Substance Material
Updated: 4 Nov 2024
Add an imported SBSAR material from Substance.
Substance Material
Method #
Notch allows the use of materials made with Substance Designer from Adobe. The Substance Designer Material once assigned to an object will behave like a standard Notch material. All options are identical, but with the ability to modify the texture on the fly according to the Substance parameters.
For more information about Substance Designer, visit their website.
By default, textures are not automatically cached. To do this, right-click on the node in the nodegraph and select Substance Material Options > Cache Substance Textures. A new material node will be generated with the textures from substance applied, and the textures will be added to the resource view.
It isn’t a necessity to cache the textures, this is only if you want to use one of the generated textures as a normal texture, and apply a filter to it for example.
The output material can be applied to any node which accepts a material input, such as 3D Objects, Particle Trails, or a Procedural Raytracer.
Parameters
Parameter Details Substance SBS
Substance SBS File to generate textures from.
Substance SBS Preset
Preset in the Substance SBS file to use.
Output Width
Output width (pixels) of the generated textures.
Output Height
Output height (pixels) of the generated textures.
Parameter Details Preview in Viewport
Toggle a preview of the Material on a sphere in the Viewport
These properties control the core behaviours of the material using Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties from a A Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution function. Changing the properties below can make a material appear more reflective, more dirty, or add more detail to the material surface. By using textures (either through the relevant inputs, or in the texture section), each of these properties can be modulated over a surface, for more complex material effects.
Parameter Details Colour
The colour of the material.
Brightness
The brightness of the material.
Specular Intensity
The intensity of the specular reflection.
Specular Colour
The colour of the specular reflection.
Specular Anisotropy
Controls the anisotropy of the specular reflection.
Specular Falloff
Controls the falloff of the specular reflection.
Diffuse Fresnel
Controls the fresnel effect on the diffuse reflection.
Normal Map Mode
Changes the format of the input normal map.
- Tangent Space : The source normal map is in tangent space.
- Object Space : The source normal map is in object space.
Emissiveness
How much of a glow is emitted around the object.
Emissive Scattering
Controls how much Emissive lighting is scattered in the scene.
Emissive Lights Scene
Controls how much Emissive lighting contributes to lighting the scene.
Use Displacement
Enables the use of displacement mapping for the material. *Requires an input displacement map
Opacity Mode
Controls the opacity mode of the material, and how it blends with the scene.
- Solid : The material is solid, and does not blend with the scene.
- Blend : The material is blended with the scene, allowing for transparency.
- Clip : The material is clipped, only rendering the opaque parts.
Translucency
Controls the translucency mode of the material.
- Off : No Translucency
- Refraction : Translucency with refraction. Simulates the bending of light as it passes through a material. Controlled by IOR, Aberration, Absorption, Absorption Colour and Diffuse Coat controls.
- Subsurface Scattering : The material simulates the scattering of light beneath its surface, allowing for a more realistic representation of materials like skin or wax. Controlled by Absorption Colour, Subsurface WWeight and Subsurface Scatter Radius controls.
- Single Sided SSS : The material simulates subsurface scattering, but only on one side. Controlled by Absorption Colour, Subsurface Weight and Subsurface Scatter Radius controls.
Diffuse Lightmap
Enables an input diffuse lightmap for the material.
Ambient Occlusion
Enables the input ambient occlusion map of the material.
Settings related to the textures used in the material.
Parameter Details Colour Texture
Defines the base color of the material’s surface. It represents the surface color under neutral, uniform lighting.
Diffuse Map
Specifies the color of light that scatters off the surface in all directions. It is functionally similar to the Colour Texture and is a core component of a material’s appearance.
Specular Map
Controls the color and intensity of shiny reflections (specular highlights). Brighter areas on the map indicate a more reflective and shinier surface.
Emissiveness Map
Determines which parts of a material appear to glow or emit their own light. Brighter values cause the surface to act as a light source.
Metallicness Map
A grayscale map to define how ‘metal-like’ a surface is. White values represent pure metal, while black values represent non-metals.
Roughness Map
A grayscale map that controls the roughness of the surface. Black represents a smooth, mirror-like surface with sharp reflections, while white represents a rough surface with blurry, diffuse reflections.
Normal Map
Adds surface detail like bumps and scratches without adding more polygons to the model. It simulates how light would interact with a more complex surface, creating the illusion of depth.
Displacement Map
Physically displaces the vertices of the model’s geometry based on the map’s values. Unlike a Normal Map, this creates real geometric detail that affects the model’s silhouette.
