Surface Effects
Surface Effects add shading and geometry layers on top of any material. Each effect is non-destructive — you can combine effects on the same material and every effect's controls remain live and independently undoable.
Surface effects include Dirt, X-ray, Outline / Ink, Fuzz, Flakes, Water Droplets, Bubbles, Fur, Hair, Foam and Displace.
Geometry, strand and animation controls need matching support in the selected renderer. Controls without that support are hidden; presets that need it are greyed, and their tooltip names the missing support.
Accessing surface effects
- Select the object or face.
- Open View ▸ Material. (If greyed out, choose View ▸ Unlock Advanced UI first.)
- Click the FX tab (4th tab; tooltip "FX — Add and edit material effects").
- The effects list and the Add effect and Delete selected effect buttons appear below it.
Effects belong to the material, not the object. If two objects share a material, adding an effect appears on both.
Adding, selecting and enabling an effect
To add an effect:
- Click Add effect below the effects list.
- A menu appears with effect names in this order: Dirt, X-ray, then the geometry families, then Outline / Ink. Effects already on the material are greyed in the menu.
- Select an available effect. It is added to the list in an enabled state and its controls appear below.
When the list is empty, a hint reads: "No effects. Use + to add an effect."
To select an effect for editing:
Click its row in the list. The controls for that effect expand below.
To enable or disable an effect:
Click the status dot at the left of its list row. A disabled effect retains all its settings.
To delete an effect:
Select the effect row and click Delete selected effect below the list.
Scale controls
Scale and World scale appear on Dirt, X-ray, Outline / Ink, Fuzz, Flakes, Water Droplets, Bubbles, Fur, Hair and Displace. Foam has neither. On X-ray, World scale is greyed because X-ray depends on the viewing angle and has no physical size.
Scale — Multiplier that scales all the effect's size parameters together. The reset button returns Scale to 1×.
World scale — A switch: when on, effect features keep their physical size as the object is resized in the scene. For Outline / Ink, it switches the width unit between millimetres and reference pixels. Default: on for Dirt, Fur and Hair; on for Fuzz/Flakes/Droplets/Bubbles in Geometry mode; for Outline follows the Units setting.
Hide source
Hide source — Available on Fuzz, Flakes, Water Droplets, Bubbles, Fur, Hair and on Foam's own row. When on, the source object is hidden, leaving only the generated FX geometry visible. The tooltip reads: "Hide the source object while keeping generated FX geometry visible … The outliner eye still hides both." Enabled only in Geometry/Strands mode; Fur and Hair always have it enabled.
Dirt
Dirt applies a shading cavity mask to the material surface, darkening recessed areas, edges and crevices. Two starter buttons appear at the top of the Dirt section. Both apply Scene scope, 3 mm radius, 55% amount, threshold 0.015, softness 0.25, noise 0.5/1.2 mm and 32 samples, keeping your existing colour. They differ only in Mode:
- CAD recess dirt — Mode: Cavity. Fills concave areas typical of CAD model recesses.
- Exposed edge dirt — Mode: Convex proximity. Marks the exposed outer edges of the part.
Controls
Radius (mm) — Search radius for nearby geometry. Physical millimetres.
Amount — Dirt intensity, 0–1.
Dirt Color — Colour of the dirt layer.
Dirt Roughness — Surface roughness of the dirt.
Threshold — Cavity depth below which no dirt is deposited.
Softness — Falloff width at the cavity edge.
Noise Amount — Random variation in the dirt mask.
Noise Size (mm) — Physical scale of the noise variation.
Fine Bump (mm) — Small-scale shading relief added to the dirt surface.
Scope — Self: samples only this mesh object. Scene: includes nearby objects. CAD face sets may be on separate objects, so Scene may be needed for accurate crevice coverage.
Mode — Cavity: fills concave areas. Convex proximity: marks convex edges.
Samples — Ray count for the occlusion measurement (1–128, default 16; slider range 1–32). Higher values are cleaner but slower to prepare. Both starter buttons set 32.
