# This file is automatically generated. Please don't edit it manually. # To submit a bug report on the content, see # https://devforum.roblox.com/c/bug-reports/documentation-issues/72 name: MaterialVariant type: class memory_category: Instances summary: | Represent a variant of a Material. description: | Using MaterialVariant objects can expand the variety of materials in an experience. MaterialVariant has properties that can define the appearance of a material. Its name can be set in MaterialService to globally override a built-in material, or set in the `Class.BasePart.MaterialVariant` property to change certain Parts. MaterialVariant objects only work as descendants of MaterialService. code_samples: [] inherits: - Instance descendants: [] tags: [] deprecation_message: '' properties: - name: MaterialVariant.AlphaMode summary: | Determines how the alpha channel of the `Class.MaterialVariant.ColorMap` is used. description: | This property determines how the alpha channel of the `Class.MaterialVariant.ColorMap` is used. When set to `Enum.AlphaMode|Transparency` and the `Class.MeshPart.Transparency` is set to `0`, opaque pixels in the `Class.MaterialVariant.ColorMap|ColorMap` renders as completely opaque in the 3D scene. This combination works better with depth-based effects and occlusion. When set to `Enum.AlphaMode|Transparency` and the `Class.MeshPart.Transparency` is set to at least `0.02`, a different blending method is used that can better represent smooth transparency gradients and soft edges. This combination does not support all effects and occlusion may not be perfect. For more information, see [Alpha modes](../../../art/modeling/surface-appearance.md#alpha-modes). code_samples: [] type: AlphaMode tags: - NotBrowsable deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: None thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.BaseMaterial summary: | Category Material this variant belongs to. description: | Category Material this variant belongs to. code_samples: [] type: Material tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.ColorMap summary: | Determines the color of the surface. description: | This property determines the color of the surface. This texture is sometimes called the albedo texture. The alpha channel is not used. code_samples: [] type: ContentId tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.ColorMapContent summary: | Determines the color of the surface. Only supports asset URIs as textures. description: | This property determines the color of the surface. This texture is sometimes called the albedo texture. The alpha channel is not used. code_samples: [] type: Content tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.CustomPhysicalProperties summary: '' description: '' code_samples: [] type: PhysicalProperties tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: None thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Material serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.EmissiveMaskContent summary: | Determines the emissivity across the surface. description: | This property determines the apparent emissivity across the surface. An emissive mask is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to no emissivity, and white pixels correspond to full emissivity. The emissive contribution gets added to total lighting contribution across the surface, and the sum gets multiplied by the albedo texture, which would be sampled from `Class.MaterialVariant.ColorMap|ColorMap` if provided. code_samples: [] type: Content tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.EmissiveStrength summary: | Determines the strength of emissive contribution. description: | This value is a multiplier to control how strong the emissive contribution is across the surface. If the final contribution of emissives goes beyond supported dynamic range, it will get clamped; this could result in emissive contribution appearing all white when using large emissive strength values. Since this value is a multiplier, the maximum value to prevent clamping depends on all of the other contributing values, including `Class.MaterialVariant.EmissiveTint|EmissiveTint`, `Class.MaterialVariant.ColorMap|ColorMap` and combined lighting contribution. code_samples: [] type: float tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: None thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.EmissiveTint summary: | Determines the tinting color for emissive contribution. description: | This value is an RGB color for tinting emissive contribution. code_samples: [] type: Color3 tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: None thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.MaterialPattern summary: | Determines texture tiling method. description: | Determines texture tiling method. code_samples: [] type: MaterialPattern tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: None thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.MetalnessMap summary: | Determines which parts of the surface are metal and are non-metal. description: | This property determines which parts of the surface are metal and are non-metal. A metalness map is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to non-metals and white pixels correspond to metals. Metals only reflect light the same color as the metal, and they reflect much more light than non-metals. Most materials in the real world can be categorized either metals or non-metals. For this reason, most pixels in a metalness map will be either pure black or pure white. Values in between are typically used to simulate dirt or grunge on top of an underlying metal area. When `Class.Lighting.EnvironmentSpecularScale` is 0, metalness has no effect. For the most realistic reflections, setting EnvironmentSpecularScale and `Class.Lighting.EnvironmentDiffuseScale` to 1, and `Class.Lighting.Ambient` and `Class.Lighting.OutdoorAmbient` to (0,0,0) is recommended. code_samples: [] type: ContentId tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.MetalnessMapContent summary: | Determines which parts of the surface are metal and are non-metal. Only supports asset URIs as textures. description: | This property determines which parts of the surface are metal and are non-metal. A metalness map is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to non-metals and white pixels correspond to metals. Metals only reflect light the same color as the metal, and they reflect much more light than non-metals. Most materials in the real world can be categorized either metals or non-metals. For this reason, most pixels in a metalness map will be either pure black or pure white. Values in between are