THE MATERIAL INSPECTOR

The Material Inspector window is a window that is opened as part of The Material Editor. This window is used to specify and edit the properties of any single material. You can open this window by double-clicking on a material, or by using the right mouse button on a material and selecting "Open", or by using the View menu option.

 

The Material Inspector Window

At the top of the window you have the various Menu items (explained on the Inspector Menus page), and then underneath that you have the Material Data section, with the following options:

 

  • Context
    This defines the context within which the material is designed to be used. Setting this will change the available types of material, the required bitmaps, and the available extra settings. Context can be any one of the following:
    • VFX Editor: The material is going to be used in one or more Visual Effects.
    • Ground Surface: The material is designed to be a surface, for a runway or an apron, for example.
    • Decal: The material is to be used as a decal that is overlaid on something else.
    • Imposter Atlas: The material is going to be used for vegetation or some other repeating item that needs to look 3D and be drawn multiple times while maintaining performance.
    • Dynamic Material: The material is going to be used as a livery material which can be changed by the user, or by the simulation world location, or by the current flight mission.

 

  • Information
    Here you can see the material that is currently being edited and the package that it belongs to.

 

  • Name
    This input field permits you to give the material a name, or edit the name of an existing material. Changes must be saved to be accepted.

 

  • Tag
    This section is used to apply tags to the material being inspected. Clicking the + button will show a list with all the currently defined tags, where you can select any of them to be applied to the current material as well. You can also click the Add New button at the bottom of the list to add a new tag, which will open a sub-window:
    The Add Tag Sub WindowFrom this sub-window you can give a new tag name and then click the Add button to add it to the list where it can be selected for the material (as well as future materials).

 

  • Type (VFX Context only)
    This input will show a menu with different options for the material type. The available options will depend on the context that the material is to be used in. For example, the Ground Surface context will have only the CODE_DIFFUSE type, while the VFX Editor context will have others. The possible types are:
    • CODE_DIFFUSE
    • CODE_DOUBLESCROLLVFX
    • CODE_AFTERBURNER
    • CODE_HEATDEFORM
    • CODE_WAKE

 

  • Surface (Ground Surface context only)
    This option is only available for materials that are going to be used in The Scenery Editor using the Ground Surface context. It is a list of different surfaces that can be assigned to the material being defined. Each surface option can have varying effects on the final look and attributes of the material, as some of the surface types will add an additional "detail mask" to the material, while others will affect gameplay elements (like spawning VFX particles when an aircraft lands on them), and some may even affect how items in the world simulation are rendered, like vegetation.

 

 

Textures

Here you can select and preview a bitmap to use as a texture within the material you are defining. For a new material, this will be blank, and you should click on the texture to open a file explorer, which will allow you to browse to the texture image you want to use. Images should be a power of 2 in size (eg: 64x64, 256x256, etc...) and be authored as PNG, TIF, DDS or BMP files.

 

The texture options available will depend on the combination of Context and Type that have been selected for the material. If you mouse over any of the texture slots, you will be shown the Load Texture or Load Texture Array. button, which permit you to add bitmaps into the slot to be used in the material.

 

Note that after adding a bitmap to a texture slot, you can then mouse over it to see the relative path to the bitmap file being used, as well as its size on disk.

 

Texture Arrays

The texture array option is used specifically for materials that will be used in the Biomes And Vegetation configuration. Vegetation materials in general require a minimum of two textures: an albedo texture atlas and a normal/roughness/metal texture for the atlas. This is because vegetation is rendered using octahedral impostors, which require a very specific texture setup, as shown in the image below:

Impostor Texture Atlas Example In The Inspector

An additional feature that is unique to vegetation is the ability to specify an array of textures that can be used to generate multiple variations from a single material. To set these up, you need to select the Load Texture Array option, then in the file explorer, select 2 or more texture atlas files to use. On clicking "Open", all the textures will be added. You must do this for both the albedo and normal/roughness/metal textures, ensuring that both have the same number of textures in the array. You can then use the <Impostor /> element in the vegetation Species Definitions file to select the index of the texture array to use, permitting you to have one material with several visual variations within it.

 

 

Extra Settings

The Extra Settings section of the material editor can be used to change some display and blending options used by the materials shader to display the material. Some of these settings are shared across the different contexts and some of them are context or type specific:

 

VFX Settings

The VFX Settings Section

  • UV Offset
    Here you can offset the X and Y position of the material texture UVs for each particle. Default values are 0.0 for both axis.

 

  • UV Scale
    Here you can scale UVs for the material texture along the X and Y axis for each particle. Default values are 1.0 for both axis.