Viewing tip: View in Raytraced mode to see Dirt results. For imported CAD faces that are separate mesh objects, use Scene scope for accurate crevice coverage.
X-ray
X-ray adds a view-facing opacity treatment that makes surfaces look translucent from the front and solid at the rim — the diagnostic X-ray or holographic-object effect.
Center Opacity — Opacity at the centre of the facing surface, 0–1.
Rim Opacity — Opacity at the silhouette rim, 0–1.
Falloff — How quickly opacity transitions from centre to rim.
Tint — Tint colour applied in Unlit mode.
Backface Contribution — How much back-facing surfaces show through.
Lighting — Lit: preserves the base shader's lighting model. Unlit: replaces it with the Tint colour.
Ray Behavior — Camera: only primary camera rays see the X-ray; reflections and shadows use the ordinary surface. All: applies to all ray types.
Outline / Ink
Outline / Ink draws vector-style lines over the material's silhouette, creases and material boundaries. The effect is organised as seven collapsible sections; the top section (Outline) is expanded when the effect is first added.
Outline
Ink Color — Line colour.
Opacity — Line opacity, 0–1.
Width — Line width in the units set by Units.
Units — The dropdown displays values in lower case with underscores replaced by spaces: reference 1080, output pixels, world mm. reference 1080: width relative to a 1080-line reference frame. output pixels: absolute pixel width at render resolution. world mm: physical millimetres in the scene. Changing Units resets World scale for this effect.
Outer Weight / Inner Weight — Relative width of the line's outer and inner halves.
Minimum Width / Maximum Width — Clamp the line width regardless of other settings.
Placement — center: line centred on the edge. inside: line inside the surface. outside: line outside the surface.
Outline Only — When on, draws only the outline lines.
Scale and World scale — See Scale controls above.
Outline Edges and Visibility
Silhouette — Draw lines at silhouette edges.
Open Boundaries — Draw lines at open mesh boundaries.
Crease — Draw lines at crease angles above Crease Angle.
Crease Angle — Angle threshold in degrees (0–180).
Material — Draw lines at material boundaries.
Visibility — visible: lines only on visible edges. through shells: lines show through enclosing shell objects.
Role — How this material's object participates: ordinary, shell, internal, excluded.
Shell Opacity / Internal Opacity — Opacity of lines that pass through shell or internal objects.
Priority — Line drawing order when outlines from different materials overlap.
Outline / Ink Quality
Edge Samples — Samples per pixel for edge smoothing (1–16). Higher values reduce shimmer on thin lines and fine ink texture.
Motion / DOF Samples — Samples for motion blur and depth-of-field (1–64). The highest value among all active outline materials sets the shared quality.
Ink Shape
Enables brush-style ink strokes when Brush Ink is on.
Brush Ink — Switch on to use ink simulation instead of clean vector lines.
Pressure Profile — Opens Edit Profile… to edit a pressure curve controlling line width variation along each stroke.
Start Taper / End Taper — Taper length at the start and end of each stroke segment.
Start Tip / End Tip — Tip shape at stroke ends.
Nib Angle / Nib Ratio / Nib Exponent — Pen nib orientation, aspect ratio and sharpness.
Width Variation / Width Wavelength (mm) / Width Seed — Random width fluctuation along strokes.
Wobble / Wobble Wavelength (mm) / Wobble Seed — Path wobble amplitude, frequency and randomisation.
Ink Pigment
Fill — How fully the ink fills the stroke's interior.
Softness — Edge softness.
Bleed / Bleed Opacity — Ink bleed beyond the stroke edge.
Dryness — How dry the ink appears.
Gap Length (mm) — Minimum gap between dashes.
Bristles / Bristle Contrast — Bristle count and contrast for brush-stroke texture.
Pigment Seed — Random seed for pigment variation.
Optional brush image — File path for a custom brush texture image.
Texture Scale (mm) / Texture Rotation — Scale and rotation of the brush image.
Ink Ends and Rhythm
Cap — End cap style: Round, Butt, Square.
Join — Corner join style: Round, Bevel, Miter.
Miter Limit / Corner Split / Corner Smoothing — Corner handling parameters.
