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Output | Substance 3D Designer

In: Atomic nodes

Description

The Output node specifies the result of a Substance graph, or one of its results if more than one Output node is present in it.

The image or value connected to a graph's Output node is  output by any instance node representing this graph, and can exported as a graph output.

Similarly, when a published SBSAR file includes this graph, then that file can output that image in any integration or plugin which consumes the file.

It has a single input slot that is type-agnostic, which means it types itself after the data type connected to it.

It has no parameters, but rather attributes that are of great importance for properly labeling the output and putting it to its intended use.

Tip:

Every Substance graph in Substance 3D Designer must have at least one Output node. If no output exists, the graph can never return an actual result and a warning in both the Graph view and Explorer docks report it.


Attributes

Identifier String
The unique identifier of the output. This property cannot be left blank and cannot contain special characters or spaces.
The identifier is used as the node's label is the 'Label' property is left blank. It may also be used to name exported textures.

Description String
Optional description used as the output's tooltip is Substance graphs.

Label String
This is used as a label for the output node, and its corresponding connector in instance nodes representing this graph. The label may contain spaces and special characters.

User Data String
Optional metadata that may be used for specific filtering operations. Substance 3D Painter make use of this data to drive some features.

Group String
Attribute used to group outputs together for Designer's link creation modes. Outputs with an identical 'Group' attribute are presented as a single connection in the 'Compact Material' link creation mode.


Integration Attributes

These are attributes which are meant to be used by integrations/plugins which consume the graph in a published SBSAR file.

As such, they have no impact on the format of bitmap exports. Additionally, only the Usage attribute is used in Designer, see below for details.

Usage

Components Integer
Determines what channels are actually in the resulting output.

Usage String
Defines the type and usage of the output node. This property is important as it drives:

Color Space String
Sets the color space this output should be interpreted in. Has no impact in the 3D View.

About the role of usages in the 3D View

Since graph outputs are often intended to be the final result for a specific texture channel, outputs can be automatically sent to the appropriate sampler of the shader used in the 3D View.

Indeed, an output which Usage property matches a sampler usage in the 3D View will be connected to that sampler. E.g., an Output with a basecolor usage will be connected to the basecolor sampler of the 3D View shader. Learn more in the View data in the 3D View section of the 3D View page.

Click RMB on an empty area in the Graph view and select the View outputs in 3D view option in the contextual menu to connect all outputs to 3D View samplers with matching usages.

Caution:

If multiple usages are set up in order, for instance, to assign usages to channels in a packed texture, only the first usage in the list will be connected to the 3D View. This is a known limitation.

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