 

  • UV Rotation
    This option permits you to rotate the texture UVs for each particle, which will rotate the applied texture. Default is 0°.

 

  • Opacity
    With this option you can set the base opacity (alpha) for the texture when applied to the particle. Default is 1.0.

 

  • Metalness
    This option permits you to set the amount of "metalness" to include in the texture for each particle. This is set to 0.0 by default (which is none) and will require that the material has a Metal Roughness AO texture assigned to it.

 

  • Roughness
    This option permits you to set the amount of "roughness" to include in the texture for each particle. This is set to 0.0 by default (which is none) and will require that the material has a Metal Roughness AO texture assigned to it.

 

  • Diffuse Colour
    Here you can set the diffuse color for the final texture when it is applied to the particle. This option essentially "colorizes" the particle before any further effects are applied through the VFX editor. You can set the RGB values directly, or click on the colour swatch to open The Colour Picker and select a colour. Default value is white (essentially no colorizing).

 

  • Emissive Colour
    Here you can set the emissive color for the final texture when it is applied to the particle. You can set the RGB values directly, or click on the colour swatch to open The Colour Picker and select a colour. Default value is black (essentially, no emissive color).

 

  • Blend Mode
    This option permits you to select a specific blend mode for the material. The blend mode will affect how the VFX particle is rendered, and has the following options:
    • Alpha Blend - In this mode, the material will take on transparency values based on the texture's alpha channel and the alpha of the tint color (if any).
    • Opaque - In this mode the material will be rendered as opaque, with no transparency.
    • Alpha Test - This mode will perform an alpha test on each pixel of the material as it's applied to the particle. Pixels with a transparency (alpha) value below 0.5 will be discarded and pixels with a transparency over 0.5 will be made opaque.
    • Additive - This will render the particles using an additive blend mode. Essentially this will add the color values for each pixel of the particle albedo texture with those of any other particle "under" the current one. The net result is that overlapping particles will become brighter and more white, and give a more "glowing" look.
    • Pre-Multiplied Alpha - This will apply the pre-multiplied alpha blend mode when rendering particles. This is essentially the mode (1, 1 - alpha), which would be explained more correctly as:
      DestinationColor.rgb = (SourceColor.rgb * One) + (DestinationColor.rgb * (1 - SourceColor.a))
      Note that this blend mode may require that bitmaps are pre-processed to get the correct effect.

 

Additional VFX Settings

Additional Parameters In The Inspector Window For Materials

Some VFX settings will only be shown when a specific shader type has been selected. Currently these are:

 

  • Deformation
    This is an optional parameter that is used to deform the heat distortion material along the X and/or Y axis. This parameter is only visible when the material type is CODE_HEATDEFORM, and will be overridden by Block properties if the material is used in the The Visual Effects Editor.

 

  • Blur
    This is an optional parameter that is used to blur the heat distortion material. This parameter is only visible when the material type is CODE_HEATDEFORM, and will be overridden by Block properties if the material is used in the The Visual Effects Editor.

 

  • Power
    This is an optional parameter that is used to set the "power" value for the afterburner material, which controls the colour, length and scale of the afterburner effect. This parameter is only visible when the material type is CODE_AFTERBURNER and will be overridden by Block properties if the material is used in the The Visual Effects Editor.

 

 

Ground Surface Settings

The Ground Surface Settings

NOTE: After changing the values here, if the material has already been applied somewhere in the world, you will need to click the Reload Ground button for the changes to be visible.

 

  • Opacity
    Sets the overall opacity for the material.

 

  • Albedo Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Albedo bitmap within the material.

 

  • Normal Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Normal component within the material.

 

  • Roughness Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Roughness component within the material.

 

  • Texture Tiling
    Sets the tiling scale for the bitmap textures used in the material (this is essentially a UV multiplier value).

 

  • Use De-Tiling
    Enabling this option will uncouple the UV tiling from the standard "square" pattern and can be used to break up the way the material is displayed and remove obvious repeating edges.
    • De-Tiling Pattern Size: Sets the scale of the de-tiling pattern.

 

  • Blend Mode
    With this option you can choose how the material should be blended with the underlying textures/materials. Can be either:
    • Alpha Blend: This is the default blend mode where the material will be blended based on it's own opacity settings.
    • Destination Alpha Blend: This blend mode will take the alpha blend values from the underlying texture/material.

 

  • Linked Materials
    NOTE: This option is only available to materials being used by Airport Objects, for example, Apron Objects can use this but Polygon Objects cannot.
    When you expand this section, you will be presented with the ability add one or more additional materials on top of the material being defined. This permits you to layer multiple materials in one, and create - for example - and asphalt texture which has cracks, dirt, and repairs on it. Expanding this section will show a button, Add Material, and clicking this will show the following:
    Linked Ground Surface Materials Settings
    From here you can drag another material onto the Material button ... (and clicking the button will clear the material). The order in which the materials are added will dictate their draw order, so if you add two materials in the order of "Asphalt" first and then "Cracks" second, "Asphalt" will be drawn first and "Cracks" will be drawn over it.

