How to make a glass material (+ Import into UE5) | Substance Painter

Glass Material

I import my window – link to the 3D model I’m using is in the description

I make sure to use DirectX because I will be taking this into Unreal

I bake the Maps

Under the Shader Settings, I use the PBR-Metal-Rough-With-Alpha Blending – this will allow me use the Opacity Channel

I quickly add a wood material I made in a previous tutorial to the frame

I select the glass and add a Fill Layer – naming it “Glass”

Under the Texture Settings, I make sure I have the Opacity Channel

If this is missing, it can be added manually using the Channels dropdown menu

For the Fill Layer, I turn off all the channels except Opacity, Roughness, and Color

I lower the Opacity to around 0.3

I change the Color to a dark gray

I lower the Roughness to around 0.015

If I go to the Render View, I can now see that my glass is see-through

I add another Fill Layer and name it “Scratches”

I turn off all the Texture Channels except Opacity, Roughness, and Color

I add a Black Mask with a Fill

For the Grayscale, I will add a Grunge Map – I use the Grunge Scratches Rough

I will increase the Tiling to around 3

I then change the other Parameters as I see fit

I change the Color for the Scratches to a darker gray

I duplicate the scratches layer and rename it to “Smudges”

I change the Grayscale Grunge Map to a Smudge – I will use the Grunge Dusty Powder Soft

I decrease the Tiling and adjust the other Parameters

I change the Color and add a bit of brown to indicate a dirty surface [#6A645F]

I increase the Roughness to around 0.7

I add a new Fill Layer and name it “Dust”

I turn off all the Texture Channels except Opacity, Roughness, and Color

I search for a Dust Smart Mask and drag it onto the Layer – I will use the Dust Dirty

I lower the Global Balance and the Ambient Occlusion

I change the Color to a slightly lighter version of the Smudges Layer [#86807B]

I increase the Roughness to around 0.8

Smart Material

I add a Folder and rename it

I move all the Layers into the Folder

I right-click on the Folder and create a Smart Material

Importing into UE5

I export my textures for the model from Substance Painter

I will use the Unreal Engine 4 (Packed) for the Output Template

In Unreal Engine, I import my 3D model and my textures

I rename my wood material

I open the wood Material and drag in my textures

I connect the Base Color Texture to the Base Color input

I connect the Normal Texture to the Normal input

I connect the Red Channel to the Ambient Occlusion input

I connect the Green Channel to the Roughness input

I connect the Blue Channel to the Metallic input

I save the Material

I rename the glass material

I open the glass Material and drag in my textures

I connect the Base Color Texture to the Base Color input

I connect the Normal Texture to the Normal input

I connect the Red Channel to the Ambient Occlusion input

I connect the Green Channel to the Roughness input

I connect the Blue Channel to the Metallic input

I select the Material node and change the Blend Mode to Translucent

I connect the Alpha of the Base Color Texture to the Opacity input

Under the Translucency Section, I change the Lighting Mode to Surface Translucency Volume – this will allow me to access the Normal, Roughness, and Metallic channels

Under the Refraction Section, I change the Refraction Method to Index of Refraction

I add a Scalar Parameter by holding down the S-key and left-clicking

I name it IOR (for Index of Refraction) and give it a Value of 1.52 (which is the IOR for window glass)

I add a Constant by holding down the 1-key and left-clicking

I give this a value of 1.52

I add a Lerp node and connect the Constant into the A input and the IOR into the B input (Linear Interpolate)

I add a Fresnel node and connect it to the Alpha input

I connect the Lerp to the Refraction input

I save the Material

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