the three surfaces of one model, then select these surfaces and click Copy Parameters in the context menu shown above, then select three corresponding surfaces of another model and select one of the following options:

  • Paste Parameters Sequentially — in this case the parameters copied from source surfaces will be simply pasted to destination surfaces in the order they appear in the hierarchy.
  • Paste Parameters By Surface Names — in this case the parameters copied from source surfaces will be pasted to destination surfaces with matching names.

Setting up LODs with multi-selection copy/paste of surface parameters

The Copy Surface Name option is also available in the context menu. It allows copying the name of the selected surface.

Last update: 2023-12-19
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