Dash / Gap — Dash and gap length for dashed lines (mm).
Break Density / Minimum Segment / Overshoot — Stroke fragmentation parameters.
Ink Animation
Animation — Locked: static lines. Boiling: lines redraw each frame for an animated hand-drawn look.
Redraws per Second — How often lines redraw in boiling mode.
Sequence Origin (s) — Starting time offset for the boiling sequence.
Fuzz
Fuzz adds a fine surface layer of fibres or a shading-only sheen.
Mode — Sheen: a shading layer with no geometry. Strands: strand geometry (requires a strand-capable renderer).
Amount (Sheen mode) — Shading sheen intensity, 0–1.
Length (Strands mode, renderer required) — Strand length in mm.
Density (Strands) — Strands per unit area.
Color — Base colour.
Roughness — Sheen or strand roughness.
Noise Amount / Noise Size (mm) (Sheen) — Density variation.
Noise (Strands) — Strand frizz and splay.
Colour Variation (Strands, Mode = strands) — Random hue variation per strand.
Clump (Strands) — How much strands gather into clusters, 0–1.
Wetness (Strands, Mode = strands) — Darkens and clumps strands as if wet.
Sway (Hz) / Wind Angle (Strands, Mode = strands) — Wind sway frequency and direction.
Segments / Shape / Tip Ratio / Root Radius (mm) (Strands, Advanced) — Strand profile.
Seed (Strands) — Random seed for the strand pattern.
Fuzz presets
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Soft sheen | Pale fabric sheen; no geometry |
| Velvet sheen | Dark blue fabric sheen; no geometry |
| Peach fuzz | Very short fine warm fibres |
| Fabric nap | Short pale fibres for brushed surfaces |
| Felt | Dense irregular matte fibres |
| Fine lint | Sparse longer pale fibres with irregular tips |
| Damp nap | Damp fibres with reduced frizz and darker colour |
| Airy down | Fine longer fuzz with subtle animated movement |
Fur
(Requires renderer support for strands. If strand geometry isn't supported by the selected renderer, a short message replaces the strand controls.)
Fur produces short-to-medium animal-coat strand geometry.
Length — Strand length in mm.
Density — Strands per unit area.
Clump — Strand clustering, 0–1.
Noise — Strand frizz and splay.
Gravity — Gravitational bend, 0–1.
Color — Root colour.
Tip Color — Tip colour, blending toward the tip.
Roughness — Strand roughness.
Wetness — Wet clumping and darkening.
Sway (Hz) / Wind Angle (Advanced) — Wind frequency and direction.
Length Variation / Thickness (mm) / Colour Variation (Advanced) — Variation controls.
Segments / Shape / Tip Ratio (Advanced) — Strand profile.
Seed — Random seed.
Fur presets
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Short coat | Short dense brown fur |
| Cream plush | Soft cream fibres with loose clumping |
| Teddy brown | Warm irregular medium-length plush fur |
| Arctic | Long pale fur with cool shaded roots |
| Shaggy | Long coarse fibres with frizz |
| Velvet pile | Very short fine upright dark pile |
| Rain soaked | Wet brown fur gathered into darker clumps |
| Windblown fur | Medium fur with a gentle animated breeze |
Hair
(Requires renderer support for strands, as with Fur.)
Hair produces long flowing strand geometry. Controls are identical to Fur with lengths tuned to hair scale.
Hair presets
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Short dark | Short tidy dark strands |
| Chestnut | Warm brown hair with loose clumps |
| Golden blonde | Fine golden hair with lighter tips |
| Silver | Long silver strands with darker roots |
| Coarse bristles | Thick upright brush-like fibres |
| Tousled | Long dry hair with irregular loose strands |
| Wet slick | Smooth dark wet hair gathered into clumps |
| Breeze | Chestnut hair with gentle timeline-driven sway |
Flakes
Flakes scatter small shaped particles over the surface or through the object's volume.
Mode — Shading: flakes are a shading effect (no geometry). Geometry: actual flake geometry is created (requires geometry scatter support in the selected renderer).
