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Emission

Emission is a function that allows adding brightness directly to the base color of a mesh. It can be used to add highlights, or to add a glow effect to a mesh.

There are 4 Emission Slots total, each with their own unique options. They are independent of each other. Emissions are always added with one another when overlapping.

Emission Example

Example usage of Emission on the Eyes, Hair, Nose, Ears, and Paws.

Emission Mask

  • Type: Data Texture (sRGB OFF)

Mask texture that defines where to place the emission effect. Black areas will not be affected by the emission, while white areas will be fully affected by the emission.

Global Mask

  • Type: Dropdown, Options: Off/1R/1G/1B/1A/2R/2G/2B/2A/3R/3G/3B/3A/4R/4G/4B/4A

Select which Global Mask to use as the Emission Mask instead.

note

Expand the Emission Mask slot to see this property.

Emission Color

  • Type: HDR Color

Tint color applied to the emission map. If no map is defined, this color will be used entirely.

This color is an HDR color, meaning it can have an intensity applied to make the color brighter than normal colors. This can be optionally used instead of, or in addition to, the Emission Strength option.

Emission Map

  • Type: Color Texture (sRGB ON)

Color map of the emission. This is used to define the color of the emission in different areas on the mesh. Black areas will not be affected by the emission, while areas with color will be affected by the emission.

Emission Strength

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 20.0

Strength of the emission. Values greater than 1.0 will not change the base color as much, but will increase the amount the emission blooms (glows) in worlds with post processing enabled, and bloom configured.

Generally, this value should be set between 0.0 and 1.0 for a normal effect, and 1.0 to 5.0 for a more intense effect.

Use Base Colors

  • Type: Checkbox

Applies the base color as a map. Useful for adding highlights to a mesh, especially in combination with an emission mask.

Override Base Color

  • Type: Checkbox

If enabled, the base color of the mesh will be replaced with the emission color (calculated from the combined strength of all the emission sections with Replace Base Color enabled). This means that the mesh, in areas with intense emission, will take on the color of the emission.

Color Adjust

  • Type: Checkbox

Enables hue shifting of the emission.

Color Space

  • Type: Dropdown, Options: OKLab/HSV

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.

Saturation

  • Type: Float, Range: -1.0 - 10.0

Adjust the Saturation of the Hue Shift.

Hue Shift

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

How much to shift the base color around the hue circle.

This value is circular, and will have the same result at 0 and 1.

Hue Shift Speed

  • Type: Float

How much to constantly shift the hue with time. A value of 1 will result in a full hue shift cycle every 20 seconds.

Center Out

  • Type: Checkbox

Whether to change the emission mode to center out. This will make the emission move from the center of the mesh to the edges of the mesh, relative to the view direction and the mesh's normal. The emission map is used to create the center out map.

Flow Speed

  • Type: Float

How fast the center out effect should move.

Light Based

  • Type: Checkbox

Enables Light Based emission. This allows modifying the emission based on the light intensity at different points on the mesh, or based on the world lighting.

The default settings define an emission that will glow in the dark, multiplying the emission intensity by 1.0 at 0.0 lighting intensity, decreasing to 0.0 at 1.0 lighting intensity.

Lighting Type

  • Type: Dropdown, Options: World/Mesh

Whether to use World or Mesh lighting as the basis. World type uses the light intensity of the probe being used, meaning it will be the same at all points on the mesh. Mesh type uses the intensity of lighting at each point on the mesh, which can be different at different points, such as in shadow.

Min Emission Multiplier

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

Amount to multiply the emission by at the Min Lighting value.

Max Emission Multiplier

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

Amount to multiply the emission by at the Max Lighting value.

Min Lighting

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

Lighting intensity at which to use the Min Emission Multiplier.

Max Lighting

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

Lighting intensity at which to use the Max Emission Multiplier.

Blinking

  • Type: Checkbox

Enables Blinking of the emission. This allows the emission to blink at a certain rate without needing to explicitly animate it.

  • Type: Float

Minimum multiplier for emissive blink. This is the amount the emission will be multiplied by at the low end of the blink cycle.

  • Type: Float

Maximum multiplier for emissive blink. This is the amount the emission will be multiplied by at the high end of the blink cycle.