Alpha Map
A grayscale map that controls the transparency of the material. Black areas are fully transparent, white areas are fully opaque, and gray values create semi-transparency.
Ambient Occlusion Map
Adds subtle, soft shadows to areas that are occluded from ambient light, such as creases and crevices. This enhances realism and adds perceived depth to the model.
Subsurface Colour Map
Defines the color of light after it has scattered beneath the surface of a translucent material, such as skin, wax, or marble.
Subsurface Weight Map
Controls the intensity of the subsurface scattering effect across the material, defining how much light penetrates and scatters within the surface.
UV Texture Filter Mode
Determines the algorithm used for sampling texture pixels when viewed at different angles and distances.
- Point : Nearest-neighbor filtering; fast but results in a blocky, pixelated look.
- Bilinear : Averages the four nearest texture pixels for a smoother appearance than Point filtering.
- Anisotropic : High-quality filtering that improves texture clarity on surfaces viewed at steep angles.
- Bicubic : A more advanced filtering method that produces sharper results than bilinear filtering.
- Oversampling : An anti-aliasing technique that samples the texture at a higher resolution to produce a smoother final image.
Texture Mip Bias
An offset that adjusts which mipmap level is used for a texture. Negative values can sharpen distant textures, while positive values can blur them.
These properties control how the material applies to the mesh UVs.
Parameter Details Colour Texture UV
Select the UV for the Colour Texture.
Diffuse Map UV
Select the UV for the Diffuse Map Texture.
Specular Map UV
Select the UV for the Specular Map Texture.
Emissiveness Map UV
Select the UV for the Emissiveness Map Texture.
Metallicness Map UV
Select the UV for the Metallicness Map Texture.
Roughness Map UV
Select the UV for the Roughness Map Texture.
Normal Map UV
Select the UV for the CoNormal Map Texture.
Displacement Map UV
Select the UV for the Displacement Map Texture.
Alpha Map UV
Select the UV for the Alpha Map Texture.
Ambient Occlusion Map UV
Select the UV for the Ambient Occlusion Map Texture.
Subsurface Colour Map UV
Select the UV for the Subsurface Colour Texture.
Subsurface Weight Map UV
Select the UV for the Subsurface Weight Texture.
UV Scale X
Scale the UV texture along the X axis.
UV Scale Y
Scale the UV texture along the Y axis.
UV Offset X
Offset the UV texture along the X axis.
UV Offset Y
Offset the UV texture along the Y axis.
Diffuse UV Scale X
Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis.
Diffuse UV Scale Y
Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis.
Diffuse UV Offset X
Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis.
Diffuse UV Offset Y
Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis.
Texture Wrap Mode U
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
Texture Wrap Mode V
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
Diffuse Texture Filter Mode
Controls how textures used by the material are filtered.
- Point : Nearest-neighbor filtering; fast but results in a blocky, pixelated look.
- Bilinear : Averages the four nearest texture pixels for a smoother appearance than Point filtering.
- Anisotropic : High-quality filtering that improves texture clarity on surfaces viewed at steep angles.
- Bicubic : A more advanced filtering method that produces sharper results than bilinear filtering.
- Oversampling : An anti-aliasing technique that samples the texture at a higher resolution to produce a smoother final image.
Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode U
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode V
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
UV Remap Filtering
Enables filtering for remapping UV’s. Only functions with eligible textures.
These properties control the rendering settings for the material.
Parameter Details Lit
Determines if the material is affected by lights in the scene. When disabled, the material appears fully lit by its own colour and texture, regardless of scene lighting.
- Off : Disables lighting; the material displays its base colour only.
- On : Enables the material to be affected by scene lighting.
Reflections Mode
Controls how the material generates reflections from its surroundings.
- Full Reflections : Calculates physically accurate, raytraced reflections from other objects and the environment in the scene.
- Env Map : Uses a pre-rendered environment map for fast, approximate reflections instead of raytracing.
- Off : Disables all reflections for this material, making it appear matte.
Shadows
Defines how the object interacts with shadows in the scene.
- Cast + Receive : The object both casts its own shadow and has shadows cast upon it by other objects.
- Cast : The object only casts a shadow but will not receive shadows from other objects.
- Receive : The object only receives shadows but does not cast one itself.
- Off : The object neither casts nor receives shadows.
Render Visibility
Controls the object’s visibility to different types of rays in the renderer, which is useful for advanced effects.
- Full : The object is fully visible to the camera and appears normally in reflections and refractions.
- Unseen by Rays : The object is visible directly to the camera but is invisible in reflections and refractions.
