Materials

Default materials

We provide default materials for every renderers, but you can override them globally, per project.
You can also edit defaults for effects that use legacy materials

Under Edit >> Project Settings >> PopcornFX >> Default Materials / Legacy Materials

UE Plugin: Default materials

Material parameters

The plugin maps the following renderer parameters to the material if they are available:

Parameter name

Parameter type

Description

Renderer type(s)

DiffuseTexture

Texture 2D

Diffuse map

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

DiffuseTextureRamp

Texture 2D

Diffuse Ramp map if DiffuseRamp is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

EmissiveTexture

Texture 2D

Emissive map if Emissive is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

NormalTexture

Texture 2D

Normal map if LegacyLit is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

SpecularTexture

Texture 2D

Specular map if LegacyLit is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

AlphaRemapper

Texture 2D

Alpha-remap map if AlphaRemap is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

MotionVectorsTexture

Texture 2D

Motion Vectors map if Atlas blending mode is MotionVectors

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

PopcornFX_SoftnessDistance

Scalar (float)

Softness distance if SoftParticles is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

PopcornFX_MaskThreshold

Scalar (float)

Alpha-test value threshold if material is Masked

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

PopcornFX_SphereMaskHardness

Scalar (float)

SphereMask node’s hardness value for volumetric fog materials

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

PopcornFX_MVDistortionStrengthColumns

Scalar (float)

MotionVectors distortion strength (columns)

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

PopcornFX_MVDistortionStrengthRows

Scalar (float)

MotionVectors distortion strength (rows)

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

PopcornFX_SixWay_RLTSTexture

Texture 2D

Right-Left-Top-Alpha Texture if SixWayLightmap is enabled

Billboard

PopcornFX_SixWay_BBFTexture

Texture 2D

Bottom-Back-Front Texture if SixWayLightmap is enabled

Billboard

VATPositionTexture

Texture 2D

Positions texture if one of the VAT types is enabled

Mesh

VATNormalTexture

Texture 2D

Normals texture if Fluid or Soft VAT is enabled

Mesh

VATColorTexture

Texture 2D

Colors texture if Soft VAT is enabled

Mesh

VATRotationTexture

Texture 2D

Rotations texture if Rigid VAT is enabled

Mesh

VATPackedData

Scalar (bool)

Whether or not to treat VAT data as packed if Fluid or Soft VAT is enabled

Mesh

VATNumFrames

Scalar (uint)

Number of frames in the VAT if one of the VAT types is enabled

Mesh

VATPivotBoundsMin

Vector (float3)

Pivots min value if Rigid VAT is enabled

Mesh

VATPivotBoundsMax

Vector (float3)

Pivots max value if Rigid VAT is enabled

Mesh

VATPositionBoundsMin

Vector (float3)

Positions min value if Normalized Data is enabled for one of the VAT types

Mesh

VATPositionBoundsMax

Vector (float3)

Positions max value if Normalized Data is enabled for one of the VAT types

Mesh

Material nodes

Implemented UE material nodes (in relation to PopcornFX parameters when relevant):

Node name

Description

Renderer type(s)

Texcoord 0

UVs already built with the atlas definition (if any).

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle

ParticleColor

Renderer’s Diffuse Color input (previously was VertexColor)

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

VertexColor

Renderer’s Emissive Color input

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle

ParticleRandomValue

Gives a random value between 0 and 1 per particle

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

ParticleSubUVProperties.TextureCoordinate0

Renderer’s Emissive Color input (xy channels)

Mesh

ParticleSubUVProperties.TextureCoordinate1.X

Renderer’s Emissive Color input (z channel)

Mesh

Texcoord 1

If Linear is set as the blending mode of Atlas, second set of texcoords

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle

DynamicParameter0.X

If Linear is set as the blending mode of Atlas, TextureID for lerping between texture samples

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle

DynamicParameter0.Y

If AlphaRemap is enabled, AlphaCursor used to determine the alpha remap

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle

DynamicParameter0

Renderer’s Input0 input if ShaderInput0 is enabled

Mesh

DynamicParameter1

Renderer’s Input1 input if ShaderInput1 is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

DynamicParameter2

Renderer’s Input2 input if ShaderInput2 is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

DynamicParameter3

Renderer’s Input3 input if ShaderInput3 is enabled

Billboard / Ribbon / Triangle / Mesh

Custom materials

Creating custom materials is possible, but requires that the following properties are enabled:

Material applied on Billboard/Ribbon/Triangle renderers: check Used With Particle Sprites and set Material Domain to Surface
Material applied on Mesh renderers: check Used With Mesh Particles

Note: You can create a copy of materials provided with the plugin to start from a working material.