Standard Materials

The standard material adds realistic depth to 3D objects, using a lighting system called the Phong model.

When you create a material in Spark AR Studio, it will generally be a standard material - unless you created it for a 2D object.

Find out about:

• Creating a standard material.
• Adding a color and diffuse texture to a standard material.
• Highlighting the surface of standard materials, using the specular property.
• Adding bumps and grooves, using a normal map.
• The full properties of a standard material.

You can also follow this video tutorial, to learn the basics of using the standard material.

Creating a standard material

To create a standard material:

1. Select the material in the Assets panel.
2. Set the Shader Type to Standard in the Inspector panel.

You'll then see a list of options in the Inspector panel, that you can edit to build your material.

In the image below, we've added a ball shaped object to the scene, and created a standard material for it. As you can see, it has realistic light and shadow, creating a sense of depth:

Adding colors and a diffuse texture

Add colors and textures under Diffuse in the Inspector panel:

1. Click the box next to Color to select a color.
2. Click the dropdown next to Texture to add a texture.

In the image below, we've added a texture under Diffuse. The texture has been designed to make the ball look like a baseball. We've also changed the color slightly, to a shade of beige.

Adding highlights and a shiny effect

Check the box next to Specular to add a shiny surface highlight.

Adjusting the slider next to Smoothness will make the effect appear stronger or weaker. This is because you're controlling whether the highlight is spread out across a wide area, or concentrated in a smaller area.

You can also add a texture or a color here, by clicking the dropdown next to Type.

Using a normal map to add bumps and grooves

A normal map will give your texture bumps and grooves, creating a more realistic effect. Representing these details as a texture, instead of geometry will increase the performance of your effect.

To add a normal map:

1. Check the box next to Normal
2. Import a texture using the dropdown next to Texture.

Standard material - properties

Diffuse

Define the base color and pattern of an object. You can use Color and Texture together to create variations in the texture map.

Specular

Define the shininess and highlight color of a surface.

Normal

Create real-world textures like bumps, grooves and rivets without adding extra geometry to your object.

Emission

Allow your material to illuminate from itself. It wont cast rays, so the illumination won't affect other objects in the scene.

Alpha

Mask the alpha channel. Use Invert to switch which part of the texture is masked.

Tiling Options

Tile

Scale the textures you've applied to your material.

Offset

Shift the origin of your textures.

Render Options

Blend Mode

Sets the blend mode of the material.

• Add
• Alpha
• Subtract
• Multiply
• Replace
• Screen

Cull Mode

Back - Discard pieces of the mesh that are facing away from the viewer. Most effects use this mode to improve performance.

Front - Discard pieces of the mesh that are facing the viewer.

Opacity

Sets the transparency of the material on an individual map level.

Double Sided

Displays both sides of a face normal.

Advanced Render Options

Use the Write to Depth Buffer and Use Depth Test checkboxes to control certain order parameters for the object the material is applied to.

Both boxes checked

Enable read and write depth buffer. This means that closer objects will obscure far objects.

Write to Depth Buffer box checked

Disable read depth and enable write depth. These objects will always draw over any other object. They will obscure father objects that are drawn after unless these objects have either the Write to Depth Buffer or both boxes checked.

Use Depth Test checked

Enable read depth and disable write depth. These objects will be obscured by nearer objects that have already been drawn that have either the Write to Depth Buffer or both boxes checked.

These objects can be obscured by any objects drawn afterwards, whether they’re nearer or further away.

Uncheck both boxes

Disable read and write depth. These draw on top of any objects of any type already drawn, and in turn will be overdrawn by any later rendered objects, regardless of whether they are nearer or further away.

Color Encoding

Choose the output color encoding of the material.

RGB will apply the expected gamma correction after shading. Linear will not apply any conversion after shading computation.

Used By

Check which object this material is applied to.

Learn more

• Learn about creating a flat material - for effects with 2D objects.
• Create a gradient effect, using the Patch Editor.