# Material

A Material asset defines the visual appearance of a surface when rendered. PlayCanvas uses physically based rendering (PBR) to create realistic materials that respond correctly to lighting. Materials can represent a wide range of surfaces, from smooth plastic to rough wood to shiny metal.

## Inspector

You can select a Material asset in the [Assets Panel](https://developer.playcanvas.com/user-manual/editor/interface/assets.md) and view it in the [Inspector](https://developer.playcanvas.com/user-manual/editor/interface/inspector.md).

[Image: Material Inspector]

The Material Inspector is organized into collapsible sections, each controlling different aspects of the material's appearance.

## Texture Transform

Controls UV offset, tiling, and rotation for all texture maps.

[Image: Texture Transform]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Apply To All Maps | When enabled, the offset, tiling, and rotation values below apply to all texture maps in the material. When disabled, each map can have its own transform settings. |
| Offset | The UV offset to apply to texture maps (U, V). |
| Tiling | The UV scale/tiling to apply to texture maps (U, V). |
| Rotation | The rotation angle (in degrees) to apply to texture maps. |

## Ambient

Controls how the material responds to ambient lighting and ambient occlusion.

[Image: Ambient]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Ambient Occlusion | A texture containing pre-baked ambient occlusion data. Darker areas receive less ambient light. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the AO texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Color Channel | Which texture channel to read the AO value from (R, G, B, or A). |
| Occlude Specular | Controls how AO affects specular reflections: Off, Multiply, or Gloss Based. |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for ambient occlusion instead of a texture. |
| Color | The ambient tint color multiplied with the scene's global ambient color. |
| Intensity | Strength of the ambient occlusion effect (0-1). |

## Diffuse

Controls the base color of the material when lit by dynamic light sources.

[Image: Diffuse]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Diffuse | The diffuse/albedo texture defining per-pixel color. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the diffuse texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Color Channel | Which texture channels to read (R, G, B, A, or RGB). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for diffuse instead of a texture. |
| Color | The diffuse color. If a texture is set, this tints the texture. |

## Specular

Controls the specular highlights and reflectivity of the material. The Specular section supports two workflows: Metalness and Specular.

[Image: Specular]

### Common Properties

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Enable GGX Specular | Enables GGX specular response with anisotropy support for materials like brushed metal. |
| Anisotropy | Texture defining per-pixel anisotropy direction (visible when GGX is enabled). |
| Anisotropy Intensity | Strength of the anisotropic effect (0-1). |
| Anisotropy Rotation | Rotation angle of the anisotropy direction in degrees. |
| Use Metalness | Toggle between Metalness workflow (PBR) and Specular workflow (legacy). |

### Metalness Workflow

When Use Metalness is enabled:

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Metalness | Texture defining per-pixel metalness. White (1) is metal, black (0) is non-metal. |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for metalness instead of a texture. |
| Metalness | The metalness factor (0-1). Multiplied with the texture if present. |
| Use Specular Color and Factor | Enable additional specular color control for non-metallic areas. |
| Specular | Specular color texture (visible when Use Specular Color is enabled). |
| Specularity Factor | Texture for per-pixel specularity factor. |

### Specular Workflow

When Use Metalness is disabled:

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Specular | The specular color texture defining highlight color. |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for specular instead of a texture. |
| Tint | When enabled, the Color below tints the specular texture. |
| Color | The specular highlight color. |

### Glossiness

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Glossiness | Texture defining per-pixel glossiness/smoothness. |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for glossiness instead of a texture. |
| Glossiness | The glossiness/shininess value (0-100). Higher values create sharper reflections. |
| Invert | Treat the gloss map as a roughness map (inverts the values). |

## Emissive

Controls light emission from the material surface.

[Image: Emissive]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Emissive | Texture defining per-pixel emission color. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the emissive texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Color Channel | Which texture channels to read (R, G, B, A, or RGB). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for emission instead of a texture. |
| Color | The emissive color. If a texture is set, this tints the texture. |
| Intensity | Multiplier for the emissive color. Values above 1 create overbright/bloom effects. |

## Opacity

Controls material transparency and alpha testing.

[Image: Opacity]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Blend Type | How the material blends with the background: None (opaque), Alpha, Additive, Additive Alpha, Screen, Premultiplied Alpha, Multiply, Modulate 2x, Min, Max. |
| Opacity | Texture defining per-pixel opacity. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the opacity texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Color Channel | Which texture channel to read the opacity from (R, G, B, or A). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for opacity instead of a texture. |
| Intensity | The overall opacity (0-1). 0 is fully transparent, 1 is fully opaque. |
| Alpha Test | Pixels with alpha below this threshold are discarded (0-1). |
| Alpha To Coverage | Enables alpha-to-coverage for order-independent transparency (requires MSAA). |
| Opacity Fades Specular | When enabled, opacity also fades specular reflections. Disable for glass-like materials. |
| Opacity Dither | Dithering pattern for opacity: None, Bayer 8, or Blue Noise. |
| Opacity Shadow Dither | Dithering pattern for shadow opacity. |
| Alpha Fade | Fade factor for materials where Opacity Fades Specular is disabled (0-1). |

## Normals

Controls surface detail through normal mapping.

[Image: Normals]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Normals | The normal map texture defining per-pixel surface orientation. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the normal texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Bumpiness | Strength of the normal map effect (0-2). 0 has no effect, 1 is standard, 2 is exaggerated. |

## Parallax

Adds depth illusion to surfaces using height mapping. See [Parallax Mapping](https://developer.playcanvas.com/user-manual/graphics/physical-rendering/parallax-mapping.md) for the modes and their limits.

