Shader Overlay

This tool is very similar to Material Override described here: Material Override but with the difference that it allows you to decide how to mix the chosen material with the underlying material, it also allows you to animate the mixing of the chosen material with the underlying material.

Video Tutorial

Here you can find a video tutorial that shows you how to use Shader Overlay: Shader Overlay

Tip

Any material can be applied as Shader Overlay, even materials already present in the scene and that are not part of the Extreme PBR library.

Note

On all materials contained in the Material List Section to which you will apply the Shader Overlay, a small Green icon will be shown which indicates that the Shader Overlay has been applied to that material.

Shader overlay is a very useful tool to mix all selected objects (If they have any base material) with a material of your choice from the Extreme PBR library or even importing a material via Shader Maker, you can find the Shader Maker You can find the Shader Maker chapter here: Shader Maker

Shader Overlay allows you to make animations of the Overlay material through the mixer, so that you can see the coverage of the materials underlying in an animated way.

Here an example in 3 separate moments of a scene where the Shader Overlay has been applied to all objects:

Model Without Shader Overlay:

Model with shader overlay adjusted about halfway through the field with tilt:

Model completely covered by the shader overlay:

Credits CC-BY

Model: “Mars One” Mission - Base by admone from Sketchfab: Link

Shader Overlay Panel

Here’s what it looks like the Shader Overlay panel looks in the fullness of its functionality, in the example the Procedural material Blueprint 002 has been applied so you will see the sliders to control the parameters of the material mentioned.

Tip

You can hide this panel if you want, but make sure you don’t do it while you’ve already applied materials as Shader Overlay, otherwise you won’t be able to access the material settings from the panel. Hide Shader Overlay Panel

Add From Library

In this situation, no shader overlay has been applied. Add From is used to choose where you want to take the material to apply as a shader overlay.

Add From Library allows you to add the shader overlay directly from the Extreme PBR library, just select the material you want to apply, from the Extreme PBR library then from the Material Browser , and press the button Add, explained later here: Add

Add from Data Material

By selecting Add From Data Material you will have the list of materials present in the current Blender project and you can choose the material you want to apply as Shader Overlay from that list. Once you have selected the material you want to apply, press the Add button, explained later here: Add

Mixer Node

From the Mixer Node menu you can choose the type of Node you want to use to mix the Shader Overlay with the underlying one. the nodes will allow you to adjust the settings.

The nodes available are described below:

Shader Gradient Shader Gradient
Shader Gradient Glitch V2 Shader Gradient Glitch V2

Replace Mixer Node

Once you have added the Shader Overlay, you can change the type of Node to use for the Mixer, by clicking on the button Replace Mixer:

Add

The Add button adds to the selected objects the Shader Overlay that you have chosen from the Add From menu. If the Shader Overlay is already present on the selected objects, the Add button replace the previous Shader Overlay with the new one.

Important

This button adds to all the materials of the selected objects the material chosen as Shader Overlay, so if you have selected 10 objects and each of these has 3 materials, the material chosen as Shader Overlay will be added to all 30 materials.

Remove

The Remove button removes the Shader Overlay from the selected objects.

Important

This button removes the Shader Overlay from all the materials of the selected objects, so if you have selected 10 objects and each of these has 3 materials, the Shader Overlay will be removed from all 30 materials.

Mat Settings Button

Very useful in Eevee Render!

Note

This button is visible only if you have already applied a Shader Overlay

Mat Settings Button gives you access to the settings of the material you have applied as Shader Overlay, this is useful to change the parameters on all materials

Tip

Important use case: If you have applied a Shader Overlay with transparencies and you are in Eevee mode, through this panel it gives you the possibility to set the Blend and Shadow

Material Settings Panel

The Material Settings Panel is visible once the button previously described is pressed.

It allows you to set the material settings on all the materials to which the Shader Overlay has been applied, in so that all materials that contain the Shader Overlay will have the same settings.

Note

In the image above there is an example of what the settings in the Material Settings panel modify to the materials that contain the Shader Overlay. Once the Shader Overlay has been removed, the settings of the materials return to those you were working with.

Here is the explanation of the properties contained in the Material Settings Panel:

Restore Material Settings: Restore the material settings.
Backface Culling: If active Hide the back faces of the mesh.
Blend Mode: Set the Blend Mode of the material. Blend methods described here Transparent Mode
Shadow Mode: Set the Shadow Mode of the material. Shadow methods described here Transparent Mode
Clip Threshold: A pixels is rendered only if its alpha value is above this threshold.
Show Backface: Show the back faces of the mesh.
Screen Space Reflections: Enable Screen Space Reflections.
Refraction Depth: Set the depth of the refraction.
Subsurface Translucent: Enable Subsurface Translucent.
Pass Index: Set the Pass Index of the material.

Important

Press OK button in order to apply the changes to the materials

Select Objects

Select Objects allows you to select the objects in the scene that have the Shader Overlay applied, so if you have applied the Shader Overlay to 10 objects, by pressing this button you will select all 10 objects with that specific Shader Overlay.