 

Decal Settings

The Decal Settings

  • Decal Albedo Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the albedo bitmap within the material.

 

  • Decal Normal Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Normal bitmap within the material.

 

  • Decal Rough / Metal /AO Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Roughness / Metalness / AO bitmap within the material.

 

  • Decal Emissive Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Emissive bitmap within the material.

 

  • UV Scale
    Sets the tiling scale for the bitmap textures used in the material (this is essentially a UV multiplier value).

 

  • Diffuse Colour
    Here you can set a colour to be blended with the material. You can either input the RGB values directly, or you can click on the colour swatch and select a colour from The Colour Picker window that opens. Black is "no diffuse colour".

 

  • Emissive Colour
    Here you can set the emissive colour for the material to use. You can either input the RGB values directly, or you can click on the colour swatch and select a colour from The Colour Picker window that opens. White is "no emissive colour".

 

  • Roughness Multiplier
    This value will be used to augment the roughness effect created by the roughness component of the Roughness / Metalness / AO bitmap.

 

  • Metal Multiplier
    This value will be used to augment the metallic effect created by the roughness component of the Roughness / Metalness / AO bitmap.

 

 

Dynamic Materials Settings

The Dynamic Materials Settings

  • Albedo Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the albedo bitmap within the material.

 

  • Normal Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Normal bitmap within the material.

 

  • Rough / Metal /AO Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Roughness / Metalness / AO bitmap within the material.

 

  • Emissive Opacity
    Sets the opacity of the Emissive bitmap within the material.

 

  • UV Scale
    Sets the tiling scale for the bitmap textures used in the material (this is essentially a UV multiplier value).

 

  • Diffuse Colour
    Here you can set a colour to be blended with the material. You can either input the RGB values directly, or you can click on the colour swatch and select a colour from The Colour Picker window that opens. Black is "no diffuse colour".

 

  • Emissive Colour
    Here you can set the emissive colour for the material to use. You can either input the RGB values directly, or you can click on the colour swatch and select a colour from The Colour Picker window that opens. White is "no emissive colour".

 

  • Roughness Multiplier
    This value will be used to augment the roughness effect created by the roughness component of the Roughness / Metalness / AO bitmap.

 

  • Metal Multiplier
    This value will be used to augment the metallic effect created by the roughness component of the Roughness / Metalness / AO bitmap.

 

  • Two-Sided
    This flag can be used to set the material as being single sided (un-checked) or two sided (checked), which is useful for certain transparent elements.

 

  • No Shadow
    When this is checked, the material will not cast shadows.

 

  • Labels
    This section can be expanded and used to add labels and values to the material. These labels are used to define under which circumstances the material will be modified (either by adaptive or mission elements within the simulation world). Lebels are added by clicking the + button at the bottom, and you can add as many or as few as required. Within each label, the Key is obligatory, but the Value is not, and it is possible to add multiple values to the same key. You can remove values and labels by using the appropriate 🗑 button. For more information, please see the following page: Aircraft Liveries

 

 

Quick Buttons

The bottom of the Material Inspector window has the following Quick Buttons (note that these options are also available from the File menu):

 

  • Save
    This option will save the material being edited to the Material Editor list. If it is a previously saved material that is being edited, then this option will save any edits to the material.

 

  • Delete
    This will delete the currently selected material from the Material Editor. This cannot be undone and will also attempt to remove any bitmaps that are used in the material, as long as they are not referenced anywhere else. Note that this is not guaranteed and you should check the Bitmap Manager to make sure.

 

  • Reset
    When you select this option, it will reset the Material Inspector, permitting you to create a new material. This will not delete or otherwise change any material that was previously being viewed.

 

  • Apply
    This button will apply the currently selected material to whatever other element is in focus and that requires a material. For example, if you have The Scenery Editor open and select a runway object, then using Apply will apply the currently selected material to the runway. This option will apply the material regardless of whether it has been saved or not, so you can change the material and then apply it to see how it looks as many times as required before saving it.

 

  • Reload Ground
    This button will only be available if the material context is Ground Surface. After making edits to the material, if you wish to see those edits applied in the world because you have applied the material somewhere, you will need to click this button.

 

Related Topics

  1. The Material Editor
  2. Inspector Menus
  3. The Visual Effects Editor
  4. The Scenery Editor
  5. Textures_And_Materials
  6. Channel Display