- Unseen by Camera : The object is invisible to the camera but still appears in reflections and refractions.
Raytracing Settings
Determines whether the material uses the scene’s global raytracing depth settings or custom values.
- Use Global Settings : Inherits raytracing bounce limits from the global render settings.
- Override : Allows setting custom raytracing bounce limits for this specific material.
Max. Diffuse Depth
Limits the number of times a ray can bounce off diffuse surfaces, affecting indirect lighting quality.
Max. Glossy Depth
Limits the number of times a ray can reflect off glossy or specular surfaces.
Max. Refraction Depth
Limits the number of times a ray can pass through refractive (transparent) surfaces.
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
Parameter Details Polygon Sidedness
The orientation of the polygon’s faces.
- Front : The front face of the polygon is visible.
- Back : The back face of the polygon is visible.
- Double Sided : Both sides of the polygon are visible.
Flip Polygons
Flips the orientation of the polygon’s faces.
Smoothing Angle
The angle at which shading transitions occur.
Wireframe
Displays the material’s geometry as a wireframe.
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
Parameter Details Rim Lighting
Simulates Rim Lighting on the material with respect to the camera.
Glow
Controls the glow of the Rim Lighting.
These properties allow you to control how vertex colours are applied to meshes, and to other parts of the PBR pipeline.
Parameter Details Vertex Colours - Apply To Colour
Set how the vertex colours apply to the colour of the mesh.
Vertex Colours - Apply To Alpha
Set how the vertex colours apply to the alpha of the mesh.
Vertex Colours - Apply To Roughness
Set how the vertex colours apply to the roughness of the mesh.
Vertex Colours - Apply To Metallicness
Set how the vertex colours apply to the metallicness of the mesh.
Vertex Colours - Apply To Emissiveness
Set how the vertex colours apply to the emissiveness of the mesh.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Substance SBS | Substance SBS File to generate textures from. |
| Substance SBS Preset | Preset in the Substance SBS file to use. |
| Output Width | Output width (pixels) of the generated textures. |
| Output Height | Output height (pixels) of the generated textures. |
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Preview in Viewport | Toggle a preview of the Material on a sphere in the Viewport |
These properties control the core behaviours of the material using Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties from a A Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution function. Changing the properties below can make a material appear more reflective, more dirty, or add more detail to the material surface. By using textures (either through the relevant inputs, or in the texture section), each of these properties can be modulated over a surface, for more complex material effects.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Colour | The colour of the material. |
| Brightness | The brightness of the material. |
| Specular Intensity | The intensity of the specular reflection. |
| Specular Colour | The colour of the specular reflection. |
| Specular Anisotropy | Controls the anisotropy of the specular reflection. |
| Specular Falloff | Controls the falloff of the specular reflection. |
| Diffuse Fresnel | Controls the fresnel effect on the diffuse reflection. |
| Normal Map Mode |
Changes the format of the input normal map.
|
| Emissiveness | How much of a glow is emitted around the object. |
| Emissive Scattering | Controls how much Emissive lighting is scattered in the scene. |
| Emissive Lights Scene | Controls how much Emissive lighting contributes to lighting the scene. |
| Use Displacement | Enables the use of displacement mapping for the material. *Requires an input displacement map |
| Opacity Mode |
Controls the opacity mode of the material, and how it blends with the scene.
|
| Translucency |
Controls the translucency mode of the material.
|
| Diffuse Lightmap | Enables an input diffuse lightmap for the material. |
| Ambient Occlusion | Enables the input ambient occlusion map of the material. |
Settings related to the textures used in the material.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Colour Texture | Defines the base color of the material’s surface. It represents the surface color under neutral, uniform lighting. |
| Diffuse Map | Specifies the color of light that scatters off the surface in all directions. It is functionally similar to the Colour Texture and is a core component of a material’s appearance. |
| Specular Map | Controls the color and intensity of shiny reflections (specular highlights). Brighter areas on the map indicate a more reflective and shinier surface. |
| Emissiveness Map | Determines which parts of a material appear to glow or emit their own light. Brighter values cause the surface to act as a light source. |
| Metallicness Map | A grayscale map to define how ‘metal-like’ a surface is. White values represent pure metal, while black values represent non-metals. |
| Roughness Map | A grayscale map that controls the roughness of the surface. Black represents a smooth, mirror-like surface with sharp reflections, while white represents a rough surface with blurry, diffuse reflections. |
| Normal Map | Adds surface detail like bumps and scratches without adding more polygons to the model. It simulates how light would interact with a more complex surface, creating the illusion of depth. |
| Displacement Map | Physically displaces the vertices of the model’s geometry based on the map’s values. Unlike a Normal Map, this creates real geometric detail that affects the model’s silhouette. |
| Alpha Map | A grayscale map that controls the transparency of the material. Black areas are fully transparent, white areas are fully opaque, and gray values create semi-transparency. |
| Ambient Occlusion Map | Adds subtle, soft shadows to areas that are occluded from ambient light, such as creases and crevices. This enhances realism and adds perceived depth to the model. |
| Subsurface Colour Map | Defines the color of light after it has scattered beneath the surface of a translucent material, such as skin, wax, or marble. |
| Subsurface Weight Map | Controls the intensity of the subsurface scattering effect across the material, defining how much light penetrates and scatters within the surface. |
| UV Texture Filter Mode |
Determines the algorithm used for sampling texture pixels when viewed at different angles and distances.
