Hello Unreal Engine Community,
I’m currently working on optimizing my project’s materials and am exploring efficient ways to share data, such as masks, tweaked vertex colors, and UV scaling, across different material layers or within material layer blends. I understand that sharing these parameters can significantly simplify the material setup by reducing the redundancy of inputs and potentially streamline the workflow. However, beyond simplifying parameters, I’m curious about the performance implications of this approach.
Could someone explain how to effectively share data like masks, tweaked vertex colors, and UV scaling across material layers or blends? Additionally, does this method of sharing data between layers or blends offer any performance benefits, such as reducing shader complexity or improving render times? I’m particularly interested in understanding if there are best practices or specific techniques within Unreal Engine that facilitate this kind of data sharing while also optimizing material performance.
Thank you for your insights!
Additional Information:
In an attempt to further optimize the sharing of data across material layers or blends, I’ve considered storing the shared data (e.g., masks, tweaked vertex colors, UV scaling) in an unused channel. However, I’m uncertain about which part of the material layer stack would be the most appropriate place to set this data.
If anyone has insights or experiences with leveraging unused channels for data sharing in Unreal Engine’s material system, your advice on where and how to best implement this would be greatly appreciated.