  • Type: Float

How fast the blink cycle should move. This uses the sine of time, so a value of 1 will result in a blink cycle every 6.28 (Pi * 2) seconds or so. Higher values will result in a faster blink cycle.

Offset

  • Type: Float

Offset of the blink cycle in time. Useful for offsetting the blink cycle of different emission sections. This uses the sine of time, so a value of 6.28 (Pi * 2) will offset the blink cycle by 1 second. Higher values will result in a blink cycle that is offset by a larger amount of time.

Scrolling

  • Type: Checkbox

Enables a scrolling emission effect. This creates a wave (or other pattern defined by a Curve) that travels in world space.

Use Curve

  • Type: Checkbox

Enables the use of a Curve to define the scrolling wave shape.

Curve

  • Type: Data Gradient Texture (sRGB OFF)

Curve texture that defines the scrolling wave shape. By clicking the horizontal box, a curve editor will open that can create a curve texture.

VColor as position

  • Type: Checkbox

Whether to use the vertex color to determine the position of the wave. If disabled, the position will be determined by world-space coordinates.

This option requires baking position data into the vertex color, which can be done with the Poi Vertex color baker.

Direction

  • Type: Vector4

Direction of the scrolling wave. This vector is in world space, with the X, Y, and Z values defining the direction of the wave. The W value is ignored. The higher the values of the directional components, the more dense the wave will be.

Width

  • Type: Float

Width of the wave; must be greater than 0. This value is unitless, and is constant regardless of the model scale. Smaller Width values result in a wider wave.

Velocity

  • Type: Float

How fast the wave should move. Higher values result in a faster wave. This value can be negative, which will cause the wave to move in the opposite direction.

Interval

  • Type: Float

How much distance there should be between each wave. This value is unitless, and is constant regardless of the model scale. Larger intervals result in more space between waves.

Offset

  • Type: Float

An offset applied to the wave. This value is unit-less, and depends on the velocity and interval values.

  • Type: Checkbox

Enables or disables Emission AudioLink features.

info

This section allows control of the Emission through AudioLink. It will only be exposed when AudioLink is activated on the Material.

Strength Multiplier

Adjusts the Emission Strength times(x) the defined value. This will use the equation, emissionStrength *= lerp.

Band

  • Type: Dropdown, Options: Bass/Low Mid/High Mid/Treble/Volume

Which band to use for the AudioLink Emission multiplier.

Multiplier

  • Type: Vector4
    • Default: Min = 1, Max = 1

How much to multiply the Emission Strength with Audio.

warning

This is a mathematical value. Your multiplier must be at least 1 or greater for AudioLink Emissions to work by default.

If you change any of these to 0, Emissions may not be visible since there's nothing being multiplied.

ModifierFunction
MinAmount of Emission being multiplied with no audio
MaxAmount of Emission being multiplied with max audio

Strength Add

Adjusts the Emission Strength by adding or subtracting from the current Emission Strength.

Band

  • Type: Dropdown, Options: Bass/Low Mid/High Mid/Treble/Volume

Which band to use for the AudioLink Emission adjustment.

Strength Add

  • Type: Vector2

How much to add to or subtract from the emission strength with audio.

ModifierFunction
MinAmount Added to Emission with no audio in Emission Band
MaxAmount Added to Emission with max audio in Emission Band

Center Out

Makes the Emission move from the center of the mesh to the edges of the mesh, relative to the view direction and the mesh's normal. This feature functions completely separate from Center Out.

Band

  • Type: Dropdown, Options: Bass/Low Mid/High Mid/Treble/Volume

Which band to use for the AudioLink Center Out adjustment.

Strength

  • Type: Vector2

How much to add to or subtract from the center out strength with audio.

ModifierFunction
MinAmount Added to Emission with no audio in Center Out Band
MaxAmount Added to Emission with max audio in Center Out Band

Intensity Threshold

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

How high the audio intensity must be before being added to the center out strength. This can be used to create a "punchier" center out effect.

Duration

  • Type: Float, Range: 0.0 - 1.0

How much audio history should be used to calculate the center out. Lower values will result in a faster center out with less detail.