typically used to simulate dirt or grunge on top of an underlying metal area. When `Class.Lighting.EnvironmentSpecularScale` is 0, metalness has no effect. For the most realistic reflections, setting EnvironmentSpecularScale and `Class.Lighting.EnvironmentDiffuseScale` to 1, and `Class.Lighting.Ambient` and `Class.Lighting.OutdoorAmbient` to (0,0,0) is recommended. code_samples: [] type: Content tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.NormalMap summary: | Modifies the lighting of the surface by adding bumps, dents, cracks, and curves without adding more polygons. description: | This property modifies the lighting of the surface by adding bumps, dents, cracks, and curves without adding more polygons. Normal maps are RGB images that modify the surface's normal vector used for lighting calculations. The R, G, and B channels of the NormalMap correspond to the X, Y, and Z components of the local surface vector respectively, and byte values of 0 and 255 for each channel correspond linearly to normal vector components of -1 and 1.016 respectively. This range is stretched slightly from -1 to 1 so that a byte value of 127 maps to exactly 0. The normal vector's Z axis is always defined as the direction of the underlying mesh's normal. A uniform (127,127,255) image translates to a completely flat normal map where the normal is everywhere perpendicular to the mesh surface. This format is called "tangent space" normal maps. Roblox does not support world space or object space normal maps. Incorrectly flipped normal components can make bumps appear like indents. If you import a normal map and notice the lighting looks off, you may need to invert the G channel of the image. The X and Y axes of the tangent space frame correspond to the X and Y directions in the image after it's transformed by the mesh UVs. If you view your normal map in an image editor as if it were displayed on a surface, normals pointing towards the right side of the screen should appear more red, and normals pointing towards the top side of your screen should appear more green. The terms "DirectX format" and "OpenGL format" are sometimes used to describe whether the G channel of the normal map is inverted or not. Roblox expects the OpenGL format. Roblox expects imported meshes to include tangents. Modeling software may also refer to this as "tangent space" information. If you apply a normal map and it does not seem to make any visual difference, you may need to re-export your mesh along with its tangent information from modeling software. code_samples: [] type: ContentId tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.NormalMapContent summary: | Modifies the lighting of the surface by adding bumps, dents, cracks, and curves without adding more polygons. Only supports asset URIs as textures. description: | This property modifies the lighting of the surface by adding bumps, dents, cracks, and curves without adding more polygons. Normal maps are RGB images that modify the surface's normal vector used for lighting calculations. The R, G, and B channels of the NormalMap correspond to the X, Y, and Z components of the local surface vector respectively, and byte values of 0 and 255 for each channel correspond linearly to normal vector components of -1 and 1.016 respectively. This range is stretched slightly from -1 to 1 so that a byte value of 127 maps to exactly 0. The normal vector's Z axis is always defined as the direction of the underlying mesh's normal. A uniform (127,127,255) image translates to a completely flat normal map where the normal is everywhere perpendicular to the mesh surface. This format is called "tangent space" normal maps. Roblox does not support world space or object space normal maps. Incorrectly flipped normal components can make bumps appear like indents. If you import a normal map and notice the lighting looks off, you may need to invert the G channel of the image. The X and Y axes of the tangent space frame correspond to the X and Y directions in the image after it's transformed by the mesh UVs. If you view your normal map in an image editor as if it were displayed on a surface, normals pointing towards the right side of the screen should appear more red, and normals pointing towards the top side of your screen should appear more green. The terms "DirectX format" and "OpenGL format" are sometimes used to describe whether the G channel of the normal map is inverted or not. Roblox expects the OpenGL format. Roblox expects imported meshes to include tangents. Modeling software may also refer to this as "tangent space" information. If you apply a normal map and it does not seem to make any visual difference, you may need to re-export your mesh along with its tangent information from modeling software. code_samples: [] type: Content tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.RoughnessMap summary: | Determines the apparent roughness across the surface. description: | This property determines the apparent roughness across the surface. A roughness map is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to a maximally smooth surface, and white pixels correspond to a maximally rough surface. Roughness refers to how much variation the surface has on a very small scale. Reflections on smooth surfaces are sharp and concentrated. Reflections on rough surfaces are more blurry and dispersed. code_samples: [] type: ContentId tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.RoughnessMapContent summary: | Determines the apparent roughness across the surface. Only supports asset URIs as textures. description: | This property determines the apparent roughness across the surface. A roughness map is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to a maximally smooth surface, and white pixels correspond to a maximally rough surface. Roughness refers to how much variation the surface has on a very small scale. Reflections on smooth surfaces are sharp and concentrated. Reflections on rough surfaces are more blurry and dispersed. code_samples: [] type: Content tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: PluginSecurity write: PluginSecurity thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] - name: MaterialVariant.StudsPerTile summary: | Determines the scale of textures. description: | Determines the scale of textures. Larger values for this property will lead to the textures appearing larger, and repeating less frequently. code_samples: [] type: float tags: [] deprecation_message: '' security: read: None write: None thread_safety: ReadSafe category: Appearance serialization: can_load: true can_save: true capabilities: [] methods: [] events: [] callbacks: []