Size — Flake diameter in mm.
Density — Coverage, 0–1.
Depth (Geometry mode) — How far flakes sit proud of the surface in mm.
Color — Primary flake colour.
Roughness — Flake surface roughness.
Seed — Pattern seed.
Geometry mode controls
These rows require geometry scatter support in the selected renderer.
Size Variation — Random per-flake size variation.
Color B / Hue Jitter — Secondary colour and random hue variation per flake.
Shape — Flake outline: Disc, Square, Hexagon, Shard, Crystal.
Tilt — Maximum random tilt angle.
Animation
(Requires geometry animation support in the selected renderer)
Animate / Anim Count / Speed (mm/s) / Turbulence / Spin / Source / and the full 18-socket Animation block — see Animation block description below. These rows also require Mode = Geometry.
Flake presets
Some presets are greyed unless the selected renderer supports geometry scatter or geometry animation; the tooltip names which.
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Fine Silver Flecks | Fine silver surface flecks; no geometry required |
| Gold Sparkle | Warm gold surface sparkle; no geometry required |
| Silver Glitter | Reflective hexagonal flakes scattered over the surface |
| Gold Leaf Chips | Irregular warm gold shards with varied size and tilt |
| Copper Flakes | Warm copper shards with subdued reflections |
| Frost Crystals | Pale crystal-shaped flakes on the surface |
| Colour Confetti | Bright square flakes with broad hue variation |
| Snow Globe | Pale drifting flakes in the object's volume — play to animate |
| Falling Confetti | Colourful tumbling squares in the volume — play to animate |
| Glitter Drift | Small silver flakes drifting slowly through the volume — play to animate |
Water Droplets
Water Droplets simulate condensation, rain, dew and running water.
Preset selector
A Preset row appears at the top. Droplet presets are greyed unless the selected renderer supports geometry animation. Applying a preset clears Bake to (s).
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Rain | Moving drops, merging beads and wet trails |
| Heavy Rain | Dense rain with larger runners and lingering trails |
| Cold Drink | Fine condensation, mist and occasional slow runners |
| Beer Glass | Condensation below the drink level; adjust Level to fill height |
| Morning Dew | Small rounded resting beads with a fine secondary layer |
| Water-Repellent Beads | Rounded beads that release readily on a coated surface |
Simple controls
Mode — Shading: a shading-only effect. Geometry: actual droplet geometry added to the surface.
Size — Maximum droplet diameter in mm.
Density — Coverage, 0–1.
Contact Angle — Angle the droplet surface makes with the substrate, in degrees.
Wetting — Wet film spread around the base of the droplet.
Seed — Random placement seed.
Advanced droplet control
IOR (Advanced) — Index of refraction of the droplet liquid, in both Shading and Geometry mode. Default 1.33 (water).
Micro-droplet layer
Micro — Enable a fine secondary layer of very small droplets (shading only).
Micro Density / Micro Size (mm) / Stagger (s) / Hand-off (Advanced) — Micro-layer parameters.
Fog layer
Fog — Add a fine shading-only mist layer beneath the droplets.
Level
Level — Enable a liquid level so droplets appear only below the fill line.
Level Fraction — Fill fraction (0–1).
Lower Level — Lower boundary of the active level zone (Simple).
Level Band (mm) / Level Side (Advanced) — Level boundary parameters.
Trail clearing (switch) — When on, a sliding droplet leaves a dry stripe near the liquid level (Simple).
Return time (s) — Seconds before a cleared zone re-fogs (Simple).
Clear width — Width of the dry zone above the liquid level.
Streaks
Streaks (Advanced) — Dried mineral deposit streaks below stationary drops.
Streak Length / Streak Strength — Length (mm) and opacity of streaks.
Animation
(Requires geometry animation support in the selected renderer; also requires Mode = Geometry)
Animate / Anim Count / Speed (mm/s) / and the full Animation block plus run-off rows (Motion, Merge Time (s), Elongation, Sat. Spacing (mm), Size Random, Speed Random, Trail Follow, Growth, Film Loss, Nucleate (default off), Sweep, Trail Points, Trail clearing, Return time (s), Clear width).