Overlay group (Name)

Once you have applied any Shader Overlay, a group will be created with the name of the chosen material and a suffix “_Overlay”, from this text box you can view the name, and also modify it, by clicking in the text field and writing the name you prefer.

This group will be the group that will contain the Shader Overlay material, and the mixer node that will allow you to mix the material this group is the one that allows you to modify the Shader Overlay for all the materials to which it has been applied.

In short, the name will be composed of the name of the Material you have chosen as Shader Overlay, and the suffix “_Overlay”,

Shader Gradient

The Shader Gradient Mixer Node allows you to mix the material with a detachment effect with the underlying material/s.

Hide / Show

Hide/Show button allows you to hide or show the properties of the chosen mixer for the Shader Overlay.

Reset Values

This button resets all the values of the Mixer Node to the Default state.

Tips

This button will show the Tips related to the properties of the Mixer Node, additional buttons will be shown that once clicked, will show a popup window with the description of the selected property.

In order to hide, press the Tips button again.

Location

Location, allows you to adjust the position of the Shader Overlay material relative to the underlying material.

Flip Location

If you activate the Flip Location, the position of the Shader Overlay material is inverted with respect to the set position.

Rotation X/Y

These 2 sliders allow you to rotate the detachment of the Shader Overlay material with respect to the underlying material. This allows you to tilt the Shader Overlay material, so that you can create animations of coverage or discovery of the underlying material, with various animations.

From Min/Max

These 2 sliders allow you to adjust and therefore fade less the detachment of the Shader Overlay material with respect to the underlying material.

Strength

Strength Slider property allows you to modify the strength of the Shader Overlay material above the underlying material,

By default the value is 0.0, so it is a basic right blend.
If you set -1.0 the Shader Overlay material will be completely disappeared.
If you set 1.0 the Shader Overlay material will be completely visible on the entire underlying material (It will be completely covered excluding the Location value).

World Coordinate

If Active, the mixer will use the world coordinates for the positioning of the Shader Overlay material, this is very useful for leveling the Shader Overlay material on all selected objects, so that the material Shader Overlay is always at the same height on all objects to which it has been applied.

Shader Gradient Glitch V2

The Shader Gradient Glitch V2 mixer shares many of the properties of the Shader Gradient mixer, below are the references to the properties that are the same as the Shader Gradient Mixer:

Hide / Show Hide / Show Reset Values Reset Values Tips Tips Location Location Flip Location Flip Location Rotation X/Y Rotation X/Y From Min/Max From Min/Max Strength Strength World Coordinate World Coordinate

Glitch On/Off

Glitch On/Off gives you the possibility to activate and deactivate the glitch effect of the Shader Overlay material. Once activated, new properties will be shown to control the glitch effect.

GLC Frequency

GLC (Glitch) Frequency allows you to adjust the frequency of the glitch effect.

GLC Speed

GLC (Glitch) Speed allows you to adjust the speed of the glitch effect, the higher the value, the faster the glitch effect.

GLC Scale Osc

GLC (Glich) Scale Osc allows you to adjust the scale Oscillator of the glitch effect. The oscillator is the one that generates the glitch animation.

GLC Phase

GLC (Glitch) Phase allows you to adjust the phase of the glitch effect. This allows you to shift the glitch oscillator, in case you have applied more Shader Overlay DIFFERENT on objects, and you want to de-synchronize the glitch oscillator.

This is useful to avoid an annoying glitch synchronization effect.

Note

If you have applied the same Shader Overlay on different objects, and you want to de-synchronize, just use the button GLC Random Per Object

GLC Random Per Object

This button, if activated, makes the glitch effect on the objects to which it has been applied the same Shader Overlay randomly, this allows you to de-synchronize the glitch effect, if you want to apply the same Shader Overlay to multiple objects.

Tip

To apply the same Shader Overlay to multiple objects, select the objects of interest and press the button Add in the Add section

Material Layout

In this area of the Shader Overlay interface, the materials that have been added as Shader Overlay are shown, and for each material the name, the type of Mixer Node used, and the buttons to modify the material are shown.

Important

Any material can be applied as Shader Overlay, but only materials from the Extreme PBR libraries will be shown in an orderly manner with the properties exposed as per example. If the properties of the material are not present, it will still be possible to use it as Shader Overlay.

Material Group Name

In this text box you will see the name of the material that has been added as Shader Overlay by default, you can modify it by clicking on the text field and writing the name you prefer.

Replace

From this Replace button you can replace the material that you have added as Shader Overlay, with another material of your choice.

Material Properties

In this area the parameters of the material that has been added as Shader Overlay will be shown, in this case the material is the Blueprint 002, so the interface is designed according to the chosen material and differs between different materials.

Projection Settings

Important

Not all materials will support this feature. Texture-based materials fully support this feature

Shader Module Group

This is the group node that has been created specifically for the Shader Overlay or the material Override, so if the material is standard, refer here: Module Material Panel