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Version: 10.0

Rim Lighting

Rim Lighting can be used to add a highlight or glow around the edges (or center) of a material. It uses the angle between your view and the normal of the surface to define the intensity of the effect.

Rim Lighting is sometimes referred to in conjunction with or as Fresnel, in reference to the Fresnel Effect.

Rim Lighting Demo

Demonstration of 3 different Rim Lighting effects with low sharpness (left), high sharpness (middle), and colored rim lighting (right).

Style​

Type
Dropdown
Options
PoiyomidefaultUTS2LilToon

Choose the style of Rim Lighting that you wish to use.

To see relevant settings, select which option you are using:


Poiyomi​

Default Rim Lighting style, designed by Poiyomi.

Mask & Bias​

Type
Texture Slot
Accepts
Data texturesRGB Off

Masks the area where Rim Lighting should only appear in, as well as the bias. It should generally be black and white, as only its value (specifically the red channel value) will be used, not the color.

When expanded, the Rim Mask texture has options for Tiling and Offset. The assigned UV Map and the Panning of the Rim Mask can be adjusted.

Bias Intensity​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Bias of the Mask Intensity.

Color & Blending​

Demonstration of the Rim Lighting Color & Blending options.

Rim Texture​

Type
Texture Slot
Accepts
Color texturesRGB On

A texture overlaid on the mesh defining the color of the rim lighting.

When expanded, the Rim Texture has options for Tiling and Offset. The assigned UV Map and the Panning of the Rim Texture can be adjusted.

Color​

Type
Color

The Color of your Rim Lighting. Blended with the base color.

This color is blended multiplicative with the Rim Texture, if defined.

Blend Mode​

Type
Dropdown
Options
AddReplaceMultiplyMixedScreen

Choice of how the Rim Lighting will blend with the base texture.

Blend Alpha​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls the Alpha visibility of the Rim Lighting. 0 is invisible, while 1 is fully visible.

Mix Base Color​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls how much the Rim Lighting's Color will blend with the Base Color.

Brightness​

Type
Range
Range
0to10

Controls how bright the Rim Lighting will be overall.

Emission​

Type
Range
Range
0to20

Controls the emission value of the rim lighting color. Emission emulates a part of a material that produces light, and adds directly on top of the base color.

Total emission values above 1 will generally cause glow in worlds with bloom.

Shape Controls​

Demonstration of the Rim Lighting Shape Controls.

Width​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls the width of the Rim Lighting. Affects how far from the edge (or center) the rim extends.

Blur​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls the amount of Blur to apply the edge of the Rim Lighting. The higher the value, the higher the Blurriness of the edge.

This value was previously Sharpness in 9.3 versions and older, but was replaced because it was way more limited than it's intended functionality.

Rim Power​

Type
Range
Range
0to10

Controls how intense the Rim Lighting has an effect.

Linear​

Type
Toggle

Switches to more linear blending on the Rim Lighting.

Normal Strength​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls how the Rim Lighting will blend with your Normals. A value of 0 ignores your Normals, while a value of 1 will fully blend within your Normals.

Invert Rim​

Type
Toggle

Inverts the Rim Lighting direction. When unchecked, rim lighting goes from "outside-in" (facing away from viewer has maximum intensity). When checked, rim lighting goes from "inside-out" (facing toward viewer has maximum intensity).

Light Direction Mask​

Type
Toggle

Enables the ability to mask the Rim Lighting to a Lighting Direction Mask, whether that would be Custom or to use the Shadow Map.

Light Falloff Type​

Type
Dropdown
Options
Shadow MapdefaultCustom

Choice of the Light Falloff Map it's going to use as a Mask.

Invert Shadow Mask​

Type
Toggle

Inverts the values of the Shadow Mask

Shadow Mask Strength​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls the intensity of that Mask.

Shrink In Shadow​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Lowers the size of the Rim Light Width in the Masked area.

