Live Update - This option allows for each node within the network to have its shader recompiled whenever a change is made. Live Node - This option allows for any constant changes that the nodes make, such as material expressions for Panners, so that they playback in realtime inside the graph. Live Preview - This option allows for any changes to update automatically in the Material Preview window in realtime without having to use the Save or Apply buttons. The difference between these options may not seem apparent at first but they each perform a specific task for viewing your material in realtime. Instantaneous feedback for your network Live Preview, Live Nodes and Live Update. The Material Editor offers two features that can be enabled to give you When making changes to a network, it can be useful to get immediate feedback from each change in realtime. You can right-click and use the Material Graph context menu to select New Comment and add a comment box. If you have any nodes selected in your graph, the comment box will scale to encompass the selection. Press the C keyboard shortcut while the mouse is over the Material Graph. To create a Comment Box you can do the following: This text will not scale with the graph's zoom level, so even when zoomed far away, you will stillīe able to read the comment descriptions. The comments are displayed as banners of text along the top of the comment box. Of multiple nodes, making this a perfect way to describe entire sections of a network rather than using the Desc property to describe individual nodes.
Creating them will enable you to stretch a comment box around a group Hover your mouse cursor over the node and click on the Text Bubble (.) to enter your description.Īdditionally, if you'd like the comment to always be visible, you can click the Push Pin button in the text bubble for it to remain visible and not minimize when you are no longerĬomments are another way to make descriptive notes about what certain parts of your material network are doing. Select it from your material graph and then from the Details panel, locate the Desc property to enter your text into. You can add text descriptions to your nodes by doing the following: When this property is used, the text will appear in the text bubble as you hover over the node. This property exists as a way for artists to add an explicit description Hover over a material node, or by using a comment box to encapsulate a larger section of your material graph.Įvery material node contains a Desc property that is available through its Details panel. There are two ways you can add comments to your Materials by adding text to the individual node using the Desc property or its comment bubble (.) as you Using Comments are a great way to document what your Material is doing, making it easier for you and others to understand what is going on within a complicated material graph. When performingĮither of these operations, that particular Material will open in the Material Editor for editing. The Material Editor can be opened by double-clicking any Material asset or through the right-click context menu of a Material asset in the Content Browser. In the material statistics window and more. Throughout this page, you'll learn about some of the functions you can perform along with general good practices to follow while using the Material Editor, such as using the Comment boxes toĬall out what a specific section of your material network is doing, using reroute nodes to clean up the pin wires making your network easier to read, what to do when you get errors The Material Editor is a node-based graph interface that enables you to create shaders that can be applied to your geometry, such as Static and Skeletal Meshes, or with other systems suchĪs Cascade to create interesting materials. Live Preview, Live Nodes, and Live Update