|
| Texture Mip Bias | An offset that adjusts which mipmap level is used for a texture. Negative values can sharpen distant textures, while positive values can blur them. |
These properties control how the material applies to the mesh UVs.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Colour Texture UV | Select the UV for the Colour Texture. |
| Diffuse Map UV | Select the UV for the Diffuse Map Texture. |
| Specular Map UV | Select the UV for the Specular Map Texture. |
| Emissiveness Map UV | Select the UV for the Emissiveness Map Texture. |
| Metallicness Map UV | Select the UV for the Metallicness Map Texture. |
| Roughness Map UV | Select the UV for the Roughness Map Texture. |
| Normal Map UV | Select the UV for the CoNormal Map Texture. |
| Displacement Map UV | Select the UV for the Displacement Map Texture. |
| Alpha Map UV | Select the UV for the Alpha Map Texture. |
| Ambient Occlusion Map UV | Select the UV for the Ambient Occlusion Map Texture. |
| Subsurface Colour Map UV | Select the UV for the Subsurface Colour Texture. |
| Subsurface Weight Map UV | Select the UV for the Subsurface Weight Texture. |
| UV Scale X | Scale the UV texture along the X axis. |
| UV Scale Y | Scale the UV texture along the Y axis. |
| UV Offset X | Offset the UV texture along the X axis. |
| UV Offset Y | Offset the UV texture along the Y axis. |
| Diffuse UV Scale X | Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis. |
| Diffuse UV Scale Y | Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis. |
| Diffuse UV Offset X | Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis. |
| Diffuse UV Offset Y | Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis. |
| Texture Wrap Mode U |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| Texture Wrap Mode V |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| Diffuse Texture Filter Mode |
Controls how textures used by the material are filtered.
|
| Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode U |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode V |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| UV Remap Filtering | Enables filtering for remapping UV’s. Only functions with eligible textures. |
These properties control the rendering settings for the material.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Lit |
Determines if the material is affected by lights in the scene. When disabled, the material appears fully lit by its own colour and texture, regardless of scene lighting.
|
| Reflections Mode |
Controls how the material generates reflections from its surroundings.
|
| Shadows |
Defines how the object interacts with shadows in the scene.
|
| Render Visibility |
Controls the object’s visibility to different types of rays in the renderer, which is useful for advanced effects.
|
| Raytracing Settings |
Determines whether the material uses the scene’s global raytracing depth settings or custom values.
|
| Max. Diffuse Depth | Limits the number of times a ray can bounce off diffuse surfaces, affecting indirect lighting quality. |
| Max. Glossy Depth | Limits the number of times a ray can reflect off glossy or specular surfaces. |
| Max. Refraction Depth | Limits the number of times a ray can pass through refractive (transparent) surfaces. |
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Polygon Sidedness |
The orientation of the polygon’s faces.
|
| Flip Polygons | Flips the orientation of the polygon’s faces. |
| Smoothing Angle | The angle at which shading transitions occur. |
| Wireframe | Displays the material’s geometry as a wireframe. |
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Rim Lighting | Simulates Rim Lighting on the material with respect to the camera. |
| Glow | Controls the glow of the Rim Lighting. |
These properties allow you to control how vertex colours are applied to meshes, and to other parts of the PBR pipeline.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Colour | Set how the vertex colours apply to the colour of the mesh. |
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Alpha | Set how the vertex colours apply to the alpha of the mesh. |
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Roughness | Set how the vertex colours apply to the roughness of the mesh. |
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Metallicness | Set how the vertex colours apply to the metallicness of the mesh. |
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Emissiveness | Set how the vertex colours apply to the emissiveness of the mesh. |