Bake to (s) — Bake the droplet animation into a cache file. Set to 0 to clear the cache.
Loop (s) (Advanced) — Seconds before the run-off cycle repeats. 0 = no loop.
Texture (mm) (Advanced) — Scale for the surface variation texture that steers droplet paths.
Coating Mask / Mask Coverage / Mask Size (mm) (Advanced) — Constrain animated droplets to a painted mask channel.
Bubbles
Bubbles add spherical inclusions in surface or volume mode.
Preset selector
A Preset row at the top. Some presets are greyed unless the selected renderer supports geometry scatter or geometry animation; the tooltip names which.
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Fine Surface Bubbles | Fine bubble shading on the surface; no geometry required |
| Large Surface Bubbles | Broad, sparse bubble shading on the surface |
| Trapped Air | Small stationary air pockets; use a transparent base material |
| Resin Air Pockets | Larger, sparse pockets in clear resin or glass |
| Gentle Fizz | Small bubbles rising slowly — play to animate |
| Sparkling Drink | Fast, lively rising bubbles throughout a liquid mesh |
| Bubble Streams | Fine streams from surface nucleation sites |
| Beer Head | Rising site bubbles and a fine foam head at the top of the liquid mesh |
| Coarse Foam | A loose cap of large bubbles with slow popping |
Simple controls
Mode — Shading: shading-only effect. Geometry: actual bubble geometry.
Size — Bubble diameter in mm.
Density — Coverage or density, 0–1.
Depth (Geometry, volume mode) — How far bubbles can be below the surface in mm.
Body IOR — Refractive index of the surrounding liquid.
Seed — Random placement seed.
Animation
(Requires geometry animation support in the selected renderer)
Animate / Anim Count / Speed (mm/s) / Source / and the full Animation block plus nucleation site rows (Sites, Site Rate (/s), Rate Random, Hold (s), Hold Random, Wobble, Grow, Pop) and foam cap rows (Foam Depth (mm), Foam Size, Foam Size Random, Foam Slope Limit (Upward surfaces only), Foam Level (Horizontal layer only), Foam Placement (Horizontal layer / Upward surfaces), foam detail fields). The Sites and foam cap rows require geometry animation support in the selected renderer.
Foam
Foam simulates cellular wet-foam structure on a liquid surface. Unlike the Bubbles foam cap, Foam is a standalone effect with its own depth, cell structure and optical model.
The Foam block has a Preset row and a Simple / Advanced tab bar.
Simple shows Coverage, Displacement, Strength, Bubble detail, Level, Height (mm), Density, Cell (mm), Dimples, Uneven (mm), Colour, Wetness, Animate, Cling, Previous level and Hide source.
Advanced adds Offset (mm), Size variation, Dimple (mm), Depth (mm), Dimple rim, Wave (mm), Creaminess, Roughness, Volume, Scatter (mm), Anisotropy, Seed, Resolution, Pop (/s), Recover (s), Drain (/s), Drift (mm/s), Pre-roll (s), Film (mm), Patch (mm), Fade (s), Depth variation, Variation (mm), Detail (mm), Detail size (mm), Top angle, Top blend, Bubble walls, Medium bubbles, Large bubbles, Wet highlights and Film roughness.
Coverage is Drink head (a level-based head with wall residue) or Object surface (foam on every side of the object). Displacement is Top only, All sides or None; Drink head supports Top only or None. Bubble detail is Classic, Cellular (Full) or Cellular (Fast); the Cellular choices need a closed mesh and render more slowly, Full most of all.
Some rows depend on these choices. With a Cellular choice, Bubble walls to Film roughness appear, and Volume, Creaminess and Roughness are hidden. With Object surface, Level, Height (mm), the Cling rows (Cling, Previous level, Film (mm), Patch (mm), Fade (s)) and Hide source are hidden. Top angle and Top blend appear only with Object surface and Top only.
