Detail Maps
This page is for people turning on detail maps for the first time. You layer patterns, bumps and gloss on top of the base color. It takes about 5 minutes.
What is this
With only a base map, cloth and metal look the same.
Detail maps add layers on top of it for patterns, bumps and gloss.
When to use it
- When you want to put a logo or pattern on an outfit
- When you want only the metal trim to shine
Turn it on in 30 seconds
- Pick one converted material.
- Turn on Enable Surface Stack.
- Raise Surface Stack Layer Count to 1.
- Put an image into Additional Texture on layer 01.
If the image you added shows on top of the base color, it worked.
If nothing changes, go to conversion troubleshooting.
How to turn them on — all three modules follow the same order
- Turn on the module's enable switch.
- Raise the layer count to the number you need.
- Put a map into that numbered slot and set its strength.
| Module | Enable switch | Layer count field | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Texture | Enable Surface Stack | Surface Stack Layer Count | 10 |
| Normal Maps | Enable Normal Layers | Normal Layer Count | 5 |
| MatCap | Enable MatCap Layers | MatCap Layer Count | 5 |
Slots past the layer count are skipped entirely. The result is the same when strength or opacity is 0.
The layer count list only shows 0 to 2 at first.
To use more, press the Use More Layers (up to N) button next to the list.
N differs per module. Surface stack is 10, normal is 5, matcap is 5.
Values you will touch often
| Inspector label | What it changes | Suggested starting value | Raise it / lower it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opacity | How much one additional texture is layered on | 1 | Lower it and the color below shows through; at 0 the slot is not evaluated |
| Normal Intensity | How strong the bumps look | 1 | Raise it and the relief is exaggerated; at 0 it goes flat |
| Strength | The gloss amount of one matcap | Leave at default (0.74) | Raise it and it turns shiny; at 0 the slot is not evaluated |
| Smoothness | How tightly the reflection gathers | Leave at default (0.5) | Raise it and highlights shrink to points |
| Specular Intensity | The strength of all PBR reflection | Leave at default (1) | At 0 the highlights and environment reflection both disappear |
| Toon Specular Intensity | The brightness of the cel highlight | Leave at default (0.5) | Raise it and it burns out to white |
| Occlusion Intensity | How much the occlusion map darkens | 1 | At 0 adding a map changes nothing |
Every field and its range is in the Detail Maps reference.
Two ways to make gloss
PBR Surface
Use this when you need physical reflection, like metal, enamel or wet lips.
Turn on Enable PBR Surface and choose a Workflow.
Metallic builds the reflection color from Metallic; Specular specifies the color directly.
Turn on Use Packed Mask to read per channel from a single texture.
The default layout is R for metallic, G for occlusion, A for smoothness.
Every channel and invert setting below is ignored. Only the metallic and smoothness slider values are used.
Toon Specular
This adds only a light-direction highlight without turning on all of PBR.
It suits hair, eyes and the thin sheen on cloth.
Turn on Enable Toon Specular and choose a Toon Specular Mode.
Isotropic makes a round highlight, like an eye or a metal button.
Anisotropic makes a long flowing band, like hair.
Shape it with Toon Specular Threshold and Toon Specular Softness.
A different highlight color per area
Change Toon Specular Color Source to Mask Texture Color.
The RGB colors you painted into the mask then become the highlight colors.
Toon Specular Mask Color Amount sets how much is mixed in.
The mask is already being read, so this costs no extra texture read.
Region Mask
Split the areas inside one material into four RGBA regions and adjust each separately.
- Turn on Enable Region Mask.
- Put an RGBA texture into the region mask slot.
- Raise each region's adjustment a little at a time from 0.
The region mask adjusts surface response. If PBR Surface and Toon Specular are both off, nothing happens.
Glow and sparkle
Turn on Enable Emission and set the map, color and intensity.
If Emission Color is black, it will not glow even with a map.
For Enable Glitter, set Glitter Color first and then Glitter Intensity.
Changing the particle shape
Turn on Enable Shape Map and put a texture into Shape Map.
Textures/Glitter/ contains 6 shapes such as stars and hearts.
Shape Channel defaults to A; use R or luminance for black-and-white images.
To stand a directional shape upright, lower Rotation Randomize to 0.
Master Adjust and performance distance
Performance Distance (m) and Performance Distance Scale are shader features.
You can always edit them without the paid add-on.
The boundary is the two values multiplied, and beyond it only basic shading remains.
The rest of the Master Adjust rows come from Ming Light Controller.
Common problems
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Added a map but it does not show | The layer count is lower than that slot number | Raise the layer count |
| No highlight at all | Specular Intensity is 0 | Set Specular Intensity back to 1 |
| The glow does not show | Emission Color is black | Raise the color closer to white |
More detail
- Detail Maps reference — every field and range
- Shared Texture Slot UI — mask, HSVG and UV controls
- Tiled Material Composer — region masks from one window