Hue Shift​

Type
Toggle

Enables the Hue Shift feature in Rim Lighting.

Color Space​

Type
Dropdown
Options
OKLabdefaultHSV

Choice of Color Space to use for the Hue Shift. By default, it will be set to OKLab.

Learn about the difference of Color Spaces as documented here in Color Adjust.

Select or Shift​

Type
Dropdown
Options
Hue SelectHue Shiftdefault

This dropdown allows you to select how the Color Adjustment should behave when the Hue Shift is used. By default, this will be set to Hue Shift.

Select or Shift Options
  • Hue Select: Directly applies the selected Hue as an override to the entire Rim Lighting color.
  • Hue Shift: Only tints the Rim Lighting based on the lerped value. This is the default behavior.

Shift Speed​

Type
Float

Sets the speed at which the rim color's hue value is shifted. At a value of 1, it will go through a complete cycle of the color wheel once every 20 seconds.

Hue Shift​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

A fixed value by which to hue shift the material. At values of 0 and 1, there will be no change to the material. In between, the hue will shift through the color wheel.

Alpha & Global Masking​

Apply to Alpha​

Type
Dropdown
Options
OffAddMultiply

Choice to apply the Rim Lighting to the Material Alpha.

Apply to Alpha Blend​

Type
Range
Range
0to1

Controls how much to Apply the Rim to your Alpha.

Global Mask​

Type
Dropdown
Options
Off1R1G1B1A2R2G2B2A3R3G3B3A4R4G4B4A

Choose to use a Global Mask to constrain the Rim Lighting to the specified Mask instead. Overrides Mask & Bias.

Apply to Global Mask​

Type
Dropdown
Options
Off1R1G1B1A2R2G2B2A3R3G3B3A4R4G4B4A

Allows you to add the currently set Rim Lighting setup to be applied to an existing Global Mask of your choice.

info

The settings in this section will only be visible when Audio Link is activated on the Material.

Demonstration of the Audio Link Controls on the Bass Band for Rim Lighting.

Width Add Band​

Type
Dropdown
Options
BassLow MidHigh MidTrebleVolume

Which Band to use for the Width.

Width Add​

Type
Float2

How much to add to or subtract from the Rim Lighting Width with Audio.

ModifierFunction
MinAmount changed to Rim Width with No Audio in Width Add Band
MaxAmount changed to Rim Width with Max Audio in Width Add Band

Emission Add Band​

Type
Dropdown
Options
BassLow MidHigh MidTrebleVolume

Which Band to use for the Rim Emission.

Emission Add​

Type
Float2

How much to add to or subtract from the Rim Lighting Emission with Audio.

ModifierFunction
MinAmount changed to Rim Emission with No Audio in Emission Add Band
MaxAmount changed to Rim Emission with Max Audio in Emission Add Band

Brightness Band​

Type
Dropdown
Options
BassLow MidHigh MidTrebleVolume

Which Band to use for the Rim Brightness.

Brightness Add​

Type
Float2

How much to add to or subtract from the Rim Lighting Brightness with Audio.

ModifierFunction
MinAmount changed to Rim Brightness with No Audio in Brightness Band
MaxAmount changed to Rim Brightness with Max Audio in Brightness Band

Color Override​

Type
Toggle

Enables overriding the Color using Audio Link.

Color​
Type
Color

Sets a Color to use as the Color Override.

Theme Color​

Type
Dropdown
Options
Theme Color 0Theme Color 1Theme Color 2Theme Color 3ColorChord 0ColorChord 1ColorChord 2ColorChord 3AL Theme 0AL Theme 1AL Theme 2AL Theme 3

Option to set a Theme Color to use as the Color Override instead.

Color Override Band​
Type
Dropdown
Options
BassLow MidHigh MidTrebleVolume

Which Band to use to trigger the Color Override.

Color Override Ramp​
Type
Vector Curve

Vector ramp to determine how Color Override is used.