Priya Kapoor
While working on a project in Substance Painter, you may encounter an issue where certain elements, such as the inside of sleeves or the backfaces of flags, become invisible due to backface culling. Backface culling is a feature that can be useful for identifying reversed normals, but it can also be frustrating when you need to view all sides of your mesh. To address this issue, you can turn off backface culling by adjusting the shader settings. Specifically, you can change the shader to PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test to make the backfaces visible. These settings can be found in the upper right corner of the screen, just below the X button used to close the software on a PC. This solution will allow you to see both sides of your fabric or mesh and continue working on your project without any obstructions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location of Shader Settings | Top right of the screen, under the X to shut the software |
| How to turn off backface culling | Change the shader to PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test |
| Other methods | Import your own shaders |
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What You'll Learn
Change the shader to PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test
To turn off backface culling in Substance Painter, you need to change the shader to PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test. This setting can be found in the top right corner of the screen, under the X button used to shut the software.
The PBR Metal Rough shader is a standard shader used in many applications and is based on the metal/roughness workflow. It is used to create a range of textures, from shiny to rough, by tweaking the Input Min and Max values on the aiRange node.
To set up the PBR Metal Rough shader, you need to first prep your texture maps in Substance Painter. You can then export your textures by going to File > Export Textures (Ctrl+Shift+E). When the window pops up, switch to the OUTPUT TEMPLATES tab and tweak your output maps. Make sure to also set the Output template, directory, and size correctly before hitting Export.
Once you have exported your textures, you can then set up your shader in your preferred application. For example, if you are using Maya/Arnold, you will use the Base Color, Metallic, Roughness, and Normal+Height+Mesh maps.
It is worth noting that the PBR Metal Rough shader may not always display textures in material display mode, as reported by some users. However, this may be due to specific settings or configurations in their projects.
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Adjust shader settings in the top right corner
To turn off backface culling in Substance Painter, you need to adjust the shader settings. These settings can be found in the top right corner of the screen. Directly under the 'X' button to close the software (if you're using a PC), you will see four icons lined up vertically.
Click on the shader settings icon, which is the second icon from the top. This will open the shader settings menu. From here, you can change the shader type. To turn off backface culling, change the shader to "PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test". This shader type will allow you to see the backfaces of your mesh and prevent the software from culling or hiding those faces.
It's important to note that backface culling is on by default and can be useful in certain situations, such as immediately showing where normals are reversed on import. However, in cases where you need to see both sides of an object, such as when working with two-sided geometry or specific fabric simulations, turning off backface culling can be necessary.
While the shader settings provide a solution, it is worth noting that some users have expressed a desire for a dedicated backface culling toggle or checkbox in the properties box. This would allow for more direct control over the feature, especially when working with specific fill options like polygon, uv_chunk, triangle, and object, where backface culling is not currently available.
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Use opacity shaders
To turn off backface culling in Substance Painter, you can use opacity shaders. This method involves utilising the opacity channel to cut out the main shape of your object, ensuring that the backfaces are not visible during rendering.
- Set up your project as you normally would, creating your desired object with two-sided geometry and flipped UVs to ensure text or designs appear correctly on both sides.
- Identify the opacity channel within your shader settings. This is where you will make adjustments to ensure the backfaces are not rendered.
- Utilise the opacity channel to cut out the main shape of your object. By doing so, you are essentially creating a "window" through which only the front face of your object is visible. Anything outside this cut-out area will be invisible, including the backfaces.
- Adjust the opacity settings specifically for the backfaces. You can decrease their opacity to 0, making them completely transparent and, therefore, invisible during rendering.
- Test your settings by rendering your scene. With the correct opacity shader and settings, you should now only see the front faces of your object, effectively turning off backface culling.
- Fine-tune your shader settings as needed. Depending on your project's requirements, you may need to adjust the opacity values or explore other shader options within Substance Painter to achieve the desired result.
By using opacity shaders and strategically adjusting their settings, you can effectively work around the limitations of backface culling in Substance Painter and achieve the desired visibility for your objects.
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Enable the backface culling option in brush settings
To enable the backface culling option in brush settings, users can follow these steps. Firstly, navigate to the shader settings by locating the four icons in the top right corner of the screen, directly under the 'X' button used to close the software. From here, you can change the shader to 'PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test' to show the backfaces. This will allow you to view all sides of your mesh and avoid painting across thin surfaces.
By enabling backface culling, you can prevent the issue of painting through the mesh in Substance Painter. This feature is particularly useful when working with complex models, such as a dog with separate ears or a mushroom with multiple parts, where brush strokes might unintentionally affect other areas of the model. With backface culling enabled, you can more accurately isolate and paint specific sections of your model without affecting the backfaces.
It's worth noting that backface culling is on by default in Substance Painter. However, some users have expressed frustration with the lack of a backface culling toggle option for fill methods other than the paintbrush. While there is a workaround by changing the shader type, it is not a perfect solution, and users have requested a checkbox in the properties box for backface culling to make it more accessible and convenient.
In summary, enabling the backface culling option in brush settings can be achieved by adjusting the shader settings and selecting the appropriate shader type. This feature helps prevent accidental painting across thin surfaces and allows for more precise control when texturing models in Substance Painter.
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Import custom shaders
To turn off backface culling in Substance Painter, you can change the shader setting to "PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test". This shader setting can be found in the top right corner of the screen, under the "X" button used to shut the software.
Now, to import custom shaders, you can follow these steps:
- Access the Shader API: Go to the "Help" menu in the Substance Painter application, then select "Documentation" and choose "Shader API".
- Write Custom Shaders: You can write your own shaders in GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language). Substance Painter allows you to write a portion of the fragment shader, also known as a surface shader.
- Create a "Hello World" Shader: Start with a simple shader code snippet:
Void shade(V2F inputs) {
DiffuseShadingOutput(vec3(1.0, 0.0, 1.0));
}
This code will output a uniform pink color on your mesh.
- Save and Load the Shader: Save the above code snippet in a .glsl file. Then, load it into Substance Painter by dragging and dropping the file into the "Shader" tab of your shelf.
- Dynamic Material Layering: Substance Painter offers a specific workflow called Dynamic Material Layering, where materials are mixed inside a shader. This lets users dynamically edit blending masks.
- Custom UI: You can replace the standard shader parameters UI with a custom view written in QML (Qt Modeling Language). The path can be absolute or relative to your custom-ui folder.
- MDL (Iray MDL Material): Define the Iray MDL material to use with the shader. The path syntax is as follows:
Mdl::folder1::folder2::mdl_filename::material_name
Where `folder1::folder2::mdl_filename` is the path to the MDL file, and `material_name` is the name of the material inside the MDL file.
Explore Additional Shaders: You can find more shaders for Substance Painter on Substance Share, which is a platform for sharing custom shaders and other resources.
By following these steps, you can import and utilize custom shaders in Substance Painter, allowing you to achieve specific visual effects and customize the rendering of your 3D models.
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Frequently asked questions
You can change the shader to PBR Metal Rough with Alpha Test to show the backfaces.
The shader settings are in the top right corner of the screen. There are four icons lined up vertically.
Yes, there is a backface culling toggle option for the paintbrush in SP, but for other fill options like polygon, uv_chunk, triangle, and object, backface culling is not available.
You can enable the backface culling option in your brush settings.