Presets
The Preset row offers Milk microfoam, Cappuccino froth, Lager head and Stout head. Choosing one turns Foam on, returns the other foam appearance settings to their defaults, and sets Cell (mm), Height (mm), Uneven (mm), Dimples, Wetness, Creaminess, Pop (/s) and the foam colour. Textures on those appearance settings are removed. Placement settings are kept: Level, Offset (mm), Coverage, Displacement, Bubble detail, Seed and Hide source. The row shows Custom when the settings no longer match a preset; choosing Custom changes nothing. Choosing a preset also turns Animate and Cling off.
Displace
Displace adds procedural surface displacement. Not offered for Wood materials — Wood manages its own displacement in the Engine section.
Pattern — Noise: Perlin-style noise. Voronoi: cellular pattern.
Size — Pattern tile size in mm.
Amount — Displacement height in mm.
Midlevel — Zero-displacement level in the 0–1 pattern range.
Method and Mesh Scale appear when the renderer can dice geometry:
Method — Bump: shading-only normal displacement. True: actual geometry tessellation.
Mesh Scale — Triangle density multiplier for tessellation (0.25–64, default 8×).
Preset handling and parameter preservation
Fuzz, Fur, Hair, Flakes, Droplets and Bubbles presets overwrite only the controls they specify. A Foam preset returns every other Foam appearance setting to its default, so Animate and Cling turn off; see Presets. Seed is always preserved when applying presets. Bake to (s) is cleared on droplet presets so you are not left with a cached animation from a different configuration.
When you switch between Simple and Advanced controls, no values change. Advanced controls hidden in Simple mode retain their last values.
Workflow tasks
Task 1 — Condensation on a cold drink
Prerequisites: The animated workflow requires geometry animation support in the selected renderer. Set Mode to Geometry before enabling Animate.
- Select the glass and open the Material panel.
- Click the FX tab and click Add effect. Choose Water Droplets.
- In the Preset row, choose Cold Drink.
- Turn on Level and set Level Fraction to 0.8 to match the fill height.
- Set Mode to Geometry, then enable Animate and set a suitable pre-roll for a settled appearance.
- Play or render a frame to confirm droplet coverage.
Task 2 — Beer glass with head and streams
Prerequisites: The Beer Head preset, Sites rows and foam cap rows require geometry animation support in the selected renderer.
- Apply the Bubbles effect to the liquid mesh material.
- Choose the Beer Head preset.
- Adjust Foam Depth (mm) to match the head depth you want.
- Set Sites to approximately one site per 2 cm of glass circumference.
- Enable Animate and press Play to see streams rise and the head build.
Task 3 — Velvet fabric
- Add a Fuzz effect to the fabric material.
- Choose the Velvet sheen preset (Mode: Sheen, no geometry).
- Adjust Color to match your fabric and Roughness to 0.35–0.45 for a matte pile.
- For strand geometry, choose a strand-based preset and set Hide source on.
Task 4 — Glitter paint
Note: The Silver Glitter preset requires geometry scatter support in the selected renderer. The Mode row (Geometry) requires the same. Without those, use Fine Silver Flecks or Gold Sparkle (both available in Shading mode without scatter).
- Add a Flakes effect to the paint material.
- Choose Fine Silver Flecks or (if geometry scatter is supported by the selected renderer) Silver Glitter as the starting preset.
- If using Silver Glitter: set Mode to Shading for a fast result or Geometry for physical flake depth.
- Adjust Size, Color and Color B (Geometry mode only) to match your flake colour and scale.
Task 5 — CAD part with edge soiling
- Add a Dirt effect to the part material.
- Click Exposed edge dirt to apply an edge-soiling preset.
- Adjust Radius (mm) to match the physical contact radius.
- Switch Scope to Scene if adjacent objects are separate CAD bodies.
Undo and recovery
Effects added or deleted are undoable. Disabling an effect preserves all its controls. Section open/closed state is remembered within the editing session and cleared when you open or create a document.
Related pages
- Materials — base material types, texture channels and assignment
- Procedural Wood — the Wood material's own displacement and finish
- Animation — animate effect parameters and bake droplet caches