[Image: Parallax]

[Video](https://developer.playcanvas.com/video/editor-parallax-occlusion.mp4)

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Heightmap | The height map texture. White represents high areas, black represents low areas. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the height texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Color Channel | Which texture channel to read the height from (R, G, B, or A). |
| Mode | Selects a single height-map offset or ray-marched parallax occlusion. The mesh silhouette and depth buffer remain unchanged. Options: Offset, Occlusion. |
| Strength | Intensity of the parallax effect (0-2). |
| Base | Height-map value that sits at the original surface. Use 1 for depth maps where white represents the flat surface (0-1). |
| Samples | Maximum height-map samples used by parallax occlusion. Higher values increase rendering cost (4-64). Only shown when Mode is Occlusion. |
| Self Shadow | Maximum samples used to self-shadow parallax relief for each directional light. Set to 0 to disable it (0-32). Only shown when Mode is Occlusion. |

## Clear Coat

Adds a secondary specular layer simulating a clear coating (like car paint or lacquered wood).

[Image: Clear Coat]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Clear Coat Factor | Intensity of the clear coat layer (0-1). Set to 0 to disable. |
| Clear Coat | Texture defining per-pixel clear coat intensity. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the clear coat texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for clear coat intensity. |
| Vertex Color Channel | Which vertex color channel to use (R, G, B, or A). |
| Clear Coat Gloss | Texture defining per-pixel clear coat glossiness. |
| Glossiness | Smoothness of the clear coat layer (0-1). |
| Invert | Treat the gloss map as a roughness map. |
| Clear Coat Normals | Normal map for the clear coat layer (e.g., orange peel effect). |
| Bumpiness | Strength of the clear coat normal map (0-2). |

## Sheen

Adds soft, velvet-like reflections for fabrics and similar materials.

[Image: Sheen]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Use Sheen | Enable sheen specular effects. |
| Sheen | Texture defining per-pixel sheen color. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the sheen texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for sheen. |
| Color | The sheen tint color. |
| Sheen Glossiness | Texture defining per-pixel sheen glossiness. |
| Glossiness | Smoothness of the sheen effect (0-1). |
| Invert | Treat the gloss map as a roughness map. |

## Refraction

Controls light bending through transparent materials like glass or water.

[Image: Refraction]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Dynamic Refractions | Enable real-time refraction using a grab pass. |
| Refraction | Texture defining per-pixel refraction intensity. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the refraction texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for refraction intensity. |
| Refraction | Amount of light passing through the material (0-1). |
| Index Of Refraction | Controls light distortion. Represented as 1.0 / IOR. Common values: glass ~0.67, water ~0.75. |
| Dispersion | Strength of chromatic aberration (color separation). 0 means no dispersion. |
| Thickness | Texture defining per-pixel material thickness. |
| Scale | Thickness multiplier. Affects how much light is absorbed. |
| Attenuation | Color of light absorption through the material volume. |
| Attenuation Distance | Distance at which light is fully absorbed. |

## Iridescence

Creates rainbow-like color shifts seen on soap bubbles, oil slicks, or beetle shells.

[Image: Iridescence]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Use Iridescence | Enable iridescent diffraction effects. |
| Iridescence | Texture defining per-pixel iridescence intensity. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the iridescence texture (UV0 or UV1). |
| Iridescence | Intensity of the iridescence effect (0-1). |
| Iridescence Thickness | Texture defining per-pixel thin-film thickness. |
| Thickness Minimum | Minimum thin-film thickness in nanometers (nm). |
| Thickness Maximum | Maximum thin-film thickness in nanometers (nm). |
| Index of Refraction | IOR of the thin-film layer. |

## Environment

Controls environment reflections using cube maps or sphere maps.

[Image: Environment]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Sphere Map | A sphere map texture for environment reflections (mutually exclusive with Cube Map). |
| Cube Map | A cube map texture for environment reflections. If not set, the scene skybox is used. |
| Reflectivity | How much environment reflection is visible (0-1). |
| Projection | Cube map projection mode: Normal or Box. |
| Center | Center point for box projection (X, Y, Z). |
| Half Extents | Half-size of the box projection volume (W, H, D). |

## Lightmap

Applies pre-baked lighting from a lightmap texture.

[Image: Lightmap]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Lightmap | The lightmap texture containing pre-baked diffuse lighting. |
| UV Channel | The UV set used to sample the lightmap (typically UV1 for unique UVs). |
| Color Channel | Which texture channels to read (R, G, B, A, or RGB). |
| Vertex Color | Use vertex colors for lightmap data instead of a texture. |

## Other

Additional render state controls.

[Image: Other]

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| Depth Test | When enabled, pixels are only rendered if they pass the depth test (nothing in front). |
| Depth Write | When enabled, the material writes to the depth buffer. |
| Cull Mode | Which faces to cull: None (render both), Back Faces (default), or Front Faces. |
| Use Fog | Apply scene fog settings to this material. |
| Use Lighting | Apply dynamic lighting to this material. |
| Use Skybox | Use the scene skybox for environment reflections. |
| Use Tonemap | Apply tonemapping to this material. |
| Vertex Color Gamma | Interpret vertex colors as gamma-space (sRGB) values. |

:::tip
To use this asset in scripts, see [Asset Attributes](https://developer.playcanvas.com/user-manual/scripting/script-attributes/esm.md#asset-attribute). For programmatic material creation, see the [StandardMaterial API](https://api.playcanvas.com/engine/classes/StandardMaterial.html).
:::